Gravel Road Musings

  If you are familiar with Robin Jones Gunn,  you know she is a prolific writer and you might quickly dismiss her as a complete romance writer. Before you do, I recommend you read this series. This is the second book in the Haven Makers series and I am hoping there are at least three more coming. This is the series that I have been looking for. I would love to see more Christian authors take normal life and write books about it, not books where there is always a happily ever after and you can tell from the first chapter what is going to happen, but books that are real and true to life and encouraging to read. The Haven Makers or Daughters of Eve as they interchangeably call themselves are a group of five women who do life together. The focus of the first book was on Emily and the focus of this book was Jennalyn. The others are Sierra, Christy, and Tess. These ladies get together whenever they can and they are learning to be honest with each other, to trust each other, and to h...

  The day meanders along at a frighteningly slow pace. There are a multitude of fights to settle, disputes to solve, and squabbles to calm. My patience left at 8:00 and now at 10:00, my reserve is depleted, my attitude sour and my mind a whirl. Will lunch and naptime ever come? Why am I feeling like this? What is wrong with me that I cannot stay calm and happy for one morning?  The morning started out good, quiet time until 7, get ready in peace, and oh it was a glorious day. And then the children woke up and it all went downhill. An unexpected errand that needed to be run, pee that didn't land in the toilet, a car trunk that mysteriously wouldn't open, and cookies that weren't gonna bake themselves. I called my husband to tell him my tale of woe and he instantly caught on to the bad humor that was circulating through my brain and called me out on it. He was kind, but he was right. I was frazzled and frustrated. All my good intentions had washed down the drain with the last...

  40 days to opening your heart and home We all know we should reach out more, right? Some of us do really well and some of us need the proverbial kick in the pants. Karen offers that kick in this 8 week, 5 days a week devotional book that inspires and challenges us to reach out and gather in the friend, the stranger, the down-and-outer into your life where you can try to make a difference.  It's hospitality without complaining. It's practical complete with recipes that provide  you with a starting point for hosting. Some practical ways to be ready for company. Do it now. Don't wait. Take inventory (of how you use the hours in your day) Hold your too-full plate up to God (and see what should go) Delete (resign from the tasks that God is not asking you to pursue) Delegate Know when - and when not- to multitask. (Be prepared to give your guest your full attention even when you would rather be doing something else) Shush the screens Look for hidden opportunities right there ...

  Waking up to God's Provision in a Land of Longing You will get as much out of this book as you want to put into it. This is a book packed full of insights and hope and help, but you must be willing to get help and to look for the good in your life.  There are questions to ponder throughout the book that allow you to look back and learn and challenge you to see the manna that is in your life. Using the book of Exodus as a guide Meredith walks us alongside God's people to show us how God is at work in our own story and we can trust him to lead us right. She also challenges us to see the good in our life, the manna as she calls it, those things that bring us joy and remind us we are not alone. "We lose sight of who we were created to be when we fail to remember we have a Creator." "Rest comes in the stillness of surrender, when we relax and realize we cannot hold it together. Opening our hands to what Jesus has for us in the moment versus what we think we need bre...

This is the third book in the Codebreaker's series and it's a good one. There is something about this book that is so real and so good. It's not just all happy endings. There is grief, loss, and danger, along with joy and love. But isn't that so real to our own normal lives? Set in London during World War I, Zivon Marin has fled his beloved Russia because the Bolsheviks have made it very clear that in their quest for equality for all, they do not tolerate differing opinions. Reduced to the low man on the totem pole, Zivon must prove his allegiance and his loyalty while someone else wants to disprove it. I keep a book journal and it's rare that I fill more than one page for any book and for sure not in a fiction book, but this book had me copying more than my normal amount of quotes. There are just some good things in this book. "But Batya used to say that the difference between a wise man and a fool was not that the wise man was right and the fool wrong - but t...

 As my foot steps on to the bottom step, my mind heaves a silent sigh of relief. Naptime!! What a precious commodity, rejuvenating sleep for the littles and rejuvenating quietness and rest for the mother, something to be treasured and preserved at all costs. As I set about heating up water for a cup of tea I mentally think through how best to use this time. There are books to be read, writing to be done, creative endeavors to work on, exercising that demands all my will power and on and on the mental list grows. The water starts to whistle (or it would if the tea pot still worked properly) and I pour it over a tea bag and a bit of sugar. And then I hear it, the tell tale pitter-pat on the stairs combined with the hollered out request. I inwardly groan and listened for the wispy voice of the three-year-old: "I have to go.....dear mama." I take care of his needs, tuck him back into bed with even stricter instructions to stay there and go to sleep. My sigh is quieter and more te...

It takes a village to raise a family, they say, but then why can it feel like such a lonely job? Why am I the only one getting up in the middle of the night with the crying baby? Why am I the only one at home day in and day out wiping noses and butts and settling disputes and cleaning up yet one more mess? Where is my village? I saw a meme a few days ago that said something like, "It takes a village to raise a family, but is there like a number we call or what?"  That is very much in my own words, but it can feel like that sometimes. It can feel lonely and I can get desperate, longing for that outside help, that outside influence, that human that doesn't whine or need everything done for them.  But maybe, just maybe, I'm looking in the wrong places for my village. I'm looking in the places I expect to see it, I'm looking for it where I think it should be, but what if it's not there? What if my village is showing up in ways I never thought about, in places ...

This is one of those books that left me unsettled and unsure what to say. The themes in the story were good: second chances, redemption, love, but the plot was just not for me.  The writing was excellent, but there was quite a bit that left me with no idea of what was being said, the ideas discussed were way beyond my mental capacity. Ethan and Adrian are brothers, but one has been killed and one is dying. (This is not a spoiler, it's on the back cover and within the first chapter.) The question being asked is why was Adrian killed? Offered a second chance, what will Ethan do? And this is the story line that left me confused and bewildered and unimpressed. I realized that I do not like science fiction type of stuff. But the learning to love and appreciate people? That part I can understand and appreciate. So over all if you like delving into quantum physics and science fiction and that sort of thing, you will enjoy the whole books, but overall this type of book is not for me and no...

  Proven Practices for Community-Based Outreach Ministry And on a completely different note, let's talk about this book.  "Say yes unless you have to say no." This is the guiding principle at Faith Church in Lafayette, Indiana.  And this is the premise that this book is based upon.  After reading this book, I want to go out and do all the things and make all the difference. I want to shake people and say, "Wake up, we can make a difference right here, right now, let's do it."  But on the other hand, this book challenges my comfort zone. It pushes me to think outside the box. They started with Biblical counseling for who ever needed and today they have 5 campuses with something for everyone: rehab for men and women, schools for children, an institute with all kinds of classes for the community, a seminary, counseling and the list could go on and on. It is fascinating to hear how they have made a difference in their community and a challenge to see what each r...

  That picture encapsulates what the book is about: romance with all the fictional ups and downs. It's chick flick supreme reading, but also funny and clean.   Despite all that, I'm left asking the question: what is God trying to teach me here? I have been reading light fiction at a rapid rate, partly because I have review books that I am very far behind on reviewing, partly because I have been taking a little more time to read, and partly because I am enjoying the break from the hard stuff of life.  But the last two books I have read have really talked a lot about forgiveness and how important it is in a Christian's life. And it leaves me wondering, is there something I need to forgive in my own life, someone I need to forgive so that I can move on?  It's a challenge to think about.  "Forgiveness is never deserved. It's a gift. If you earn a gift, it's not a gift anymore - it's a wage. The way I see it, if people deserved forgiveness, then there is rea...

  Global Search and Rescue Book 3 I debated getting this book, but since I had the first two, it felt like I should continue the series #bookwormproblems.  And I'm very glad I did. This book was one of the best books I've read by Susan May Warren in awhile. It was action-packed and kept me skimming ahead to make sure everything was going to be okay. I think one of the things that I really liked about this book was it was a husband and wife dynamic, as broken as that was. There's something about reading about a couple working out their difficulties and making their relationship work that I love so much more in a novel than just boy meets girl and they live happily ever after.  You meet Hamilton in the other books in this series, but this time you get a glimpse into his past in the form of his wife that no one seemed to know about, but when a 10 year old daughter showed up on the scene big questions were raised in Ham's mind. Signe, his wife, is on the run, but from what ...

  The Edge of Belonging is Amanda Cox's debut novel and it's a good one. I am up for reading anything she writes. Rich, emotion-filled prose that pulls you and makes you cheer every character on, especially the down-trodden ones. It was such a good story with such good underlying themes, the greatest being the difference that love can make in a person's life. And I'm not talking the romantic kind of love though there is that in the story as well, but I'm talking a deep love that loved the seemingly unlovable, the love that breaks down barriers and makes a person feel like a person. There was just so much richness to the story, it pulled you in. It did address some difficult topics as well: domestic abuse and foster care were both touched on. And while I am an advocate of foster care, this story revealed some of the system especially in older children.  A few quotes from the book. This one is from a grandma to a younger person regarding pain. "It's not about...

Social media is full of them, those pictures of cute, little, missing teeth first graders all excited and eager gripping a lunch box or a sign board or something that indicates that they are off to the big world of school. Sometimes fear or anxiety shines through in their eyes or the way they grip their lunch box in a tight, white-knuckle grip, but mostly it's excitement that glitters off the page, causing even the casual social media scroller to smile and remember their own first days of school.  But what we don't see, what is kept hidden away in broken hearts are the mothers who hop onto Instagram to see what's happening with their friends and come across these cute little first graders and without warning their heart is ripped open again and the tears stream down their cheeks.  Because this was the year, this was the year their own little first grader was supposed to be going to school. This was the year they were going to have their own pictures to post on Instagram, th...

  Depression. That is a word we hear about quite a bit and we all have an opinion on, but also a word we whisper about and are ashamed to admit we might struggle with it. Enter this book, the story of a courageous woman's fight against depression and its demons. This is a fight that she almost loses, but yet emerges at the end, a different, but better person who has finally been able to recognize God's love and forgiveness in her own life. This is the story of Josephine, a beautiful author and child of God, who writes beautifully about God's grace and redemption and forgiveness and yet struggles to embrace it all for herself.  It's the story of Henry who must seek for that forgiveness. It also feels like a personal story for the author herself. Elizabeth, in the acknowledgements, mentions her own struggle with depression. It feels like this story could be deeply personal for her too in her own journey through life. I like to quote pieces from the book when I write revie...

 Her debut novel, Katie Powner has me anxiously awaiting any more novels she might be writing.  This is the kind of story I am looking for, a story with feelings and emotions, but not romance, a true-to-life story, a story that has you turning the pages because you want to know if the characters made it through, if they were able to restore relationships. Gerrit is a crotchety man recently retired from farm life and struggling to find his way back to his wife, his family, even to his own life, to find peace with himself. Rae is struggling to live up to her parents' expectations and feels like it all depends on her to hold everything together.  Then there's Morgan and Taylor and Kylee and David and Gerrit's wife, Hannie, and his children, Evi and Noah and,  of course, the neighbor across the street.  I just loved this book. I want to read Christian fiction, but get disillusioned because it all seems to be boy meets girl, the end.  But this book had depth: br...

  The Frontier Nursing Service established by Mary Breckinridge is the core theme of this book. Mary established this service back in 1925 as a midwifery service to help mothers have more successful deliveries with both mother and baby surviving. The service was very successful and, as I understand, is still going today. At the time of our story, the 1930s, nurses rode horseback through the mountain trails and couriers would come for the summer to help out with the horses, delivering supplies and anything else that was needed of them. It was a hard life, but a fulfilling life. So that is the historical backdrop to this book. Piper wanted out of the city for awhile. She was being pressured by her father to marry a man she barely knew while, of course, being in love with a man her father didn't approve of. And that is really all I'm going to say about that.  I admire Piper in her willingness to give up a summer of comfort and go to the mountains. She didn't really know what s...

Living Joyfully through Allegiance to King Jesus This book stabbed me in a few uncomfortable places. It's the most fun to read books that just agree with how you are living life; it's less easy, though more worthwhile to read books that challenge you and convict you.  This book did that. Am I bowing to King Jesus or to self-allegiance? Do I have false allegiances that I am clinging to because it's too scary to give them up? Why is it so hard to give full allegiance to Jesus and to trust Him to meet all my needs. Christine tackles some common areas of self-allegiance: control, escape, approval, comfort, and  more.  But can't you see in those four how this book might be applicable? I like approval, I certainly like to be comfortable. If I can be in control, I can feel a sense of security that I can handle what life is bringing my way. But none of these things leave room for Jesus to be the King on the throne of my heart and so they must go if I truly want to love Go...

"Before you get married, you need to make sure you love him enough for a life of sickness, poorer, and worse. 'Cause that's what you're committing to."  More people need to think on this before they get married. However, the health, richer, and better does help round out a marriage and I believe even in sickness and poverty, you can have the better if you have the right attitude and, most of all, if you have Jesus to guide you. Other than that quote, this book is one of those that I enjoy reading for the light fluff that it contains. It's not one of those I enjoy writing reviews on because it makes me feel light and fluffy. But the premise of a cooking show is what made me pick up the book. I enjoy cooking shows, especially the competitive ones and that is how this book starts, it's how the two main characters meet, if you can call it a meeting. Hadley and Max are opposite, but then Max gets sent away and he changes. He tries to be a nicer person a...

I don't always post my NetGalley book reviews on here, but this was a really good book that I would recommend to those who like World War II historical fiction. Another World War II historical fiction book.  There are a lot of them out there and I have been enjoying them, even though they are rather hard reading.  This book is more historically based than some historical fiction books are.  It follows the lives of two fictitious Jewish boys, Jacob and Moses, on the quest to find their parents. It is based in France during the Nazi occupation, so it was a setting I was unfamiliar with. Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was a simple village in France that was home to thousands of refugees during the war.  It was fascinating to read about real people who were willing to risk all to help their brothers and sisters regardless of race or religion. Jacob and Moses showed the resilience of the human spirit. They were determined and willing to move forward in spite of great risks...

"Arrgghhaaaaahhhhahhhmmmahhhargh", the unintelligible moanings of a five-year-old fill my ears and my mouth instantly opens with one of two response, "Use words" or "Stop whining".  I mean really, how hard is it to just use words to say that your brother hit you? You don't need to sit on the couch whining or crying in that tone of voice that tells me you are not really hurt, but you are really offended and you really are hoping the offender will be duly punished for his offence. Whining grates on my nerves in a very big hurry. But you know what? Way too often I respond in a nasally, equally whiny tone of voice to say, "Stop whining". I catch myself sometimes and think, "Really, what am I becoming? How am I different? Responding to whining with whining is not the way to teach by example." So with toes feeling the effects of the smashing they received, we try again and again and again, both to teach that whining is not the recomme...

Embracing the Mysteries of Providence "Situations that seem confusing and chaotic to us are actually plot threads He is weaving together to create a story...a beautiful, compelling work of art." "Your life and your story actually matter. They have meaning as you view them against the backdrop of God's ultimate Story." This book is full of stories, stories of financial difficulty, marriages gone awry, sickness, death, and grief. So many stories were shared in these pages and to me, that made the book so much more readable and relatable. You can say all the right things, but until you have lived it, it is hard to know if those principles you claim hold weight in your real life. This book is about people who lived the hard things and walked victoriously through them. It didn't mean their lives turned out right in the end; there were sons who still lived away from family togetherness, spouses who were still unfaithful, health was still lost, and people s...

Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life Anne tells the story of going to Trade Joe's and debating endlessly about buying flowers. She puts them in her cart, does all her shopping, stands in line at the check out and then takes the flowers back, only to get home and regret that decision while also realizing she missed buying the thing she really needed at the store.  I can SO relate to this. I will debate and debate a purchase and generally I will leave without it. Currently, I have 4 tabs open on my computer, all with purchases I need to make, and most of them I've simply been procrastinating or debating about. I need the items, but what if? What if I find something I like better? Or I just don't want to spend the money right now. But really, I'm not going to want to spend the money in a week either, so just do it and get it over with so I can move on. All that to say, I think I needed this book. There were a couple really good...

Prayers for Women This is a collection of 40 prayers and sitting here during Co-Vid 19, there were many that were quite applicable. "We also know You well enough to know our days are numbered; we do not know what tomorrow may bring. This knowledge is in Your safekeeping that we might trust You above our own abilities to control, as we are so prone to do."  How much I need this right now. I know that God is in control, but I need the reminder that my future is in His safekeeping. Just so many fitting prayers. Quite a few of the prayers offered an explanation at the end as to what prompted Barbara to write the prayer in the first place. I can relate to the writing of prayers, sometimes I feel like I can pray better, stay for focused if I write my prayer down and then read it. It can feel like a deeper connection, in some way, more meaningful perhaps, I'm not sure how to describe it. Another quote that I wrote down was this: "...but doing the ordinary can tarn...

Finding Soul-Deep Strength in a Skin-Deep World I picked this book because a friend had talked about getting it and I was curious what it was about. The title is catching and makes you wonder what the author is meaning to talk about. Well, it turns out, that that is exactly what the author wanted to address: Stop calling me beautiful. In an age, where women strive for beauty, where we give lip service to God and tell our fellow sisters that they are beautiful and God loves them and now all their troubles should be over, Phylicia comes with a different message. She brings a message of change, but also one of lasting hope. She encourages women to move past the "pink fluff" of being beautiful in God's eyes, which while true can hide a lot of sin, and to purse lasting change, to pursue a real relationship with God.  "Being told we're beautiful in God's eyes is a surface response to a soul-deep problem. That problem is our own sinfulness." "A wor...

Twelve months, eleven family members, and one impossible goal First off, how fun is that cover? Rain and sunshine, so fitting for grumbling, right? Or not grumbling? I just think this is a fun looking cover. Calling it a social experiment and a book contract, Tricia joins forces with her husband, John, their 8 children still at home, and her grandma who lives with them, but has dementia, to try a year of no grumbling.  How can this possibly work?  When you embark upon an experiment like this, you have no idea what the end result will be, but however it ends, there will be a book about it.  Tricia hopes, before starting the experiment, that this will be a real example to other moms about her skills and intentionality with her children, but realizes very shortly that there is so much more to this. This experiment becomes about changing from the inside, it becomes about letting God be in control, it becomes not a year completely free of grumbling, but a year in which a...

Note: this is for the sheer pleasure of writing, not so much about perfect production. Photo by  Aaron Burden  on  Unsplash Clean slate: pure, plain, and black. Though today, clean slates could also mean a white board, so then the description would be pure, plain, and white, which fits so much better into a Christian viewpoint.  We don't like to think of pure and clean as black, that is so evil instead.  This was the poem that came immediately to mind when I thought of clean slate: "He came to my desk with a quivering lip, the lesson was done. 'Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?  I've spoiled this one.' I took his sheet all soiled and blotted and gave him a new one all unspotted. And into his tired heart I cried,  'Do better now my child.' I went to the throne with a trembling heart; the day was done. 'Have you a new day for me, dear Master? I've spoiled this one.' He took my day all soiled and blotted ...

Why I traded two dream jobs for a life of true calling. It's not about what you do, it's about who you are.  If I could sum up this book in one sentence, I think that is the sentence I would use. Paula Faris used to co-host The View, Good Morning America Weekend, and do anything else she was asked to do. She led a crazy work schedule to the detriment of her marriage, her family, her children. Failure was a real fear and always felt just a misstep away.  Then God started getting her attention through some unfortunate events and she started to listen and hear what He was saying. She made some potentially career-ending choices and started a faith podcast with the ABC network. Today, she has more time with her husband, she's home most days when her children come home from school and her podcast is bringing her more fulfillment than she ever imagined.  I hope that is not too much of a spoiler, I am assuming that since this book is true and Paula is a journalist, a lot of...

The Inspiring True Story of Green Beret Medic Gary Beikirch, Medal of Honor Recipient Courage for Battle, Faith for Crisis I really knew nothing about the Vietnam War when I started this book. I did know it was a controversial war in the US, but other than that, not much. Gary is a Green Beret medic, committed to the Montagnard people he was there to protect. They became his friends and he loved them. When April 1, 1970 dawned and the siege of Dak Seang began, Gary was all in. Even though he was badly injured himself, he persisted in being dragged around in the midst of the battle, to help others who were injured. What he saw and what he endured was unimaginable.  This is not a spoiler, it's in the prologue of the book. But this doesn't end up being Gary's biggest battle, he has his own internal demons to fight and they are determined to win. I don't want to give more of the story away, but to say this, Jesus gave him the answer to his hurts and struggles, but...

Discovering Grace, Freedom, and Wholeness Where You Never Imagined Looking I'm not sure why I picked this book to review, because I wasn't sure I wanted to read another book like this, but I am so very glad I did.  It was just what I needed right now. Let me start by saying it's a pretty book: one of those smaller-sized books with a hardcover, but no book jacket. It looks like a book you could sit down and read in just a few short hours. It doesn't look as daunting as the normal paperback, standard size inspirational books can look. It begs to be opened and read and read it I did in just a few days. Let me also add that the title is so appropriate for this day of "Safer-At-Home" orders during CoVid-19. Staying is definitely what I have been doing these days, but the meaning behind this title is so much deeper than just a physical staying. What does it mean to stay in your pain, in your disappointments and work through them to find healing rather than...

I feel like I should be posting something about Co-Vid 19, something profound, something noteworthy or at least something funny.  But I have nothing. Well, maybe that's not true. I did write something recently, something I call "The Blog Post that Will Never Be." It was raw and painful, but it was a way for me to process my thoughts. I realized something recently after reading "Thriving in Love and Money" by Jeff and Shaunti Feldhahn. (I highly recommend that book, by the way.)  As women, we tend to process externally and immediately, but men need space and time and can't think when we are going on and on about whatever issue is at hand. While I can process internally, I do tend to do best when I can talk about things. It helps me to verbalize it and that is what the blog post was, I think, the written processing of my internal thoughts.  So I want to do better at being patient and waiting without growing frustrated. I also realized recently that some pe...

Experience the Deep Delight You Were Made For First off, is that not a pretty cover. I think that drew me in at first. It's just a spring-looking, happy cover and makes you want to pick the book up. "There is a direct relationship to our view of God and our experience of all He's promised us." That is the premise of the book. I think if the word happy bothers you, it can be easily interchanged with joy. This is  not a flippant happiness, but a happiness that comes from knowing who God is and who you are in God. It's a happiness that comes from focusing on God, following His will, depending on Him and being surrendered to God as King. This is an excellent resource for someone who is new in their Christian journey or for someone like me, who has been a Christian for years, but needs the reminder that there is more to this journey than just following a list of dos and donts. I needed to hear that "Focusing on God is not a one time action, it is a lifel...

5 Game-Changing Insights about Your Relationship, Your Money, and Yourself This is a very timely book to read right now with the world in chaos and the future looking uncertain and a bit scary. However, if you are looking for a how-to book on finances, go find a different book to read. This book is not on how you should handle your money, but rather your perspective of money and the value you place on certain things that pertain to money. We often do not value things the same way our partner values things. And that can cause a lot of issues in a marriage. Jeff and Shaunti do extensive research for their books and the book has lots of charts showing the percentages of things based on their surveys, etc.  It's kind of fascinating to see the difference between men and women. They are quick to point out that these things are not true straight across the board, but can be a generalization of how the majority sees it. "If you aren't thriving in the 'love' part ...