Gravel Road Musings

By Mike Berenstain I have enjoyed the Living Lights series of the Berenstain Bears because they teach a good life lesson along with being a fun story. I have always been a fan of the Berenstain Bears. I remember reading them at book stands in the stores when I was a little girl This one talked about Grandparent's Day and I really, really like that aspect of the book. We put a lot of focus and attention on Mother's Day and Father's Day, but can tend to forget the Grandparents, so I really liked that aspect of the book. The story line itself was a little unique in my book. The Bears talked about what Gramps and Gran did for them and what they could do for Gramps and Gran for Grandparent's Day. What they decided to do was make a book about Noah's grandchildren and give it to Gramps and Gran because, I guess, Gramps and Gran had made them a Noah's ark set. Now while I didn't go to the Bible and double check, I do think they used the Biblical names for ...

Not that long ago, I posted a review for the book Farewell, Four Waters, a novel based on truth about the work being done by aid workers in Afghanistan. This is another book by the same author. I don't know her real name, Kate is a pseudonym. This book shares some of her experiences, but is more of a devotional/inspirational book that looks at why God would call people to go to dangerous places like Afghanistan or even inner city areas that are laden with crime. Some reasons she gives is because God went first to these areas, He loves these people so much, He wants to fill His table, and these people need to see and hear and touch a Christian. She says there are six common experiences that almost all Afghans share who have come to Christ. They have met a Christ-follower, they have read or heard a portion of Scripture through stories, radio programs, etc. They've experienced a dream or a vision in which God revealed Himself. That combination of experiences led them to count ...

This is the second book in a series about three sisters, Grace, Hope, and Mercy. It being a sequel is the main reason I requested this book to read. Hope and Mercy had been at the Whitman mission at the time of the Whitman Massacre by the Indians. Hope had been raped repeatedly, became pregnant, and gave the child away at birth to a friend who was unable to have children. Because of all this, she struggles very hard to forgive the Indians and to move on with her life. She is consumed with a desire for revenge and believes that seeing the Indians come to justice would end her struggle. After five Indians are hanged, she realizes that will not bring her closure like she hoped for. Anyway, I don't want to give away too much of the story. As you can imagine, there is a man involved and even though Hope has resolved to never marry, he wins her heart, etc. etc. But there are a few key things in this book that stuck out to me: forgiveness and releasing fear. Hope came to realize tha...

Illustrated by Marta Alvarez 20 Bible Stories to Build a Great Big Faith This is a beautiful hardcover board book that tells 20 Bible stories in rhyme. Each story has 2 four line stanzas and is preceded by "My great big God...." And then it launches into the story about something God did, from Creation to Samson to Esther to Jesus' Birth, the Feeding the 5,000, His death and so on. Each story ends with a clinching sentence such as "My great big God keeps me safe!" "My great big God guides me!" "My great big God does amazing things."  I think that is my favorite part of the book, because to me, it just reinforces the great God we serve and helps to drive home the point of the story. You can't tell much of a story in 8 rhyming lines. The pictures are brightly colored and nicely done, through they are more cartoonish rather than realistic. I would say that book is about a 5 by 7 for size. Age wise, I would put it at about a year up t...

Ambivalence [1] is a state of having simultaneous conflicting reactions, beliefs, or feelings towards some object. [2] [3] [4] [5] Stated another way, ambivalence is the experience of having an attitude towards someone or something that contains both positively and negatively valenced components. [6] The term also refers to situations where "mixed feelings" of a more general sort are experienced, or where a person experiences uncertainty or indecisiveness. Thank you Wikipedia for your definition. I'm not even sure how to broach this topic, but it's been rattling around in my head the last couple days and I need to post something other than book reviews on this blog. I don't even know if I can adequately explain what I am even feeling, but here goes. Almost two and a half years ago, this little bundle made me a "real" mom. I now had a live baby to hold in my arms and play doll with. It was exciting after the hard times of the previous ye...

I have read a few of Rachel's book and some of them have been pretty good, some of them have been terrific. If you get a chance to read her Wedding series or whatever it's called: The Wedding Dress, The Wedding Chapel, and The Wedding Shop, do. If you like fiction anyway. The Writing Desk comes in just under the above mentioned books, which I should mention, I don't think I've ever read The Wedding Shop, so I can't testify to its goodness. But Rachel is able to shift between time periods and between main characters, at least two from each time period in an effortless manner that makes it easy to follow along. Sometimes, when authors do this,  I find myself chafing at the bit as I read the one section, just wanting to get back to the other time period and the other main characters. But Rachel keeps you interested in both throughout the book. You know the two are going to tie together somehow and you're wondering how it will work. This book it's a writin...

One aid worker's sudden escape from Afghanistan This book, this book, if you have time for only one book, make it this one. Yes, it's called a novel, but it's based on true events though they have been mixed and match for security reasons. I just am not sure you could make up these kinds of stories. It's the kind of book I dreamt about at night. And last night, I confess, I had skimmed ahead just a bit and I think I thought about the book every time I woke up last night. So it wasn't a wise move on my part. Kate McCord has written three books about her time in Afghanistan. Kate is not her real name either, again for security reasons. Her first book is called "In the Land of Blue Burqas" and it's on my to-read list. Then this one is next and her last book is called "Why God Calls Us to Dangerous Places" and is next on my list to request to review. Now on to a look at the book. It only covers a two week span, starting with an NGO worker...

This is the first in a series called the Orphan Train Series by Jody Hedlund. I think this is also one of the first books I've ever read by Jody. It was definitely rather predictable with the normal fairy tale ending. That was a little disappointing, but it's what we expect in historical fiction. What I did like about the book was, at the end, Jody mentioned the Orphan Trains, led by the Children's Aid Society, which were a real thing in the 1800's. In 1857, the era this book was written, there was a financial crisis and economic panic with women laborers being at a disadvantage and having a hard time finding working in New York. The Children's Aid Society, in addition to sending orphans out West, set up special placement offices to send women out West to find jobs as seamstresses, cooks, launderers etc. They were placed in the Midwest, most often central Illinois in the hopes of a better life. This is the premise that this book is based on. Elise, the main ch...