Gravel Road Musings

The Set-apart Woman: God's Invitation to Sacred Living. If you want your life changed, then I recommend this book.  Leslie takes you on a personal journey to becoming the woman God has created us to be.  She is practical; she shares personal excerpts from her life and she challenges each and every woman to be sold out 100% for God, no exceptions, no excuses. One of the things that hit me the most and that I am working on improving was the area of prayer time/personal time with God.  Since our daughter was born, this had really fallen by the wayside, but she challenged me that there is not a time in our lives to let this all-important part slip to the side.  We need that time with God to be able to face the day and I know she is right.  I am working on doing better at making it a crucial part of my day.  I have a long ways to go. Leslie ends each chapter with a group study and discussion questions and verses to look up and also a personal reflection ...

Yup, another Berenstain Bear book and yup, I love it as much as I loved the other one I reviewed. This is a book for children ages 4-8, though I think younger and older ones can benefit from it.  It is the story of a special Bear named Tommy.  It doesn't say what disability Tommy had; just that he functioned on a lower age level than his actual age.  The purpose of the story is to express how God has made us all special regardless of our mental capacity or our physical ability. The pictures were clear and followed the story line in an age appropriate manner.  I like pictures that are captivating and that can tell a story in themselves and this book accomplishes that.  I think Mike did a good job of getting his point across that God loves all of us and while some may seem to be "different" from us, they are still special in God's eyes and they still have something to teach us.  In this story, Tommy was always happy regardless of what else was going on. ...

A disclaimer:  this is now how my my book looks, but it seems to be the same story. This is the story of how one took on the Alabama justice system and against all odds established a whole way house for women newly released from prison with nowhere to go.  The prison system doubted her success and the first group of women they sent to her were label as unrehabilitateable (yes, I may have just made that word up, I'm not sure).  They were a hard group of women led by an angry lady named Shay who was convinced they were going to be forced into a maid's uniform and become slaves to this rich lady.  The book is laugh out loud funny, such as the description of their first trip to Walmart, but it is also extremely sad as you listen to some of these ladies stories and their childhood: the abuse, the lack of love, the exposure to drugs. Heartrending. While I may not be in agreement with all of Brenda's beliefs, I believe she has a heart for God and a love for these ladi...

This was a good chick flick.  The normal romance: girl with a tough past meets heroic police officer who helps to save her life at least once.  They fall in love and live happily every after. However, I did enjoy the writing style and enjoyed the feel-goodness of the story.  While I am well aware that real life is not so cut and dried and not always so dramatic and definitely doesn't always have such a "happily ever after" feel, it was a well-written story. I especially enjoyed it because of the medical aspect of it.  I enjoy reading stories about nursing even if they aren't true stories.  Candace was an ER nurse, so I felt that the medical side was portrayed pretty accurately. As far as: what can I take away from the story and apply to my life? I think the one thing would be to be thankful for parents, for having a home.  Macy was a foster child after her mother died.  Before that they lived in the car.  Her dad wanted nothing to do with ...

Let me say first and foremost: I loved, loved, loved this book.  It's a children's book about a little boy who lived at the end of a "long dead end street" and had no friends to play with.  His parents promised him a pet that was going to be one of a kind just like him.  He commenced to dreaming about the kind of pet that would be unlike any other.  In the end, he finds a puppy who looks just as lonely as he feels.  It's a fun story written in rhyme that reminds me just a little of Dr. Seuss.  I read the story to my 3.5 week old daughter, but I don't think she got too much out of it, though I'm hoping to fuel her obsession with books as young as possible!! :) :)  I would say this book would be for toddlers and up to maybe 1st or 2nd grade?  I'm not real good with when a story like this would no longer be interesting. The message of the book was summed up in the last line, "just like your friend needs you." I would take the message to be t...

Last May, when we moved into this house, I used the top part of our china hutch and created a Nicole spot, full of things that memorialized her--her footprints, handprints, books, teddy bear, etc. etc.  I liked it, but I imagine for some people it was a little weird to see in a living room. Well, now we have two daughters and somehow it didn't feel right to me to leave that spot like it was.  The difference is Amber Hope fills our living room-- there are baby blankets and burp cloths and a car seat and a pacifier and a baby hat, etc. etc filling our living room.  And, if you come at the right time, there is this adorable little girl sleeping on the couch. So today was that day to take down her things.  The swirling of emotions that ensues with something like that is hard to reconcile.  On one side, the tears were flowing as I looked at the book my co-workers gave in memory of Nicole and read the card given by a very good friend.  On the other side, my s...

Bella's gift is a beautiful story of love. Bella is a Trisomy 18 child.  The diagnosis of Trisomy 18 is generally equal to a death sentence, but the Santorum's set out to prove the statistics wrong.  They fought the odds including many medical personnel who viewed Bella as an unsustainable liability, which is very sad.  Bella is now almost 7 years old and while she is completely dependent on her family for every basic need she is full of joy and love and laughter. This is a well-written book about the challenges and joys of a special needs child.  It addresses the challenges and struggles to accept the role of a parent with a special needs child, but I believe the Santorum's have embraced their role wholeheartedly and are enjoying their little girl to the fullest. The book also describes some of Rick's campaign for Presidency, but it isn't a huge factor in the book except where it affects Bella and the responses of people when they heard about her.  I believ...