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...