It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to ***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of ZonderKidz for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dawn Miller is an award-winning filmmaker and author who has written and produced several books, a music video and an urban teen drama. She lives in St. Louis with her teenage son and is currently at work on the graphic novel and feature film version of "The Watcher Chronicles".
I shared yesterday on Gather Inspirit about Ephesians 3. The lessons in prayer that I learn from my seven-year-old. If you haven't had a chance to read it, you can check it out here.
There are so many people that need to be lifted up in prayer. I am taking the time I need to pray for all of them today. Who in your life needs prayer today?
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
Such a simple scripture.
Be joyful in hope Hope according to the dictionary says: to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence. to believe, desire, or trust: Today I am joyful in the possibilities. I am trusting God in our future.
Patient in affliction The definition of affliction: a state of pain, distress, or grief; misery: They sympathized with us in our affliction. a cause of mental or bodily pain, as sickness, loss, calamity, or persecution. Today I am reminded that I need to be patient when the answers I am seeking are not clear.
Faithful in prayer The word Faithful has many definitions: strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker. true to one's word, promises, vows, etc. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends. reliable, trusted, or believed. adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate: a faithful account; a faithful copy. Obsolete. full of faith; believing. My prayers for God's leading and direction need to be daily, hourly a part of every day.
So thankful today that I worship a mighty God that hears my prayers. Even though some days my prayers are sloppy, I lack patience and I forget to be joyful. God is so Good.
Shawn Lamb just came out with book 1 in a new fantasy series called Allon.
About the Book: The land of Allon was a paradise until the fall of the Guardians paved the way for the rise of the Dark Way. Evil King Marcellus now controls the land as his forefathers did, with an iron fist and the help of the evil spirit, Dagar. But an ancient prophecy speaks of a time to come when the Guardians will return and Allon will be restored--lead by its rightful heir. All the while, the exiled teenage Promised Prince, Ellis, must prove himself worthy to be king through a series of supernatural trials that test his character, wisdom, courage, and his heart. The first in the Allon series, this magical tale of adventure, destiny, and faith will test your strength and awaken your spirit of adventure.
About the Author: Shawn Lamb has written for children's television and has won several screenwriting awards, including a Certificate of Merit from the American Screenwriters Association. She is active in various church ministries and has created her own curriculum based upon Proverbs 31. Shawn lives outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband of 25 years and their college-aged daughter.
This book is geared for 9-12 year olds. It is well written and full of suspense. My oldest daughter is nine, but I think I would wait for her to read the book. There is some torture and the beginning may be a little confusing with the character development.
If you have young adults that enjoy fantasy, I would recommend this book. It is good versus evil that offers suspense to keep you engaged in the book. The book is set up to move on to a book 2.
Last night I picked up my copy of Glaen. I started reading it and I am so glad that I did. This was a fun book to read. The story was light and entertaining. In the midst of the entertainment were some wonderful life lessons on relationships. I wish I would have had a list of these lessons when I was dating. The great thing is there were also lessons that I can still apply to my marriage and other relationships now.
In the story, college student Annie is taking a non-fiction writing class. She is studying relationships, trying to find all of the answers by observing other people. She is also discovering the truth of her faith while she is on this journey.
You can read the first chapter below.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Audra Jennings - Senior Media Specialist - The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Maybe it’s because his dad was a lawyer and state legislator, or maybe it’s because he grew up in Alabama with something to prove, or maybe he just found a good use for his self-proclaimed ADHD, but whatever the cause, Fred Lybrand has become a careful thinker in a number of disciplines. If you are looking at a topic with Dr. Lybrand, then you are guaranteed to see things like you never have before. “I finally discovered that I’m one of those unfocused students that just likes to learn everything. I guess God made me to be a knowledge broker—I learn some hopefully useful information and then give it to others who need it,” Lybrand describes of his own love for learning and teaching.
Lybrand attended the University of Alabama and majored in English Literature, with a double-minor emphasis in speech communication and fiction writing. He went on to teach the introductory speech communications class while also attending law school at Alabama. A hunger to understand the Word of God, however, led him to withdraw in order to pursue theological studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. Lybrand graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1989 and received a doctorate from Phoenix Seminary, 2007.
In January 2010, Dr. Lybrand retired from a 24-year career as a pastor of two churches in Texas. At Midland Bible Church he helped build a church which has launched ministries in several continents (including successful church-planting efforts in Uganda), as well as serving as a founding board (and faculty) member for Midland Classical Academy, a Socratic-method based high school. The school provides a “classical education” focused on teaching students through the Socratic Method using classical books, interactive science and math, logic, fine arts, and the creative process—all built on the foundation of the Bible. At Northeast Bible Church (Evangelical Free Church) in the San Antonio area, Dr. Lybrand helped redesign the church to grow as a disciple-making center for promoting the grace of God. Teaching and counseling in the church context has been a long-term focus of Lybrand’s labors.
List Price: $14.99 Paperback: 176 pages Publisher: The Barnabas Agency (February 14, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 0578046520 ISBN-13: 978-0578046525
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Mother called the week before I met Glaen Breuch.
“So, that's it?” I said with a tinge of anger.
“I'm afraid it is, dear,” a soft and matter-of-fact voice responded.
“Mom, you just want a divorce? You don't want to work at it or get some counseling or something?” I pleaded.
“No Annie, it's over. I've tried and tried, but your father just isn't what I want for the rest of my life. Can't you just be happy for me?” Mother asked.
Suddenly Annie found herself floating, feather-like, away from the phone and experiencing what most people think a drowning person experiences; a life full of joy and promise, in the last moments of gasping for air, she sees a replay of that life. Annie saw the day her baby sister came home from the hospital. Mom and Dad were so happy, and Annie as a little girl couldn't find her sister's feet; she kept looking under the baby-carrier instead of under the blanket. They all laughed for days.
Next, Annie remembered her granddaddy's death and how her mother was so kind to her dad, and how her dad praised mother to everyone in the small town where he grew up. Other memories flooded her mind, moving from ancient black-and-white scenes to vivid full-color images. Most recently she had been in church, seated between her parents, and basking in the wonder of family; hoping for a marriage like theirs. But Annie snapped awake.
“Be happy for you?” I said with amazement. “How can I be happy for you? You are running away to ruin your relationship with Dad and mess up our family forever. You seem happy enough. I don't think you need my help.”
“Annie, my relationship with your dad is already ruined. Honey, the one way I've failed you was to not really help you understand about love. You were always your Daddy's girl anyway, so I never could really tell you how I felt. I don't think I understand relationships, but I'm going to learn about them. Honey, I know you don't understand relationships; just look at what's happened with your boyfriends.”
“Boyfriends?” Annie thought to herself. There were just two; one in high school and one in college. Both of the boys were nice guys who doted, and spent, on Annie. She just wanted to have fun, and she did, for a while. In the same six month period with each guy, Rodney and Pierre, they both turned to the same serious conversation with her about “dating just each other.” Annie could still feel the panic as her stomach tightened and her lungs closed off from the air in the room. She had mysteriously decided she didn't like either of them; and in time she believed it deeply. The only hint she had that perhaps a mistake lived on, was that she saved the letter from Pierre in her dresser drawer back home. Both guys were married now, at least she had heard about their engagements. But now the thought of her past brought Annie back to the room, and to the moment. “Mother, what about your relationship with God? What about your marriage vow before Him?” I asked as a sincere question.
“God wants us happy, dear. I've been miserable for years. I love you children, and now that you're grown, I can follow my dreams. I felt dead, but now I feel alive. Annie, I know it is hard to understand, but I just know God is in this because I'm so wonderfully happy now.”
“Mom…I love you, but what you're doing can't be right. I'm not going to do this to my family,” I said.
“Well, good luck, Honey. I'm going out to dinner and I haven't finished dressing,” she said in a mother-knows-best way.
“Could I give you one piece of advice that would have changed all of this for me?”
“Sure Mom,” I said.
“Annie dear, be sure you marry the right person; don't stand in your wedding dress with doubts in your bouquet.”
We hung up, and I cried for a long time before I could pray. “God, my mother says she doesn't understand relationships, and she's my mom! Then she says I don't understand them either. Please help me to understand.”
Back then I had no idea that prayer was the sort of thing God took seriously.
Glaen Breuch was unusual, even for a college professor.
It was only two weeks before that I had signed up for his Masters class called, “Original Non-Fiction.” Jennah and I had been sitting at Polmier's Coffee Shoppe, a little place with hardwood floors full of serious students and a few silly girls. “What are you going to take for your last class?” Jennah asked. I was irritated. “Gee, Jennah, I just decided now to take classes at all.” She knew how upset I was about Mom and Dad's sudden divorce announcement, so she ignored it and asked again.
“I've prayed all week about it. I wish I could take a class on how relationships really work, but nothing in school is ever practical.” I still remember saying those words when Glaen walked in the Shoppe. He had striking white hair that made a great wave until it crashed above his right eye. Wire-rimmed glasses, herringbone jacket, too many books; all these made Glaen look like the ideal professor. He insisted on being called Glaen rather than “professor” or “mister,” but I didn't know why until months later.
Exactly fifteen years ago I saw Glaen in the Shoppe. Now I am about to see him again. I bet he hasn't changed a bit, but of course how could he?
That day in Polmier's, Glaen walked up to us as an answer to prayer. “Hi ladies,” he said. “I couldn't help overhearing your conversation about classes. I'm a new instructor here at St. Michael's, but I'm a bit late in arriving.” Suddenly his awkward grasp gave way and all of his books and papers clamored to the wood floor. Only one pink sheet remained in his hand. “Oh, here it is,” ignoring the pile at his feet. “I'm teaching this class over the next two semesters. If you're interested, just show up as it says here.” With that Glaen gathered his books and left the Shoppe, cluttered but unembarrassed. From that moment on, all I could think about was how curious both the class and the professor seemed. I was in!
“Welcome class. My name is Glaen, pronounced with a long 'a' as in 'gain.'” He started the Original Non-Fiction class, ONF101 as the flier labeled it, right on time. Without skipping a beat he handed out the syllabus and asked with eyes that swept the room, “Are there any questions before we begin?”
I looked around totally bewildered as I raised my hand. “Yes, and your name is Anne?” he asked. “Well, they call me Annie, but I do have a question,” I said.
“OK Annie, what's your question?” I was still in a self-absorbed mood, so I put a little “dumb blonde” in my voice. “Like…ah…I'm the only student in the room…and, ah…is the class going to make or something?” I wanted to ask why in heaven's name he was acting like the room was full, but it seemed like a dumb move on the first day.
“Well Annie, since it's a new class the powers-that-be have given me permission to teach it even if you're the only one. Ready to start?” he asked, taking my silence for a “yes.”
Glaen wrote the following on the board and asked, “What do you think?”
“JUST DEFINITIONS EITHER PREVENT OR PUT AN END TO DISPUTES”
- Emmons
“Who's Emmons?” I said.
“Does it matter? What if I said it was written by Poe, or Shelley, or Whitman? Would it make a difference? Is it what is said or who said it?” suddenly Glaen had me thinking.
“I guess it doesn't matter,” I said.
“Then what do you think?” he returned.
“I think it sounds reasonable,” I admitted.
“Great!” Glaen took off with a quick lecture on the importance of words and their meanings. He finally got to the point.
“Annie, I've watched conflict for a long time. Seldom is there a conflict that can withstand agreed-to definitions. The reason is pretty simple: Truth still wins out. It's bad enough when two people disagree about what is expected in a relationship. It's even worse when they aren't using the same language. A dictionary or the question, 'What do you mean?' can do more to end conflict than almost anything else on the planet. One of my favorite authors once wrote, 'Truth is the lifeblood of real relationships.'”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, let me ask you a question. If you change your behavior from how you really are to what they want; is it you relating, or is it the character you're playing?”
With that Glaen started to put his books in a much-needed satchel.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“There's nothing else to know for today,” he said.
“Nothing else to know! What about non-fiction? What about writing? What's the assignment?” I said with a little contempt.
“Oh, that,” he said flatly.
“Well, you need to write an original work of non-fiction, offering original insights on a useful topic. It doesn't matter what the topic is, but I would suggest you write about something you care about, something you'd like to understand. I'll be in this room every week at this same moment. I'm available to help you when you want it.”
Glaen looked at me for a long time, staring right through me with his steady blue eyes, framed by his white hair and white button-down shirt.
“Annie,” he added. “Decide on your topic by next week and I'll show you the secret of good non-fiction. There's a book in your future, and I want to show it to you.” Glaen turned and moved out of the room with the grace of a ballet dancer. I just sat there for a long time before I left. The Coffee Shoppe was finally calling.
I had the privilege to see Beth Moore through a simulcast on Saturday morning with over 300,000 other women across the country. She spoke on Insecurity. I am still processing a lot of it. She talked about how as women can make a significant difference in our culture if we can become secure in ourselves.
She spent a lot of time in Ephesians 4. The verse that I keep going back to is Ephesians 4:22-24. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
It has me thinking about how I still have some baggage myself that I need to get rid of to completely become made new. However, I wasn't focusing on myself. I was focusing on the very first part of the verse that says, "You were taught".
I was thinking about my girls, "What am I teaching my girls?"
I am pretty sure that if I asked my own mother she would say it is never easy to raise girls. I think that my sister and I gave her more than a few gray hairs and sleepless nights.
However, I think that society has added even more pressure to raising girls. I think that we need to focus even more on raising them to be pure. From the media they watch to the clothes that they want to wear. I did not have a cell phone until I was married. My nine year old daughter has kids that have had them since they were in first grade.
Today I am concentrating on how I can change the way I am teaching my girls so that someday, when they are making their own decisions, I can be confident that they were taught to live like Christ.
I look at these innocent faces and I know that I need to do whatever it takes. Although I am sure some of my rules will make them crazy, some of my boundaries might seem extreme. But someday, I know they will understand. Someday, they may be teaching their own girls and it will all make sense.
I have been tweeting with a few other Moms with girls and we decided that we need each other. We are the MOD Squad. (Mothers Of Daughters). Are you part of the MOD Squad? Are you struggling with how and what to teach your girls. Check out My Blog Frog Community if you are a Mother Of Daughters and introduce yourself. One thing I know for sure is we need each other.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Deuteronomy 6:6-8
Do you ever feel like you are failing your children? Do you ever have one of those mornings that you wish you could rewind and start over?
I had one of those mornings. When my seven year-old left to walk to school she said she was never coming home. Over what you ask? Over a pair of flip-flops. She misplaced them, she blamed everyone in the house for not being able to find them. She just knew that her little sister had hid them from her.
I sent her to school without them so I am the meanest mom in the world (it is supposed to rain today and she should wear tennis shoes anyway).
After she left I went on a mission to find them. After searching in all of the not so obvious places, I found them. Sitting right by the back door. Right where I am sure she took them off.
I have been deeply burdened this week about raising my kids. After reading One Million Arrows and some chatter on twitter yesterday, I realize that I am not alone. There is a cool new group forming online on my friend Erin's Blog Frog community called the Mother Of Boys Society.
As you know, a Mother of Boys is not me, and probably never will be. There are other moms online that have houses full of pink, too. Yesterday we decided that we needed to form a prayer initiative to pray for our daughters. We are moms of girls and our girls need prayer.
Every time I turn on the TV and it is on anything but Nick Jr, PBS or Playhouse Disney I am appalled by the programing. Every show is focusing on relationships. Stuff that my girls at the ages of 4, 7 & 9 don't need to see. Then I listen to their conversations and it is scary. My nine year old and her friends already talk about boys.
I am ready to get rid of cable. I am so thankful that the weather is nice so we spend a majority of our time outside and away from the TV. But I realize that some major changes need to be made in this house. And I realize that I will not be their favorite person when those changes are made.
I am a stay at home mom of 3 girls in South Dakota. I am a writer, traveler, crafter, chef , baker, chauffeur, story-teller, and memory maker, but most importantly I am a mother.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
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