Gravel Road Musings

This cookbook was an initial disappointment to me. I'm not sure what I expected in a Mexican cookbook, but more pictures for sure.  I love pictures in a cookbook and I'm quick to disregard a cookbook that isn't full of pictures unless it's one of the tried and true spiral bound old-time looking cookbooks like The Basics and More or Simply Wonderful, etc. On closer perusal, I saw that this cookbook takes a lot of ingredients that I know nothing about and have no idea if I would even be able to purchase them in our local grocery store. I'm not sure what I expected if the book was supposed to be authentic. Peppers like New Mexico chiles, guajillo chillos or other things like chicharron, Chihuaua cheese, etc. There are some good-sounding recipes in the book: Tacos de Res Dorado (Crisp Shredded Beef Tacos with Roasted Tomato Salsa), which unfortunately doesn't even seem to use the slow cooker; 'Tinga Tostada (Chicken with Chipotles and Onion on Crisp Tostadas...

I finished it. I have been talking about this book a lot lately and I even read from it in Sunday School yesterday. It is a really really good book. It totally stretched my thinking and has given me some food for thought. I'm still not sure if I agree completely with everything Caleb says, but he knows way more about this subject than I do. The caption on the front of the book says this: "How a pastor with gay parents learned to love others without sacrificing conviction." Doesn't that make you raise your eyebrows and say, "I wonder what his views are?" In a day, when it seems like so many churches are accepting practicing homosexuals and modifying the Bible to fit their beliefs, it's refreshing to hear Caleb's take on this. He grew up in the LGBT community, he went to their parties, marched in their parades and became a Christian at the age of 16. He then had to do a lot of soul-searching to figure out what the Bible says about homosexuality. H...

Yes, I said part one because thoughts have been going through my head on this subject and I'm not going to write much tonight and I want to give myself the option of continuing it later. I'm teaching SS tomorrow and the title is "Walking in Truth". I'll admit, I saw that title and thought, "Oh this will be easy" and then I read the text and I was blank.  2 John and 3 John for those who want to read and offer insight. I read it a few more times and thoughts started to come, questions mostly. I like to come to class armed with questions and I will ask them in different ways until someone starts talking and if nobody talks tomorrow, I will call out names. That is a threat to anyone out there that might read this tonight or early tomorrow morning and attend my SS class, so take heed. How do you "love in the truth?" How do "truth and love" work together? I'm reading a book that explains this a little I think, but I won't ta...

Aww, this is a beautiful book.  I was expecting a thin hard cover book with fairly small writing and a couple pictures to go with each parable.  Instead I got a 3/4 inch or so thick hardcover book with a padded front cover.  Each page has just a couple lines of the story and a beautiful picture that matches very well with the story description.  What I really like is at the bottom of at least half of the pages is a Bible verse that goes along with the story. It's a beautiful children's book that would span a wider range of ages than some because the stories are parables and so the older child could read and learn the deeper meaning along with being able to understand the Bible verses. There are four parables: one on Easter and new life, one on sunflowers and spreading the Good News, one on pumpkins and not Halloween, but on being a light to those around us, and one on Christmas and the Christmas Tree farmer who sacrificed the most beautiful tree to a poor family ...

From the God we made to the God with us. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book; parts of it were excellent and parts left me with questions of uncertainty, but the premise behind this book is right on. We need a relationship with God and that relationship needs to be a two-way street.  Relationships with friends, with spouses involve a giving and taking on both sides. If one side always takes and the other side is the giving side, it's not a solid relationship and it likely isn't going to last.  Too often that is what we do with God, we take and take and take and we forget that God wants us to give as well.  We need to give ourselves to God: all of us, heart, mind, soul, will, emotions, body, etc. etc. etc.  God wants a relationship with us. Constant prayer is one thing I have been challenged with and want to do better--to just keep God in communication all day long in everything and with everybody.  Think of how my speech could change if He was t...

This is an amazing story of forgiveness.  Remember the Nickel Mines Amish School shooting? This is the side of the story told by the killer's mother, Terri. She talks about the shock and horror they felt when they heard their son had done this awful thing and then she talks about the way the Amish extended forgiveness immediately to them and how in the years that followed her and her husband Chuck became very good friends with the Amish. It's a story of grace and forgiveness and healing after a tsunami swept through and destroyed the old normal.  It's a story that is pertinent today because forgiveness is always pertinent. I can't imagine being Terri and Chuck or Charlie's wife, Marie, left to deal with the aftermath of such a disaster.  Trying to understand what would drive a man to do such a heinous crime; a man who was a family man, who provided and took care of his wife and children. Terri talks about learning to give thanks in everything as she battled br...

Six months already.  How can it be? And on the other hand, how can it not be six years already?  It feels short, it feels long, it still feels unreal. Yes, it is six months today since the doctor told us that Dad is brain dead. Six months since we made hard decisions and released Dad to Jesus.  Six months since we stood around his bedside trying to be strong as we watched him breathe his last.  Six months since we went to Randy's one last time, this time to talk about planning a funeral; hope was gone.  Six months since we made that last drive from Eau Claire to home. We were just in Eau Claire a few weeks ago on our way to New Jersey; we stayed there for the night right across from the motel we had spent over a week at six months ago.  There was no way I was going to stay in the same motel.  Not yet; maybe not ever.  But I would go to Randy's again, for their comfort pudding if nothing else. Do those memories never fade?  I am blessed ...

This is a lovely little children's book for ages 3-8 or so would be my guess.  It's a nice hardcover book with very attractive pictures. The illustrator did a very good job. The story line is about being graceful winners and losers and how it's not so important that you win as the attitude you have about the game itself.  In the story, the animals were competing in a Field Day to see who would be the leader of the forest.  In the end, the leader was not an animal that had won anything, but the animal who had worked hard to make everything okay for those who lost. I really liked this book. Lulu and Max are nice little people who go on adventures together. At the back of the book, Lysa has ten Bible verses that go along with attitude and things like that. Verses like the Golden Rule and working diligently, etc. I would definitely recommend this book to others and will look forward to seeing more books by Lysa. This book was given me by Book Look Bloggers for the p...