Not only are we always on the lookout for fun books for our kids, but the market seems flooded with good and not-so-good books. So it’s nice to get a little help with the search.
Years ago Gladys Hunt wrote Honey for a Child’s Heart, which is a book about books, listing suggestions for young readers. I believe it is in its fourth edition now, and it has a great article in the beginning about the wonder of words. Another book along the same lines is The Book Tree by McCallum and Scott. This is based on the same idea, that we want our children exposed to the best sort of books. Both these are great resources for reading choices.
And, how could I forget this one: Books Children Love, by Elizabeth Wilson. I’ve had this one on my shelf for quite a while as well.
Also, I noticed that one of the Femina readers has a blog with book reviews called Written Windows. Check out these sources, because, as you know, Christmas is coming! But you don’t have to wait until Christmas to be shopping for books.
I’ve been thinking about priorities lately, and since I spoke to some college girls about the topic, I thought I’d go ahead a whip up a little Femina post about it.
When we try to navigate through the many things we each have to do and the many decisions we have to make, we need to have some kind of thoughtful grid in place to help us make wise choices about how we spend our time. Keeping priorities is not some wooden thing that we just enforce on our schedule in an external way, but is rather a perspective that requires ongoing wisdom, discernment, and self-discipline.
For the Christian woman, whatever her age, her first priority is obviously to love and serve God. That means living like a consistent Christian, staying anchored to the Word, worshiping each Lord’s Day, and being a woman of faith and prayer. This helps keep us centered on the important things.We don’t make commitments that would take us away from regular worship, and we don’t quit reading our Bibles because we have so much other reading to do for school.
Secondly, we are women. This means we are wives or daughters or mothers, so we have obligations related to these family ties. Daughters must consider their relationship to their parents, keeping connected and continuing to Continue reading ‘Ranking Your Priorities’
My husband links to this, and I am going to follow his good example for any Christian parents of (present or future) college students. We’ve known this for a long time, but it is now becoming more and more obvious. As long as we enroll our children in schools the secularists run, we can’t be surprised when our children learn their lessons. Of course this is true of Christian kids in elementary, junior-high, or high-school who attend the government schools. But it’s also true in the secularist colleges as well.
I have a little flock of daughters. With four of them five years old and under, it should come as no surprise to you that we deal with a wholloping share of emotions at our house. Titus is so simple – just right up the middle and easy. He either disobeys, or he doesn’t. Sometimes, when he feels really complicated and deep, he fusses. There are no subtexts with this kid. He wants milk – that is why he is fussing and saying, “I want milk!” Not so complex – even a beginner parent can figure out a technique to deal with this. But girls are different, and sometimes that difference can leave a person completely bewildered. When it comes to little girls and their emotions, “A” does not necessarily cause “B.” But, when “B” is what needs to be disciplined, it can feel frustrating to have no clues as to what member of the alphabet actually caused it. Are you with me here?
One of our sweet little girls has a hilarious tendency which we refer to as her “drunk driving.” If she is tired, she becomes reckless and disobedient. Her eyes get a little glassy, she gets super rowdy, and you might find her unloading the freezer, or coloring her sheets with a marker, or some such clearly outlawed activity. Once, when she was in the midst of one of these times, I caught her on the kitchen counter getting into something. Surprise was my first response – “What are you doing?!” Continue reading ‘A Spirited Rider’
Many of you have been praying for
Sophia Orr and asking how she is doing. Today I received an email from Kelly, and she included an update on Sophia’s condition. She has been very encouraged by all your comments, and she says, “In fact, we printed out the post offered by one dear saint which included a prayer by Martin Luther. Glenn has framed it and it is on the counter in the kitchen. I have read the posts again and again. We know that people are praying for her, but to be able to read their encouraging words and prayers is truly an overwhelming blessing. “
Here is her note to all of you:
Dear Sisters in Christ,
Words just can’t express our family’s gratitude for your faithful prayers and encouraging words. I have read your posts on Femina over and over – with tears every time.
Sophia is scheduled for an important scan on August 24th, which should give her doctors needed information to make more definitive plans for opening her airway. August 27th, we will meet the cardiovascular surgeon, who will be one of the doctors performing her necessary surgery. We are thankful for how quickly God has moved things along, and we are trusting His providential timing for everything.
Sophia has been her usual sweet self. She plays with her sisters and brothers, reads, draws, and sings every day. By evening, she is pale and tired – but still cheerful and happy. Continue reading ‘Update on Sophia’
If you have a school-age daughter, or if you are a school-age daughter, I commend this piece my husband whipped up this a.m. called “Warm, Friendly, and Distant.” And it’s for all parents or daughters, whether homeschooling or Christian day schooling.
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