An Amish Boy and a Mother's Prayer {Book Review and Giveaway}

Not long ago I had fun reading "An Amish Boy and a Mother's Prayer" by Glen S. Graber. I have long found the life of the Amish interesting. When we lived in Iowa I would purposely drive on roads where the Amish lived as I thought it was fun to see a glimpse of their way of life. I have read many books about the Amish as well and I have often wondered with many of the fiction books how accurate of description they really were. This book was neat because it was written from a Man's perspective and he is very factual and honest.

  Glen didn't actually live in an old order Amish family very long as they were kicked out because his Father had a tractor with rubber tires on it. Glen tells then of how they ended up going from church to church because they were told they didn't meet up with the standards that were required.

 This book can be a little disjointed in the telling of the story of  Glen's life but still quite interesting. We read about a large family that faced some major struggles- many financial trials, the sickness and death of their mother and lack of support from a church. Throughout the struggles we also read about a family that stuck together and who learned to work hard.

 It is the story primarily of Glen, a shy oldest child who went out of his comfort zone to find work and build a business that was able to care for his whole family.

 This book is very real and one that I think most anybody would enjoy.

I have an extra copy of this book to give away.

If you would like to try to win a copy of this book please leave a comment on this blog post before August 25th and at that point I will randomly choose a winner from those that commented. Please leave a way for me to contact you should you win.

Update: Congratulations to Elaine for winning this book!

Disclaimer: I did receive this book free for purposes of reviewing. The opinions expressed are my own.

A Rustic Herb Drying Rack

We like to dry herbs at our house. We dry a lot to use for teas and then some for cooking as well. Drying a lot of herbs takes a fair amount of space and we hadn't figured out where that we be yet here so we put our heads together and came up with a plan.

 There was space on the wall above the utility sink in our laundry room and I decided that would work well for drying herbs. I am using birch bark for decorating in that room and so I decided to make a rack from some birch branches that I was able to find in our yard.

 First I measure the wall to figure out the size to make it and then I started cutting the sticks to the right size. Then I laid them out like a ladder.

 To make things very easy I then just tied them together with twine.

 The next step was to hang it on the wall. It definitely is rustic. Thankfully I like rustic! :-)

 Mara was meanwhile busily gathering herbs. We were able to fill it up right away.

 I made a bunch of birch bark labels for all the herbs since after they are dried in can sometimes be a little more challenging to tell them apart.

 The herb rack made the whole room smell delightful! That was a pleasant change as that room can be one of the least good smelling places in our house.

Do you dry herbs? What method do you use to dry them? I would love to hear about your favorite herbs or ways you like to use birch in decorating or any other thoughts you might have!

Grin With Grace {A Book Review}

Grin with Grace - A "Study, Story and Steps" Approach to Grace by Kathy Carlton Willis is a fun Bible Study book that I had the chance to review recently. In this book Kathy explores grace that is mentioned so many times in the Bible. She talks of the abundant Grace the God gives to us through Jesus. She speaks of how we need to give grace to others and how we can be open to God's grace working in our lives.

The book is written with a lot of fun, interesting and challenging stories that Kathy tells from her own life. She also shares scriptures throughout the book that speak of Grace. She also has questions throughout to help you think about and apply what you have read. At the end of each chapter she has a "Grin-with-Grace Challenge" where she makes you think about how you can apply grace in various situations you may face. I think this book would be a fun one to go through with a group of women.

Here are a couple of things that I really enjoyed reading in her book and I wanted to share with you:

 "When God designed us to live holy lives and do good works, He designed the power behind our acts of grace to come from Him, never from our own stamina or intelligence. Grace flowers, transforming us not by our own effort, but by spending time with the source of grace.

Growth takes place when we are plugged in to God's Word and aligned with His principles. Through prayer we have a closer connection with God. When we spend as much time listening to His nudges as we spend pouring out our hearts to Him, we experience transformation." -Kathy C.W. - Grin With Grace

"When we discover the freedom of grace, we are no longer

• motivated by the guilt of man-made law,
• quick to judge others,
• caught up in the lists of dos and don'ts,
• bound by expectations others place on us- or we place upon ourselves,
• shackled by the obstructions that hold us back,
• exhausted from trying too hard in our own feeble strength,
• performance driven.

When we embrace the freedom of grace, we are

• free to love unconditionally,
• free to obey out of love and honor for our Lord, not out of fear or man-made guilt trips,
• free to be different (1 Peter 2:9 calls us a "peculiar people"!)
• free to give and receive forgiveness without strings attached,
• free to live a yielded life,
• free to serve without an agenda,
• free to give up rights. 

~ Kathy Carlton Willis

 I do not recommend to ever use a book like this as your only Bible study approach. I strongly believe that each of us needs to get in God's word on our own not just by reading verses here and there in a book that someone else wrote but in addition to your own Bible study and reading this is a pretty neat resource.

 You can find Grin with Grace on Amazon. 

Disclaimer: I received this book free for purposes of reviewing but all the opinions I have shared are my own. 

Why I Believe there is a Heaven

 I have never been to heaven, nor have I ever seen pictures of it. I have never talked with someone that has been there but yet I believe in it.  My believing in Heaven goes back to my believing in God and in His word - the Bible. The Bible is what tells me about God's promise of eternal life in heaven after our life here if we choose to follow Him. Here are some verses that tell us about the promise of heaven:

"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." 

John 14:2-4

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Revelations 21:1-8

"Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you,

 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." Matthew 22:29-32

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21

What a wonderful time that will be. It is easy to get caught up in life that is here and now but when you start thinking and reading about heaven it gets pretty exciting!

Beulah Land is a song that I have been really enjoying lately that speaks of heaven. I thought you might enjoy listening to it as well.

A Busy August

Part of one of my projects to enter at the fair.

 Sometimes I think of Summer as a time with a lot of extra time - that is a very false notion. :-) Earlier this summer I didn't think August was going to be all that busy but that changed quite quickly. We have extra stuff going on every weekend. All the extras has been what has caused me to be a little too tired to blog but I thought it would be nice to stop in at my blog quickly this evening and at least say hello and share a little bit of what is going on in our life.

Mara ready to head to the fair with her wildflower arrangement.

The first weekend in August (last weekend) was the county fair. That has become a pretty big deal for our family. We like to enter a lot of stuff in the open class categories so we stay quite busy getting ready for that and then we have to go and bring the stuff and then check how it did and then pick it up. We also volunteer at the Republican booth. This year the kids also decided to participate in a kid's talent show.

 The older 3 did a song together and Megan played on on the piano by herself.

 We thought it would be fun to go to the rodeo one night but when we got there they were already sold out so Ken took the kids on some rides instead.

 One fun activity which the kids just happened to get in on was the sheep race. Pairs of kids had to put socks on sheep and then get them across the finish line. All 3 younger kids participated. The boys were a team and they came in 3rd.

They thought it was great fun.

This weekend we had a wonderful time going to the Itasca Family Music Festival. It is made up of primarily family bluegrass bands playing.The majority (by far) of the music is gospel music, there are tons of homeschool families there and it is a lot of fun. We are rather worn out tonight from our time there - it was worth it though.

I also did flowers for two weddings this weekend (one on Friday and one on Saturday) I am so thankful for my kids who are great helpers.

Next weekend we plan to go explore Voyageurs National Park - a place not that far away but somewhere we have never been before.

The next weekend we are planning a big open house party to celebrate our house being done (at least mostly). It will be the one year anniversary of breaking ground on the house. Meanwhile every spare moment that we have is spent trying to finish up all those little last things.

The next week we have a Republican Banquet/Fundraiser that we are helping to prepare for. So that is something of what is keeping our family busy this month. So if you don't hear from my that much - now you know why.

  Do you have a busy month? What are you enjoying doing this month?

Why I Believe We do not have to be Afraid

  Fear is a common feeling. Some people are afraid of the dark or they might be afraid of the future. Some are afraid of failure or of someone hurting them. Some are afraid of sickness or death and there are many, many more things that people fear.

 Jesus has something to say about fear.....

 "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows." Matthew 10:28-31

 We are told to fear God and to make sure we are ready for eternity (by having a right relationship with Him) but if we have that taken care of we really don't need to fear anything else. God has it under control.

Here are some other verses that help me remember that I do not need to be afraid:

"The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

"The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?" Psalm 118:6

"For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control." 2 Timothy 1:7

"Keep your live free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6

  So no matter what is going on in your life, no matter what the future holds it is my prayer that you will follow after God with all your heart and that you would be ready for eternity with Him and that you wouldn't be afraid of anything that the world might put in your way.