3 Day Weekend - Huh?

I'm chuckling to myself at the irony of this weekend that we so eagerly anticipated.

Saturday Mike had a parade that was fairly mandatory to attend. I would have gone and enjoyed it too, but was ill. It really wasn't a day off for Mike.

Sunday was a full day. This also was not a day off for Mike.

Today Mike is ill. Very ill. He hasn't gotten up. The last time this happened was over 6 years ago. Instead of the family things we'd planned for today....he stayed in bed, the little ones played, Nolan had speech, I bought a Christmas gift for Cy and Arielle, I spent far to much time on the computer as it's "my week" on SHS.

We finished unit 1 of year 1 in TOG on Friday. Our new books should arrive any time. I think we'll take the rest of this week to do any catch up and work on non-TOG subjects. We are still debating just what we want our school year schedule to look like this year. At this point, we're staying on track with the school district but the younger ones and I may deviate shortly. We love the flexibility to explore things on our own schedule and I sense that is about to happen. ::snort::

* The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson*

The only thing holding me back from finishing this book was the Book Discussion on it that I was trying to host. ::snort:: I didn't have time to write chapter summaries. I finally decided to finish reading it. Please let me know if chapter summaries would be useful to you and if so - I will write them. If you'd like to discuss this book further - we can. There are links to various chapters in the side bar of this blog. We can also discuss ways to make future book discussions more beneficial.

I may eventually write a seperate entry and expand these thoughts but I have a few thoughts to share. First, God does speak through the Holy Spirit using Christian authors. However, there can be so many voices in our lives (friends, authors, Bible Study authors, pastors, teachers) each sharing THEIR perspective, THEIR study, THEIR opinions that the contrasting voices can mute the voice of God in my life. Years ago I decided to learn how to study to Word for myself and to marinate in THAT word before all the other written words I was consuming. I've always been a voracious reader. About two years ago I did begin to read more Christian non-fiction authors.....and I'm glad I had spent the time to deeply know the word before I began. LOL

This is a book that "speaks my thoughts". Every once in a while you find a book like that. Sally has a heart for parenting/mothering that clearly shines in this book. She portrays motherhood as a calling and a ministry. She clearly outlines HOW we can minister to our children. I believe this book would benefit all mothers. Really. The concept of seeing motherhood not as a "job" but as a "ministry and calling" is BIG. It will change the way you order your daily life, the choices you make for activities, the stamina you have etc.

Sally does use the Scripture well and soundly - I appreciate that.

The only thing I don't like about Sally's books is that sometimes her portrait of her family comes off overly sweet....but then I've heard that they really are a sweet family. LOL Certainly, those few times when I involuntarily rolled my eyes and thought "sure your 15 year old son said it just like that" were not often enough to take away from the worth I felt in reading this book.

This is another fall reading book.

*Brave Hearts: Unlocking the Courage to Love with Abandon by Sharon A Hersch*

I had several non-fiction books "in progress" and decided it was time to finish them all up. This is one of them.

A dear friend loaned this book to me as I was processing a relationship that was perplexing me. I think my discussions with the friend (you know who you are) were as helpful as the book. ::snort::

There were things in this book that I loved. Sharon clearly brings out how it is God's will for us to live in relationship, to love others with abandon, that He has placed that desire for relationships in our heart and that it is worth the effort.

I've never really done a lot of reading of the Message and a few times the verses quoted from the Message simply didn't mean what they were translated to mean. Often one phrase from a verse was pulled to prove a point - this sort of proof texting doesn't work for me. BUT the thoughts and such in this book were helpful. At times I felt that the author was leaning a bit too much to the psychology side of the spectrum....but never so much that I thought "WHAT - I'm done". LOL

I do think this is a worthwhile read. The illustration of the shoeless girl will stick with me - I even gave out shoes and told the story at the start of our Bible Study on friendships. LOL Hmmm....I can't remember if I ever shared that illustration on the blog....

I think that many have mistaken Jesus' call for us to live in relationship (with Him and others) and instead we try to retreat. In other words we see retreat as spiritual where God calls us to live out our walk with Him in relationship (with times of retreat, of course). This author clearly portrays how brave it is for women to continue to love with abandon and to pursue in-depth, relationships.

Yes, another fall reading book.

*On the Run by Lorena McCourtney* - Book 4 in the Ivy Malone series

I'm enjoying this series immensely. Ivy reminds me somewhat of another old favorite: Mrs. Polifax. Once again self-proclaimed scrawny little old lady, Ivy Malone, solves a double murder. She has a bit of help along the way and endearing new characters as well as few old ones from previous books join her along the way.

This book has emus, Ivy's wit and wisdom, romance (just a small bit), mystery, ranch living, survivalists, and RVing....what's not to love?

Lorena McCourtney has written several other series. You can read more about her and her books here. She is another author who began writing for secural romance publishers and then made a switch to Christian mystery. This is another book from my fall reading list. I'll be adding Stranded when I can locate it either at the library or Paperback Swap.