Book Review: "Kisses From Katie"

What an incredibly precious testimony is contained within the pages of this book! Katie Davis has given her heart and her life to the Lord to be used however He chooses. She spends everyday serving "the least of these" in Uganda. She goes where most of us would fear to go, serving the most desperately poor and sick, without thought for her personal safety. She has 13 daughters, adopted because the Lord told her they were hers.


Her entire day is filled with simply serving the one God places in front of her, no matter who it is, or what they need. This means there are days when she brings home a child on the verge of death and does everything she can to save that life. Other days, it may mean that she goes into a neighborhood where even the locals will not go, because she has extra food and they are in need.


The book is filled with page after page of God providing for her needs in miraculous ways, ways that don't make sense to those who are not completely and totally dependent on God alone. 


"And even though I realize I cannot always mend or meet, I can enter in. I can enter into someone's pain and sit with them and know. This is Jesus. Not that He apologizes for the hard and the hurt, but that He enters in, He comes with us to the hard places. And so I continue to enter."


Her heart is evident here:
"I didn't believe it was possible to tell a child about the love of Christ without simultaneously showing her that love by feeding her, clothing her, inviting her in. If a child has never known what love is, how can we expect him to accept the love of his Savior  until we first make that love tangible?" 


And then, "I wanted to share with them the truth that many of us seemed to have overlooked--that God wanted us to care for the poor, not just care about them, but to truly take care of them, and many of us were not doing so."  


Ouch!


It is hard for us to imagine walking away from our lives, moving to a foreign country, and allowing the Lord to send us into areas of profound poverty and rampant disease, trusting completely in His Protection and Provision.


"But it is in the brilliantly, gloriously, wonderfully difficult seasons that God seems to show Himself all-powerful and in control . . . the more I give of myself, the more He fills me up. The more I love, the more love I have to give."


She came back to the U.S. for a period of several months to start college, as she had promised her parents. Her heart was in anguish, longing for Uganda and her girls. Living in the midst of such abundance, ease, and comfort now created for her an impossible tension.


"I have often wondered since reentering the United States why I feel such great culture shock. The amount of stuff that just clutters our lives. All these things make it difficult to readjust, yes. But what has been the biggest shock to my system, the huge disconnect, is that I have stepped out of my reliance on God to meet my needs. I "miss" Jesus. He hasn't disappeared, of course, but I feel so far from Him because my life is actually functioning without Him. By 'functioning,' I mean that if I am sick, I go to the drugstore or to the doctor. If I am hungry, I go to the grocery store. If I need to go somewhere, I get in my car. When I need some advice or guidance, I call my mom or go plop on my roommate's bed. If I want to feel happy, I get Brad, my little brother, or someone else to make me laugh.


I keep forgetting to ask God first to heal me, fill me, to guide me, to rejoice with me. I have to set aside 'time to pray' in the morning and at night instead of being in constant communication with Him. In Uganda, because I was so physically 'poor,' I was completely dependent on God and spiritually as wealthy as ever. As I sit here writing, I am frustrated with my own stupidity, my human willingness to step back into dependence on stuff and these places I swore I detested."


It is so very hard to be totally dependent on the Lord in the midst of our incredibly blessed lives. We need to constantly ask Him to show us our need for Him, to help us see how completely incapable of walking this life without Him in every moment.


I love this passage from the book:

"Remember, God will never give you more than you can handle."

People repeat this frequently; I heard it when I was growing up and I hear it now. It is meant to be a source of encouragement, and it would be if I believed it were true.

But I don't.

I believe that God totally, absolutely, intentionally gives us more than we can handle. Because this is when we surrender to Him and He takes over, proving Himself by doing the impossible in our lives.

Now, how's that for Perspective? Wow!

I could go on and on, at this point in the review, with stories of how God has done just that for Katie Davis. But, the thing I took away from this book is the need to allow the Lord to move us to the place where we are completely submitted to His Plan for our lives--even to the point of doing something "radical" when He asks. He will ask it of us if we are allowing Him to steer. There will be something He asks of us that, in our wisdom and strength, is completely impossible and insane. But our obedience to His request of us teaches us dependence and brings Him Glory.


Now, I do have one concern about this book. I really do not want to bring this up, but it would be completely inconsistent with so much I have said here at the Antbed and believe to be absolutely imperative to a transformed life in the very center of His Will.


When Katie was a senior in high school, she talked her parents into a mission trip to Uganda. They didn't think she should go. She kept after them until they relented. Once there, she never wanted to go home. She talked her parents into allowing her to stay for a year before returning to go to college. By that point, she was "all in." Her heart was completely captivated. And the struggle began. Eventually, she told her parents that she was not going to be able to obey them and stay for college. 


Is Katie supposed to be where she is? Absolutely.


The problem lies in trusting God to lead us through the authority He has placed over us. If she had fully submitted to that authority, as unto the Lord, I believe to the marrow of my bones that the Lord would either have given her the Grace to wait on His Perfect Timing (which would have received her parents freely given permission and blessing), OR He would have changed the hearts of her parents to be able to release her from the commitment she had given them to attend college. 


Has the Lord done incredible things through her time in Uganda? Absolutely!! 


But she expresses in the book how poorly she treated her family and friends, while here for that one college semester, because she was so conflicted. It is only when we are completely submitted to His Will through the authority He has placed over us that we can walk in perfect Peace, regardless of circumstances. It would have made her testimony even more powerful if she would have allowed Him to move in this area on her behalf, without wounding her parents or her friends. Without feeling that she had to take matters in her own hands. She uses the verses about loving Jesus even to the point of hating fathers and mothers. But when we are under authority, God uses that authority to cover and protect us and He guides us under it, not out from under it. The Lord may have had a specific lesson He wanted her to learn that would have made her ministry even more profound. I don't know. But, I do know He is perfectly capable of changing the heart of those in authority over us whenever He sees fit.


Now, please hear me here. I am NOT condemning anyone. All I'm trying to say is that, if you read this book, the fullest of blessings come in complete submission to God's Authority. 


Do I perfectly practice this? NO! That is why I recognize it so clearly--because He's trying to teach me this same lesson. 


Kisses From Katie is an incredible testimony of just how powerfully a single person can be used when they say "yes" to the Father. You will be blessed and touched by the stories of so many individuals the Lord uses Katie to minister to. I highly recommend it! :)                                               

Things We Love: LibraryThing

Our family loves books! 


I'm a master at stating the obvious. 


The family library reached the point of requiring serious intervention in order to fully utilize the resources we had collected. 

Not having a dedicated "library" like Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady," we had to come up with a solution that would work with our space.


I needed a system that would allow me to find the books we needed, when we needed them. I don't remember for sure, but I think I did an online search for information and suggestions for organizational ideas.


I had never heard of LibraryThing.com before, but it came up and, after checking it out, I paid for a lifetime membership! (A whopping $25) 


What is it, you ask?


It is an online database for books! You create an account, a very simple process, and then you can begin entering your books. I actually ordered a little USB scanner ($15) for the books that had bar codes. That way, you can scan it and all the information for that title is entered into your database. You'd be amazed how many facts are tied to that little bar code. It's like magic to have the author, illustrator, publisher, etc., just pop up on your screen. If you have a large number of books with bar codes, the price of the scanner is well worth it!


Many of our books are older and don't have bar codes. For those, you simply type in the ISBN or Library of Congress number, and the search will bring up your title. Sometimes there are multiple choices that come up for one number. In that case you locate the one that matches your volume and click on it. The information is added to your collection.


For the books that predated ISBN's and Library of Congress numbers, you have the option of manually entering all the information. In that case, you can enter as much or as little as you choose, whatever serves the purpose for which you need it.


Each entry also has the option of tagging your book. This is where it gets really good. For our purposes, I need to be able to locate all the books on a specific topic. As I entered each book, I tagged it with the topic or time period that I could later locate. I have a stack of index cards that have each tag number on it and the shelf location for that tag in our house.


Once you have your books entered, Library Thing allows you to search your data base in any number of ways. You could search by author, or by tag, or by title, etc.


There is no limit on the number of books you can enter. You could also use it for dvd's/blue rays, if you wanted. Anything you want to catalog or quantify can be entered in a system that works for what you need. 


For those of us who have large libraries, the data base also serves as a record for insurance purposes, just in case. 


Because our library was large (about 5000), the initial job of entering the books was enormous. Once that was behind us, however, it is so simple to maintain and add new volumes. When we bring home a new book, we enter the information and then shelve it according to our shelving system, and that's it. It's wonderful.


As a homeschooler, I was really frustrated keeping the resources organized and accessible so that they could be efficiently and easily accessed. I might know I had a book on a particular subject or time period, and then be unable to find it at a moment's notice when the kids' interest was piqued. It's not good to miss that window. Now, all I have to do is pull up our collection on Library Thing and search by title, author, or tag and then, according to that tag we know where to look for the book.


One more resource that might bless you: Library Thing

Book Review: The Bronze Bow

The time period in which this book is set has always been fascinating to me. The Roman Empire intersecting Christ! It's hard to imagine a more critical era as the stage was being set for the Plan to be played out before mankind.


The might of Rome held the world by the throat, and that little patch of land by the Jordan River wasn't happy about the occupation by their conquerors. There was a seething unrest that simmered under the surface while the Jews went about their lives, all the while holding their collective breaths, waiting for the promised deliverer to throw off the Roman yoke and restore to their nation the glorious days of David, the shepherd King. 


The story centers around a young man named Daniel, whose parents had died through Rome's cruelty. He had allowed his grief to become hate, and for his hate to define him. He lived only to exact vengeance. So consuming was his malice, that he abandoned the only family members remaining to him: his grandmother and his young sister.  


He chose a new family that fed his anger: a band of robbers living in the hills above his village. He believed the leader of this band was the promised deliverer and would lead an army against Rome's legions. 


The freedom he felt atop that mountain was an illusion because it was at the expense of his responsibilities to his grandmother and sister. He thought only of himself, never wondering how they fared, until a message arrived from his friend, Simon, in the village. That message, a request that he visit, was the beginning of the end of life on the mountain. 


He was shocked to find them living a subsistence existence with his elderly grandmother working everyday, from morning till night, in the fields to provide barely enough food for them to survive. His sister, Leah, had never emotionally recovered from the death of her parents and had become a complete recluse, never venturing outside their tiny house, never seeing another person. The neighbors thought she was possessed and were afraid of her. 


Even though their needs were desperate, Daniel convinced himself that he was serving a larger purpose by returning to the mountain to await the nation's opportunity at freedom. 


While walking down a path one day, he happened upon a brother and sister who were exploring. Unlikely as it seemed, they became fast friends. Daniel even recruited his new friend, Joel, to be the robber leader's contact inside the city. The intrigue and excitement was intoxicating and they enjoyed their secretive meetings held in Joel's father's house in Capernaum. 


During this time, a Teacher came to the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Daniel's friend, Simon, began following him, listening to his teachings. When Daniel's grandmother died, Simon actually offered Daniel the keys to his blacksmith shop in their little village, since he no longer needed it. Daniel was angry at first, but knew he could no longer shirk the responsibility he had toward his sister. 


Many changes followed. He went to listen to the Teacher, and began to wonder if this man might be the deliverer instead of the chief of the robbers. His sister began to improve as he learned to show her love. Daniel, a natural leader, began to quietly recruit young men from his village to attend secret meetings where they dreamed and schemed of ways to bring The Day of Deliverance closer. A Roman soldier began frequenting Daniel's blacksmith shop, and it was all Daniel could do to accept his items for repair. Little did he know, that young Roman soldier had secretly begun speaking to Daniel's sister over their little garden wall. Daniel's friend in Capernaum had taken on spying assignments, trying to learn things that could help their cause.


The climax arrived when he learned that his friend had been arrested by the Romans. Daniel immediately climbed the mountain to enlist the help of his hero, but his pleas were rejected. Refusing to leave Joel to his fate, Daniel and his small band of young patriots met to plan a rescue attempt. Though the rescue was accomplished, the price paid was beyond anything Daniel had previously imagined. 


In the dark pit of despair, grief and guilt, Daniel became violently angry with his sister upon learning that the Roman soldier had brought her a gift of a basket of fruit. Leah, so recently returned to even the smallest interaction with people, was unable to bear the outburst and retreated into the shadows of her mind. She grew worse and worse until she became gravely ill. Just at the point when Daniel had given up, the Teacher arrived, at the request of Joel's sister. 


You will have to read the book to find out what happens next. Elizabeth George Speare paints a picture of a living, breathing, Loving Jesus that touched us deeply. It can be so easy to reduce Him to a theology, a religion. We can forget that He was a real Man Who walked among us, loving us, touching us, healing us. This book reminded us about the true meaning of the Incarnation, God as Man. It is a wonderful read!


We have enjoyed several of Elizabeth George Speare's other books: Calico Captive, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and The Sign of the Beaver.

Kisses From Katie: The "Beginning" of a Book Review

Katie Davis is living the life of a drink offering, being poured out completely in the service of her King. She first went to Uganda during the midpoint of her senior year in high school. She was "ruined." 


"Jesus wrecked my life, shattered it to pieces, and put it back together more beautifully."


Planning initially to spend a year in Uganda after she graduated from high school, before starting college, but ended up staying there. She is now in the process of adopting 14 daughters. Being only 22 herself, she never dreamed she would be a mother of so many, so soon.


"People often ask if I think my life is dangerous, if I am afraid. I am much more afraid of remaining comfortable. Matthew 10:28 tells us not to fear things that can destroy the body but things that can destroy the soul. I am surrounded by things that can destroy the body. I interact almost daily with people who have deadly diseases, and many times I am the only person who can help them. I live in a country with one of the world's longest-running wars taking place just a few hours away. Uncertainty is everywhere. But I am living in the midst of the uncertainty and risk, amid things that can and do bring physical destruction, because I am running from things that can destroy my soul: complacency, comfort, and ignorance. I am much more terrified of living a comfortable life in a self-serving society and failing to follow Jesus than I am of any illness or tragedy."

"Jesus called His followers to be a lot of things, but I have yet to find where He warned us to be safe. We are not called to be safe, we are simply promised that when we are in danger, God is right there with us. And there is no better place to be than in His hands."

"For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite Bible verses has been Psalm 37:4: 'Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.' I used to believe it meant that if I did what the Lord asked of me, following His commandments, and was a 'good girl,' He would grant all my desires and make my dreams come true. Today, this is still one of my favorite passages of Scripture, but I have learned to interpret it in a totally different way. It is not about God making my dreams come true but about God changing my dreams into His dreams for my life."

All those quotes are from the Introduction! :)


She has a blog! Kisses From Katie

To be continued . . .

Then Sings My Soul

I love a good story. And I'm one who always wants to know the "why" behind the "what." That being said, if you don't know about this resource, it might be one you would enjoy. 


Part of our homeschooling day is praise. Having grown up singing lots of good, old hymns, Kregg and I wanted our kids to be blessed by all those old favorites that have meant so much to us all our lives. We choose a different hymn each week for the kids to learn. If you don't already have them as an mp3 file, you can almost always find a video on YouTube to help with the singing and music. 


Then Sings My Soul gives a brief background of many of the old classic hymns, telling a little about the story behind the words and the person who penned it. Each hymn is given a two page spread: on the left, the words and music (like a page out of a hymnal), on the right, the story--complete with the date (which is always interesting). Each volume in this series contains 150 hymns. So you can sing a different hymn for days and days without repeating one. :)


This week, we are learning one of my all-time favorites: "Fairest Lord Jesus." It is dated to 1677 and most of those who contributed to the hymn, as we now know it, are anonymous. Quoting from a fourth century sermon by John Chrysostom of Antioch, Robert Morgan helps gives insight into the words: 

"I do not think of Christ as God alone, or man alone, but both together. For I know He was hungry, and I know that with five loaves He fed five thousand. I know He was thirsty, and I know that He turned water into wine. I know He was carried in a ship, and I know that He walked on the sea. I know that He died, and I know that He raised the dead. I know that He was set before Pilate, and I know that He sits with the Father on His throne. I know that He was worshiped by angels, and I know that He was stoned by the Jews. And truly some of these I ascribe to the human, and others to the divine nature. For by reason of this He is said to have been both God and man."

So the kids got to hear the story behind the hymn this morning, as we spend the week singing it together in praise. 


Glorious! :)

Wrapping Up the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

Photo Credit

Well, the challenge is now complete for 2011 and I am finishing up with the Bible as #52. For all the other books, I wrote a review/summary. I can't do that with the Bible. :)


If you have never read it all the way through, you would find many blessings by doing so. And it's the perfect time to start! There are many reading plans available, or you can buy a copy that is set up already divided into 365 sections so that you don't even have to think about keeping up with your spot.


Finishing with chapter 22 of Revelation, "Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen."

Link to the Challenge

Book Review: In Search of the Castaways

The frontispiece from the original edition

I am dating myself here, but I loved the old Hayley Mills-Disney version of this book when I was a child. I still do. In fact, we own it. 


Having read and enjoyed many of Jules Verne's books, how could I resist another free download of an old classic on my Kindle? 


Just in case you aren't already familiar with it, the book was first printed in 1867. It tells the tale of the search for Captain Grant of the Britannia who had been missing for two years when the book began.


Lord and Lady Glenarvan took the children of Captain Grant aboard their yacht to try and locate their father by following clues from a note that had been found in a bottle. They knew the latitude, but not the longitude where they need to look. Just missing that one number required them, in the end, to circumnavigate the globe. 


Beginning in South America, they cross the Andes and the Pampas in search of further clues to Captain Grant's location. Their adventures threaten their lives multiple times, but in the end, they came to the conclusion that he was not in South America.


The quest next took them through the Atlantic, finally landing in Australia. Here, the plot thickens when they met a man named Aryton who claimed to have first hand knowledge of the Britannia and of the possible location of Captain Grant. He served to guide them across the continent of Australia. But strange things began to happen, eventually raising their suspicions. As it turned out, Aryton was a criminal and was planning to capture Lord Glenarvan's yacht. 


The "good guys" display true selflessness and diligence as they encounter harrowing circumstances, all the while trying to serve the others in their party. 


As things turned out, Captain Grant was not in Australia. The searchers gave up hope and were planning to return to Scotland, but were going to maroon Aryton on an isolated island (per his request) in hopes that he would repent of his evil ways, instead of delivering him to the justice and the hangman. They located a small island that suited their purposes and were preparing to set them criminal ashore with supplies when they made a most joyous discovery. This tiny little island also happened to be at the same latitude they had been searching. Guess who they found?


It was a wonderful read, filled with so much interesting information about each of the areas they explored. As usual, Jules Verne needed in excess of 400 pages to tell the tale, but I'm glad he didn't leave anything out.


#51 out of 52 in the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge. 

Known By Their Love

Photo Credit

We've all heard that Christians would be known by their Love. Are we? Do strangers see in us a Love so "not-of-this-world" that it defines us as His? 


That's not the case with me. I don't know how to Love like that. Not really. Not daily. Not everyone. Oh sure, I'm good at loving those I like. Or even being really nice to people I don't know. But what about a Love so radical that people know it is beyond my ability to create?


Same Kind of Different As Me is the story of Love so radical that it changed people. A Love so radical that it could only have as its source the Lord. It tells the true story of lives so far removed from one another that only He could have orchestrated their intersection in a way that impacted a city. And it just so happens, it's the city I grew up in: Fort Worth, Texas.


Denver Moore was a modern day slave. Really. 


He was a share cropper on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. He had no electricity, no indoor plumbing and lived "by the leave" of The Man. The system was set up so that, no matter how long or hard these people worked, they always ended up more deeply in debt to The Man. They would pick cotton from sun up until sundown, but since they didn't know how to read or write, The Man who owned the land was the same one who weighed the sack of cotton, telling the workers how much they had picked that day. Even on days when they knew their sack was heavier than normal, the Man still told them it weighed the same as on every other day. Having to purchase clothing and food from the Man's store on credit, they had no way to earn a profit or improve their situation. So year after year after year, they survived, working all day everyday and still ended the year more in debt than when they began.


One day, Denver simply walked to the train track, hopped a freight car and left. It didn't matter where.


During the years Denver was picking cotton, Ron and Debbie Hall were growing rich. Ron had grown up poor, but learned that he had an eye for art. He bluffed his way into the world of the Rich and Famous, brokering the sale of paintings he didn't own by understanding his clientele. Debbie was not impressed with the trappings of wealth. She was growing closer and closer to the Lord and believed that possessions were empty, not worth collecting. Their marriage hit bottom when Ron, believing Debbie didn't love him, had an affair. When she learned the truth, she did something that changed their marriage forever: she called his lover and told her that she forgave her and that she was committed to being such a wonderful wife to her husband that he would never again stray. And that is exactly what happened.


As the Lord resurrected their marriage, He also called them to service. Debbie believed she was to serve at the Union Gospel Mission in the "ghetto" of Fort Worth. Ron went with her to keep her happy. Debbie wasn't content, though, to simply serve a meal once a week. She truly loved the homeless people she found there. She found a myriad of ways to show that Love: from learning all their names and praying for each one daily, to hosting "beauty nights" where she and a friend would wash and style the lice-filled hair of ladies who hadn't felt beautiful in years. 


Ron was still not sold. He was perfectly content to stand behind the counter, serving meals, where none of those people could get close enough to touch him. But then Debbie had a dream. She dreamed that the Mission was completely transformed into a place of beauty and she dreamed about a man who was the key to not only the transformation of the mission, but of the city of Ft. Worth. Guess who that man was? Denver.


After Denver left the plantation, he quickly learned how to be the meanest homeless man around. Everyone else was afraid of him. And that is exactly the way he wanted it. He wanted to be left alone.


But he hadn't planned on "Miss Debbie."


When she first saw Denver, he was threatening to kill people. Didn't phase her. She told Ron, "That's him!! That's the man from my dream!" Ron thought she was nuts!


She wasn't.


The Lord used Denver and Debbie's Love for him to change everyone around them. 


You really would be blessed by reading this book. But, I have to warn you: have a box of kleenex handy. The story doesn't have a fairy tale ending. It will challenge you to see things from God's Perspective, even if it means saying goodbye to someone you dearly love.


A few years ago, Ron Hall and Denver Moore came to Midland and I got to go and hear them speak. It was so precious. The Lord took these two, with absolutely nothing in common, and made them brothers.


#50 out of 52 in the "Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge."


I had read this book before, but decided to read it again. This time to the kids.  There were a few sections here and there that I "edited-on-the-fly" so that they didn't even know they had missed anything. But there were sections I intentionally left in that were not "pretty." They loved it. And have been talking about it since we finished it yesterday afternoon. It was hard to read out loud because I kept bawling. They understand though, and simply waited patiently until I could compose myself enough to continue.

Book Review: The Circular Staircase

This is a new author to me. She wrote during the early 1900's as is considered the American version of Agatha Christie. This is the book that launched her to fame. It tells the story of an old maid who adopted the two children of her sister after her death. She raised them from childhood and made sure they always had the best of everything she could offer. 


Living in the city, our heroine Rachel Innes, decided to take a house in the country for the summer. Her niece and nephew, both now young adults, helped her choose a rambling country estate called Sunnyside. Little did they know that only one day into their stay, they would be swept up into a current of mystery and murder. 


At one end of the enormous house was a circular staircase. It was there that the body was found in the wee hours of the morning that fateful day. Miss Innes heard a shot and found the body of a young man, a stranger to her, at the foot of the circular staircase. She later learned he was the son of the home's owners, who had gone west for the summer. 


The plot thickens when it becomes apparent that someone keeps trying to break into the house. The house staff and Miss Innes personal assistant believe a ghost is to blame, and most of them quit after only a few days, too afraid to stay. As details about the young man who was murdered begin to surface, it turns out that he was not someone who would be mourned by those who knew him. And then there was his father. His father was president of a bank in town and when the bank suddenly failed, officials discover that his father had embezzled over a million dollars. Conveniently, the thief suddenly died.


As if that wasn't bad enough, the sister of the murdered man was being forced to marry an unscrupulous doctor, who ended up being part of the scam at the bank. That sister was actually in love with the nephew of Miss Innes, and he with her. This young lady knew that her wicked father had faked his death to avoid prosecution, but to keep the family name from being dishonored, this doctor was forcing the young lady to marry him by threatening exposure of her father if she refused. 


As it turned out, the stolen money was hidden in a secret room at Sunnyside and the numerous attempts to break in or to scare the Innes family away were all in an attempt to access the money.


There are numerous subplots and probably a dozen other important characters that are woven into this complicated mystery, but you will have to read the book yourself to learn about all of them. By the time all the loose ends were tied up, 5 people had died, and three weddings were planned. With only a little over 200 pages and all those people to kill off, not a  single paragraph was boring. There is a distinct advantage to reading "old books" because they tend to be devoid of much of the language and immoral values found in modern tales.


We are still sick around here, so it looks like another day to curl up with some great books. Who knows, maybe I'll have another review tomorrow. :)


#49 out of 52 in the "Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge"

Book Review: Flower Fables

This title was not familiar to me, but having enjoyed several of Alcott's other works, and since it is a free download on Kindle, I decided to read it and see what it was like. 


The book is actually several fairy tales being told by flower fairies at the request of their Queen. Each story tells of someone learning to be unselfish and to serve others. It really is a sweet little book and would be a good choice for bedtime stories, especially for little girls. Most boys would probably think it was too sappy for them. 


A piece of trivia here: When Louisa May Alcott was 16, she wrote this book for the daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson. 


Several of us caught bad colds after Turkey Day and so it has been nice to curl up with some good books and rest after our Thanksgiving Extravaganza. :) This little gem was only 110 pages, so it made for a very quick read. Even if you don't have a Kindle, the Kindle app is free to download on your computer. Then you can enjoy all the thousands of free Kindle downloads. Amazon has NO idea who I am and I don't earn anything by suggesting that--it's just a very useful tool that offers many possibilities. 


#48 out of 52 in the "Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge"

Book Review: Valley Forge

The sequel to To Try Men's Souls, Valley Forge tells the story of the transformation of the ragtag American soldiers, who had repeatedly been defeated by the well-trained British, into an army capable of standing before the British fire without retreating. Much of the credit for this change (that eventually won the Revolution) goes to Inspector General Baron Friedrich von Stueben. 


During the dark days that followed Washington's victory at Trenton, there were many who believed Washington should be replaced. Even those like Dr. Benjamin Rush, who had previously been his staunch supporters, turned on Washington, believing he was no longer able to win the war. General Gates, who hoped to replace Washington, was waging his own war of defamation against the Commander in Chief with the members of Congress. So intent was he on his mission, that Gates retreated with Congress when they fled Philadelphia. Spending all of his time elevating his own position, instead of supporting the troops, Gates made no preparations for Washington's troops, as he had agreed to do in order that Valley Forge would be ready for the weary army to spend the winter there. 


When the troops arrived at Valley Forge, nothing had been done. There was no shelter. No food. No tools. No supplies of any kind. Gates believed that if things deteriorated sufficiently, Washington would be blamed and Gates would be his replacement.  


Washington, discouraged but not defeated, continued to work toward the goal of a new nation and freedom.  Watching his men suffer was harder for him to endure than any personal physical suffering he was subjected to. So many died that winter. So many had no shoes or coats. Food was scarce. For weeks, there wasn't even shelter for the troops from the harsh weather. They lived on the ground, exposed to all the elements. Frostbite always threatened. Sentries froze to death during the long, cold nights. And yet, the stubborn belief in a new country persisted.


While in their winter encampment, von Stueben arrived. He made his case to Washington that he knew how to train the troops so they would be able to defeat the British. Washington believed him and gave him great authority. von Stueben began immediately. The challenge was formidable. The troops were not sold on the idea. von Stueben knew he was walking a tightrope: push them to far, too fast and they would rebel; don't push them hard enough, and they wouldn't be ready in time for the season of war. 


The months covered in this book were truly the crucible for the birth of a nation. Had Washington been fighting the British alone, the story could have been much different. Being required to fight those jealous of his position, the lack of long term enlistments, those who lost confidence in his ability to successfully wage the war, Congress, Tories, Loyalists, the elements, lack of supplies and simply weariness of the soul, a man made of less determination and perseverance would have conceded defeat.


The tide began to turn for the Revolution at the Battle of Monmouth. The true value of von Stueben's training methods became apparent when the American troops finally withstood the fire of an advancing British battle line without breaking. Never again would the British believe they could simply intimidate the American troops into running. Everything changed that day.


The book ends there. I am hoping there will be another sequel written soon!


As with To Try Men's Souls, I read this one with a black pen in hand to edit out the cursing so that Rebekah can read it. There didn't seem to be as much in this volume, but it was still not something I could allow her to read unedited. 


#47 out of 52 in the "Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge." 

Book Review: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Well, I must say: this book was definitely unique. In fact, it was odd. As the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the reader of the first part of the tale might guess where the sequel would lead. 


And they would be wrong. 


There is NO way, without reading this book, that you could, in your wildest flight of fancy, come up with this plot. 


The book picks up precisely where the first book left off, The Great Glass Elevator was on its way back to the chocolate factory after picking up Charlie Bucket's family. If you remember the first book, you will undoubtedly remember that Charlie's two sets of grandparents lived in a bed. So the bed was simply shoved into the Elevator amidst vehement protestations from the three grandparents who still lived there. 


Instead of going straight back to the factory, which was the plan, Charlie's grandmother Josephine grabbed hold of Mr. Wonka, preventing him from pressing the necessary elevator buttons at the proper time. The result? The Great Glass Elevator shot into space. 


Didn't see that one coming, did you?


In space, the eight of them encountered those despicable, diabolical, detestable Vermicious Knids, aliens from another planet. Know where they ran into them? The newly launched Space Hotel, a special pet project of the President of the United States, whose Vice President is his childhood nanny. A giant space Commuter Capsule took off from Earth to deliver all of the employees to the new hotel so that it could open for business. On board that capsule were four famous astronauts tasked with delivering the staff to the hotel. While on their way, they caught sight of the Great Glass Elevator and thought it must be an enemy spaceship. The President was irate, believing they were saboteurs bent on destroying his hotel.


Without the ability to communicate with either the Commuter Capsule or the Earth, Mr. Wonka could not warn those on the Capsule of the evil aliens awaiting their arrival at the Space Hotel. One thing led to another, and the part of the plot I'm sure you could have guessed was the part about Charlie and Mr. Wonka ending up as heroes who saved the day, the Commuter Capsule, and the Space Hotel.


The second part of the book, oddly enough, began when the Great Glass Elevator arrived at its original destination, delivering all of the Bucket family to their new home in the Chocolate Factory of Mr. Willy Wonka. Arriving at the Chocolate Room, Mr. Wonka encouraged the three grandparents who still lived in their bed to get up and explore. They refused. Most adamantly. Refusing to give up, Mr. Wonka offered them one of his creations: a pill that made people 20 years younger.


At first, the grandparents refused to believe him. But after a little more "convincing," they not only believed him, but fought amongst themselves most shamefully over who would receive how many pills. The greediest, Grandma Georgina took enough pills to send her to a mysterious place called Minusland, because she went back further than the years she had lived. Charlie and Mr. Wonka had to travel there to try and find her and "bring her back," which involved making her over 400 years old.


Told you.


It was odd.


Never would have come up with that story line in a million years, would you?


Me, either.


We did finish it because we were all curious. There were some really funny parts, lots of slapstick humor, but the "oddness factor" was definitely its strongest suit. As with the first one, there were phrases we consider inappropriate and I "edited them out" as I read it aloud to the kids.


#46 out of 52! Getting closer to my goal of reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma

After 1360 pages, the trilogy has finally been completed. It was a long process, one that began in July on our trip to Tennessee. The kids decided that, since we read the first one out loud on our trip, Kregg needed to be involved in the second and third installment, as well. Finding time when we were all together with an opportunity to read out loud has proven difficult. But we made it, at last. 


The third book, The Prisoner's Dilemma, was a lot of fun. The cast of characters is the same: 4 brilliant/gifted children who work together to help their friend, Mr. Benedict, thwart the evil plans of Mr. Curtain, who also happens to be Mr. Benedict's identical twin brother. Curtain's minions figure heavily into the story line as they try to stop the children from stopping Mr. Curtain.


The book began with the famous logic problem of the same name: The Prisoner's Dilemma. The children were divided into two teams and isolated so that they would not know what the other team had chosen. As it turns out, the exercise was helpful in preparing them for the challenges they would face when confronted with Mr. Curtain's latest attempt to take over the world. 


As with the other two editions, the plot is filled with puzzles and challenges for the children to solve as they try to anticipate the movement and plans of the wicked Mr. Curtain. As before, the choices made by the children have very distinct consequences. There are numerous opportunities for the discussion of how our choices affect those around us. The children have learned, through their many adventures, to care deeply for one another and they work hard to make selfless choices to benefit and protect each other. They even learn to pity Mr. Curtain as they see the truth about what an unhappy, miserable man he has become. It is a good lesson on how our giftings may be used for good or evil, depending on our motivation and goals.


They are encouraged at every turn to serve others by their good friend, Mr. Benedict, who consistently tries to do his very best to protect and provide for those in his care. As the tale winds down, the children learn just how unselfish Mr. Benedict has been when they realize he had a chance to cure his severe narcolepsy, but chose instead to use the opportunity to serve the youngest member of the Mysterious Benedict Society. He sets a further good example for them as he tries, even after all the mischief and harm his brother has caused, to help Mr. Curtain be rehabilitated. 


#45 out of 52--getting closer!

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Book Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This story is a familiar one because of the movies that have been made. I just finished reading it to the kids during our read-aloud time in our homeschool. Since you all already know the plot, I won't bore you by retelling it here. Instead, I will simply touch on the specific things we enjoyed and one negative. 


The creativity Dahl exhibits in crafting his tale is delightful. Simply delightful. The kids were a little hesitant when learning of my choice of this title as our next book. Having seen the movie, they thought the book would bore them. But as is true with most books that are adapted for movies, the book is definitely superior. 


The copy I read to them is from 1964 and the illustrations are whimsical and engaging. Simple line drawings, they are quite humorous. They contain enough details, but not so many that your imagination is not sparked to expand each scene.


Dahl's descriptions of the factory and characters are brilliant in their economy. I love an author who believes his readers to be intelligent and treats them that way. 


Now, there were several phrases used in conversations that we do not consider appropriate in our family. But, using it as a read aloud, I simply make substitutions "on the fly" and so it's a non-issue. 


After their less than enthusiastic initial response, the sequel has been unanimously chosen as our next read aloud. I am not familiar with the plot for it, so we will have to see if it is as successful as the this one. 


#44 out of 52 in the challenge to read a book a week for a year. The calendar is dwindling down to the last few busy weeks and there are still 8 more books to go!! It's time to buckle down and READ!

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Book Review: Warrior Scarlet

This is our 20th year of homeschooling!! And we have come "back around" to many of our favorite family books as the "2nd Wave" of our children reach different ages. Many of the works of Rosemary Sutcliff fall into the "favorites" category. Her books are so very well written, filled with intricate plots, well developed characters, historically accurate information, and lots of exciting adventures. 


Warrior Scarlet is, historically speaking, the earliest one we read together. Set in the Bronze Age, it tells the story of Drem and his journey into manhood. The custom of the tribe is for each young man, as he came of age, to enter the Boy's House for three years where he received the training needed to become a warrior. At the end of that time, each boy was required to face the final challenge of his training: the Wolf Slaying. For a boy to cross over to the Man's Side, he had to slay a wolf by himself. As difficult a task as that would be under normal circumstances, imagine if you had been born with only one functional arm? That's what Drem faced.


And so Drem's story builds and builds until that fateful day when his lot is drawn to slay his wolf. He had dreamed of that day for years, but when it finally arrived and he was face to face with a massive male, things did not go quite as he had hoped.


I don't want to give any spoilers here because the suspense in the book is so well crafted, so I will suffice it to say that the plot takes many exciting and unexpected turns. The kids begged me to finish it last night, telling me that there would be no hope of concentrating on the rest of their schoolwork today until they made it to read-aloud-time, and so we sat around the island in the kitchen until about 10 when we finally made it to the end. 


I just love how good historical fiction paints such a great picture of a specific period of time--it's much more effective than some dry old textbook. And with Sutcliff's exceptional skill, the picture painted is quite vivid. Here's a sample: 

"Presently he struck the green Ridgeway that ran from the world's edge to the world's edge along the High Chalk, and followed it for a while, until another track came up from the seaward Marshes and crossed it; and then he turned inland. The sun was westering as he came dipping down into the steep combe that sheltered the home steading; and all the great, rounded, whale-backed masses of the downs were pooled and feathered with coolness, the shadows of a stunted whitethorn tree reaching across half a hillside, every rise and hollow of the land that did not show at all when the sun was high casting its own long, liquid shadow across the gold. The family cattleground in the head of the combe was already in the shade, but farther down, where the combe broadened, the turf roofs of the steading--drying up now in the summer heat--glowed tawny as a hound's coat in the sunlight, and the smoke from the house-place fire was blue as the fluttering haze of flower-heads in the flax plot as he trotted by."

A completely heathen culture, the setting of the story provided much opportunity to discuss the worldview of the tribe and how the choices made in the story reflect that view. 

#42 out of 52 in the challenge:

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Book Review: Winged Life

I read this little book years ago and, as I always do with a book like this, I mark passages that are precious to me. It had been so long, I decided I would like to reread it. In the intervening years, the Lord has done so much in my heart that this spoke to me in completely different ways. I underlined so much this time through that the book has more pages written on than not, if I were guessing. It was definitely not a random choice off the shelf. The truths expounded within have done nothing short of expanding the definition Love in my spirit.


Hannah Hurnard wrote several book, but the one for which she is best known is Hind's Feet On High Places, considered a classic among Christian books. In reading some biographical information before writing this book review, it seems that Hurnard went from a well grounded Biblical message to a universalist understanding of Christianity wherein she believed that all those condemned to Hell at the Day of Judgement would eventually end up in Heaven. This, along with a belief in reincarnation and a definite shift toward Pantheism are cause for great concern in her later writings. 


But in this specific book, I found many blessings. 


Within the first several chapters, Hurnard challenges believers to take very seriously the charge for us to take every thought captive to Christ. She explains that the life of freedom and victory that we know is our inheritance and birthright as those clothed in Christ is possible only when we allow Him to completely transform our thought life. We, as those bought by His Price, are not allowed a half hearted commitment to this standard and the results of obedience are nothing short of transformational. When we view the world through His eyes, there is no room for thoughts centered on self love.


Another profound principle discussed was the worth of each individual in the eyes of a Christian. That sounds routine. But as she explains how we can consider someone to be irritating or boring or not really worth our time, she holds that careless standard up to compare it with the way Love sees those same individuals. If I truly Love as He loves, I could never again grow impatient or irritated with any, except the ones He Himself rebuked for their lack of need for a Savior. To truly see the world through His Love would require me to die to self love at an entirely new level, a level I hadn't really recognized until compared to the standard set forth here. 


She tells the story of St. Francis of Assisi to illustrate this point:

"I was reading Ernest Raymond's book on St. Francis of Assisi, and came to the description of Francis, just after his conversion, riding on horseback near the crossroads where stood a leper hospital. He had such a horror of lepers and of the stench coming forth from the Lazar house that generally he avoided the place altogether. But on this occasion, lost in thought, he did not notice where he was until suddenly his horse shied, and then he saw a leper standing in the path before him, asking for alms.

His first impulse was to fling his purse to the poor wretch and then spur his horse away from the spot as quickly as possible. 'But was not the leper with his eaten face and his outcast's uniform a symbol of suffering and poverty? Before he could think again, leaping from his horse and forcing himself all the time, he went to the leper, put all his money in his hand and then lifted that hand and kissed it. And in Italy the kiss of the hand is the kiss of reverence to the representative of Christ.'"  

Definitely a book that was worth the few short hours it took to read, with only 173 pages. I will be "chewing" on this one for a while. 


#40 out of 52 for the Week 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge.

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