Gravel Road Musings

"Before you get married, you need to make sure you love him enough for a life of sickness, poorer, and worse. 'Cause that's what you're committing to."  More people need to think on this before they get married. However, the health, richer, and better does help round out a marriage and I believe even in sickness and poverty, you can have the better if you have the right attitude and, most of all, if you have Jesus to guide you. Other than that quote, this book is one of those that I enjoy reading for the light fluff that it contains. It's not one of those I enjoy writing reviews on because it makes me feel light and fluffy. But the premise of a cooking show is what made me pick up the book. I enjoy cooking shows, especially the competitive ones and that is how this book starts, it's how the two main characters meet, if you can call it a meeting. Hadley and Max are opposite, but then Max gets sent away and he changes. He tries to be a nicer person a

I don't always post my NetGalley book reviews on here, but this was a really good book that I would recommend to those who like World War II historical fiction. Another World War II historical fiction book.  There are a lot of them out there and I have been enjoying them, even though they are rather hard reading.  This book is more historically based than some historical fiction books are.  It follows the lives of two fictitious Jewish boys, Jacob and Moses, on the quest to find their parents. It is based in France during the Nazi occupation, so it was a setting I was unfamiliar with. Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was a simple village in France that was home to thousands of refugees during the war.  It was fascinating to read about real people who were willing to risk all to help their brothers and sisters regardless of race or religion. Jacob and Moses showed the resilience of the human spirit. They were determined and willing to move forward in spite of great risks. They longed t

"Arrgghhaaaaahhhhahhhmmmahhhargh", the unintelligible moanings of a five-year-old fill my ears and my mouth instantly opens with one of two response, "Use words" or "Stop whining".  I mean really, how hard is it to just use words to say that your brother hit you? You don't need to sit on the couch whining or crying in that tone of voice that tells me you are not really hurt, but you are really offended and you really are hoping the offender will be duly punished for his offence. Whining grates on my nerves in a very big hurry. But you know what? Way too often I respond in a nasally, equally whiny tone of voice to say, "Stop whining". I catch myself sometimes and think, "Really, what am I becoming? How am I different? Responding to whining with whining is not the way to teach by example." So with toes feeling the effects of the smashing they received, we try again and again and again, both to teach that whining is not the recomme

Embracing the Mysteries of Providence "Situations that seem confusing and chaotic to us are actually plot threads He is weaving together to create a story...a beautiful, compelling work of art." "Your life and your story actually matter. They have meaning as you view them against the backdrop of God's ultimate Story." This book is full of stories, stories of financial difficulty, marriages gone awry, sickness, death, and grief. So many stories were shared in these pages and to me, that made the book so much more readable and relatable. You can say all the right things, but until you have lived it, it is hard to know if those principles you claim hold weight in your real life. This book is about people who lived the hard things and walked victoriously through them. It didn't mean their lives turned out right in the end; there were sons who still lived away from family togetherness, spouses who were still unfaithful, health was still lost, and people s