Gravel Road Musings

  The Path to Greater Unity With God "True worship is to feel in the heart and to express a humbling but delightful sense of admiration and astonished wonder and overwhelming love in the presence of...'the Lord our God.'" Has God got my voice? Am I using it to talk about Him? Is worshiping God my highest priority, above all else, because out of that worship flows everything else. That is the gist of the book, a full surrender to worship. It's a book that should be read slowly and thoughtfully. I read it too fast and didn't quite enjoy it like I would I think if I would have read slowly and thoughtfully. The writing style is also a bit different than I would be generally used to reading and it calls for a more thorough reading.  "If, when I go to work on Monday morning, I'm not as enthusiastic or passionate about worshipping God as I was the day before, maybe what I did the day before wasn't really worship." I enjoyed the book and have it writ...

 I'm trying something new - instead of a blog post for each book, I will simply recap the best books of the month here and add to it as the month goes along. And for whatever reason, I cannot get pictures to download for most of the books.  Messy Truth by Caleb Kaltenbach Buy the book!  That's about the best review I can give it. This book challenged me so much on how I do life. Truth gets messy when it starts involving people because it can be hard to distinguish between truth and our emotional attachments. So we run in fear. That prevents us from having the hard conversations and puts the focus on us. What should we be asking is who will engage if I don't? And what really is at stake? People are at stake and that is sobering.  Two questions Caleb asked that stuck with me. It's easy to drift with those who agree with us and ostracize the rest. Before we do that, we need to ask ourselves these two questions: Who created them? Who died for this person?" It really ma...

  I finally got around to reading this book and I don't know why it took me so long. The title feels so lofty and yet John did a good job of small bites. He didn't overwhelm me with knowledge to the point I didn't know where to start, but he started in slow and added as he went along.  I was left with the festering thought that I need less of my phone and more of real life, something that I have known, and this book helped confirm that. I need to get outside, to absorb the beauty around me. I have a hard time just sitting and watching and soaking. I want to scroll my phone or read a book, not just sit and ponder. John recommended the One-Minute Pause throughout the day: just a chance to stop, release to God what is going on in your life, receive the beauty around you, unplug from technology, etc. I need the reminders to just stop and seek God. A quote from him on our phones and social media: "What has become the normal assumption of input is numbing the soul with artif...

 I can't get the picture to upload for some reason, but the front cover gives a shadowy, stormy look that really goes well with the story line.  The first thing about this book, that, while kind of a spoiler, might also be necessary for trigger warnings. There is a lot of death, not graphic or violent, but lots of people have died and do die in the book, along with a perceived suicide. There is also the mention of domestic violence.  But Emily shines through it all. She shows up her family's home only to discover her mother has died and her sister is very angry. This is not a spoiler as it all happens in the first couple of pages, but Emily persists. She is gracious and kind, while hiding some deep hurts of her own. I just can't help but like Emily, even if she seems almost too good to be true. Of course, the school master comes along and is all kind and wonderful too, but I have to like him too. In an age where intellectually disabled children were shunned or institution...

  Discovering Who You Were Meant to Be When Life Goes Off Plan Jillian is pregnant with her second child when she received the diagnosis that her son has a 99% chance of having Down Syndrome. She struggled and wrestled with feeling like her life had gone off script. She had a plan for her life that included smooth roads, ideal living conditions, and perfect children. This is her story. If I'm being honest, I found her a bit whiny about the whole thing. I want to be gracious because everyone's story is different, but I too have experienced that call from the doctor that said your child's ultrasound showed some suspicions for Down Syndrome. I too have cried over the idea. And I would say that is where the similarities ended. I will not deny that it is hard, but it felt a bit like wallowing to me.  But even so, I felt like there were things to be learned on the journey of the unexpected until I started to realize that her theology and mine were very different. She seems to que...

  8 Surprises That Make All the Difference This is a book that's a bit hard to talk about and review.  I found the book helpful and insightful, but also deeply personal to the point that I'm not super comfortable sharing a lot about it in a personal manner. However, I would recommend this to every married couple out there: there is something for everyone here and the authors did their research thoroughly in the writing of this book.  A few things that stuck out to me that are applicable in all areas of marriage that I will mention here are communication and acceptance.  Talk things over. Learn to have the hard conversations. Learn to listen and hear what the other person is saying both in their words and actions. Acceptance: don't focus on what your spouse isn't, focus on who they are and be grateful for that.  "Once you truly accept that your spouse isn't everything you wanted, you can see and enjoy what you've got."  Our spouses are not perfect and a...

  How to Juggle a Lot, Enjoy Your Life, and Accomplish What Matters Most You might say, not another time management book, and if you do, you mirror Crystal's original thought too when asked to write this book. This book gives details to a very simple plan. Sadly, there are no fancy planners or fun pens, which I love, but that is also a good thing. All you need is some paper and Google calendar.  Crystal outlines four steps to good time management, stressing that time is like money and should be budgeted out. The first step is by far the most important in my opinion. It is to pray over your day. Ask God for guidance, for direction, for help along the way. Be detailed, be specific and be ready to pray all throughout the day.  Another guideline she gives is to brain dump everything into Google calendar. This one feels a little out there for me yet, as I don't use Google calendar for much of anything, but I think I will try it out and see how it works. A time-blocked to-do li...