Fret not - trust God!

I love summer mornings. Clay and I sleep with our windows open and in the early morning, cool breezes fill our room, inviting us to snuggle under our covers for a few more delightful moments. (Where we live in Colorado at 7500 feet, no one has air conditioning!) During these moments, when I awaken, feeling that I am the only one in the whole house who is awake, I have cherished my alone "in thought" moments. It seems sometimes, these are the moments when the Lord brings verses to mind and speaks to my heart. One sweet summer morning I took a few moments to write down some thoughts that sprang to my mind. "Fret not, it leads only to evil doing." Evil doing sounds bad--like robbing a bank, committing adultery or murdering someone. Yet, David clearly exhorts us 3 times in Psalm 37 to fret not! When I am fretting, I am putting lots of effort into worrying about something that might happen--(fear!)--or worrying about a problem that is in my face but doesn't seem to have a good possible ending or isn't going away (doubt in God, in His goodness and in His ability to take care of a situation.) Now, I am a practiced fretter--especially in the area of patience. I really wonder at God's timing. I really often have a lot to tell Him about how I think He should be running my life. Maybe if I fret a little bit more passionately, He will work more quickly! And there are so many things about which to fret--finances--always! The kids' futures--jobs, spouses, lives, choices. Our ministry--conferences, book deadlines, articles, Clay's stress and pressure, staffing needs. And on and on.

Fret not--don't worry--it will lead to evil doing. In what way? Fretting leads me to believe that I have the solution to my problems. Fretting leads me to doubt God and His providence in my life. Fretting can lead to frustration and anger and accusations and distraction and depression---all of which effect our relationships and actions and health.

Is there an example in the life of Christ to show me what David meant about what it looked like to fret not? Peter, Jesus' friend and disciple, saw Him during His most difficult moment on earth. Jesus had been abandoned by all of His precious disciples--leaders--in whom He had been building faith for three years. He was being mocked by the Roman soldiers and Pharisees---those who were supposed to be most holy and most committed to His reality. He was being beaten, spit upon, unjustly treated and wrongly accused--being prepared to die the worst kind of death. Peter must surely have had these moments cemented into his mind, since it was at these moments he had denied three times that he had even known Jesus. If there was ever a time to fret, to worry, to fear, to wonder about the reality of God's goodness, (my God, my God, why hast though forsaken me?), it was this time.

Yet, in his first book, Peter tells us, while being reviled, He did not revile in return. While suffering, He uttered no threats, but (and here is the secret and the choice He willingly made!) He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." I Peter 2:22-23. There it is--Jesus entrusted--gave the whole of His being and well being into God's hands and trusted Him with the results. It almost insinuates that Jesus hardly noticed the attacks raging around Him. Entrust yourself to God, Sally!

What does David suggest I do instead of fretting? "Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness" Plant seeds of faithfulness, water them, nurture them, build a whole crop of this faithfulness! This indicates a choice of my will--decide to be faithful and then keep working on being faithful!

He goes on, "Delight thyself in the Lord" Make God my joy, my pleasure, my hope. "And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him." (Ugh--again--wait?!) Seems He makes me practice faithfulness and waiting a lot, like it is an expected action of life for a faithful person.

Did Peter have anything else to say about this concept from his letter that would shed light on my need to fret not, and instead trust God?

"In the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands." (Now, God is getting personal---did he mean this husband? This circumstance? This time?) and then He goes on to say, "Let not your adornment be external, but let it be the hidden person of the heart, (the place where no one but God sees!) with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God." So, fretting not, involves the hidden places of my heart where I make a decision about how I will handle my pressures, circumstances and responsibilities. How is a spirit gentle and quiet?--when it has ceased trying to control, manage and take control of the circumstances.

God is transcendent--outside of time--able to see the behind and before--He has already planned to be with me and available to me every step of the way. He has a plan, but I have a choice to make--to rest in that plan, to accept the limitations of this husband, child, family or life circumstance and to rest in the trust that I have of God's ownership of my life and times--or to rather worry, fret, beg, stew, advise--and finding more strife, emptiness and frustration. This is what is precious in His sight--my loyalty, deep inside every day, when He knows what trusting Him costs me, and how hard it was to trust, but whether I made the decision to abandon it all unto Him or choose to fret about it for a few more days. Let me choose to dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness today---no matter the issue, the relationship or the problem.

So on that day, when I finally rolled out of bed, the Holy Spirit had already initiated a day for me--a day in which I needed rest, entrust, be patient and cultivate faithfulness. He was speaking to me from those very verses I had memorized as a youth--His voice already had a vocabulary built into my heart. Did He already know my computer server would be down for two days, that I wouldn't get letters from loved ones? (I really am tempted to whine and fret when I don't get those expected emails from my sweet ones!) Get big bills from birthdays and mission trips prep and graduation and, and, and--oh yeah---gentle and quiet spirit--stop fretting, it leads only to evil doing! and so a new day, a new lesson, and a new understanding of just how patient God is with me, His child , who doesn't always get it right at first, but is learning to listen!

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Slouched down in my leather seat in a crowded railway car, I was being gently rocked to sleep by the rhythmic swaying back and forth of the old train clattering across the Polish countryside. Returning from a student conference in the mountains where I had been teaching and counseling with college students all weekend had left me a bit weary, lonely and  depleted. Working through translators for each message was a slow, tedious process. As an American woman, I felt the cultural distance between me and these youth who had grown up under a supressive, Communist government. The religious freedom I had taken so for granted, made these students eager to know about God, about Jesus, about a kingdom in heaven where they would be free and blessed by the God who made them. Exhaustion tended to exagerate cultural differences and made me feel somewhat isolated as a 24 year old, struggling to understand even a portion of the things that were spoken to me. I remember riding along in the car wondering if I would ever not feel lonely.

Suddenly, the train took a small bend and in front of me were fields of thousands upon thousands of bright red poppies, gently swaying in the wind. Fields of poppies, obviously growing wild, spread over miles of the countryside. I was mesmerized by the beauty and found myself wondering how long it had taken for these beautiful flowers to be planted over the years so that there would be so many everywhere. I began to imagine the invisible hand of God intentionally spreading seed generously over the many fields, so that in a country where there had been so much division, war and darkness for so many generations, that there would still be a picture of His beauty, creation and life to comfort those who would see it. That it would draw their thoughts and hearts, like it did mine, to thoughts of Him who was the artist of such beauty.

This has become to me a sort of picture of my place in the world. Jesus often talked about sowing seed in many of His parables. The people of His time were tied more closely to farming, sowing, reaping because their very lives depended on the well-being of the crops as their source of food.

James 3:18 says, "The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." I desire that there be a harvest of righteousness in and through my life as big and expansive as the poppy fields of my memory. This verse would indicate that righteousness is sown by peacemakers. Jesus communicated to His disciples in Matthew 5:  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they  shall be called the sons of God."  Jesus himself, gave His life so that we might have peace with God. His whole being is focussed on redeeming, buying back that which was lost, bringing life where there is death.

I am most like Him when I, too, become a peacemaker, a redeemer, bringing peace where there was hostility, life where there is death. But the reason I so like the verse in James is that it brings us a picture of what we must do to bring this harvest of righteousness about--we must sow the seeds of righteousness, seed by seed, so that our harvest will be plentiful. We must sow seeds daily---weekly--for our whole lives, that there will be remnants of His beauty, peace, redemption, everywhere we go, every day that we live. If we sow peace and not anger in our home, there will be a legacy of peace. If we sow anger, a legacy of anger and death. It is a choice we make, every day, every hour, as to what we are sowing and what we will reap.

The seeds I sow are in relationship to people in my life every day. I must make a decision in my heart to sow a seed of peace where there is strife--to choose to be a peace-maker and to sow God's love and redemption. I must sow seeds of encouragement and faith through my words and through my writing to bring others to the point of peace in their own lives. Seed by seed, choice by choice, I have the ability to bring about a great harvest that will be ready for reaping in the final day when I meet Jesus face to face.  But in order for a farmer to have a harvest, he must plan on what he will sow, he must plan the seeds he will plant---it doesn't happen by chance. So I must choose what crop I will sow, how I will sow it, and choose to sow it in each situation and in each relationship that God brings my way. Peace and redemption also do not just happen by chance in my own life. There had to be an intentional plan.

There are times when I get letters from people---sometimes even hostile letters--that criticize my Pollyanna approach to life. Recently, a weary mom wrote, "I am sick of hearing about your perfect children! I am unsubscribing from your newsletter."

Now, I always take emails that I receive to heart. It seems that the meaning behind this letter, was that I only see and report the positive things about my family---and that I put forth only those things which I think are perfect. I hope that I never give the impression that I am perfect, or that my children are perfect or that my marriage is perfect, or anything else is perfect. I would hate to impose guilt on anyone because of creating false standards through the stories of my articles, that someone else feels they can't immulate. I hope instead to always point my sweet friends to the One who has so befriended me. As a matter of fact, I have only made it this far because I so depend on God's grace and when I feel inadequate or like a failure, which I think all women do from time to time, there is a place I have trained myself to go--where Jesus is. I tell Him how I am feeling and then by faith, I acknowledge how grateful I am that He has made me adequate in Himself, by His strength, through His love and for His glory. I seek to rest there, as staying and simmering and swimming in the sea of guilt is destructive and heart-killing.

I have discovered that  no matter how hard I  try, I often fall short of my own expectations---let alone the expectations of others.  If this is true of me, that I fail--even when trying--then I must understand that even the best and most mature person I know, will also fail herself and me! So, my choice in my writing and in my life, is to give a picture of ideals for which I strive, in the context of the messy world in which I live. I want to sow a picture of beauty, a field of hope, and pattern of unconditional love in the midst of fields of life where there are weeds, rocks and untilled ground.

I have had a history of people very close to me who live in anger and criticism. This sowing of strife has left a string of broken relationships, deep hurt, alienation. Sometimes I am afraid to be around these people because no matter how hard I try or what I say or do, I know that eventually I will do something to arouse their criticism again. (I am choosing not to name these people as they are very close to me and I don't want to unnecessarily hurt them.) I used to think that if I just tried hard enough or did enough, eventually I would  receive the acceptance I was looking for.

But it took many years, to realize that their anger and criticism had nothing to do with me and no matter how hard I tried, I would never be acceptable to them, because the problem was in their own dark and hurting heart. But in order to have in my heart a harvest of peace, and not bitterness or anger; and a harvest of love and not hate and retaliation, I had to seek to plant seeds of God's righteousness, in order that my heart would truly bear a harvest of His making. This required that I pondered what it meant to be like God, to understand through His word, that love covers a multitude of sin; to learn that Jesus Himself, when He was being crucified, "while being reviled, did not revile in return, but kept trusting Himself to God who judges righteously."  (I Peter 2:23) He became my model--that I would choose not to revile those who were angry or negative, but that I, like Jesus, would keep trusting myself to God---to place my issues in His file cabinets and to let Him deal with my difficulties, and then to close the drawer once these issues were safe in His hands.

Instead of hoping that those near me would love me in such a way as to make me feel good about myself, I just kept reading the word everyday----seeking to know my God better, pondering the stories of Jesus, thinking about His communication to me through how He lived and what He said. Now, as I am getting older, I find His love to be deeply satisfying. After literally thousands of hours in His presence over the years, I have been influenced by being in the company of someone so compassionate, loving and strong. I have made peace with Him and appreciate Him. In doing so, I learned that I could give that peace more easily to others, because I didn't have as many expectations of them and I wasn't as dependent on how they responded to me,  in order to feel good about myself.

However, I see a lot of people wasting time, effort and energy in being critical of others close to themselves. There is a lot of anger, disappointment, jealousy, hate and bitterness floating around in the lives of people, that color their view of life, suck the energy out of them, and cause them to wonder where God has gone. It is so easy to be critical of  a family member or of our husbands and wallow in unmet expectations, or friends who have forsaken us, or in a child who has gone astray or is just immature or has a personality flaw that drives us crazy, or a parent who has abused or rejected us for our values.

James also spoke to this in the same passage where he taught about sowing peace. His words, "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, (getting our own way), there is dis-order and every evil thing! But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is  sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:13-18)

It starts with a choice--to allow the Holy Spirit to be Lord of our lives, even in the midst of strife; to decide ahead of time to imagine what it looks like to bring peace and redemption to each moment of life; to choose to sow righteousness into our relationships, because He chose to sow righteousness and peace into our lives, even at great cost to Himself. I believe that if thousands of His followers chose to sow this way each day, on all of the fields of life, there would be such a great crop of righteousness, visible beauty of His life, even in a place where so much darkness exists, that many hearts would be open to Him and to His ways, because of the overwhelming crop of righteousness present before their eyes. But it all begins with a choice in my heart and a plan to sow today, this day, in these fields where I find myself.

Whoever it is that brings so much emotional disappointment can keep us from the comforting love of God if we never make it to the point of forgiveness and acceptance of the person and circumstances. I know how deeply it can hurt to be rejected or ignored or treated unjustly. I have shed many tears over many years.

Yet, I can honestly say, that it has been these difficulties that have brought me to a place of freedom and joy. I have desperately needed the grace of God and in so seeking it, I have found it to be deeper than even I could imagine. He has shown me how deep His love is for me and how much He wants me to give as deeply to those in my life, who like me, don't deserve it, but need it all the same.

God's Design in Our Hearts

"Ideals and the desire for beauty are simply the echoes of God's design in our hearts. He was the one who designed the world to be a masterpiece of wonder and life. The yearning for peace, health, and comfort is natural to our souls and comes from the depths of our hearts where we can still feel and imagine what God created life to be before the fall."    The Mom Walk p. 58

As women and as mothers, we long to follow this design and make masterpieces out of the everyday things in our lives. We sometimes forget that masterpieces are the work of a lifetime. When the real world comes crashing in on us, we can quickly become overwhelmed. And yet it is important for us to persevere and create beauty in our world. When we give up, we are submitting to the darkness that surrounds us. Even lighting a candle will influence our surroundings and bring soothing comfort to our souls. The dancing flicker of light gives hope that we are making a difference in this dark world. A couple of passages that remind us of God's design in our hearts are the first chapter of Genesis and I Corinthians 6:20. I find that these Scriptures offer great encouragement when I need the strength to continue putting one foot in front of the other.

In reading Genesis 1, what words did God use at the end of days 1-5? What did he create on day 6? How did he summarize all of creation? How can making the effort to bring beauty into your home be a fulfillment of the command to subdue the earth? What is one thing you can do today to make your home more beautiful? More peaceful? It can be as simple as picking a few dandelions (or flowers, if you do not have deer eating your precious garden) and putting them in a vase. Let your children gather a bouquet for you. They will love picking flowers for Mommy.

Although I Corinthians 6:20 does not specifically use the word beauty, how does making your home beautiful and peaceful glorify God? How can you glorify God as a mom today? God sees your spirit as beautiful, of great worth. Knowing you are beautiful in his eyes, how does that make you feel? How does that influence your idea of beauty?

As you look into the eyes of each of your children, pray that the Lord will help you see the masterpiece he is creating in them. I pray God's beauty will permeate your life today!

The Reading Never Ends!

Hey Everyone, some of you already know me, but my name is Marissa and I am doing a 50 book challenge this summer. I have gotten a good reference of books from Sarah Clarksons book Read for the Heart and I have also gotten a good start for this spring and summer! 

Have any of you finished a book or two lately? Well, I have! I just finished Tuck Everlasting By Natalie Babbitt. It was a very good book and there actually is a movie out based on the book. Winnie Foster is the main character besides the Tuck family, and she goes through a bit of what the Tuck family goes through when they tell her that they will live forever. What if you could live forever? What would you do? Do the Tuck's enjoy being able to never die and always live? "Tuck Everlasting" is a great fantasy book that is great for children and parents alike. I recommend this book for everyone who will pick up a book and read, because this is a book that you won't want to miss out on reading!

Keep up the good work with your reading! I am currently working on the book titled 100 Cupboards By: N.D. Wilson. I will probably finish it in about 5 or 6 days! I am looking forward to reading about the books you recommend! Maybe your recommendation will end up on my book list! I have 4 more book slots open! Click HERE to order Sarah Clarkson's Read for the Heart.

 

Just a little something from Europe!

Seek first the kingdom of God,..... My kingdom is not of this world.

Loud, noisy cars rushed through the changing lights, threatening our very lives. Honking, chattering, yelling, boats whistling, pubs, billboards, cafes, bikes, hundreds of pedestrians listening to ipods, the underground/above ground train swooshing through the bridge over to our side, and Joy and I thought we must be in the wrong place.

Looking for a small grave yard-where Susanna Wesley, John Bunyon and Isaac Watts were buried. Suddenly, we saw a gate. There in front of us, with a pathway through the grave yard--for walkways to and from the busyness of life, and between modern apartments--were the grave stones--some hundreds of years old-and we sought and found the very inconspicuous tombstone of the three we sought. Just a grave, small grave stone, with the years they were alive and when they died. John Bunyon had a little larger commemoration--but no mention of Pilgrim's Progress--just his name. There were no lines or tickets to see these and to remember the greatness of what they had accomplished. 

These three spiritual giants, had faithfully lived their lives, influenced thousands--millions--Wesleys--to love God, start spiritual movements, (Isaac Watts--"When I survey the wondrous cross and hundreds more) to worship Him in music, (John Bunyon--15 years in prison--writing Pilgrim's progress)to stay faithful on the obstacle course of life--to build children into godly leaders--yet the evidence of their influential lives and ways they were used by God's spirit to literally change the course of their world was in no way marked or recognized--at least not in this world.  So important to the world of faith, hope, love and kingdom work. 

In contrast to this, Joy and I had spent two prior days in long lines spending too much money to pass by the crown jewels and marvel at the amount of gold used, diamonds, rubies, emeralds displayed in all their glory. We had seen castles from afar, clothes that royalty wore and marveled at the distance between the rich and the poor. The cathedrals we saw in England and especially in Paris, were built on the backs of the poor, who had not much food or ways to live well, but were built all glorious for the wealthy leaders who desired such places of glory. 

The palaces, art museums, cafes, gardens were attended by thousands, (lots and lots of googling Americans) to observe the splendor of people whose glory was a thing of the past--yet these had had a kingdom in this world, and now they were all dead. 

Whose kingdom am I building? Where am I looking for rewards? Whose glory will people look into my life to see--the things I collected or the people I influenced and the kingdom messages I left--food for thought as we have been traveling. 

I so love having these days, alone with Joy, to talk to her about these great ideas, the Lord, life, messages, love and enjoying it all alone without disruption of telephone, computer, email or cooking and washing dishes. A real gift to us, planned for for years, and reaping the deep rewards of making time for our relationship--I am so blessed. Grace and peace from Austria--my seconds on the internet are now up!

Oh how I love thee crockpot, but spring is in the air!

I must admit how I truly adore my crockpot!  It has carried me through fall and winter meals galore!  But, alas!  Spring is here and I am truly ready to put it away for a while and taste all that spring and summer have to offer!  If you are ready for a lighter fare for spring, here is a recipe that won't disappoint!  Even if you are not a curry fan, give this a try.  Some of my friends were raving over this salad at a luncheon I had in my home last summer, and when I told them there was curry in it, they couldn't believe they liked it!  My family loves this on a warm afternoon or even as a light dinner after a long day.  It also makes for a great filling in tea sandwiches. Let me know what your family thinks!

  Curried Chicken Salad with Pita or Pan-Grilled Flat Bread 

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (can substitute with a whole rotisserie chicken, pull meat)

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 medium stalks celery, diced

1/4 cup green onion, minced

1 cup grapes (purple or green or both!) sliced in half

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons parsley, minced

2 teaspoons curry powder of choice (add more if needed when tasting at end)

1-2 tablespoons honey

salt & pepper to taste   Directions:  Place chicken in saucepan and cover with water by one inch. Bring to a simmer and adjust heat to maintain a very low simmer. Cook 15 - 20 minutes, until cooked through. Drain well, or you will have watery salad! Shred chicken into small bite size pieces. Mix thoroughly with remaining ingredients, starting with mayo. Add more mayo if using for sandwiches.  * I love serving with warm pita bread or flour tortillas. (You can heat on grill or in microwave for 20 seconds in damp paper towel.) Cut up or tear the bread or tortilla into small triangles and pick up salad with bread for bite size portions.  Great as an appetizer, a filler for pita, or a sandwich! 

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back... But The Dance Continues!

Thoughts shared from a friend: This morning as I took my first sip of strong coffee, I sat down in my cozy chair, pulled a blanket over my legs, and met with my Lord.  This is a time that I have carved out special just to read the Word, read several devotions or books that encourage me, as well as pray, question, thank, plead, and yield to my Lord  before I start my more than hectic day!  We had quite the week and I was feeling entirely drained.  I couldn't grasp why it was that, although I pour into my children daily, I continually seek advice from God's Word, from my husband, and from wise Christian women in my life, I still take two steps forward and one step back by the end of any given day, in one area of life or another! 

As I play this tug-o-war with my flesh, I try to remember the words of the apostle James: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).  I am so thankful for God's unfailing and wonderful truth, because I know that Satan works day and night to take my thoughts captive to his lies and deceit. I refuse to let him be the end all of my thoughts!

With this thought on my mind and God's Word tapping on my heart, I picked up Dancing with My Father instead of the current devotional I had been visiting every morning.  As I thumbed through the chapters, I came to one titled "Dancing Through the Twists and Turns of Life."  That definitely caught my eye, and as I revisited this chapter, God met me in my "one step back" moment.  I was encouraged and my heart lifted as I read one passage after another. "...We make a commitment in our heart to love Jesus and to follow him, but there come contests, so to speak, in our lives in which we have the opportunity to show and to prove the reality of our faith by our actions and our behavior."  As I read on I came to this nugget: "I realized that God is not so much concerned with my immediate gratification as he is with the development of my soul."  Followed by, "Our integrity as people of God will come by walking the path that he has given to us. We will not have this fulfillment, satisfaction, or joy if we compromise our ideals and resist the tests that God puts in our pathway." Finally, "Joy comes in following where he leads me, choosing to believe that his way is good and that he works according to his will...To grow in this joy, I have to move where he leads. When dancers attempt to turn in different directions, there is no beauty, no synchronizing of movement. But when they learn to read each others movements and move as one body, there is a beauty, a grace, and a skill of step that grants the joy of unity and elegance to the dance." 

Reading this morning, I felt encouraged and ready to try dance steps with my Father once more.  It's amazing how when we are depleted and drained, we can "feel" defeated and completely out of step with the direction we started in!  It is so very important for us to come and kneel before the Father and commune with him.  He cares about our days, our needs, our dreams, our goals, our steps.  As we come to him in worship and praise, let us remember that we were designed by the Almighty to be more than conquerers through him! This morning I have a fresh perspective that sometimes you must step back while dancing, but it doesn't mean you don't get to twirl at the end of the dance!

 

Please click here to purchase Dancing with my Father.

And the winners are ...

Thank you to everyone who helped us spread the great call of motherhood! Your comments and sweet words were such a blessing! The first prize winner is Kimberly Sanchez from Round Rock, TX. Kimberly won a complete set of mom books.

The second prize winner is Lisa Parnell of Charlotte, NC. Lisa will receive a copy of Sarah's book Read for the Heart.

Congratulations, ladies!

I pray the Lord blesses your Mother's Day weekend with His grace and love!

Adventurous Summer Reading

My name is Marissa and I have been given the opportunity to write some book reviews for Mrs. Sally Clarkson's blog.  This spring and summer I have challenged myself to read 50 books. While looking for interesting books, I used Sarah Clarkson's Read for the Heart as a reference.  I found about 40 of the books I am going to read for my challenge in her reference book, it was a great help!

One of the books I read that Sarah recommends in her book was "My Side of the Mountain"  by Jean Craighead George. This book is adventurous from front cover to back cover and is a great read for children and parents alike. This book tells of the adventures of a boy named Sam Gribley, who runs away from home and lives off the land in the Catskill Mountains. This book was such a great read!  I found out it was part of a trilogy, so I read all three books and they were equally entertaining!  

Another book that Sarah recommends in her reference book was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This book was so engaging, that it only took me a week to read.  Between myself, my mom, and my dad, we were all in a competition to see who would finish first! In this novel, from  "An Unexpected Party" to "The Last Stage," this book was packed with adventure as well as lessons learned by Bilbo Baggins. I recommend this book for Jr. High or High School age kids, just because of the goblins, dragons, and other things that may be frightening to younger children. The adventure all starts when a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is asked to be the burglar of a group of dwarfs who are trying to recapture the kingdom that was stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. The party of dwarfs and Bilbo set out on a quest to regain the dwarfs kingdom, but encounter many troubles along the way. 

I have also just finished an audio of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. I must say, it was a good book, but I didn't enjoy listening to the narrator sing the songs throughout the book. It just wasn't my cup of tea!  Everyone has their favorites, this just wasn't one of mine.

Maybe this could be a challenge you would want to join me in? Let me know some of your favorite books or not so favorite!  I have just started my challenge a little over one week ago.  So I have 2 books down and 48 to go!  My next selection from Sarah's reference book is Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.  

These books are all great reads and there are many more listed in Sarah's Read for the Heart that can be enjoyed. Sarah's book was a tremendous help in finding books that would appeal to me for my 50 book challenge.  To purchase Read for the Heart click HERE.

   

so much fun ......

Sweet ones, So great to see the comments. We are having a grand time. Crown jewels, tower of London, Phantom--amazing! British Museum, National Gallery, high tea at Fortnum and Masons, and walking, walking! But most of all--lots and lots of precious time with my baby--never alone this much and oh so precious. I so appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and send my love today. Many blessings to you all!

Sally the one with the scarf and hoodie!