I received a copy of  "A Family Guide to the Bible" by Christin Ditchfield from Crossway Publishers for review.  I am a huge fan of Mrs. Ditchfield's book "A Family Guide to Narnia", therefore I was looking forward to reading this book.  

About the author:

Christin Ditchfield is an accomplished educator, author, conference speaker, and host of the internationally syndicated radio program, Take It To Heart!(R) Using real life stories, rich word pictures, Biblical illustrations, and touches of humor, Christin calls believers to enthusiastically seek after God, giving them practical tools to help deepen their personal relationship with Christ.

Christin's articles, essays, and columns have appeared in numerous national and international magazines. She is the author of more than 50 books, including "A Family Guide to Narnia," "A Family Guide to the Bible," and "A Way With Words: What Women Should Know About the Power They Possess."

As a former preschool and elementary school teacher, Christin has a special place in her heart for children -- and for sharing with them her own life-long love of reading and learning. Many of her books have been written specifically for this purpose.

A frequent guest on radio and television programs such as Open Line, Midday Connection, Truth Talk Live, HomeWord with Jim Burns, and Dr. D. James Kennedy's "Truths That Transform," Christin holds a masters degree in Biblical Theology from Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, TX.

About the book: 

 All Christian parents want their children to gain a better understanding of God’s Word, but many of them are still searching to completely understand the Bible themselves. How can they confidently share what they believe with their families?

A Family Guide to the Bible takes readers on a fun and exciting tour through all sixty-six books of the Bible and offers parents, grandparents, and teachers a better understanding of the Scriptures so they can help the children in their lives know what is in the Bible, where to find it, and how it all fits together. As Christians become more familiar with God’s Word, they will gain greater confidence as they share what they believe with their family and friends, help answer questions concerning the Bible, and encourage others to grow deeper in their walks of faith.

My Thoughts:

At first glance I thought this book was going to be a wonderful tool for our home-learning this year.  Jennifer has a lot of Old Testament reading for her history assignments and OT books like Leviticus and Numbers can drag on.  But  as I read through the first couple of chapters I was disappointed in the summaries brievity.  This book just simply didn't fit my style of wanting to have my daughter understand the Old Testament books and their deep meaning.  The book is well written and offers an excellent summary of the Bible.  But for me, it is just best to go straight to the source.  As a parent it is sometimes frustruating to not know exactly where to find.  But in the struggle and prayers that accompany it, many riches will be mined from the Bible itself.

~Appreciating the vast resources with have in great Christian material,

Linda

"When I grow I want to be a mommy like you and marry a daddy like mine." Grace spoke these words to me last week.  I gave her a squeeze and said "Honey I pray that the Lord blesses you as you go after that dream."  And I do pray daily and desire with all of my heart that our daughters do grow up to be mommies that have a husband who desires to be a great daddy.  But sometimes those wonderful words need some meat behind them.  In this great book there is that meat for Christian parents to be equipped lead our daughters into solid Godly marriages.

Publisher: Crossway Visit Crossway's book blog @ Crossway Blog.

Price: $15.99

From the backcover:

What will you say when that certain young man sits down in your living room, sweaty palmed and tongue-tied, and asks permission to marry your daughter?  What criteria should he meet before the two of them join together for life?
Fortunately, God has given us a clear picture of the role of the husband/father in the home, and in What He Must Be..If He Wants to Marry My Daughter  Voddie Baucham breaks this picture down into ten desirable qualities.  Not only should parent of young women seek these qualities in a son-in-law, but parents of young men should strive to cultivate these qualities in their sons.  Baucham, one of the architects of the Family Integrated Church movement, follows up on his popular book Family Driven Faith with this compelling, down-to-earth apologetic of biblical manhood.

First Chapter preview: HERE

My Thoughts:

This summer I stood in a crowd of over 100 people waiting to get the conference CD's of Voddie Baucham.  Our Iowa Christian homeschool conference was blest to have Mr. Baucham speak for two days and it was evident that parents were hungry for the truth that Mr. Baucham spoke.  It isn't any marshmallow truth either, it is get the steak knife out we're eating meat, truth.  This book didn't disappointment me it was packed in the truth.  Great, biblical, applicable truth.

I believe that this book should be read first by all father's.  Mr. Baucham is writing in this book to the father, to protect, guide and teach his daughter and the father's of son to teach, guide and protect their sons'.  But from a mother's perspective I appreciated the wisdom and knowledge that I've gleaned/will glean from this book.  Biblical knowledge of how to lovingly guide our daughters into the marriage covenant is something both my husband and I desire.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the pages where Mr. Baucham breaks down what it truly means to be a Christian.  He details in eight page what is a Christ follower: "a true believer is  regenerate, a true believer is repentent, a true believer is reformed."   

I highly recommend this book and give it an A+ for it's applicable style of biblical truth.

Our favorite books of the week!!

These are the books that Elizabeth has been reading for the past few weeks.  I remember reading them as a child, but had forgotten how wonderful they are.  Even today Elizabeth said, "I can't wait to read The Littles today, I wonder what happened to Aunt Lily?"   There are a lot more book in the series, but these are probably the only two I will assign her to read. 

Join other bloggers for Mikki's Favorite Friday.

I've been gleaning through our library's resources for nature study books.  Specifically I wanted books for tracking animals during the winter and bird study books.  I found an author that others probably know about, but I was unaware of.   His name is Jim Arnosky, his books have wonderful sketches in them, with great descriptions.   He is a nature man!

This book is my favorite:

I also really like these Crinkleroot series he's written also.  The are fun, yet filled with a lot of information.

Please join Mikki for more great Friday Favorite's!

Mikki at ClagettsFlStyle is hosting a new meme on Friday's, called Friday Favorites.  I've been wanting to share my favorite books I/we've been reading in our home.  This is a great opportunity to share and to read other friends favorite things.  Coincidentally Jennifer started us singing that song a lot throughout this week, and I've been wanting to do a blog post on our favorite "things"/ books!  Please check out Miki's favorite thing, yummy coffee!

In my experience any book by Emilie Barnes is good!  I appreciate her organizing books, they are filled with great ideas for any home. 

This book is cut into nice bite sized devotions, but are meaty.  They take 10 minutes to read, but I end up spending more than that reading more verses in my bible.  Also she has a great journal prompt at the end which takes a little more time. 

Each devotion starts with a Proverb, and then a wonderful devotion that relates to the Proverb.  Here are a few of the topics:

~dreams

~teaching children to do chores, it is never to late

~healthy living

~add years to your life

~forming good habits


It is a great book to focus and help me learn---re-learn some things.  I recommend checking this book out from your library. You like purchasing devotionals that you would re-use you will not be disappointed.

As I've shared before, I'm particular about what I read.  Like all of you, I don't have a lot of extra time for "free" reading.  I've read a lot of junk over the years, so I tend to stay away from secular, main stream, bestsellers.  Just like what I watch on TV, I filter what I read through this verse;

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."  Phillipians 4:8

I don't want my mind dwelling on things that don't glorify the Lord.  As the old saying goes "junk in, junk out".  So I try to fill my mind with pure, lovely and excellent things.  There are a lot of great classic novels and living literature for me to read.  Although most current christian fiction I find to be a bit, well predictable.  There are some great authors, the Thoedes, Francine Rivers, Gilbert Morris, Liz Curtis Higgs, and T. Davis Bunn. 

But something about The Kite Runner grabbed my attention.  I had read about it at Semicolon's.  I also have a fascination with Afghanistan.  Growing up, watching the Russian invasion.  Then their liberation and internal strifes.  Post 9-11 watching Afghanistan on the nightly news.  Then reading this book:

This is a great book.  I'll read this with Jennifer during her high school years.  Both of these christian women came from divorced homes.  Each turned to the Lord during their struggles and have choosen lives in total service for Him.  The details about Afghanistan and the Lord's work there makes this a good read. 

The missionary, that stayed in our home in early December, pointed something out to me about sharing the gospels with Muslims.  As he said, "you can not start with Jesus."  So part of my desire to read this book was to learn more about Muslim culture, part was to learn more about Afghanistan and lastly to read a book that has received fabulous reviews.  

The Kite Runner did fulfill these goals.  Mr. Hoessini's writing style is vivid, his characters have depth and yet with a balance of predictability. But yet the book left me sad, and deepened my desire for evangelism.  The main character, Amir spent the majority of the book seeking redemption for something that he did/didn't do when he was twelve.  This "thing", was and is the most horrific part of the whole book.  Although I would not say that it is a reason to not read the book, if you are an adult.  These "things" are part of the reality of the fallen world that we live in.  But, Amir seeks his redemption through his own handiwork.  He never truly forgives himself.  Nor, does he have the peace that redemption through Christ brings.  When finally at the pinnacle of crisis he returns to his muslim heritage and begins praying. 

Part of the richness of this book is Amir and his father's relationship.  Also, as many reviewers have mentioned, a glimpse into an Afghanistan that is not found in a history textbook or the nightly news.  I also appreciated how easily Amir forgave others for their flaws.


I give this book a Great-minus


Here is my book rating scale:

No way:would never think to recommend or purchase

So-so-if you like a run of the mill book

Good-is worthy of a quick read, don't dwell on or re-read any of it

Great-this is a book that you  should take time to read

Excellent-a book that I would defintely recommend and will be adding to my library

to re-read in future years.


~~~~~eternally grateful, for His redeeming love and faithful grace,

Linda