Gravel Road Musings

Fight fear, gain confidence, and find yourself again. "Faith is confidence in a future that doesn't match the present reality."  That quote from the book sums up, for me anyway, the basic premise of the book. Rachel finds herself the mom of seven kids and I would say she also finds herself stuck, stuck in financial bondage and stuck in a repeating cycle. It takes courage to break free from that and embark on a new journey and Rachel provides encouragement to moms to do that hard thing.  But she also encourages us not to do it alone. Welcoming others into our circle is the brave thing to do. It can seem so easy, but letting other people see who we really are can be really, really hard. Rachel went through a time in her life when she wouldn't let people inside her house, when she kept the garage door closed because of the stuff inside that she was afraid to let others see. Doing that just lets the cycle keep repeating. Rachel encourages us to name that thing we...

Unshakable Hope for Kids This is a beautiful Bible Story book. Let's start with that. I will admit to being surprised when I got it. I apparently didn't read the book description very well because I didn't realize it was a Bible story book. I thought it was just a regular story book. But like I said it is really pretty. It's a nice hard cover, about 8.5 x 11, with really nice illustrations. One thing I like about this Bible story book is it would cover a wide age range. Each chapter has about four parts. First, there's an intro. For example in the chapter about God's Promise for You called God will Give you an Inheritance, there's an intro that talks about being an heir, etc. Then there's the actual Bible story about the Israelites conquering Jericho. Then there's a part  about how we can become God's heir, a small section of making a promise to God, a short prayer and then finally a whole page of Bible verses that go with the story theme....

 3 Years, 365 questions, 1,095 conversations What do you like that most other kids don't? What is your favorite thing to do during the summer? If you could start today over, would you? Who do you want to be like when you grow up? If you could do something crazy with your hair, what would you do? This is a sampling of the 365 questions to ask your child. Some are thought-provoking, some are insightful, some are funny, and some are purely hypothetical.  I think the concept is great: it could be a fun way to engage your kids in conversation. And while the conversation could start out funny, it could potentially lead to deeper conversations and better relationships. At least that is the idealistic version I see. The realistic version recognizes that keeping up with the questions could be a challenge in and of itself. I have a three year old and an almost one year old. I don't think I will be using this book right now. Most of the questions are way beyond her comprehensi...

The transformative power of faith and community when life is hard. While I think we are doing better now, for too many years I believe, grief and loss has been viewed as taboo subjects. You had a miscarriage? Well, please do not talk about it. That was barely a baby and certainly not worth grieving. You lost a job? Again, not worth mentioning. The only grief that seemed okay was the death of a real live person and even that you should quickly grieve, get over, and get back to normal life. I recognize I may be exaggerating this out of proportions and yet I think there is truth here. Ashleigh opens the door for a better way: grief is to be mourned. People should come along side the person that is grieving regardless of how "big or small" the grief may be. They should come along side, not to offer advice and tips for moving on, but show they care and to walk beside them in their sorrow. Ashleigh points out a lot of areas of grief that we might not think about on a regula...

A hidden fortune, a supposedly dead man, and a new vineyard manager all greet the hurried return of Tressa Harlowe back to her estate in the south of England. And of course, lots of people are flocking to the estate to search for the rumored fortune, so it is up to Tressa to decipher who has good intentions and who doesn't.  It's a fairly typical historical fiction book. There's the good guy who Tressa doesn't recognize as such, there's the bad guy who she thinks is good, etc.  There's intrigue, romance, and happy endings (maybe) for all involved. Actually, there probably wasn't a happy ending for Tressa's mom, but the book doesn't tell us that. I liked the book. I think this is the first book I read by Joanna and I would be interested in reading more. It doesn't go in the top ten books I've ever read because in some ways it is so predictable and yet there were a few surprises, which is also rather predictable, so....  I do like the fac...

Discover the Joy of Living "Others First" Wow, this is one of those books that hits you between the eyes. I was challenged and I hope to be changed by reading this book. Another name for this book might be simply put, blessing others.  Becky starts with creating a blessing toolbox that includes first of all remaining in the vine, but then it includes things like "start with your Jerusalem" or start at home with blessing people, be a cheerleader, no blessing is too small, forgive quickly and so on.  She also goes on to talk about the four P's of blessing: Presence, Possessions, Perspective and Prayer.  Each of these has two chapters dedicated to the topic, one is more instructional and one is more story form.  Also for each of these P's there are 50 ideas each for ways we can bless people.  Blessing ideas include: draw a smiley face on your child's sandwich baggie, be a safe place for friend to cry, mow a neighbor's lawn, tape coins to vending m...

This fruit comes from the ground. It's big and orange and round. We're proud of all we've found! Pick, Pick, Pick. Let's explore the pumpkin patch! There are lots of blessings: candy apples, new school year, hayrides, fallen leaves, etc. etc. This is a book to celebrate fall. As  you can see from the example I gave, the first three lines rhyme, then the next line is more of an exclamation, sound effect etc (Tap, Tap, Tap, Chug, Chug, Chug, etc) and the final line clarifies what the page is about. The illustrator is Maddie Frost. Let's face it, I try really hard not to be critical of illustrators. If I was the illustrator, all the pictures would be stick figures and still unrecognizable, but I think Maddie does a nice job.  There's something sort of whimsical about the illustrations. It just seems like fall in the pictures. And it's easy to say that because the book is about fall, but maybe it's the colors, maybe it's the whimsy, maybe it...

This book is heartbreaking and enlightening all at the same time. It is not a feel good fiction book. It is packed full of the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp and although it is fiction, it is based on the true story of Helene Hannemann and her stay in Auschwitz II-Birkenau in the Gypsy section. I don't want to this review to be a spoiler, but the book is just heart rending, both in the way the prisoners were treated and also Dr. Mengele's supposed research, which was just a sophisticated name for torture. Equally heartrending and courageous was Helene, who was a full-blooded German, but who ultimately gave her life so that she could be with her children and protect them as much as she was able. The courage she exhibited is amazing and should serve as an inspiration to all who read this book. Not only courage for the sake of her own children, but also courage to stand up and defend other children as well. The book was well written. Interestingly, it was writte...