Living Close to God - Gene Edwards

This book reminded me of the fast pace in which we live our lives and how to mentally choose to slow down and spend even small moments with God throughout our day.  He reminded me that small moments here and there are better than none!  Overall, I was not super impressed by this book, but I am thankful for the reminders it gave!



Disclaimer: “I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”

Cleaning House by Kay Wills Wyma

This book was written by a mom who desired to invest in and encourage the inner strengths of her children.  Serving them beyond meeting their needs by providing them with the knowledge and skills to be successful as young adults, preparing them for when they will be independently living.  I also find value in the new skills the children developed which enabled and encouraged them to contribute more fully to their home and family right now.  I admire the motivation and effort this mom put in to this experiment and I thank her for sharing it with others!  I took a lot of good ideas and gained insight on how to be observant of how each child might react and handle new responsibilities differently according to the personality that God gave them.  Thank you for the information and insight into youth entitlement and how to make a difference in my home regarding that! 



FTC Disclaimer:  "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."

Motherhood - First Thoughts

I became a mother by the wonderful world of adoption.  The adoption process itself is a journey of faith and trusting in God and not in what little I know.  (Proverbs 3:5)  Before we even had our son I learned the lesson that our adoption pursuit is not about me!  What may have started as a desire to be a parent through the means of adoption gradually evolved into a new perspective on life as a whole.  We are not here on earth to pleasure ourselves.  Although we have been given a life on this earth to enjoy, we are here to bring glory to God by how we live our lives.  My husband and I now have adopted our son out of a desire to provide for God's children.  (Hebrews 13:1-6)  A benefit of this pursuit is the joy that my husband and I have experienced with the gift of parenthood!  Our son is a delight to us!  I tend to be a more logical thinker than an emotional one, but I wanted to share something important that I am learning.  I thought that I would be a good parent if I read all the books, etc. and learned how to best care for my son and how to guide him toward Christ.  However, one thing that I hadn't given much thought to was joy!  My husband is a goofy person and will do most anything, if he thinks it will be funny.  He is very good at making our son laugh.  One of my husbands favorite photos from our adoption trip to Colombia is of me at the mall taking a photo with our son and one of the tv chipmunk characters.  It is his favorite because it is something he knows I would never be seen doing - and it is now only because I am a mom that I am willing to do something so silly.  These moments are important and laughter in the home is a very key ingredient for a great family!  I Corinthians 13 is all about love and it is very loving to bring joy and laughter into your home!!
One thing I was surprised by was how easy it was to selflessly give of myself to this child - that I desired to give of myself to our son.....day after day!  My husband and I had experience nearly 8 years of living life doing what we wanted and now need to set aside some of those things for the sake of our son's best interest.
I have also now come to realize that I have entered a phase of my life where I am in the humble position of "mom."  A phase of being "Logan's mom" and at times our schedule will revolve around Logan and phone calls to our home will be for Logan, I will play chauffeur to Logan, etc.  I accept this position with gladness!
Being a parent does not come easy and is not without great responsibility.  I am grounded by the verse Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer."  Only by God's grace and through regular prayer do I have hope that I can be this example to my son!
Jumping back to adoption, it is a long and patience requiring wait, filled with more paperwork than you would think and for us many bumps in the road.......but in a heartbeat, I would wholeheartedly do it all over again.  The privilege of loving a child is immeasurable and so very very worth it!

Relentless - by John Bevere

This book was a good challenge to read and consider all the different aspects of my life  - all the resources I have as a child of God and whether or not I am using them to live a more purposeful and Christ centered life in all that I do.  The biggest challenge that stood out to me was the areas regarding resisting the devil.  I would agree that I am one of those people that strives to love and follow God, but I was just ignoring the enemy.  I was not considering that I would need to deal with the enemy in regard to some circumstances I may be in that would necessitate that in addition to seeking help/peace, etc. from God.
James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  This verse means more to me in an active way now.

James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. "  I need to consider my time in prayer to be of greater importance and greater depth than I currently do.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."  I need to pursue God with all of my heart, through my thoughts, actions, prayer, and how I use my time.  I need to become relentless!


FTC Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.