WWII Books for Children

Crow Call

A hushed, contemplative picture book based on an episode from the author’s own childhood. What happens when a father returns from war, a stranger to his child? Gentle, honest, a tale that examines one of the difficult aspects of war with real tenderness.

Escape From Warsaw

A classic, long beloved tale of a family separated by war, and determined to find their way back to each other. With both of their parents arrested by Nazis, Ruth, Edek, and Bronia must fend for themselves until they meet a boy who tells them that their father is alive and waiting for them… in Switzerland. Thus begins a dangerous journey across war torn Europe as the children fight to survive and find their father.

I Am David

I read this book as an adult, and it startled me with its beauty. The story of a boy who has known nothing but a concentration camp, and how he learns what it means to be, not merely physically free, but liberated in heart as well, free to take on the bonds of love.

Irena's Jar of Secrets

A picture book telling of the true story of a young Polish woman who was a nurse during the Nazi Occupation and helped to save the lives of hundreds of Jewish children.

Number the Stars

The story of ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen who becomes caught up in the Danish Resistance during the Nazi Occupation when the life of her best friend is endangered.

The End of a Busy, Exciting Week!

Here we are, at the end of one wonderful, wacky week! I've been hosting Nathan's wonderful film crew, making meals, picking up visitors, having great conversations, and sharing the bursting life that's been filling our four walls all week long. What a joy to have so much happening, even when I find myself collapsing into bed at the end of such busy days!

The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

By Sally Clarkson

"From the time they were little, our children were included in our hospitality efforts. When we were expecting guests, each child was given a task to complete to make our table ready. Setting the table, cutting flowers, lighting candles, putting on music, cooking, meeting guests at the door, and making them feel welcome in our home were standard responsibilities shared by us all. Because we wanted our children to learn conversation skills, each one was to think of one question to ask our guests. There were even times when they were asked to give up their room or their bed for someone who was staying with us—a great lesson in serving.

Another important way we taught hospitality to our children was encouraging them to invite their friends over as often as possible. We served juice and cookies to toddlers, lemonade and sandwiches to ten-year-olds, pizza and popcorn to teens, and enough chocolate chip cookies to fill a fleet of semis. We opened our rooms and our yard to study groups, kids’ clubs, and lots and lots of games. In the process our kids learned even more about what it means to welcome and serve others." ~ The Lifegiving Table

And so here we are once again, practicing what we've preached, and loving every moment of it.

I hope you are enjoying these last few days and weeks of summer! There's been so much happening here I don't want you to miss:

This week's podcast, here: A Heart for Patience

A very exciting announcement about my upcoming Membership site

Bible memory printable: Week 9 Bible Memory

Lifegiving August Calendar

The Story of the World's Best Luck

Perhaps the best-read book of all time is the Bible. But what kind of book is the Bible? Among many things, the Bible is a story—the Greatest and Truest Story of all. There are many ways of narrating this Story, but I love the way my husband, Glenn Packiam, did in one of his books, Lucky. Here’s an adapted excerpt. 

In the beginning, God. A good God made the world, and He called it good. This is how the Story begins. Man and woman were made to be God’s image-bearers, the ones who would rule over creation and care for it in God’s name and as God would, the ones who would most fully reflect Him. They were to multiply, producing other image-bearers who would reflect and reveal God, and in doing so would cover the earth with His glory.

But the image-bearers were not content to be with God; they wanted to be like Him. More than bearing His image they wanted His power, His autonomy, His unbounded freedom. For the creature to seek freedom from the Creator, to desire to be the Creator, is to say “I don’t need You. I am better without You.” It is an affront to the Creator, the ultimate insult. This rebellion was the beginning of evil in the creature and the end of perfectly bearing the image of the Creator. From that moment on, the image was marred, stained, tainted by the rebellion.

Because we are still bearers of God’s image we have some idea of how things should be, how the song should go, what the painting should look like. And yet because that image in us has been tainted by our sin, we recognize when there is injustice, we know that the song is being sung out of tune, that the painting has been smeared, that all is not as it should be.

Most religious stories get their shape by a human search for God. A prophet wanders off in the wilderness in search of God. Or a wise philosopher climbs the mountain to ponder truth. Or the old sage begins a quest for truth. But this Story does not begin with a man or woman searching for God. When the image-bearers realize that their attempt at living independently of their Creator has left them frail and vulnerable, they hide. Man and woman are not searching for God; they are hoping to avoid Him altogether. It is God then who says to Adam, “Where are you?”

From the beginning, God. God who is calling, God who is choosing, God who is blessing. Adam had been blessed by God, commissioned to multiply, to fill the earth with other image-bearers so that the world would be filled with the glory of God. Adam chose to attempt autonomy instead. Adam’s descendants are a mixed garden of grass and weeds; there are those who listened to God’s call, some with remarkable intimacy like Enoch, and those who ignored it, some with astounding audacity like Cain. 

The rebellion of the image-bearers reached a condensation point, and the sky became heavy with God’s judgment. It rained and rained and rained. When Noah and his family, singled out by God to survive these torrents, set foot on a land ready to bloom with new life, God re-issued His blessing: multiply, cover the earth with men and women who know God and reflect His image. Noah filled the earth, but with more fallen image-bearers. If God was going to show the world what He was like, it had to begin slowly, with one family, a family through whom all other families could be blessed. 

So God blessed Abraham. Abraham’s blessing was special. It wasn’t simply to re-create, to multiply. It was a call to carry the blessing to the world. To be clear about His plan, God didn’t stop with blessing Abraham; He blessed Abraham’s son, Isaac, and He blessed the son who got Isaac’s blessing, Jacob, through the man who wrestled with him until daybreak. The ones who received this blessing are forever remembered when this God is named. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

As the seed of Abraham multiplied, it is they who did the blessing, passing on what Yahweh had given them. They were not merely fallen image-bearers; they were to be luck-bearers. They carried God’s blessing, and they were to bring it to the world.

In Frederick Buechner’s novel of Jacob’s life, he describes the moment that Jacob realizes the significance of his children, born from four different mothers, but of the same seed:

I was like a man caught out in a storm with the wind squalling, the sand flailing me across the eyes, the chilled rain pelting me. The children were the storm, I thought, until one day, right in the thick of it, I saw the truth of what the children were…

…They were the dust that would cover the earth. The great people would spring from their scrawny loins. Kicking and howling and crowing and pissing and slobbering food all over their faces, they were the world’s best luck.

The world’s best luck. The world’s best chance of being renewed, of being restored with their Creator, would come through this nation, this people, Israel.

But this people chosen to carry luck to the world failed to keep listening to the Creator. There were glimmers of remarkable radiance, when they were a light unto the nations. Yet they set up golden calves, images borrowed from their pagan neighbors, and called them Yahweh. They forgot that when God told them to have no other gods He was telling them that He was enough for the. By using other gods to secure their wishes and control their outcomes, they were repeating the sin of their first Father and Mother: they were becoming a god unto themselves.

CLICK HERE to read more Storyformed.com. 

Making Choices That Invest in Eternity

Going........

All day long, I have been wanting to write an article about important issues, inspiring ideas, profound thoughts that we must consider if we are going to be bold and relevant in this mixed up culture. I see women focussing on small matters, fixating on things that will pass away, while right in front of them are children who will be adults who need to have a mentor to help shape their souls, a teacher who will stimulate their minds, a friend who will listen and believe in them, a leader who will model integrity, and those who will teach them the priceless value of building a family heritage.

Children need these models of righteous life--their moms! Yet, so many women do not accept the challenge or live frustrated  lives, being overcome by busyness and missing the opportunity to shape souls in the moments of life.  This is what I wanted to write about, but ......

But Nathan is filming a movie in town and the staff are staying at our house. We have guests that need to be sought out and listened to and fed. I had a rare opportunity to spend some time with Joel today while he was getting his visa for Scotland in Denver, knowing he will be leaving to pursue his masters and further education in the next few years. So,  I decided that I could write later. This was a moment to invest in our friendship and in his heart, to talk about eternal issues, to discuss things that mattered. And so I put aside my writing one more time in order to invest in him. 

Then upon coming home, I found one of the sweet ones visiting us, alone, so soon another hour was gone. Finally, Nathan texted and said, "Mom, another actor is arriving at the Park and Ride. Could you pick him up and take him to dinner?"

And so I did, and his name was Michael. And our conversation was full of life. Now, almost bedtime, I realize that I was making choices today to mentor, to disciple, to invest in the precious life of the one right in front of me, even though I did not get my "work" finished.

This is something I learned to embrace many years ago--I have a stewardship to seek to bring light to everyone God brings across my path, and to particularly invest in my children who are for some years my primary disciples, so that they can grow strong. 

You and I only have this day, this moment to choose to live for what matters.

"Teach us to number our days that we might present to thee a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 91:12

As I was pondering these thoughts--that I want to make the most of every day, I remembered this article I had written several years ago with the same thoughts.. I will wrap up how it applies to my life now at the end......

I can never remember a time when there were not piles of responsibilities stacking up, vying for my attention. As long as I can remember, there is always more to do, not less. Today was no different. Out of town company all weekend for a concert we sponsored in our church meant more cooking, more cleaning, late nights and more talking and serving. Today, a big Sunday breakfast for all in my house, rushing to church, and then picking up more out of town friends, dear to our hearts, to visit the whole afternoon long. A tea time, pie, both pecan and berry, and lots of talking and talking, more dishes, and then delivering them at a conference nearby.

This blog was looming over my mind,  as I wanted to write about what mattered most in life,  to encourage you, my sweet friends. Two final deadlines for an impending writing project and important deadlines for my book launch, as well as 3 letters that must be written.

All of these were piling and increasing my stress level.

When I searched the landscape of my mind, I pondered this gorgeous fall day--God has painted the leaves in such an amazing way today, and I have hardly had time to notice. I have Joel at home all by himself  apart from the other kids, for a rare occasion, and he particularly loves our long walks together. Our other guest, Matthew, is someone our family greatly values and I know he would love to see our special walking trails and sunset views. If I go, I will not get my work finished and will have more on my plate tomorrow.

But, I have made a goal this year to own my life more completely by choosing to invest personally with real live people right in front of me. And so, now, this moment, is when the test comes to challenge my commitment.

Will I choose work, again, to keep faithfully at my piles, or will I take this moment that I may not have again, to invest, to make a memory. It is not an issue of a rule or formula, but a commitment I have made in my heart to not make my duties more important than my people.

This moment challenges the personal commitment I have made.

And so, instead of writing this blog, instead of staying home to get ahead for my Monday piles, I chose Sabbath--to focus on the personal, right in front of me reality.

Going......

Pinks, golds, ambers, yellows colored our happy path as we spoke of music, stories, ideas, dreams, hopes. The former boy, now man moving into his glory as he surmounts life and shares the moments one more time, with me, his now much smaller than him, mama. My heart warmed at his eagerness to be my friend. My heart swelled at this little boy became man, and such a strong good one. My happiness fills as now, my son and true closest of friends, chooses me to spend his last afternoon minutes, instead of the busyness that is piling high on his plate. Now, he is choosing to invest personally in me, instead of choosing work.

Gone!!!! Too quickly, the time I can invest will be over, gone forever.

Too quickly, the sun went down, our walk came to the edge of the path, our cherished moments came to an end, but my heart had this precious soul memory stored in the treasure chest of my own heart to hold dear for the years to come.

Too quickly your path will also come to an end and the window of time in which you can love and influence will close for a new phase of life for your children ahead.

The work will somehow all get done, eventually,

but this glorious day, I chose to celebrate with God in His art gallery, in the intimate moments that I will have to cherish for years to come.