Five Brides- A book review

I enjoyed the setting of this light reading novel. Five women end up being roommates in Chicago in 1950. Betty is local. Joan is arriving from England and Evelyn from Georgia. The other two flat mates are sisters from Minnesota who want to escape the restrictions of their Bible professor father. City life holds excitement and new freedom.

The author reserves space in the story for each girl’s history and personality, however developing five characters doesn’t allow for extensive background on each individual. The information is sufficient enough to help us appreciate the unique challenges each one encounters.

Buying a wedding dress together symbolizes the mutual desire of the girls to one day marry someone special.  By the end of the book, the reader has followed five romances and become marginally acquainted with five gentlemen. The courtships are sweet stories although the story lines are very predictable. Each girl approaches her faith from different levels of maturity, but the book espouses moral excellence and fits culture mores of the time period.

The author has based the book on a true story related to her by one of the original five partners who bought the wedding dress together.  This women’s experience is represented factually while the other four stories are completely fictional.  Prepare for a cozy read that will warm hearts that enjoy romance.

I received this book from Tyndale publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Confessions of a Boy-Crazy Girl- A book review

 

Remembering days of my youth, my grandma heart was drawn towards the candor of this book title. Paula Hendrick’s voyage through boy-crazy turbulence holds many too-familiar descriptions of seeking attention of boys and needing to feel liked and attractive to them.  I see my grand daughters involved with guy relationships at very young ages. Add in the “helps” of technology like texting and facetime and it becomes a faster paced boy-craziness.

I was hoping this book would help me understand my past better and that it would be a good resource for the grand girls. Paula has helped me look back and confirm neediness that I experienced in my teens and young adult years. I could identify with lack of emotional relationship with my Dad, total focus on getting a guy to like me, reading Christian romance novels and wanting to feel loved and beautiful. Her evolving understanding of how immensely God loves her and allowing him to transform her thinking about herself is right on.  I reached similar conclusions in my own story.

Paula starts her story from the point of self awareness of her neediness and how her pursuit of boys had become an idol in her life.  The chapters are set up almost as a devotional with journal prompts, to help the reader do some reflective thinking. Her message is non-judgmental and very Bible based with scriptures, prayers and encouragement to the reader to be a student of the Bible. I come from a strong faith background and have a working knowledge of scripture, so I get where she is coming from and where she hopes to take young women.

However, I’m not certain the author’s style would engage the average teen reader who is saturated with today’s pop culture and media. She makes no reference to popular culture  in her own experience nor does she address current trends and the challenges of  technological influences. I would have liked the book to give more “story” about Paula's experiences before emphasizing her spiritual transformation and how she applied scripture to learn the lessons God was teaching her. The book will probably have best appeal to late  teens and on up who are actively seeking to live a faith-filled life.

Overall, this book contains a wonderful testimony that is very encouraging and will hopefully help many young Christian women who can identify with boy-craziness. I will donate my copy to the church library as a great resource for young adults and keep it in mind for sharing with family members as they get older.

I received this book from Moody Press publishers in exchange for my review.

Summer Visits 2015

The Okie Visitors- Josh, Kira and Brayden

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his grace continues forever;  Ps. 136:3 (CJB)

May summer graces set your paces today!

Summer is stepping out to the mailbox in the stillness of early morning and seeing a young buck staring me down from the side yard. I turn first to go back inside for my camera; he is gone.  There was majestic grace in the brief encounter.

Summer is having off from work for 5 weeks! I may not get paid high wages, but I do like the benefits of my academic library job. There is appreciative grace each morning I awake and say thank you for the new gifted day.

Summer is visits from kids who live far away.  The preparation is grace of anticipation, the time together priceless and the clean up, negligible. When are you coming again?

Summer is celebrating special days and outdoor fun.

Summer is garden goodness and hard sweaty work.

It was time for the visit from Josh and part of his family.  I bought a new vacuum cleaner for the occasion, well at least the purchase coincided with cleaning time for their arrival. To say my new nifty red upright made cleaning fun would be stretching the truth, but I did enjoy the huge improvement over the sucklessness of the old canister.

After sweeping carpet that only gets raked when rooms receive occupants and then scouring auxiliary baths, I was close to ready.   Grocery shopping and some baking thrown in finished the process.

The travelers numbered 5:  Josh, Kira, Brayden with Neo and Cozette, the dog members of the family. Our usually quiet quarters were filled with activity and movement.  The dining table became office space for Josh and Kira who both work from home. Brayden stretched his lanky body over sofas or insisted we play games with him whenever possible. His 14 year old energy source seldom took a break, so trips to the driving range, across the street to the basketball courts and out to eat helped keep him under control.

During evening games playing Rummikub, Euchre or Up and Down the River we trash talked our way to victories and mishandled defeats. Days included eating out in hometown restaurants, fixing sandwiches at home and keeping up with exercising. A fitbit competition among co-workers, kept Kira, counting every step she accrued during morning runs with Josh or walking the dogs, while Josh added workouts to his routine at the local gym. I stuck with my normal two mile walk, content with this 60s something body and it’s familiar limitations. Gone are any longings for fitbitting challenges or sore muscles from workouts!

Everyone played!!

 What else was in the family visit?  Good chats and discussions, a visit to cousins out of town,(thanks for hosting us, Chupps!) watching fireworks over the lake, an excursion to a Detroit Tiger’s game with an over- the -border visit to Windsor, Canada, and a grand cookout where I played sous chef to Josh who wowed us with his grilling skills. Austin and Ashley and Rowan joined us for a couple of days and Dan and family along with Kevin’s parents came over for the cookout. Later that night my sons and I had to honor the family tradition of a Scrabble skirmish.

Saganaki and Pasteries in Greektown.
                 OOMPA!

Everyone loves Baby Rowan!

Trying the new Goshen Brewery

Buddies!

Is that Kevin holding a dog??

Thanks for coming, Josh, Kira and Brayden!  We enjoyed our time together very much!

I’m gearing up for our next family visitors. Changing bedsheets, walking the floors behind the upright,  making plans to keep little people busy and anticipating good times with Jodi and her three preschool boys as they join us next week. I’ll need to pick up some more TP and take some naps and I should be good to go.

Thank you, Father, for family and kids who become friends and good company.  Thank you for grandchildren and for the fun of making memories. Your grace, indeed, continues forever.

He Never Gives Up

I love my smart phone!

Who could have imagined these devises 45 years ago when I was untethered from home base and 700 miles away cocooned in a small private college? One wall phone hung at the end of the hall on each dormitory floor. Whoever was close by would answer the call and yell out the name of the intended receiver. The only calls I remember getting were from my parents, and they made sure to inform me each time that they couldn't talk long or they'd "wrack up the bill".

As a young married mom with kids I stayed connected to other stay-at-home moms with the 30 foot extension cord of the home wall phone so I could talk and do dishes, load the washer in the next room or stretch it into the closet if I wanted some privacy.  Happy were the days when the cordless phone afforded talking anywhere in the house and parts of the driveway.

Then came the progression of the cell phone. Mine included a flip phone, then a slide-out for texting, a smart non-iPhone with WiFi internet hookup and finally, my creamy yellow iPhone 5 bought under contract with my daughter-in-law's data plan which covers all of my usage.

Now I can call, text, Facetime, do any internet work or fun, play my ongoing Words with Friends games, and read books on the Kindle app. (Just to mention the things I use it for most).  Goodby alarm clock, wristwatch, pocket calendar and address book. What a magic do-it-all that fits in my hand!

Last weekend I traveled about 50 miles to spend time with my son and family.  Baby Rowan was born almost two weeks before, and I was looking forward to a grandma fix. The family had moved before she was born and even though my husband had driven us to their new place before,  I turned on iPhone GPS and headed out with confidence. Missy iPhone got me there perfectly. Goodby, atlas!  (Well, not entirely. Those of you in my generation may understand the benefit of seeing the bigger picture map-without zooming or swiping a screen. The atlas will continue to accompany our longer road trips.)

On the way back, I didn't need Missy, but as I got closer to home I decided to test her smartness. Unlike the old Garmin we used before, Missy doesn't have to collect her wits and 'recalculate' whenever we turn a different way from her instruction.  Nor does she command us to make a U turn. She'll just take our new positioning and guide us from there. I had set her destination to my workplace, but intended to go to my house. With each 'wrong' turn I made, she had the next move ready to get me back towards my destination.  I could tell she was either getting me to go around the block or to make the next available right turn, if I missed her first one. Missy was relentless.  She wasn't giving up. She was determined to get me there!

As I observed her steadfastness, I thought of God's faithfulness to guide us. Of how he never gives up on us. Remember Moses and the excuses he clung to, to hopefully derail God's plan for him?
Moses: Who am I to do this?
God: Turn on Iamwithyou Street.
Moses: What if they don't believe me?
God: Turn right on Miracle Tricks Lane.
Moses: I'm not a good speaker.
God: Take the next turn on Iwillhelpyouspeakandteachyouwhattosay Street.
Moses: Please send someone else!
God: In a mile and a half, at Exit Frustration, turn towards Brother Aaron.
God kept guiding until Moses got there.

Or take Gideon.  He was a wimp hiding from enemies who were infiltrating his country.
God shows up and calls him a mighty man of valor and that the Lord is with him. Gideon wasn't going down that path.
Gideon: Yeah right! If that was so, then why is all this happening?
God: Go on Strength You Have Street.
Gideon: Are you kidding? I am the least in my family!
God: Turn on Iwillbewithyoustreet.
Gideon: Show me a sign so I know I'm going the right way.
God: Zap! See the fireworks?
Gideon: Too scary.  I'm turning around.
God: Take Peace Street and you'll arrive at your destination.

We are given chance after chance to get it right. God keeps guiding, keeps turning us in his way.

-Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”Isaiah 30:21niv
-Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.  Prov. 3:6msg
-You will show me the path that leads to life;  Psalms 16:11gnt
-Your constant love is my guide; your faithfulness always leads me. Psalms 26:3gnt
-We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.Ro. 8:28voice  (The destination is His plan and He'll keep working toward that no matter what happens or what we choose-if we love him and want to live in His plan)

And the times we sin and insist on going our own way? He does call for Repentance, a necessary U turn! 

If you're looking for some direction today, believe that He has a plan and will guide you into it. 
If you think you've completely messed up His GPS, believe He can work with untangling any 'lostness' you give to Him.  Let Him take over from here.
If you know you've deliberately chosen to not listen to Him, make a U turn and ask for His forgiveness and help in getting back on track.

I'm setting this as HOME; how about you?
You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.  Psalms 16:11nabre 
 
 

Book Review-Going the Distance

Going the Distance, by Stephen Elkins

This husband and wife team of authors has created an attractive package of book and activity in this great resource for youth.  Alec London is a sensitive, likeable kid who weathers disappointments and challenges with family and school mates. The reader feels his struggle as he wrestles with missing his mother, who is often away from home because of job obligations, enduring summer baseball camp, the up and down relationship with his older brother and an intimidating classmate.  Resolving his feelings often means turning his thoughts into prayers for help to do the right thing. 

Alec says, “Dad always gives me pretty much the same message as my teacher.  They both say how it’s important to give my all in everything I do.  It’s called ‘going the distance.” At the end of each chapter Alec expresses an honest summary of his conflict in a letter to his mom.

Besides the summary letter, each chapter ends with a word search game.  The back of the book offers discussion questions about the book and a few short resources to sharpen the reader’s English and math skills.  For instance, this particular book in the series includes a worksheet about baseball’s rules and fundamentals. Answer keys are provided for the word searches and the worksheets.

The adults in the book are great role models in spite of their weaknesses. Alec’s maturity for a fourth grader, his writing skills shown in his letters to his mom, and his personal relationship with God are exceptional and maybe unrealistic.  But the authors show a way for kids in this age group to reach for the God who is always there and who is very interested in the details of our lives.

I received this book from Moody Press publishers in exchange for my review.

Book Review-My Sing-Along Bible

My Sing-Along Bible by Stephen Elkins

When I received this book I was a bit skeptical that its contents would be full of quality and appealing to my over-exposed, media-trained grand kids.  I’ve read and heard “cheesy” Christian resources, and I’ve become quite a critic of how effective they are in competing with popular media.

I approve of this book.  I think it will hold young kid’s attention because of its simple layout.  The songs are catchy and have a lot of repetition in the lyrics which makes it easy to memorize them. The key to making this resource a success is in the enthusiasm of the reader and in providing exposure to the songs.  I can imagine children listening to this as they go to sleep at night or riding in the car. This will give 3-6 year olds an early dose of God’s word and build a faith foundation that will be in place for whatever other media captures their attention.

Each Bible story follows this format:

A few simple story lines to read aloud

A Scripture verse with reference

Written words of the companion song on the CD

A one sentence “little lesson” of the story

Bright, colorful simplistic drawings

The book has a soft board cover and a durable binding. A CD is included inside the front cover.

I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House.

Week's Review

Best of the week:

Not many weeks start with flowers on the kitchen counter, gifts, texts and phones calls throughout the day, but this one did. Mother's Day slam dunked into a fest of fun and goodwill. HH* and I enjoyed surprising his folks by showing up in the pew at their church and taking them out for lunch.  The day threatened to dump out rain showers, but no billowing gray clouds were going to keep us from bicycling to the local ice cream stand where HH treated me to my favorite coconut almond crunch sundae.  Thankfully, the weather cooperated. Calls from kids and calls to moms kept the ring tones jangling and the iPhone messaging center buzzing.

I'm thankful for the privilege of being a mom to wonderful kids and thankful for the women who have mothered me. While my mother is no longer here to honor in person, I often recall the good things she planted in my life. --knowledge and understanding about my heavenly Father, introduction to a relationship with Him, daily practices of worship, love for His Word, disciplines of hard work, perseverance in spite of weaknesses, unbroken connection to friends and family...and more.  My Dad gave her Bible to me recently, and I'm getting to see her heart up close and personal as I decipher the scribbles in the margins and find few pages unmarked with some underline or emphasis. No earthly inheritance compares to the legacy of faith and honor handed down from the generations that came before us.

I didn't always appreciate these gifts because I couldn't see past their outer wrappings or understand their value. But Time and Perspective are kind friends who patiently keep tenderizing my heart with grace, humility and charitable judgment.

Not the best of the week:

I found myself feeling insecure in my relationship with HH.  One incident that occurred brought hurt and my emotions refused to be assuaged. A few chats together to air things out and sweet talking our way back to closeness brought rest and comfort.  How quickly he and I can slide into our default modes of independence when demands of schedule and activities leave less time for togetherness. Knowing we need to be more intentional about relating in those times and actually doing it is the challenge. Energy is low and need for solo time is high. Expressing simple gestures of tenderness or using one of the many means of quick communication to make a connection goes a long way. We'll keep working on that while being deeply grateful for the gift of marriage.

*HH= Handsome Husband