This book surprised me! I was skeptical about bringing all this fanciness into my world;) I have several friends who are mothers to girls and they have spoken of this book with fondness in their eyes. I thought it would just be a fun read that Korwyn and I could use as a basis for future fun adventures. The communication, bond, and interest illustrated between parent and child in this adorable story is priceless! I loved how Nancy wanted so much to share her view with her family, but most of all how they set aside time to be interested in what interested her. Her gratefulness was wonderful and the ending superb!
"Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others." -Philippians 2:4
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Oops-a-Daisy by Clarie Freedman
Although this is a picture book, it is great for older children and adults because there are lots of words. Growing up especially in our spiritual lives is hard and requires perseverance!! Daisy must try again and again to get that hop under control. Giving up cannot be an option! Many, many times in life failure and "hippity-hoppity-flop..., slippety-flippity..., whoopsity-oopsity..., crashity-smashity...,and bumpity-thumpity" HAPPENS! But that is all part of the journey!
Right now the fellas are learning golf and they have had to learn this lesson the hard way. For the present shot, they must through off the past, both the good shots and the sad shots. The other day they were playing number 10 at Countryland, the hole on which Dax achieved his very first par. Cole had played it well too during the trip before. They were so stuck in the good memory, they flubbed up the present shots a bit.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." -Hebrews 12:1-3
Right now the fellas are learning golf and they have had to learn this lesson the hard way. For the present shot, they must through off the past, both the good shots and the sad shots. The other day they were playing number 10 at Countryland, the hole on which Dax achieved his very first par. Cole had played it well too during the trip before. They were so stuck in the good memory, they flubbed up the present shots a bit.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." -Hebrews 12:1-3
Friday, April 5, 2013
Tell Me About Your Day Today by Mem Fox
This story has the potential to begin a great tradition in a family! This boy has a special outlook on life as well as special interactions with his "friends". Shows how sharing our adventures and becoming intertwined with one another can make a bigger story and we can be a part of something that is more than ourselves if we use our imagination and engage.
Who Loves the Little Lamb? by Lezlie Evans
...and the hungry beast, the naughty kid, and the noisy bird? Great picture book about unconditional love!! It is unconditional from parental point of view but explaining the Source of that is such an opening. Situations and consequences are varied in this adorable story!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
I Love You This Much by Lynn Hodges and Sue Buchanan
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge --that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." -Ephesians 3:16-21
For years, before I was blessed in motherhood, I used these verses as the basis for my main hope and prayers over special young people that God allowed me to meet. That list that I lift up grows longer and longer and I have now added my biological children's names along with the children of some of those young people.
The words above have such power and depth and the ones in bold print are printed at the beginning of this precious children's book. It is a "song of God's love" and our copy even has a music CD included. It illustrates just how much a mother bear loves her baby bear, "best...most...high...low...deep...wide."
My mom and I used to jokingly argue about who loved whom the most. Since I have become a mother myself, I have started to concede to her (just here, of course, not face to face;). The reason: I am convinced my kids have not one clue of how much I love and adore them, so maybe I have never really understood the extent of my mother's love. No matter how much I tell them, or hug them, or be silly with them, or correct them, I don't think they will glimpse it until they are parents themselves.
I feel this way about our former students as well. Unless they experience loving others the way we experienced God loving them in our hearts, they will never know how much we care. And they nor we could create that. They just have to surrender their inner beings to Him and "out of his glorious riches" He can strengthen their "power to grasp."
One of my favorite phrases is "this love that surpasses knowledge". I know my precious Dax is going to wrestle with this. He really values knowledge right now and I am afraid that he may value it for a long while (like some of his DNA contributors). It is hard when knowledge gets knocked off its "high horse" but I am praying for all of them (not Dax alone) to accept their "dirt for brains" and be loved "in their inner beings" and for "Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith".
For years, before I was blessed in motherhood, I used these verses as the basis for my main hope and prayers over special young people that God allowed me to meet. That list that I lift up grows longer and longer and I have now added my biological children's names along with the children of some of those young people.
The words above have such power and depth and the ones in bold print are printed at the beginning of this precious children's book. It is a "song of God's love" and our copy even has a music CD included. It illustrates just how much a mother bear loves her baby bear, "best...most...high...low...deep...wide."
My mom and I used to jokingly argue about who loved whom the most. Since I have become a mother myself, I have started to concede to her (just here, of course, not face to face;). The reason: I am convinced my kids have not one clue of how much I love and adore them, so maybe I have never really understood the extent of my mother's love. No matter how much I tell them, or hug them, or be silly with them, or correct them, I don't think they will glimpse it until they are parents themselves.
I feel this way about our former students as well. Unless they experience loving others the way we experienced God loving them in our hearts, they will never know how much we care. And they nor we could create that. They just have to surrender their inner beings to Him and "out of his glorious riches" He can strengthen their "power to grasp."
One of my favorite phrases is "this love that surpasses knowledge". I know my precious Dax is going to wrestle with this. He really values knowledge right now and I am afraid that he may value it for a long while (like some of his DNA contributors). It is hard when knowledge gets knocked off its "high horse" but I am praying for all of them (not Dax alone) to accept their "dirt for brains" and be loved "in their inner beings" and for "Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith".
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
[Annabeth]"...But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?
'Um...no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare,'"[Percy]
Dax was introduced to Percy Jackson and the Olympians series at school. I began to read them to know what the content was but mostly because I wanted to be interested in his interests. The author-reader friendship between Mr. Riordan and myself surprised me in the first book, The Lightening Thief. I had begun the book to be in Dax's world, not expecting to find it interesting myself. It wasn't until page 200 of this second book, though, that I resounded so much with one line!!! I have thought this line many times in my own life. Unfortunately just because I don't want to run THE whole world doesn't mean I don't step in and try to run MY world from time to time. That too is a nightmare! It is often in new times, beginnings, like at year's start when I begin to orchestrate and manipulate. Striking balance in motivation and dependence, influence and control is challenging. I can choose to turn the reigns over, though, and only when I surrender each day, sometimes moment by moment, does the nightmare lift.
"I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated this world."[Jesus] -John 16:33
"Some trust in chariots, others in horses, but we trust in the LORD our God."[King David] - Psalm 20:6
"Trust the LORD with all you heart, and don't depend on your own understanding. Remember the LORD in all you do, and he will give you success. Don't depend on your own wisdom...[Solomon] -Proverbs 3:5-7a [Reminder to self: "He will give success'; I will not achieve; there is a difference.]
'Um...no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare,'"[Percy]
Dax was introduced to Percy Jackson and the Olympians series at school. I began to read them to know what the content was but mostly because I wanted to be interested in his interests. The author-reader friendship between Mr. Riordan and myself surprised me in the first book, The Lightening Thief. I had begun the book to be in Dax's world, not expecting to find it interesting myself. It wasn't until page 200 of this second book, though, that I resounded so much with one line!!! I have thought this line many times in my own life. Unfortunately just because I don't want to run THE whole world doesn't mean I don't step in and try to run MY world from time to time. That too is a nightmare! It is often in new times, beginnings, like at year's start when I begin to orchestrate and manipulate. Striking balance in motivation and dependence, influence and control is challenging. I can choose to turn the reigns over, though, and only when I surrender each day, sometimes moment by moment, does the nightmare lift.
"I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated this world."[Jesus] -John 16:33
"Some trust in chariots, others in horses, but we trust in the LORD our God."[King David] - Psalm 20:6
"Trust the LORD with all you heart, and don't depend on your own understanding. Remember the LORD in all you do, and he will give you success. Don't depend on your own wisdom...[Solomon] -Proverbs 3:5-7a [Reminder to self: "He will give success'; I will not achieve; there is a difference.]
Friday, November 9, 2012
Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne
I love this author! I love this book! There is so much here and yet one can easily miss it. It is a simple story told from 4 differing perspectives about taking a trip to the same park. The words tell part of the story, the fonts tell part of the story, the characters tell part of the story, THE ILLUSTRATIONS are the story! Those who have "outgrown" pictures (or who think they are too good for pictures) will be lost and will miss the strength of the message. One of my favorite things about the book are the things to which each character is blind. This book definitely is a wonderful display of what I read in Matthew 6:22-23:
"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." -1Samuel 16:7
Dax (almost 9) saw a stack of books and knew I had been to the library. He just finished Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightening Thief and needed something for his 20 minutes of reading for homework. He asked me which I suggested. Upon first reading it alone, he rated it as "not my favorite." He never once took notice of the pictures and read it strictly as he would a chapter book only he didn't even pick up the change in fonts. Later while David had taken Cole to a birthday party and K was sleeping, I asked if he'd like to read it together; he conceded because he will take any snuggle time we get when the others are away. As we read and discussed the pics, he became animated in the hunt for clues in the illustrations and began to interpret some things similarly to my earlier interpretations and some differently. I realized that we too had different angles on the book much like the characters had different angles on the park; perspectives and opinions can be synonomous. In that moment, my heart yearned to have my Father's angle on people and things. I have been drawn to truth for much of my life both practically and Absolutely; begging Him at times to let me see reality and not my own perception. But with Dax reading this book at this juncture I long for His Angle / His Opinion, to see the proverbial "park" not exactly as the "park" is but as He sees it!
This was momentary. Two days later and after this morning of getting the boys up and off to school, I confess I did not see them the way He does this morning. I hope and pray for more moments and maybe just maybe moment by moment I will give to Him and become more like Him!
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." -1Samuel 16:7
Dax (almost 9) saw a stack of books and knew I had been to the library. He just finished Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightening Thief and needed something for his 20 minutes of reading for homework. He asked me which I suggested. Upon first reading it alone, he rated it as "not my favorite." He never once took notice of the pictures and read it strictly as he would a chapter book only he didn't even pick up the change in fonts. Later while David had taken Cole to a birthday party and K was sleeping, I asked if he'd like to read it together; he conceded because he will take any snuggle time we get when the others are away. As we read and discussed the pics, he became animated in the hunt for clues in the illustrations and began to interpret some things similarly to my earlier interpretations and some differently. I realized that we too had different angles on the book much like the characters had different angles on the park; perspectives and opinions can be synonomous. In that moment, my heart yearned to have my Father's angle on people and things. I have been drawn to truth for much of my life both practically and Absolutely; begging Him at times to let me see reality and not my own perception. But with Dax reading this book at this juncture I long for His Angle / His Opinion, to see the proverbial "park" not exactly as the "park" is but as He sees it!
This was momentary. Two days later and after this morning of getting the boys up and off to school, I confess I did not see them the way He does this morning. I hope and pray for more moments and maybe just maybe moment by moment I will give to Him and become more like Him!
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