Love Letters from God; Bible Stories for a Girl's Heart

Written by Glenys Nellist, Illustrated by Rachel Clowes.
Love Letters from God is a sweet Bible story book written with a young girl in mind. One of the stories (Adam and Eve) I think the author took to much creative license but mostly they are well done accurate portrayals of God's word. They are written just a little differently so you think about the event just a little more. Glenys took Bible stories and told them from the view point of the girl in the story. There are 14 stories. Each one has a Bible verse with it that compliments it and an envelope that you open and read a letter from God. I field tested this book on my little neighbor kids and they loved reading the letters because it starts Dear ---- and then you fill in the child you are reading it to name. It felt so personal to them they paid a little more attention. The letter includes a little challenge or encouragement and a little more of the story and is signed Love, God.
The illustrations are sweet with plenty to see on each page. Very well done, fun colors with nice details.
I think this would make an excellent gift for a young girl. My teenage girls thought it was a little too childish, of course.
If you wish to buy the book you can get it at either CBD or at Amazon.

Many Blessings on Your reading,
Anna

You Carried Me

I had the opportunity to read You Carried Me a daughter's memoir this past month. It greatly touched me. It is the story of Melissa Ohden and her mother's botched abortion and how that affected both of their lives.

I am a sucker for memoirs. I love to read about real people and their real lives. It is who I am. As a teen a friend thought I was overly snoopy so as an adult I have tried to moderate that, but I am sure that plays into my love for memoirs as probably my favorite form of literature. So now let me tell you a little about this book.

Melissa grew up in a good home knowing she was adopted but not the details surrounding her birth. How would you tell your precious child that their biological parents had tried to kill them. Not something most of us are equipped to deal with nor sure on how to share. So as a teen she abruptly found out and consequently did not deal with the information well. She lived a very destructive lifestyle while at the same time holding it together enough to finish high school and enter college. At some point she started trying to find her biological parents to find out their story and the why to what happened to her. Through searching for them, being disappointed and finding bits and pieces she began to find forgiveness and peace in her history. She discovered that forgiveness is not just for the offender but also for the offended. It releases some of the pain and hurt you are bearing.

We live in a nation where abortions are encouraged and made to seem insignificant and harmless and that just isn't the case. There are serious negative repercussions to all involved in an abortion. This book isn't preachy but does point those consequences out.

Something I thought was sad and interesting is that people often doubted her story and tried to discredit it. Making her feel as if she was the sinner in the situation. Abortion survivors often don't share that part of their history because of the way they are received when others know.

This was a very well written book with a lot of thought provoking details that will make you think. I highly recommend it!

I received my copy from Plough publishing to read and review the book here on my blog.

of stillness and storm

I received an advance copy of the book of stillness and storm in the mail a few weeks back. It was a surprise. I guess I signed up to review it but do not recall doing so. Doesn't matter, I like to read and the book looked interesting so read it I did. I really enjoyed it. I didn't know what the purpose of the book was when I read it; I just read it as a piece of fiction and did wonder at times the point of the book. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it more knowing a little about it or not, but here are a few details to tell you about of stillness and storm.

It is a book about Lauren and her life. Bouncing from her time in college when she met her husband, to whom she is married, to their life in Kathmandu and what brought them there.

This book brings up some good points on the importance of marriage and treasuring it. Doing what is necessary to protect it, but also finding your boundaries to set to keep you being you and not getting lost in someone else's dreams. A fine line that can be difficult to balance. But the biggest thing is finding the joy that brought you together and keeping it alive. Not allowing separate relationships and other busy-nesses to pull you apart from being a couple doing service for God.
In this book Sam (Lauren's husband)  has a passion to do mission work abroad and Lauren can't get herself fitted into it so there is a lot of tumult around their relationship which goes into their relationship with their son (Ryan).
Who is the main purpose of this book. To remind us that our children should be our first mission field and the rest of the world after that. Don't allow your "calling" to pull you away from being your children's parents who show them Jesus. Make sure your decisions to serve others also bring your children closer to God and not resenting Him. But at the same time don't let your concern for not offending your children keep you from being Jesus to others. I fully believe your children can get on board with just about any service project/mission field if you lead them into it with love and earnest diligence.
I do not like the way she ended the book I think there could have been a happier ending, But that isn't always the case, happy endings can be illusive. So if you want to know the story I suggest you read the book. You won't be sorry.

There is a bit of a give away going with this book release if you would like to enter it.

Many Blessings,
~Anna

She Believes - A book review

This is a really, really good book. I have loved all of her illustrations and the Bible verses she used were excellent at getting me thinking. Encouraging a closer walk with God, and others. Debbie makes the book feel very personal and that she cares about me and wanting me to have a fuller life with God.
Anyone struggling with their purpose should read this book. Anyone wanting a closer relationship with God should read this book. There are some true stories that really hurt your heart to hear about what people do to others so be aware of that for a young reader. But most of the book is free from any thing that would offend, just a challenge to love Jesus more.
The first couple chapters are reminders of how special you are to God and if You are special to God then you are here for a purpose. How God loves YOU!
Then she moves on to showing us how if we have a good relationship with God our whole life is Blessed. Our relationship with others is so much better if God is in our life. When our heart is in the right place our actions follow. She reminds us that what we put into our minds comes out in our actions. Just like good food is important for our body, so is good nourishment of our soul.
Often we think we can hide our bad attitudes, our sinful secrets but they always come out somehow. In the way we treat others and ourselves. Sure bad times will come our way but the way we react to it will make a huge difference. When you are singing about Jesus it is so much harder to feel down and sometimes that is what you have to do. Start singing and praising Jesus and the feeling of Joy will follow.
Friendship is so important. Surrounding yourself with people you can love and be loved by is very important. We need to follow Jesus example and be a friend to all. He didn't have any barriers from being a friend to others. Social status, race, gender, he was a friend to all. Everyone brings a different flower for the bouquet and makes it so much more vibrant, the more the merrier. Finding a family of believers to belong to, whom you feel at home with and loved is so important for your happiness.

So in closing, this book is great. I feel like I didn't give it a fair chance in this review, it is pretty choppy so don't judge the book by my review. Give it a chance.

I was given this book to share an honest review about it.
Peace,
~Anna

A Prince Noah Story -a book review

Prince Noah and the School Pirates

A sweet story about a little guy with trisomy 21. This book in its own right would be a book I would enjoy reading but for the past six months we have been caring for a little guy with Down Syndrome so the topic is even more near and dear to my heart.
Noah lives in a place where all the kids go to school separately. The boys here, the girls here, the lame to another one, the blind to yet another one and so on. It was very segregated and no one knew why that is just the way it was, and it was boring. Then one day there was a big storm with Pirates, they were forced together. It was Great! Everyone brought something to the group and they were able to escape because they all worked together. Even the kids who were viewed as not so useful were needed to get out. When it was all done and they were safe they realized they needed each other.

This book has colorful, engaging pictures and an easy reading style that most will enjoy. My daughters thought this bool was wonderful and cute. They were charmed by it. They recommend that you all read it.

I was given this book by Handlebar Publishing for me to do an honest review.

Blessings,
~Anna

A Book Review

Rasmus and the Vagabond  by Astrid Lindgren.
When I saw that there was a book by Astrid that I hadn't read I was quite excited and knew that I would like to review it. Because I grew up reading the Pippi Longstocking stories and always wished there were more of them. Several years ago I discovered that our library had a few more books by Ms. Lindgren but they didn't have Rasmus and the Vagabond, so I now I have read another book to add to my list of books to recommend to tween readers, but any age would enjoy it.

Rasmus is a boy who doesn't have parents and feels like there has to be more to life than waiting for a couple to come choose him at the children's home he is living in. He is tired of all the work he has to do for the Head Mistress and wants to feel the love of a mother. And, he has heard that mothers only want curly haired girls so he feels he has no hope in finding a permanent family. He thinks maybe if he goes out on his own he will be able to find a family of his own faster. Rasmus and the Vagabond is the story of his finding his very own family through several adventures along the way. I completely enjoyed this book and think you will too.

You can find this book on Christian Book Distributors and Amazon and possibly at your local library.

Thank you Handlebar Publishing for sharing this book with me.

A Book Review; J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne

This book is a brief biography of the life and times of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. I chose to read this book because I have never been very into The Hobbit or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's books but yet I am impressed that his books have been so widely read and so popular for many years. I wanted to know the man behind the books. I now want to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The book spent a fair amount of time explaining different parts of the trilogy and where in his life he was at when he wrote it. Mr. Tolkien was part of reading and book circles most of his adult life  and received much encouragement from the men in these groups to pursue his creative writing. It was neat to know that the books began as stories he wrote for his children each Christmas, year after year. Although this book did tell about J.R.R. Tolkien it did it in a very factual way, rather than in a story form. Not bad, but not as entertaining as it could be.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Savoring the end of summer

Here is a 'brief" synopsis of our perfect summer day, in pictures. We have had a lot of wonderful days recently. Weather and activity wise. I feel saddened that summer is coming to an end and the freedom it brings from knuckling down to schoolwork. Learning in a leisurely way is fun, though not productive enough to allow to go on always. I am trying not to feel too sad that we haven't gotten in as many bike rides and canoe trips as I had wanted this summer. Maybe fall will give us several more opportunities for those things.

So, onto today's delights,

We started the day off at the baseball diamonds. It was a sunny, high wind day and so delightful to be out in. Here is Gregory with some of his team mates, the Brown Cannon Balls! They were in great form, all of them, hardly ever getting struck out. The Green Lightnings were playing a mean outfield so they had to run fast to get on base.

This noon Harrison and Gregory were wanting to get right onto the computer when we returned home so I was suggesting books for them to read. Harrison thinks he has read all of the books in this house that interest him so I was trying to give him some new ideas. We have a lot of great books around here that he hasn't read, although he has read a large percentage of them, there are a few gems left. Today however was not the day to deviate from the old tried and true and this time he introduced one of his favorites to Gregory. For an hour after lunch Harrison read out loud the Boys Book of Sea Fights by Chelsea Curtis Fraser. I have never read the book but I think Harrison has read it enough times for every one in this house to have read it at least once. I should look and see if Chelsea has written any other books. This one is a good fit for him, in that it is geography and fighting in one cover.

We played board games and then while I let everyone have their computerized time I ran and got groceries. I have been on an every other week big grocery shopping, little grocery shopping pattern. The little week I just get the basics at Kwik Trip since they have the best price on milk and bananas. This was the big week. Some played dolls. I was the grandma and had to pick the beans for supper with a doll on my hip. Because Suzy wanted to see Grandma. For supper we enjoyed beans cooked in olive oil and a liberal amount of slivered garlic; fresh tomatoes; apples (from our tree) fried in butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; round steak baked in a lovely gravy and mashed potatoes. I actually had salmon since I am not eating beef right now. But the gravy looked and smelled very lovely. All in all it was a yummy meal. Although I threw in a picture of my lemon drop pepper plant we didn't eat any of those, I just like how many peppers it has on it. And they played some basketball.

So the end of a good day has come. I am including a picture from our walk on Monday evening since it fits the theme so well. They have been overhauling the train tracks the last week or so so we needed to check out their progress.

All my love,

~Anna

Book Review

This is a review for the book Pujols, More Than the Game.

I need to do a bit of a disclaimer about myself before I tell you my opinion on the book. I am not a huge baseball fan, in fact I hadn't even heard of Albert Pujols before I read this book, so I probably shouldn't have chosen to read it, but I read more than the game in the title and thought that meant it would be more his life than about baseball statistics.

Albert Pujols sounds like a very neat guy. He has amazing baseball skills and a deep love for the Lord. He has a desire to serve and help children with down syndrome and their families. He also does alot for the people in the Dominican Republic, which is where he is from. The chapters telling about these works were very fun to read. Unfortunately a lot of chapters spent a lot of time telling about his hitting percentages, RBIs and game plays from games throughout the years, that for a baseball fan would be very interesting to read, but for me was only tedium. What I got out of this book is that Albert Pujols is a very hard working, studious baseball player that wants to do his very best for his team the Cardinals and give the honor to God. He is also very dedicated to being a great father and husband.

So, if you are a sports fan you will probably love this book if you aren't, this book may not be for you.

My Winter Reading

I have read several books this winter. Some of them I have really enjoyed. So I thought I would share those with you in case you are looking for a good book for your quiet times. A couple were written by friends of ours and that makes them even more special. (Although harder to get, it appears to me, your library isn't likely to host them).

I am going to put these in no other order than random, since I can't choose a favorite and that seems easiest.

This first one was written by a good family friend of ours named Molly Hymes. I Remember When is full of information on how the Alaskans lived before electricity and snowmobiles and so many things that have changed their way of life in the last 50 years or so. It is memories from her childhood on living a subsistence style life in a harsh climate. The beginning of each chapter has a Yupik word and its meaning and then the chapter further describes that word. The book moves quickly and reads easily. It was really fun to get that insight into Molly's life.

The Dash For Khartoum A tale of Nile Expedition by G A Henty. This is a really old book. Its copyright is in the late 1800's. It was very interesting about boys who had been mixed up shortly after birth and no one was able to tell which was which. The one family was significantly wealthier than the other and it was decided that they should raise both and when it became obvious which boy belonged to which family they were to be separated. The boys were raised as twins and unaware that anything was unusual with their parentage. Because of various happenings they get separated in their teen years and both become soldiers for the British army. Through various adventures in Africa we learn how they find their parents. I don't want to give away the story so I won't share any more. I think Harrison would like this book but I haven't been able to get him to read it. One more thing of interest about this book is that I read it all on my computer. Amazon has a lot of free books for Kindle and this was one of them. If you download their app for reading kindle books on a pc you can read it there as well.

The Incredible Secrets of Vinegar by Marie Nadine Antol was a really amazing book full of great ideas for using vinegar, getting you excited to use more vinegar and the history of vinegar. Also it must be a pretty popular book because I had to wait for it while others had it checked out at our library and then I wasn't allowed to keep it any longer because someone else wanted their turn. Anyways, I do want to recheck it out and browse through it some more. I felt like I learned some good stuff from it.

The Joyce Lumber Story Timber Connections by Warren Jewett and Susan Hawkins. We were good friends of Warren when we lived in Grand Rapids so that is the reason I own this book. We also loved to hike, picnic and camp on the Joyce estate north of Grand Rapids when we lived there and I always enjoyed dreaming about the family who had lived on that property. The book gave a lot of information about other Joyce business ventures and not just the history of their time in that area. It starts with the first Joyce in America (1799) and takes you all the way to the last Joyce, Beatrice who died in 1972. If you are researching the logging industry during those years this book would be an excellent resource, if you have lived in northern Mn, parts of IA, and WI this book would be interesting to learn about the early settling of those areas.

I don't really think I will ever out grow my love for Madeleine L'Engle books. They aren't perfect for sure but such good reading, I do think. Margaret really liked this one, A Ring of Endless Light. She beat me to it and so I had to wait for it. I also read Camilla by her as well. It wasn't her best. I want to read the rest of her Austin family series of which this A Ring of Endless Light is one. I read the first in the series years ago and really enjoyed it then but didn't realize it had family.

This book Abbi gave me and I enjoyed it so much I have shared it with several since I read it. The Heart Mender, A Story of Second Chances by Andy Andrews. I don't think his parents had much of an imagination when they named him but he really does a good job writing books. This is a true story and very touching. It had history about World War II that I hadn't realized before this fall. I highly recommend Heart Mender!

It probably shouldn't have been my first time to read To Kill A Mockingbird, but it was. I totally enjoyed it. Sad and touching, that is probably my favorite genre and what I lean towards when choosing a book.

The kids and I have been reading this every evening after I tuck them into bed. Gets us our daily dose of American history in short clips. It always seems to open up a new discussion as well. We have really enjoyed The American Patriot's Almanac by William J Bennett.

Happy reading,

~Anna

Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones

This is a story of a young woman struggling to fund her non profit young woman's home and the surprising way she manages to keep it afloat. This book was a just for fun read that I totally enjoyed and am so glad I got it. It was just the book to sit back and relax with. This is a romance that is clean and positive, I felt comfortable allowing my ten year daughter to read it as well. It has quite a bit of humor that kept her drawn into the story. She enjoyed sharing the funny tidbits with her siblings once she was finished with it. Margaret and I agreed that we didn't think the cover picture fit the character or book, so don't judge the book by it's cover :)

Although Save the Date is a romance that was a lot of fun to read, it also had a good message about contentment, grace, forgiveness and how much we need Christ in our lives.

Words to describe this book could be: energetic, surprising, uplifting, perky, and captivating. So if you have some time to relax you would enjoy this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

I have recently had the pleasure of reviewing another book for Booksneeze. The book: Voices of the Faithful, Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving around the World compiled by Kim Davis and Beth Moore. This book was put together as a daily reading devotional with a verse, a short story, and a prayer on each page. At the end of each story it tells the missionaries name or initials and the country in which they were serving when this story occurred. Occasionally the days go together but usually they are unrelated and by different missionaries. Between each month is a longer devotional or challenge by Beth Moore. At the very end of the book there are a few pages set aside to help you and your church find ways to be more involved in mission work by more active prayer or the many other ways you too can serve. It is a very enjoyable, and touching read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The American Patriot's Almanac

This is a review of the book The American Patriot's Almanac. This book is a treasure trove of cool facts about our wonderful country. Sometimes significant, some times rather insignificant, but always interesting. For example November 6th tells us about the first football game between Rutgers and the College of New Jersey. Besides a short article about something that happened on that day in our history there is 4-5 more quick facts at the bottom of each page. Between the months are other special bits of info, between September and October there are a whole host of patriotic songs and the way they came into being, when they were popular and the words for that song. This book is written in an easy to read but detailed style making it enjoyable for most ages to read and listen too. I think this will be a wonderful addition to our schooling for learning our United States History. Tying it into the day something happened gives it added interest. This is also a beautifully bound book, lovely to have sitting out for casual reading in a sitting room.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Lee, A Life Of Virtue

This is a book review for the book, Lee A Life of Virtue.  
I found this to be an excellent book. Both enjoyable to read and full of educational facts. If you are studying the Civil War, great leaders or other random American histories this would be a good book to choose. Mr. Perry gives you background into the Lee family as well as showing you the beginning of Robert E. Lee's life and married years before the war. Since I was raised and have spent all my years in the north I have felt like the civil war had merit. In reading this book you realize there are two sides to every tale. I had known that Lincoln's reason for the war was not slavery but unification of our nation and this book lends more evidence to that. During the war years in this book it also lets you see just how horrible war is and how hard we should try to avoid it. That may not have been intended by the author, but it is certainly brought out in the statistics of the battles you read of. After reading this book I continue to feel great respect for the man, General Robert E. Lee! 
I received this book through Booksneeze, an excellent way to get free books!

same kind of different As me

This is a review of the book same kind of different As me.  I will say this is the best book I read this summer. It is a very moving story that has been excellently written. It tells the story of Ron Hall and Denver Moore. They came from different backgrounds and made different choices with their lives until they came together in Fort Worth, Texas because of Ron's wife's vision to help the homeless there. She forced herself upon Denver and much was changed. A wide variety of emotions will hit you as you read same kind of different As me. I highly recommend this book.
I reviewed this book for Booksneeze an excellent way to get books.


~Anna 

Billy Graham His Life and Influence

This is a review of the book Billy Graham His Life and Influence by David Aikman. I was looking for a fun read about an influential person in our times. It turned out to be a very dry scientific look at how he influenced the world during his time of ministry. This book spent a lot of time explaining his theology and what brought him to that belief. The book did impress me in the honesty and humility that Billy had, even though it seemed he searched for famous people to talk to. If you are doing research on the man this is the book for you. If you are a casual reader interested in a fun biography, you may not be as interested in reading it.

I am reviewing this book for Booksneeze, whom I received it from for free.

James Herriot

For the last year, or maybe more the kids and I have been reading these books in the evenings when Travis is not home. (He always reads when he is home). I started them because Margaret has often thought that she would like to be a vet, and because I had fond memories of them. I think she has grown out of that ambition but none of us grew tired of this series. For me they work best as read a loud books since he does throw in quite a bit of rough language that I would prefer my children not reading. Aside from the language it is a very wholesome story of life as a vet in Darrowby England before, during and after World War II. There were many evenings that at least one of the chapters had Harrison and I laughing pretty hard. And several had me in tears (but that is pretty easy).

They make for an excellent animal anatomy science class I am sure. We certainly know more about labor and delivery of cows, sheep and pigs then we ever did before these books.

I know this series of books was made into a video series at one time. Sometime soon I want to check them out from our library and see if they are very good viewing.

Happy Reading!

~Anna

Projects

I was given some time last week so I thought I had better get something done with it. So I painted the upstairs bathroom green and the girls' dressers I sanded down, glued a few loose corners and then painted.

It didn't take me long to tell you what I did, but it took me several days to get the jobs done.

All I wanted to do was read a book I had started on the weekend. I like to read but I don't like to wait to finish the book. If I enjoy it I have a hard time doing my other responsibilities. I would like to just see how the book ends. I am still waiting to see how this book ends as I have only made it half way through it and I read more than I didn't read as I was riding to Bemidji this past weekend and most of the way home. Oh well someday in the next month I will finish it. In general I guess I prefer books that are for fun that aren't 1168 pages long. I am just to slow of a reader.

Well I am off to read,

~Anna

Happy Birthday Wilson Bentley

We had a Birthday Party for Snowflake Bentley today.

He would have been 145 today. His life's passion was snowflakes.

Their many intricacies were very fascinating to him. So in honor of him we,

made snowflakes ourselves! Naturally, we read a book together about Willie. It is a fun book that you might like to read also called Snowflake Bentley. We also made indoor snowmen! Working hard building just the right man. This one is a soldier.

A close up of the soldier.

You have to work fast or you have a puddle instead of a snowman.

Also to honor him we scooped our driveway, again.

Wilson Bentley took amazing pictures of snowflakes. He was the one who discovered that there are not two snowflakes alike. He spent all his winters trying to capture as many flakes as he could.

A pretty interesting guy.

Tomorrow has several more amazing people's birthday's on it. I don't think we will have time for a celebration of them though. To bad.

Blessings to you,

~Anna

Beanie Babies

It all started when Beatrice checked out 10 or so Berenstain Bear books from the library. When I was reading this one to the kids I realized they were talking about Beany Babies and I reminisced to them how people really were quite crazy about these silly little toys while I was pregnant with Harrison. It was fun remembering.

Now for two days these creatures have been attending church faithfully. They are learning to bow their heads when the preacher prays and learning many songs. See the guy at the hockey puck is the minister on his stage. The crew all lined up on the carpet is the congregation.

Peace,

~Anna