BOOKS FOR GROWN-UP GIRLS

Learning to Embrace God's Love

2011-04-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

"Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways," David wrote in Psalm 17.

I stopped when I read that the other day. Because while I know God loves me and I've been overwhelmed by it at various times, when things are ordinary and simple and simply fine, it can be difficult to really understand, much less accept and appreciate, the immensity of God's love for me.

I find myself praying, over and over again, "God teach me how to love you more, how to love you better."
And that's part of it, but there's more to the equation than just me learning how to love him. There's another part: Letting him love me.

I don't know how to do that other than to ask him to do it, by repeating this verse from the Psalms and asking God to make his love for me not just some head knowledge but something real.

This is part of the premise of Joanna Weaver's latest book Lazarus Awakening, which I received from WaterBrook Press for review. (Weaver is most well-known for her book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.) She attempts to help readers take this knowledge of God's extravagant love and learn to believe it, once and for all. She illustrates this message by looking to the story of Lazarus' death and how Jesus raised him from the dead.

She offers readers beautiful biblical insights into this oft glazed-over story and opened my eyes to new details that I'd never thought twice about. In that way, I felt like I gained a much deeper appreciation for this story.
The part of the book that really provided the most practical application regarding learning to live in God's love was from an example Weaver provided of two friends: "When she'd asked Joan how she finally became convinced of God's love, Ann had expected a dramatic story--something about how God had spared her friend from tragedy or brought her through a dark time. Instead, Joan described a simple decision to 'set aside one month in which to act as though God loved her.' All that month 'whenever she was tempted to doubt his love, she simply shifted her thoughts and then put the full force of her mind behind believing that God loved her. And that settled it for her--for good.'" (page 94)

It reminds me of the father who so eloquently and desperately said it best: "I believe, help my disbelief!" We believe, and yet we still have to continue asking God to help us remove those bits of doubt that keep us from fully living in the truth.

So for now, I keep repeating, "Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways. Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways. Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways."

Cookbook with Recipes for Cooking from Scratch

2010-12-04T16:35:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up, I loved reading books about life on the frontier and wondering what it must have been like to churn your own butter or go mushroom picking in the woods. There was something that always fascinated me about this do-it-yourself, homegrown spirit. Perhaps it was because all I the hunting and gathering I experienced took place in grocery-store aisles.

Which is why when I first got my hands on The Homesteader's Kitchen by Robin Burnside, I felt that nostalgia from girlhood come back. This is the cookbook for me: A refreshing cookbook filled with more than 100 recipes that get back to the basics of cooking and baking and making foods from scratch.

And I don't just mean homemade pizzas or pies. That's one of the things I like best about The Homesteader's Kitchen. While those kinds of entrees and recipes are included, Burnside digs deeper and provides recipes for making even the simplest of ingredients and pantry items from scratch, down to the gravy for your turkey, breads for your sandwiches, dressings for your salads or cheese for your pasta dishes. There are recipes for making your own mayonnaise, chai tea, tortillas, vegetable stock, crackers, sushi rolls, teriyaki sauce, as well as complete meals (vegetarian, meat and fish options) and desserts. Many of these simple recipes also offer a tasty twist on a familiar favorite, like a Kiwi Vinaigarette, Thai Cilantro Pesto or Hot Carob Cocoa.

And the recipes themselves are stocked with real and fresh ingredients. I didn't see one recipe that called for canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones, for instance. The cookbook is intended to be used as a resource for making use of your garden-grown fruits and veggies. She even includes guides for edible flowers or growing your own salad sprouts! Even though we aren't able to grow our own food just yet, I love that that's the premise of the cookbook, and one that I hope to make baby steps toward in our future.

The only drawback I do have about The Homesteader's Kitchen is that, more often than not, there aren't photos of the finished recipes, which is usually a priority for me in cookbook buying. But, the whole-food aspect and down-to-earth recipes more than makes up for that. (And, from a publishing point of view, I can only imagine how costly it can get to photograph every recipe.)

I love being able to have this sort of variety of recipes for making everyday foods from scratch compiled into one go-to resource, and I find the idea of cooking from scratch to be freeing. I love being able to turn to my pantry and, in just a couple of hours, make my own daily bread, rather than have to run up to the grocery store. And baked into that little loaf is a labor of love and a sense of satisfaction at what my hands hath wrought. It's like stepping back in time and delivering some of those culinary basics and how-tos from generations past to the dinner table tonight.

Find The Homesteader's Kitchen by Robin Burnside on Amazon.com.

Win $1,000 for Books!

2010-12-02T08:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this doesn't really have anything to do with books (bear with me a moment, though!), but it's a contest where you can win $1,000. Now friends, if that won't get you a bunch of books, I don't know what will!

Here are the details:
Enter the Rayovac Rock the Holidays contest for a chance to win $1,000 cash by:

“Like” Rayovac on Facebook: Facebook.com/Rayovac
Go to Rayovac.com, complete the entry form and at their option, tell Rayovac in 120 words or less how you (or your mom) rocks the holidays.

Grand Prize: Three (3) Lucky winners will win $1,000 cash from Rayovac.
Runner Up Prizes: Twenty (20) First Place Prize winners will receive a Rayovac Jam kit including a Paper Jamz guitar, drum, amp and guitar strap as well as 2 packs of Rayovac Alkaline AAA 24 packs (prize package valued at $90).

The sweepstakes runs through Monday, December 5th.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or another holiday, make sure you take a moment to tell Rayovac and you might win!

Followers who promote the Rayovac Mom Rocks the Holidays Sweepstakes may receive gifts from Rayovac.

How-to Book for Canning and Preserving

2010-11-27T16:35:00.000-05:00

When I was little, my grandparents had a small but robust garden in their backyard. Each summer, they preserved the fruits of their labor with the generations-old pastime of canning. In their cellar, there was a little room lined with shallow shelves that held can after can of their homegrown produce, ready reminders of the summer's bounty and waiting to be enlisted at the supper table for the seasons to come.

There was something that captured my fascination back then when I'd run my finger along the light film of dust that had gathered on the rows of glass containers in their basement. And now that I'm older, the desire to pick up that pastime of canning has only grown.

Which is why when I came across Canning and Preserving by Ashley English (who also blogs for ReadyMade and Design*Sponge), I was thrilled.

Her book is a primer on canning, offering an overview of the science behind the process, a list of all the essentials you'll need to get started, a handy reference guide to which fruits and vegetable varieties are best suited to canning, trouble-shooting any difficulties that might crop up, in addition to all the how-to's of canning itself, which are thoroughly illustrated step-by-step through instructional diagrams and photographs.

There are recipes and complete instructions for making jams, jellies, relishes, pickles, marmalades, chutneys, butter, sauces as well as preserving whole fruits and vegetables—basically whatever you might dream of that will fit into a glass jar.

I have not gotten to make any of the recipes just yet—I don't want to waste my effort on store-bought produce—but have pages earmarked that walk you through making strawberry jam, apple butter, and tomato basil sauce (although I'll need a pressure canner for that one). Those are some pretty basic recipes, but there are also more exotic ones like Fig and Thyme Jam, Curried Winter Squash Chutney, or Peach and Lavender Butter.

I think that if you're just starting out with canning and preserving, like I am, this is a great resource. However, it's not an exhaustive guide if you're looking for tons of recipes: In total, there are 28 recipes provided, which cover 8 canning classics and then 20 unique seasonal recipes (like the examples listed above). Personally, I wish there were more of the "canning classics" recipes included, but I guess they figured that you can look those up easily anywhere?

Regardless, I look forward to the day when I can line my own pantry shelves with little glass jars that suspend summer for just a little bit longer...

Find Canning & Preserving by Ashley English on Amazon.com.

Chronicle Books Haul-iday!

2010-11-21T20:18:00.000-05:00

How neat is this?! Just in time for the holidays, Chornicle Books (one of my f-a-v-e-s) is having a gigantic giveaway: a Happy Haul-iday, where you can win up to $500 worth of your favorite Chronicle titles.

If I won, here's the list of the titles I'd pick:

Farm Together Now
Lotta Jansdotter's Handmade Living
Wallpaper Projects: More than 50 Craft and Design Ideas for Your Home, from Accents to Art
Love in Spoonfuls: Fast and Easy Ways to Make Nutritious Food for Your Baby
My Baby Record Book
Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby: 24 Easy Projects for Newborns to Toddlers
Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects
Mom Essentials: A One-Stop Organizer for Moms on the Move
Soil Mates: Companion Planting for Your Vegetable Garden
I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More
Garden Anywhere
Homeowner's Record Keeper: The Perfect Place to Keep Track of Home Repairs, Maintenance, Plans, and Dreams
Reprodepot Pattern Book: Flora: 225 Vintage-Inspired Textile Designs
Fast, Fresh & Green: More Than 90 Delicious Recipes for Veggie Lovers
A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: The Best Vegetarian Recipes
French General: Home Sewn: 30 Projects for Every Room in the House
The Printmaking Bible: The Complete Guide to Printing Materials and Techniques
The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Eastern and Central North America: A Cornell Lab of Ornithology Audio Field Guide
Twentieth-Century Pattern Design: Princeton Architectural Press
Appliqué Your Way: 35 Pretty Projects and Patterns

What would you pick?!

Decorating with Books: Get Frameworthy

2010-07-10T12:12:00.000-04:00

Here are some beautiful prints from Etsy, taking vintage illustrations and overlaying them onto vintage book pages. Wouldn't this make for a beautiful collection grouped together?

The prints are from BlackBaroque on Etsy.

Contemporary Fiction Book About St. Francis

2010-07-09T20:36:00.003-04:00

All I knew about St. Francis of Assisi was limited to a statue with his nameplate that stood on the edge of a San Diego garden that I visited a couple years ago. I even took a snapshot of the statue, as it stood strikingly against a breathtaking California backdrop. (At least, I think it was his statue...)

Then, I read Chasing Francis by debut author Ian Morgan Cron. It's in these pages that the author brings this 800-year-old Christian and his revolutionary insights and actions to life for the modern-day reader.

This is one of the best books I've read in quite a long time--especially because it's a fiction title. Oftentimes I feel that fiction titles can be a bit of a waste of time. Here, though the plot of this book is fictional, it is steeped in the historical and authentic--a genre called "wisdom literature." So while you get to read a beautifully, cleverly written and poignant plot, you actually end up learning a great deal about Francis.

Not only is it filled with rich storytelling that will teach you a thing or two about history, but this book will also make you think about what's next. The story is told through the eyes of a megachurch-pastor who is starting to wonder about the depth of the faith that he's grown up on--is there more to loving God and following Jesus than he's been fed?

As the pastor learns more about Francis (while visiting Assisi and living alongside Franciscan monks), Cron begins to unravel what we as modern-day Christians can learn from Francis, a man who cast off his riches, preached to crows, directed the first Christmas play and who revolutionized the floundering faith of his day. What might it look like if we loved God, loved people, like this man did?

Seriously. Read it. (It struck me as a fictional complement to Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution if you found that compelling.) Whether you like fiction or not, it is an incredible story that you can't help but find inspiring.

Find Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron on Amazon.com.

Book Review: "I Am Hutterite"

2010-07-09T12:56:00.006-04:00

Whoever says they prefer fiction because it tells a better story than real life, has never read I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby. This memoir delves into her childhood, exploring her upbringing in a Canadian Hutterite community (which is similar to the Amish in that it's a religiously-based community with strict, old-fashioned dress codes) and then her eventual struggle to adapt to English life when her family left the community when she was only ten.

I was not familiar with the Hutterite communities before I read this book. Of course, growing up in Ohio and attending college in the Appalachian foothills, I knew the Amish and Mennonite communities whom we might see at the zoo or whose horse-and-buggies we might zip pass on the highway. (In fact, my fascination with these sects was one of the dreams that encouraged me to explore journalism as a career; I hoped that some feature story might lead me behind-the-scenes where I could live alongside the Amish for a week or two, and then write about my foray.)

What seems to set the Hutterites apart from other communities like the Amish (aside from the women's polka-dotted headkerchiefs) is that their community is based around the biblical image we see in Acts where all the believers live together and share all their belongings. Hutterites attempt to live this characteristic out by eating meals together, sharing communal chores, harvesting crops together and rationing the yields equally. Everyone's needs, from those of new mothers to the elderly, are looked after and taken care of by the entire community as they embrace this conviction.

Kirkby shares what it was like to be raised in this sort of tight-knitted community, where literally everything is shared, from household chores to celebrations to the unfortunate tragedies and hardships that characterize life no matter how idyllic it might at first seem. And in spite of good intentions, no human project is ever perfect, including that of the Hutterites. It was the difficulties of community life that arose that eventually coaxed her parents to leave the colony with their seven children.

With honesty and rich revelation, she shares how devastating this decision was for her as her family left the colony in 1969 with little to their name to start anew. While everything had been taken care of communally in life in the colony, life outside was a stark contrast. They now had to worry about affording groceries, paying bills, finding work, as well as adjusting to being outsiders and fighting the loneliness that came with their newfound freedcom. With frequent visits and letters to her best friends back to the colony, Kirkby shares how she was able to keep one foot in each world--find her way around the outside world but also cling to the Hutterite heritage she would always consider home.

The memoir is an intriguing look into this obscure lifestyle, the emphasis put on family, sacrifice, hospitality and forgiveness--true tenets of the Christian faith that unfortunately are rarely lived out so vibrantly. Approachable and transparently, she intimately shares her story. I took in every word, imagining the beauty of living on a farm with all my friends and families just moments away, wishing for a bit of that myself. Though I had hoped she would have spent more time exploring more of how she found her place in Canadian society, adapted to it and how she integrates her upbringing today, this story was so rich and compelling--better than any fiction--that I read it in a day.

Find I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby on Amazon.

10 Books I Want to Read

2010-07-09T12:56:00.001-04:00

Tall bookshelves decorate one full wall in my living room. While I'd prefer to organize via spine color (so pretty!), that just doesn't seem all that practical when you're trying to hunt a particular one down, neck craned and eyes darting through 12 shelves-worth of titles.

Instead, I've tried to bring some organization so that I can easily hunt down a title; fiction are on the top left shelf, then non-fiction, with prayer topics grouped together, then marriage/relationship books, commentaries, etc. Near the bottom shelf, I have a little stack of books on my "to read" list.

I don't go through this list very quickly; often I supplement it with books I pick up from the library. But I thought I'd share the titles that have made this list of mine, sitting ever-so-patiently on the bottom shelf, waiting to be read:

Miracles by C.S. Lewis
I got this at a half-price bookstore a couple years ago for the mere fact that it was by C.S. Lewis. I was talking with some friends when someone said that this is a classic and, in their opinion, the best nonfiction book by Lewis to read. So, I added it to the list!
Five Simple Ways to Grow a Great Family by Carol Kuykendall
Before you jump to conclusions (ahem), no, I'm not pregnant. However, I do hope that Michael and I will be able to start a little family of our own in the next couple of years, so in preparation for when that day does come, I want to start thinking intentionally about choices I want to make for my family and as a mother. This book is intended to help you do just that and consider how to integrate into your family the five qualities that the author claims matter most in childrearing: love, fun, loyalty, growth and faith.
Cloister Talks by Jon M. Sweeney
"Learning from my friends the monks" is the tagline of this book and looks at some of the practices from the lives of monks (stillness, solitude, simplicity). It'll be interesting to read this in light of my recent read of the fictional book Chasing Francis.
Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy
I find it hard to believe that you need a whole book (283 pages!) for tips on learning to live on less when you've got gobs of blogs that talk about it everyday. But, it seems very down-to-earth and more about taking a maco- approach to your spending (changing your mindset about "convenience food" for example as well as chapters about utilities, "the cost of working," etc).
His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley, Jr.
This is another marriage book, with the purpose of teaching couples how to sustain that "in love" feeling by discovering activities, hobbies, actions that will keep you and your spouse connecting on an emotional level. Supposedly the methods of this book are "guaranteed."
Learning of God by Amy Carmichael
A missionary during the late 1800s and early 1900s, Carmichael is called "one of the great spiritual writers of the century, possessing a breadth of vision that transcended barriers of churchmanship and of culture." A dear friend gave me this book about a year ago (yikes!) when I made my big move to the uncharted waters of Michigan!
Experiencing the Holy Spirit by Andrew Murray
This is another gift from that same friend! This one focuses specifically on the Holy Spirit, something I have only started to learn more about over the past year or two and that I'm eager to continue to understand.
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan
This is a memoir, and memoirs are one of my favorite reading indulgences. I think if I could only read one genre, this is what it would be. Trish writes about how as a successful 30-something, she found herself still searching for the perfect man. So she decided to try all the self-help advice out there, which didn't seem to help at all. Finally, "she hesitantly decided to give God a try. ... He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not is Ryan's story of how her search for the right guy turned into the search for the right God."
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
I heard about this book a long time ago and I've heard lots of people give great to praise and I still have not gotten around to reading it. But I intend to, sooner or later! This book is all about the way God loves and how he wants us to love others--God's "crazy love."
Easy Green Living by Renee Loux
I suppose this isn't really a book you read, so much as you use as a reference manual. Yet and still, I'd like to take the time to scan through it's almost 400 pages and get some ideas for ways to build and create a greener, more environmentally-friendly home and lifestyle.

What's on your reading list? Have you read any of these, or do any of them sound interesting to you?

Life Outside the Fish Bowl: A Quote from "The Jesus I Never Knew"

2010-07-09T12:54:00.004-04:00

I’ve been reading The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yanceyfor awhile now, and just finished last week. It offered an interesting look at the life and ministry of Jesus through the lens of history, the biblical narration, various insights from theologians and modern-day interpretations. It gave me a more well-rounded understanding of life during Jesus’ days as well as how cultures over the years have viewed different aspects of his teaching.

Filled with research and thoughtful commentary, I flagged many pages while making my way through the manuscript. Such as Christ’s selection of ordinary people to stand alongside him and a humbling look at Mary’s response about what God was doing in her life.

Here’s one last poignant quote from the pages of Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew that offers a vantage point about why Jesus coming to earth was so vital and how it was the only way for humanity to really begin to understand and know and love God, in spite of everything he’d done before.

Yancey writes:

"I learned about incarnation when I kept a salt-water aquarium. Management of a marine aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think, in view of all the energy expended on their behalf, that my fish would at least be grateful. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they dove for cover into the nearest shell. They showed me one 'emotion' only: fear. Although I opened the lid and dropped in food on a regular schedule, three times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign of my design to torture them. I could not convince them of my true concern.

"To my fish I was a deity. ... My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; my attempts at helping they viewed as destruction. To change their perceptions, I began to see, would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and 'speak' to them in a language they could understand."

Find The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey on Amazon.

Lesson About God from "Anonymous"

2010-07-09T12:51:00.005-04:00

I think it’s safe to say that for most of us, we struggle with feeling like we’re not achieving what we should, we’re not making a difference, we’re not living up to our potential, and we can easily get discouraged by it all.

A couple years ago I read a book called Anonymous, which talks about this sense of “anonymity” we often feel. The author, Alicia Britt Chole, looks at it a different way, though, seeing these seasons of our lives as an opportunity from God to prepare us for our seasons of action, of affecting the world.

One of the analogies she uses is of trees and how the different seasons affect them: During the summer, their leaves are full and coat the limbs, but when winter comes, the leaves fall off and all that is left is the tree’s infrastructure. So it is with us: What the plenty of summer hides, the nakedness of winter reveals. When the winters of our life hit, we are stripped down to bear the strength of our infrastructure–our character.

But we must take time to grow and build up to be able to withstand those winters. It’s these seasons of anonymity, when we go unseen and seem unnoticeable, that protect us and prepare us so that we have time to create and forge that infrastructure. Then, when we undergo the winters of our life, our underlying strength will be strong enough to shine through and sustain us.

Chole writes in the book, “Anonymous seasons are sacred spaces, they are formative and to be rested in, not rushed through–and never regretted.” And, “We can easily mistake fruitlessness for failure. We naturally grant more weight to the visible than the invisible, so it’s easy for us to underestimate its vital importance. We must not think unseen = unimportant.”

This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.
Isaiah 55:13

Find Anonymous by Alicia Britt Chole on Amazon.