What I am presently reading.

I was reading The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokov. I stopped over half way through. Decent book about WW2 Generation. I love reading biographies of people in WW2, however this collection of very small biographies was lacking for me. I think Brokovs purpose was to demonstrate how the people of that generation were able to accomplish so much through heroic decisions big and small and how they take nothing for granted (unlike the generations that follow). It's the kind of book that makes you proud to be an American and proud to have the heritage of these amazing men and women. I guess my only complaint was that the short biographies were too short:) oh well, I will just stick to my 500+ page biographies. If you haven't read Boenhoffer's biography, you are missing out! You can read about this amazing book here.

Two books that I am presently reading and enjoying are:

No Ordinary Home by Carol Brazo
http://www.amazon.com/No-Ordinary-Home-Christ-Centered-Homemaking/dp/0880707445


For the Sake of the Children by Susan Schaeffer, wife of Francis Schaeffer.
http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Sake-Foundations-Education-Child-Life/dp/089107290X

My crush on dead guys....what is up with that?

Another great read! If you have any interest in WWII or in theology, you will love this book. Metaxes does an amazing job of connecting the events that lead up to the war and Bonhoffers life without getting lost. Bonhoeffer was born into a well educated, prominent German family. He continued his well rounded education by going into theology. He was really drawn to the acedemic side of theology and his relationship with God grew from his studies. He became a pastor and eventually a spy working all his connections to benifit the assasination attemps of Hilter and the development of new leadership in Germany.

This book brought to light for me the German dilema and overall situation they were having to deal with in regards to Hitler. I typically thought that most Germans durning that time were decieved by the dictator and his men or in full support of him, but this is not so. There was a great fear and hatred of Hilter and what he was doing to the rest of the world as well their country which they were very prideful of. There were more opposed to him than fear would allow to bring to light.

Metaxes did an exceptional job of portraying Hilter's rise to power and how well organized and thought out it was from every last detail and how very few saw it coming. Those who did see it coming were always seeminly two steps behind. Those brave men and women who tried to do something about it were actually many. I guess you only hear about a few here and there but the fact that there were so many Germans who took great pride in their country, who wanted desperately to do something about the evil that had taken place in their country, but really had no way of doing anything.

I also loved Bonhoeffer as a man. My teenage girls(youth group) laugh at me because this year I have had two crushes on dead guys. The first being Martin Luther and now I think Bonhoeffer. Of course I am kidding, my love is for my husband but after reading this book I realize that my husband is more like Bonhoeffer than Martin Luther. Like my husband, Bonhoeffer was a thinker, reader and student of all sorts. He was wise in his descisions and thought out each and every one of them carefully. He did not make rash or careless decisions, but went to the Lord and HIs Word for guidance. He had a special, thriving relationship with God that others could evidently see in his life. He was a really amazing man, just like MY man.

1000 Gifts

I am reading a book call One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I hope to do a review of sorts later...only a 2 chapters to go.
The basic idea of the book is to stop and recognize God's grace in EVERY little thing. To Give Him praise for all the moments of the day. In doing this our hearts of worry, fear, apathy and tradgedy are truly change to a grateful heart full of thankfulness and trust in all HIs ways. Ann was challenged by a friend to write down 1000 gifts that she recognized in her day to day life and she started a gratitude journal, where she began to list all the beauties of God's gracious gifts........and now i am doing the same...so here goes my first post...of many.....


1. Little boy toys in my dirty mixing bowl.
2. Baby boy Cooper sleeping on couch, peaceful.
3. smell of curry filling and homemade pita all through the house.
4. Sabbath sun.

My week at a glance.

Cooper looking at books......love this...this is a big deal for my active boys!

Discovered Magic Tree House books and loving them during our daily reading times!!
Blanket I am trying to finish to send to Kevin's mom.

scarf I finished for kevin's mom.

The 1.99 gingerbread train I got for the boys to do...and all they wanted to do was eat the icing....so it died.

Monkey bread with sucanat and cinnamon....healthy and yummified!

oatmeal pancakes...our new addiction...and REALLY good for you!!

My bread...I do this about 3 times a week these days. I heart breadbekers!

Egg sandwich for lunch

Rearranging the furniture....and starting to think about going crazy with color.....i am getting out the paint brushes this weekend. These are the before pictures!

Love the mason jars for organizing our crafts!

A Mother's Heart

I am reading yet another amazing book. I have said before how much I love good books. I don't just love to read, I just love good books that change me, that make me think. This book is one of those. A Mother's heart by Jean Flemming. Wow!

Here are some things that hit me upside the head so far:

When talking about mom's being underchallenged and bored at home and the Great Commission(Matthew 28:18-20)

"No one who takes Christ's last words seriously need ever feel bored or underchallenged. Unless we mothers relate our lives to God's Great Commision, no matter how noble our goals for ourselves and our children are, we will miss the mark if we fail to experience this redemption personally and involve our lives in helping others experience it.
However, we sometimes view our children as a hindrance to our involvement in God's plan.......We need to remind ourselves and each other that our family is our primary ministry and not a frustrating obstacle to "real" ministry(pg 30)."

I need this reminder often. I love and enjoy my kids, and we are in the process of training them to be respectful of other adults when they are talking. They seem to be especially demanding when I have someone over or trying to talk on the phone, discipleship times and even the times I teach at church and drop them off at their classes.

..."i had nothing visible to show for my day, but i had spent time with God, i had focused attention on my children; I had made people more important than accomplishing tasks...."

"I will walk in my house with a blameless heart"(psalm101:2) When God speaks to me about being more loving, this verse reminds me tomake application with my family first-and then to others. It forces me to ask, "Am I more spiritual, more loving, or more fun somewhere else? Who gets my best, my family or others (pg 53)?"

"The goal of parenting is not for us to decide what we want our children to become and then ruthlessly teach, train, squeeze, badger and cajole them into that mold. Instead we recognize that God has already designed them. God already has a mature person and long range person in mind. Our job is to see our children as God does and involve ourselves in God's plans for them(pg 89)."

"I Corinthians 13, which I have paraphrased,

If I keep my house immaculately clean, and am envied by all for my interior decorating, but do not show love in my family- I am just another housewife.

If I am always producing lovely things-sweing, art; if I always look attractive, and speak intelligently, but am not loving my family-I am nothing.

If I am busy in community affairs, teach sunday school, and drive in the carpool, but fail to give adequate love to my family- I gain nothing.

Love changes diapers, cleans up messes and ties shoes-over and over again.

Love is kind, though tired and frazzled.

Love doesn't envy another wife-one whose children are spaced better, or in school so she has time to persue her own interests.

Love doesnt try to impress others with my abilities and knowledge as a mother.

Love doesnt scream at the kids.

Love doesnt feel cheated because i didnt get to do what i wanted to do today-sew, read, soak in a hot tub.

Love doesnt lose my temper easily

Love doesnt assume my children are being naughty just because their noise level is irritating.

Love doesnt rejoice when other peoples children misbehave and make mine look good. Love is genuinely happy when others are honored by their children."

These are just a few highlights...i HIGHLY recommend this book for mommies!!

Everyday talk about God and lawyers

This is my first post on my label "Everyday talk." "Everyday talk" was inspired by a few of my favorite books, Everyday Talk by John A.younts, Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tripp, Instructing a Child's heart by Tedd Tripp, A Mother's heart by Jean Flemming and best of all Dueteronomy chapter six by God.

Anyway, I was challenged by all of these authors to make the most of my everyday conversations with well...everyone, but especially my boys. So with that said, I am writing down ways we tend to talk about the Truths of Scripture and the Truths about God.

We stopped for lunch at chic-fil-a on our way back from KY and Elijah was arguing with me about something extremely insignigicant, and I told him he should be a lawyer. He asked me and kevin, "What's a lawyer." Well how do you describe a lawyer to a four year old. We fumbled for a second and then said,
"you know Elijah, how God has rules that we are to obey?"
"yes"
"Well God's rules are the most important rules there are but there are other rules we are suppose to follow too."
"the state of Ga has rules, and the whole united states has rules we have to follow or we will be disciplined if we don't, and a lawyer helps you if you get into trouble or if you are blamed for something you did not do. "

i hope this is a challenge to myself to speak of God at ever possible moment....

Biography of Bill Wallace: missionary to China

I love biographies! I just finished reading the story of Bill Wallace. I loved reading about him and his life devoted to God and the people of China, and the impact he had with amazing INTEGRITY and a strong, yet simple faith in God. The Dr. who gave up life in America and endless amounts of money to serve in a war stricken country, with impending wars to come, and ultimately gave his life for Christ and His cause.

It is so amazing to me that God uses a life of humilty and sacrifice, as he did with Wallace. Yes, he did have the status of being a Dr. but his life resembled humility as he took care of his patients and it was his integrity through out his life that really stuck out to the chinese people. He was not considered a great speaker or preacher, he served and loved.

Corrie ten boom: My hero.

Corrie ten Boom is by far one of my most favorite missionaries! I remember when I was a kid, watching "The Hiding Place," and how it it impacted my life! I could never forget it. I just finished another biography of hers and the Ten Boom family last night. It was so nice, because the boys were outside hanging out by the fire Kevin had made and I had some peace and quiet while i read in my chair with a cup of coffee. Ahh...i really can't remember the last time i got to do that!

Here is a little overview of Corrie Ten Boom's story:

Corrie and her family lived in Holland where here father was a clockmaker. They were strong believers in God and his Word. They loved the Lord and were very open about sharing His love with everyone. There lives got a bit more challenging when the Germans invaded Holland durning WWII. It was a process but they slowly lost almost all there freedoms even thought they were not Jewish. As the war progressed the Ten Booms knew they had to do something so they joined in on the underground movement where they hid Jews and others who were wanted by the Gestopo. They had a secret room in there house where they would hide those who were wanted. They did this with great effort, yet they were finally caught in a German raid. They were beaten to try to get information out of them regarding the underground movemnt, but they held there own. They were soon sent to a concentration camp where their father died. Then later as two of the sisters where in yet another concentration camp, Corrie's older sister died. Corrie was eventually released as the Allied Forces were taking over. Her story of survival and love for even the Germans who treated her so poorly is amazing. Her love for God and her contraband Bible was her lifeline. She and her sister would hold Bible studies in the concentration camps at night when there were no guards around and they would even pray for those who showed them nothing but hatred. After her time in the concentration camps she began to minister to those who had found themselves in the same situation. She began speaking and even came into contact with some of those who treated her badly, showing them love and forgiveness that CAN only come from God. Her ultimate goal was God's glory and it is evident throughout her life by her actions and her words! She is one of my heros! So go read a biography on he, I am telling you, you will not be able to put it down!

Radical by David Platt

I love the subtitle: "Taking your faith back from the American Dream." This book will definately rock your world and convict you like crazy. It is a book that challenges our american way of thinking about who Jesus was, what he was about and what he did. We as american Christians have made ourselves a very comfortable version of Christianity and Jesus. Here is an exerpt from the book:
"We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus
we are more comfortable with. A nice middle-class American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and
who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closet
relationship so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe
on our comforts, because after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balances, who
wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter wants us to avoid danger all together. A Jesus
who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out Christian spin on the American dream. But do you and I
realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into our own image. He is beginning to look a lot
like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is tha when we gather
in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the
Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.

Wow! This hit home for me. How comfortable I have become in the past few years. Wanting simple yet extravagant luxuries that most of the rest of the world would laugh at or be saddened over. As i was reading this book, reality sunk in. God has been working on me in this area and this just hit home! What is it that God is challenging me to do(more to come on this later... i can't wait to tell everyone!)? What attitudes and ideas, do i need to step away from and what ones do i need to cover myself with? I am still trying to wrap my mind around this book, and the calling of God on my life.

Forgotten God by Francis Chan

I started reading Francis Chan's Forgotten God today. It's funny how that is really all i can muster, not that he is light reading at all. It's just written for everyday people and it just so happens that the subject is something i have been thinking a great deal about over the past two years: The HOLY SPIRIT!

i absolutely love the first challenge he gives. Don't just take what you have been taught about the Holy Spirit but read the Bible trying to put aside all your preconceived ideas and notions.

"We may as well face it: the whole level of spirituality among us is low. We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Holy Spirit is all but gone...We have imitated the world, sought more popular favor, manufactured delights to substitute for the joy of the Lord and produced a cheap and synthetic power to substitute for the power of the Holy Ghost."--A.W. Tozer(gotta love me some tozer).

my prayer: teach me God through the Holy Spirit the power we are able to live by every moment and the excitement it brings as i attempt to live for you and bring you glory.

-joy

How do Alligators praise the Lord?

I love this book! WE are always looking for any materials to teach our children about God and I love this, but more importantly Elijah and Cooper love it. Kirk Franklin wrote it and there is a song with it that is too cute that he does with his children.

Check it out.

www.charismakids.com/2099.html

books i have read so far this year.

i need to get moving to make it to 40, such small number, but rather hard with my two boys.

The tongue, a creative force

Duggars, 20 and counting

From prison to praise

Biography of Corrie ten boom

Started:  

Blessings and Curses

Crazy Love( Book club on the bluff)

Mom after God's own heart

Don't make me count to three

battlefield of the mind