If you are looking for a sweet book to include in your upcoming Easter Baskets, check out When God Made Light by Matthew Turner, the same author of When God Made You. Turner uses the story of God creating the light as the basis of his poetry and speaks about all the things that shine light- the sun, moon, fireflies, campfires, flashlights- and teaches about how the darkness has to leave when light is shined. My favorite part of his poem is near the end when he says,  “cause you’re just like the sun and the moon in the sky, as lustrous as twinkles that dazzle the eye, You’re as splendid as lightning when it flashes so bright,  ‘cause on the day you were born, God said, “let there be light!” So beam like the sun; glimmer like a star. And wherever you go, dark will stop being dark. Shimmer and shine, be a beacon so bright, ‘cause when God made you, child, God made light.” Gosh, I love that. Imagine if we all truly b...

I heard a nugget of truth at a regional Chi Alpha staff conference that has stuck with me. It has nothing to do with Chi Alpha at all. It was an answer to a question given during a Q & A session and I can’t seem to shake it. The speaker said, “plan for the life stage five years from now.” His point was to begin planning for where your family will be in five years, so that the next stage of life will not surprise any member of your family. What seems like a “duh” point of advice, really will be life changing if it is implemented. Most of us have seen the three or five year plan for Chi Alpha and goals in ministry, but we often do not look at family life with the same lens. Personally, my kids are currently 11, 9 and 4. I homeschool them while doing Chi Alpha with my husband. If I am thinking through the roles that I play in my family- wife and mom- it will all look different with kids ages 16, 14, and 8. I need to begin prepping for parenting a potentially driving teen, wh...

I’ve been reading Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch with my Facebook reading group over the last few weeks. He defines “flourishing” differently that I would have initially, but after his explanation, I agree with him. My paraphrase of his definition is doing the thing that requires risk and all of you- and doing it with abandon. It doesn’t really matter if you succeed from the perspective of the onlookers, it doesn’t matter if you’re the best at it, it doesn’t matter if you entirely fulfill your goal. It’s the heart behind what you do, it’s the motivator for why you do what you do.  I kept comparing his definition of flourishing to parenting initially, as did some of my friends who are also reading the book. Parenting is tough. It is a daily sacrifice and servanthood to little people who may or may not ever know. It’s a stretching past limits I previously thought I couldn’t reach. It’s relying on Jesus in a way I never knew...because I simply want to do it better than I’ve seen ...

Home Sewn is a B-E-A-utiful book about sewing things for your home- everything from tea towels, to lamp shades, to large floor cushions.... And these are items that are made with high quality materials which makes for a high-end style final product. This isn't your "I know how to sew, so I am going to download some instructions online and use my stash of scraps" type of book. This book is for the artist who finds interest in the detail of textures, fabrics, and simple homemade goods. The author, Cassandra Ellis, gives plenty of detailed instructions, but she does seem to assume the reader already has a decent knowledge of sewing. While reading this book, I learned that linen has some amazing super powers. Did you know that it can absorb more water than cotton, has antibacterial properties, nonallergenic and is stronger wet than dry? Also, whereas cotton comes from the cotton plant, linen comes from the flax plant. The only downside I found with this book is that the ...

I love a book with good pictures and a nice storyline- cookbooks included. This cookbook is beautiful enough to be a coffee table book...and Anya's blue and white apron is on my wish-list now. Home Cooked by Anya Fernald starts with the chef's back story and how she arrived at learning her great skills of cooking. She shares instructions on how to make stocks, can tomatoes and other building blocks for her other recipes. Then, she moves to the parts of a good meal- the starters, main courses and desserts. So far, I have made 4 of these wonderful recipes: the pound cake (YUMMMMM), the buttermilk biscuits, the cornmeal spoon bread and the blackened carrots. Her recipes are basic and call for minimal, high quality, hearty ingredients. Anya isn't afraid of butter, spices, lard, and old ways of preparing and storing her food. I am super picky about keeping cookbooks around. I have such limited storage space for cookbooks and often rely on a quick google search for something...

I pretend that Alicia and I are on first name basis because her real life BFF is a good friend of mine. I have heard her speak numerous times and always walk away amazed and full, like after a truly wonderful Thanksgiving meal.  40 Days of Decrease is no different from any of her other books, as far as quality of content. It is packed full of wise words, beautiful word pictures and deeply rooted thoughts. She is a heavy hitter with a gentle heart. I am reading 40 Days for the second time and finding it as helpful and insightful as I did the first time. This will be on my repeated-readings shelf.  40 Days of Decrease, a different kind of hunger, a different kind of fast is a meaningful experience with a Lenten fast, although it can be used at any point in our calendar year. Instead of fasting our favorite drinks, tv shows, or tasty chocolates, Alicia asks us to fast different kinds of things like neat and tidy faith, artificial light, regret and other things that cause...

I snagged a copy of a book on Theodore Roosevelt because I thought my husband would enjoy reading it. But, I started reading it one sunny afternoon- prior to all these late April, chilly, rainy days- and found it highly interesting.  The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History by Darrin Lunde is about the boyhood explorations of Roosevelt and how they highly impacted his career. Everything from his desire to please his outdoorsy-type father, to his issues with asthma and his interest in cataloguing small animals and birds all intertwined to become his life passions. He devoted his adult life to proving naturalists were true biologists, protecting animals that were on the verge of extinction and providing lasting specimens for which could Americans learn. The Naturalist gives a great account of his life and how he accomplished the many goals he dreamed of meeting.  As someone who isn’t too political, I enj...