Gravel Road Musings

Wow 2016 is nearly history. It feels like it flew by rather quickly, but it was a good year. However, I love new years. They feel so clean and fresh and like a new sheet of paper just waiting to be written on. For those of you who are wondering about the rest of the pics for the month of December? It didn't happen. Ha Ha. I nixed the idea of trying it for a year. That felt like a wildly overrated goal. But now that it is the last day in 2016, I reorganized, got rid of last year's things and got out next year's things. That, along with this post, might also have been procrastination. Procrastinating against studying my Sunday School lesson. I have to teach tomorrow and I feel woefully unprepared to connect. It hasn't been that long since I was a youth, but forgive me if any of you youth girls read this, but they seem so much younger than we were at that age. I am sure we were more mature, more advanced, more everything at their age. HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!! ...

This is a sweet story of love, forgiveness, redemption, and second chances.  The story begins with Summer breaking an engagement and discovering that her dear Grandma, her last relative, is dying. Her Grandma had a great faith in God that she passed on to Summer. Before she dies, her Grandma gives her a list she wants Summer to accomplish. The first thing on the list is to fine her old friend, Martin. Need I say anymore about where that goes? You already can guess. But when she enters Martin's life, there are few thorns in the way, namely his brothers who resent Martin. The humility and forgiveness that Martin extended to his brother's could only have been as a result of God's love. There is reconciliation, even with their father who had, along with their mother, left them and gone to Europe with no communication for many years. Okay, I don't want to give away more of the story. I really, really liked the story as long as the Grandma was alive, but once the Gran...

Day 20: Faces of Loved Ones  I'm only mildly prejudiced here that that little girl is the cutest in town. She was celebrated 22 months on this day. The only problem was neither she nor her mom remembered until the next day.  Day 19: PJ's As you can see, she wasn't that interested in posing or she was doing her lay on the floor pose.  Day 21: Wrapped presents Day 22: A mug with a hot drink And yummy biscotti thanks to a wonderful sister-in-law

Words of Hope and Happiness Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. That's what I have to say about this book. This is a children's hardcover board book of the Lord's Prayer. Each page has a phrase from the prayer combined with a small explanation and a thank you prayer. For example, "Give us this day our daily bread. God has promised to take care of all my needs, so I will trust him and not worry. Thank you, God, for your gifts!" The illustration is a little girl feeding the birds. As far as the ages of children who might enjoy this book, that's a little hard for me to gauge. Because it is a board book, very young children could page through it, but is decent size. I would say 2-5 years maybe would enjoy the book. My daughter is almost two and I am thinking I might make it a last minute add-on to her Christmas gift or will save it for her birthday in two months. The explanations were very simply and child-friendly. The pictures are nicely done. While the exp...

Rediscovering your marriage in the midst of motherhood I am not sure what it is with me and challenges lately or what God is trying to show me, but I didn't realize this book was set up as a 21-day challenge when I requested it. I didn't read it like that. I actually read it through in less than 24 hours, so it's a pretty quick read, but there are some good things in there. I really like the advice Becky gets from her dad which is the premise of the whole book. Wake up each morning and act like it is the first day of your marriage. You know how you listened better, loved better, delighted to do things for your spouse back then? Act like you are back there and be amazed. She has 21 different things to focus on, for 21 days, of course. Here's the list: - Greet Lovingly - Speak Kindly - Touch Him Purposefully - Listen Intently - Thank Him Frequently - Pray Continually - Forgive Immediately - Expect Gracefully - Serve Joyfully - Reach out Intentionally - F...

Day 14: A candy cane.  And the picture is very bad. Day 15: Stockings Since we don't have any big stockings, I decided to grab a pic of Amber with her socks. Socks are a pretty big deal to her. As is putting chairs on a chair apparently. Day 16: Baking This is not baked actually, but it is so good. I have much to learn about food photography, but I would rather know how to make this stuff than take a pretty picture of it. Though it might be better for my waistline if I just took pictures of food. I have been into making Christmas goodies this year. So far I have made Molasses Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms with Candy Cane Kisses, Butter Toffee Popcorn, Peanut Brittle, these  Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Pretzels, and Killer Crunch Brownies. I have another five things I want to make. Yes, I have no idea what I'm doing this year, but I have this storage room that is freezer temperature right now and so everything goes straight in there and seem to...

Thirty days to Improve any Relationship If you don't want to be convicted about improving your kindness quotient, don't read this book. There are three elements to this challenge. Number one, you may not say anything negative to or about the person you are doing the challenge for. Number two, you need to say something positive to the person you trying to be kind to and to someone else about that person. Number three, you need to do one kind act a day for that person. Reading through this book, I have been made aware of how critical and negative I can be and how much I can feel the need to correct things that I view as "wrong". It has challenged me to think, think, think before I speak. I am convinced if more of us would do this kindness challenge, the world would be a better place and there would be better relationships all around. Shaunti has done extensive research and surveys on this and a huge majority have stated the difference it has made in themselves, i...

by Troy Schmidt If you are looking for encouragement, then this is the book for you. Filled with 100 verses and small devotionals for each one, this book is meant to give you courage to face the journey. Be it a terminal illness, loss of a loved one, financial disaster, or something else, this book will point you to the One who is able to bear you up and sustain you through your difficulty. There are the common verses that you would expect like Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses....." , Philippians 4:7: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.", and Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;...." Then there are some unusual ones that you don't think of when you think of encouraging Bible verses, but which are very good as well. Verses like: Genesis 21:6 "And Sarah said, ...

Day 7: Wrapping Paper Day 8: Favorite Christmas Decoration This is a sign from KLH Design Shop on Etsy and it was given by Cheryl Burkholder Day 9: Something that brings you joy I love watching Dave and Amber interact together Day 12: A cozy blanket This is Amber's night-night blanket. Why is she on the floor? I have no idea, but lately whenever I say I want to take a picture she lays on the floor like that. I think she's seen too many Bible School pictures Day 10: Christmas lights Yep, I have the days switched and it doesn't appear that I have Day 11 which was supposed to be a lit candle. We were going to go look at Bentleyville in Duluth, but it was cold, so we went out to eat and then Dave and Amber had a snack when we got home. Day 13: Favorite Christmas ornament This was a new discovery this year, that we have a little shelf above our stairs and it is just right for putting a few decorations on it. It makes me smile. ...

with Mike Yorkey An NFL wife's story of concussions, loss, and the faith that saw her through. This is the story of Grant Feasel, who played center for the Seattle Seahawks for most of his career and his downfall into alcohol and prescription painkiller addictions after he retired from playing football. This is a great story to raise awareness of the dangers of head injuries incurred by playing contact sports. Injuries to the brain can cause CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a "progressive degenerative disease of the brain found mainly in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including concussions and concussive hits to the head." Because Grant played center, he was hit on pretty much every play. He was also a long snapper which resulted in hits even on special teams. This led to the development of CTE. He also had multiple aches and pains and was an old man before his time. After a lot of games, if not all, he would come home with a baggie of ...

Okay, due to extreme frustration on the part of getting my computer to upload pictures, I am suspending the picture a day for the month of December on my blog. I may post them on Instagram if you are interested. If sometime I can get my computer and this blog to cooperate, I may post some of them later. I apologize if anyone was greatly looking forward to seeing any of them.

Pursuing God's Blessings through The Beatitudes Okay, I know I exclaimed over the last book I reviewed too, but this book, this book is worth reading. It's fairly small, but very compact. Colin describes the Beatitudes as being rings the we must pass through in order to get to the other side. Think of it at those monkey bars at a playground where you swing across with your arms to get to the other side. The first ring is the first Beatitude: poor in spirit. It's when we recognize that we are nothing without God and can do nothing on our own is when we can start to recognize our sin and mourn it. Then we are able to submit to God, to each His will and to each other. From there we hunger and thirst after His Word which leads to forgiveness, pursuing one thing wholeheartedly and living at peace. Because of our commitment to God we can expect to suffer for being a Christian. Almost every chapter lists steps that help in becoming more Christ-like. I could go on and on ...

And in my dreams, it would be a beautiful white brick fireplace, but until then, this nice little candle will suffice. Plus there is so little maintenance here.

Day 4: Book You are Reading I am actually done with this book now, but it was worth reading. All those little tags you can just faintly see sticking out of the sides of the book? Those were to mark those quotes that stuck out to me. There were just a few of them. Day 5: A Hug So I'm not that much into taking pics of hugs and posting them on the world wide web, so I substituted with these cute little guys.

Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted This book was a fast quick read. Why? Because Shannan's way of writing kept you coming back for more. She will challenge your thinking, make you wonder if you should be moving to the inner city, whether you should empty your savings account, or how to create community with the most unlikely people. I really enjoyed this book. I want the thoughts to stick with me and challenge me and cause me to rethink how I do life. No, maybe I won't move to town, but I do go to  town, generally at least once a week or more, so how can I reach out to the people I see? I'm not going to say a lot more. I will let a few quotes from the book speak for itself. Tomorrow, I will probably post a picture of my book and you will be able to see all my sticky notes sticking out from between the pages. "In a world where we possess the power to distract or buy our way out of most discomfort, can we ever really mean it when say God is all we need?.... ...

I'm not very likely to post videos of Amber on social media, though I enjoy seeing videos of other people's kids, but I've been wanting to get a video of her excitement when her dad comes home. The other night I heard him before she did and so I was able to capture her in her finest moments, better than some nights.  It makes me smile to see her so excited about seeing her Dad. And I suppose I could wax all eloquent and make a spiritual application, but I'll let each of you ponder and draw your own conclusions.

Well-Worn and Well-Loved Ah, what comfort slippers seem to embody. To me, they seem to tell of warmth and home and even a bit of cheer on a dark dreary day.

So today's photo is to be of a favorite holiday movie. Well, about the only holiday movie I can remember seeing is Elf. I am hoping to change that this year and so I decided I would go with my favorite song. Now I did cheat for today's picture and I'm going to post it off the web, but beings that will require me taking a little time to do it, I am going to consider it an intentional picture. And when Amber gets up, we will take some time to watch the YouTube clip of it again. Christmas Shoes Welcome to Our World And then for a fun Christmas Song  The Drummer Boy So yup, that's three songs instead of one. Christmas shoes makes me cry about every time I hear it and really listen to the words, especially if I watch the music video with it. It's so much what Christmas should be about, thinking of others and giving to them. Children can be such a good example of this. So what are your favorite movies or songs?

Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World For those who are feeling overwhelmed and burdened by life, who feel like they go 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and never have a break, this book is for you. Shelly is big on finding a rhythm of rest that is a part of your life. It doesn't matter how busy you are, take a day or start with an hour or two, plan it into your schedule, prep your meals in advance and take the time to rest. Rest can be different for all of us. For some crafting is rest, for others it's a drudgery. For some cooking is restful, for some it's a necessary evil. For some reading would be rejuvenating, for other it would be a job to plod through. Take the time, be still, let your mind rest and just soak up Sabbath and God and what He is telling you. I'm not sure if I agree with everything she shared in the book, but I find the theme and the various components of it so necessary. Our bodies need rejuvenation, our souls need rest and worship and if...