Gravel Road Musings

I think this is the first book I have ever ready by Courtney and I hope it isn't the last. I really enjoyed this book. Yes, it had the predictable romance in it, but there was something else in here, something that I think a lot of use could relate to if we are willing. Look at the title for instance. On first glance, if you think about why that title, you would assume, because the book is Christian fiction, that it would mean looking up to Jesus. Well, in all actuality, the main characters in this book don't seem to have a real close, walking relationship with Jesus. There isn't a lot of prayer mentioned, which could be the biggest downfall of the book to me. But still the main character, Lane, by the end has uttered at least one desperate prayer and I have to believe God is working in her life in some way. Again, I think we can all relate, at least I can, to the desperate prayers being shot heavenward as one sentence snippets. But when I read the author's note at ...

The Story of a U.S. Olympic Champion I had never heard of Sanya Richards-Ross before I read this book, which I suppose is not that surprising as I don't keep up with athletes and their performances all that much. I will have to say that, after reading this book, I am very impressed with the dedication and hard work required of someone who makes running their career. Let's be honest here, I hate running. I am out of breath before I've run 10 meters, much less 400 meters, so the story of Sanya and her dedication to running since she was 9 is impressive to me. This book was written with the 8 to 12 year old audience in mind. It's been awhile since I've been that age and I don't have any children that age to use as a comparison. I thought the book was definitely written in easy to understand language. I would say that some of the concepts seemed like they might be a bit hard to understand, especially for an 8 year old, concepts about God's grace and thin...

I did not read the description of this book very well when I asked to review it. I was thinking it was a book that was going to explain how to refute Islam and give me a good background for that. It does that, in a way, but it is geared to be read by a Muslim. Samy does a very good job of incorporating verses from both the Koran and the Bible and showing how Christianity is superior. It was interesting to me to note how much the Koran approves of the Bible and recommends it, even above their own book. The book is written is a very simple easy-to-understand format. Like I said, it was very different from what I was expecting, but that was my own fault. I found it a little hard to follow because I know virtually nothing about the Koran, so all the references got a little mind-boggling, but I think for a Muslim well-versed in the Koran, Samy did an very good job of taking the concepts apart piece by piece and explaining Christianity. One advantage that Samy has too is he learned A...

I am a Dee Henderson fan. She is a good author that mixes mystery, crime with romance and can write a pretty good story. But she totally outdid herself on this one. I could totally read lots of this style of fiction. Cold cases are very interesting to me because they involve a lot of digging and a lot of guess work and not so much  in your fact, heart-stopping crime scenes. It's fascinating to me to watch Evie dig into an old case and see what she can come up with that is different from all the detectives before her. How accurate it is to real life I don't know, but I find it very interesting. Warning: Spoilers ahead. So in this book, I don't want to give away too much about the book, but she is working with David, another detective. They are each working their own crime, but float ideas off each other and work back and forth. So you already know where the story is going, right? Wrong. David is in a long-term relationship with a very popular singer. Why aren't...

A Journey of 500 miles Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair This is an amazing story. Justin was diagnosed with a rare muscular disease and has lost the use of his hands and arms. He is unable to take care of himself anymore. Patrick is his best friend basically since birth. Their families have taken trips together and spend time at each other's houses every year. Patrick will take time off of work to go to Justin's house to take care of him to give Justin's wife a break. This is dedication and true friendship. Now Justin has the dream of walking the famous Camino de Santiago, a spiritual pilgrimage through the mountains and rough terrain of northern Spain. Patrick volunteers to push him these 500 miles. It is an arduous trip requiring much planning, many resources, a new wheelchair and even so, many tired and sore muscles. It cannot be done on their own. People volunteer to come along and help, pilgrims walking the journey with them stop and help. Complete strangers...

The Beginner's Bible Carry-Along Treasury By Zondervan  So I got this book with the deluded hope, I'm sure, that this would be a good book for Amber to take along to church and look at and hopefully keep her occupied for the two hours that church lasts. However that turns out, the book is a delight either way. The handle feels like a cheap little plastic thing in comparison with the rest of the book, but I think it will hold up all right. The book is on the smaller side so perfect to carry along. The closure is magnetic so a child can easily open and close. The pictures are bright and colorful. The stories cover some of the popular stories from both the Old and New Testaments.  We haven't sat down and read any stories, but I'm confident they will hold my two-year-olds attention, but she loves books and these stories are short.  I am very pleased with the book and even if it doesn't help with sitting still in church, it looks like such a fun book...

I have been convicted. I taught Sunday School yesterday on the Israelites and their rebellion about entering Canaan. I asked the question about attitudes and preconceptions affecting our situations and experiences. And how to keep a positive perspective, even when life looks hard. And one lady made the comment about gratitude and it has stuck with me. Isn't that pretty much the answer? How you can grumble about a situation and crabby and pessimistic and see the worst in the situation if we are grateful? It's hard to complain when you have a grateful spirit. OUCH!!!!! So D is home late tonight, I'm guessing something didn't go well in the woods. I don't know what, but I know it involved unloading and reloading and that's usually not a normally occurrence, so... I have a choice. I can be grumpy because I don't know if we can wait to eat until he gets home and I just don't want to get supper on and eat by ourselves. Or I can be grateful he had wor...

Praying with confidence, boldness, and grace This is a 193 Page book that talks about prayer and then a 21 Days to Spiritual Breakthrough Devotional at the back of the book. The book was in a different format than I am used, but I think there are some good points to the way it is written. The odd chapters talk about "I Am....", "I Am Chosen" "I Am Honored." I Am Secure" and etc. The even chapters talk about learning to pray.. with faith, with conviction, with grace, etc. The even chapters are more like a Bible study with lots of verses to look up and questions to answer. I think those chapters could be very valuable if you took the time to go through them and answer the questions and journal your thoughts. For me, I didn't find the book to be so much about praying with fervor as getting rid of the things in your life that could hinder your prayer life. Each odd chapter started with a story of someone who had overcome whatever the chapter was ...

Yup, this book is pretty much what it looks like. I was a little disappointed in it. I am realizing the more nonfiction I read, the better the fiction has to be to be worth it. I also realize that I look at fiction differently that I have to review than fiction that I just read for the sheer lark of it. Fiction that I review, I want to have more substance and growth. And yes, it's a pride thing because I don't want to look like a shallow reader for the books I read. So maybe that's been the biggest difference rather than my style of reading actually changing. Now, let me also explain a little bit about why it was disappointing. I haven't read a lot of Melody Carlson's books, but I have one called "Armando's Treasure". I've read it long enough ago that I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember it being a really, really good book with a fair amount of depth. Now, I could be completely wrong if I were to reread it today, but that was the...

Discover and Pursue God's Purpose for Your Life What makes you want to get up in the morning? What fills you with a sense of passion? What makes you angry with a righteous indignation? What fills you with bliss? These are questions to ask as you seek to find what God's will is for your life. God has a plan for you and a purpose, and there are many people just aimlessly wondering through life with no purpose and no direction and no fulfillment. This book was challenging to me to seek out what God has for me and to do my part for His Kingdom. Craig talked about three main areas that can help reveal to us our Chazown: core values, spiritual gifts, and past experiences. What talents do we have? What do we value and hold dear to us? What have our past experiences taught us? And there are the smaller areas of life, but areas that still need to be guided and disciplined in a godly manner: relationships, finance, work, physical health, and God. He calls these the spokes. Go...

Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard First, let me talk about the beauty of the book itself. When I requested this book, I was expecting a normal paper-back book about 5x7, you know the standard size. But when I got it? I got a beautiful hardcover book that was more 6.5x8. Not only that, but it has a ribbon marker that comes with it. Inside, scattered throughout the book are beautiful pictures. The writing and size of font begs you to grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up and start reading, which is sort of what I did, except I couldn't put my feet up and my coffee might have been gone already. (We were on a 15 hour trip.) The book begs to sit on a coffee table, it's so beautiful The premise of the book is get out of your back yard and into your front yard. Engage the people in your neighborhood. Sit outside, invite people over, keep it simple. Hospitality is different from entertaining. You don't have to have a fancy spread, just have a welcoming ...

True Stories of Miraculous Answers to Prayer Sometimes it's easy to wonder if God is still doing miracles today. It's easy to question if He really cares as much about us today as He did about the people back in the Early Church. And then it becomes easy to question why? If God doesn't perform miracles today, why not? Is it because of our unbelief, our dependence on technology and medicine and our pocket book to save us? Reading this book helped me realize again that God is still doing miracles today. Sometimes they are big and amazing and over the top and sometimes they are small and hidden and you must look hard to find them. Sometimes the miracle is in what didn't happen. When the little girl was hit by a car, she didn't fly under the vehicle, she flew up. She had very few injuries and nothing permanent as a result of that experience. She was still hit, but God protected her from sever injury. That's a miracle. This book has a wide variety of miracles...