Gravel Road Musings

So a few weeks ago, I reviewed a book called "My Unedited Writing Year". It is a book filled with writing prompts, I think 366 of them or so and I am going through the book and following the prompts and seeing what happens. I have no grand visions of writing a book or becoming a blogger with thousands of followers. I am simply wanting to expand a hobby of mine. And don't worry, I won't post all of them here. For instance, the finishing of the story of the poodle wearing a scroll? That is classified information there. But think about it, what would you do if a poodle showed up with a sticky note on its forehead that said, "Read me" and had a scroll attached to its collar? This could happen to you, or not. So today's project is not to post a gif on your blog, in case you're wondering. I don't really do gifs but I wanted some kind of picture to go along with this post so this is what I found. And let's face it, I liked it when I found it, bu...

For some time now, I have been wanting to do more purposeful writing. While I don't consider myself a professional at all, I do enjoy the craft of writing and trying to put words to my thoughts. This book looks like a great opportunity to practice my writing skills along with helping me to think outside of the box in what I'm writing about. I have not read the entire book. To me, this is not the kind of book you sit down and read from cover to cover. I think that might drown whatever spark of creativity you had when you started if you were to read all 365 invitations at once. I plan to keep this book close and use it on a regular basis in 2020 and maybe even beyond. Some of the creative invitations included in this book are: "Write a permission slip for yourself to do something, to be something, or to create something you've held back from pursuing." or "Turn your attention to a secondhand object. Write about its journey or about an imagined previous ow...

 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...

A 5-Year Inspirational Journal I love these kinds of books/journals. This is more than just recording memories, this book makes you stop and think and reflect too. You don't just write down a memory, though I'm sure you could, you are asked a question and each year for five years you answer that same question on that same date. It's interesting to see how your answers change from year to year and also how they stay the same, depending on the question. I am currently doing a book like this that's just general questions and I love it. I am in year three now and it is so fun to read back over the last two years and see what I said. Some things stay very similar year after year and some things change drastically. It all depends on where you are in life and also on your mood. I am not sure if I will do this book myself or gift it for a friend, but I'm leaning toward keeping it. I think it would be so interesting for my children years down the road to read my though...

A Creative Devotional Experience Art by Carolyn Williams If you are looking for a three-minute read and a pretty picture, check out this book. It's small, about 86 pages, meaning there are about 43 verses, 43 small readings and 43 beautiful pictures to color. Again, reading devotional books cover to cover in one setting doesn't lend itself to real in depth study. But my opinion during the reading is that the verses are excellent choices to read. The small writing underneath might be slightly superficial, but it's hard to get in depth in two paragraphs, and most of the pictures are absolutely beautiful and fairly fine detailed. My recommendation would be to read the verse and the writing and while you are coloring, to pray and ask God to help you put the verse into practice in your life. To use the coloring time as a means of meditating on what God wants from you, as a means to ponder life and what you want from it versus what you feel God is calling you to, and also...