Category: Book Reviews

Somewhere More Holy

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews

I order most of my books off of Amazon.  One, it’s the cheapest out there and two if you order over $25 worth of stuff, you get free shipping.  So, last week I went online to order Glenn Beck’s book, “The 7 Wonders That Will Change Your Life” but I needed another book to get me over $25.

Amazon has a wish list that you can save books you want so when I find one I think I’m interested in, I save it so I’ll have some books to choose from when I’m ready to order.

One book I saved was one mentioned in Sarah Palin’s new book, America by Heart, called Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief.

God knows what I’m struggling with and at this point in my life he also knows exactly what to put in my hands.  It was these two books.

Somewhere More Holy is a book about Tony’s life.  He lost his first child when she was 3 to a brain tumor and he dealt with it by cheating on his wife.  It’s about how he was broken and through God’s grace his marriage was saved and him and his wife are now raising 4 boys.

I can’t imagine ever burying a child (it’s both me and my husband’s worst nightmare).  This book will make you cry and laugh.

At one point last night, Tony tells the story of not wanting to play with his daughter because he was watching a basketball game before he knew she was sick and the guilt and shame he feels over it.  “I was unable to see how the things we love can banish like breath.”  Then, the next page, “she (his daughter) forgave everything, and so does God, and that the only person still keeping accounts is me.” P.48-49

I looked up at my two youngest children who were playing happily on the floor with dolls and cars and started balling.

You see, I tend to think sometimes I’m a bad mother.  I think I don’t spend enough time with them.  I tend to think I could be better.  I tend to think I am scarring my kids for life with all my junk.  I even think I am unworthy of them.

This book will make you feel like you’re not alone, remind you how God does forgive and how much He does love, and make you see how important your family truly is because one day they may be taken from you.

It’s not an easy read but I got up this morning and couldn’t put it down until I finished it.

“I think it’s time to just accept it (the love of his wife), to accept the love of these children and this God I don’t understand.” P.201

I have been moved more in the last five days than I have been in a long time.  Moved to deal with my past. Moved to accept it.  Moved to follow my true north.  Moved to follow God’s.  Moved to be all God has called me to be, to be more like Jesus but to know I will stumble in the process.  And moved to love and to accept love.  And to know all things work together for my good.

I cannot recommend either of these books enough, especially if you think you have more to give to this world and something is hindering your progress.  I guarantee you will learn something.  You may even be moved like I am to see what’s important in this world and what is not and to pray for the will and fortitude to make life changes for the betterment of all.

There is Something Inherently Wrong with Me When…

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

I go to Sam’s Club the other day with the sole intent of buying a winter jacket.  I had seen a couple I liked a few months back and the zipper on my winter jacket just broke so I need a new one.  I take my two youngest with me and we spend probably 30 minutes looking and trying on.  Nothing fit.  The one I remembered is gone.

So, dejected, I prepare to leave without buying anything.  But then….

I walk down the book aisle and this book jumps out at me called “Atlas of the Bible” by Carl G Rasmussen by Zondervan.  It’s a thick book with a picture of some ruins on it and maps below the picture.  Now, as you can tell, I LOVE maps so I picked it up and glanced through it.  I opened to the pages on Hezekiah’s reign and there are timelines and maps and pictures AND an explanation with biblical quotes of passages, tying together all the parts of the Bible that discusses Hezekiah’s reign.

I hadn’t been interested in a Bible Atlas before even though our BSF leader recommended one because I don’t like just a book with maps in it.  I like the explanations and pictures–exactly like this book.

I look at the price and it’s $25 bucks.  So, I put it down but only momentarily.  I thought, “Well, I was going to spend that on a coat and now I’ll spend that on a book.”

I do this ALL THE TIME.  I’ll buy something for me, justifying the expense by giving up something else.

So, I proceed to the check-out, happy as a lark.  The winter jacket will wait until next fall and I’ll enjoy a cool book that will help me understand God’s word much better.

Good trade-off, don’t you think?

“As God Wills”

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith, Writing

Finding kids books these days with God even mentioned is a challenge.  Finding good kids books with God mentioned is an even bigger challenge.

I’m reading Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, an adaptation of the original by Miguel de Cervantes by Margaret Hodges for kids.

In chapter two, Don Quixote famously takes on the windmills, thinking they are giants.  Sancho, his faithful companion who thinks Don Quixote is crazy but goes along with him anyways, being promised a kingdom as his reward.  He’s the king so his wife would be the queen.

“My wife wouldn’t be worth two cents as a queen,” replied Sancho.  “She would do better as a countess, and even then, God help her.”

“Leave it in God’s hands,” said the knight, “but don’t be satisfied with any title less than governor.”

After his fight with the windmills:

Don Quixote:  “In the end, my good sword will prevail over his (the magician who turned the giants into windmills) evil arts.”

“As God wills,” Sancho replies.

Later, Don Quixote tells Sancho to not defend him against knights he fights as it’s against the laws of chivalry.

“I promise,” said Sancho.  “I will keep that law as strictly as I keep the Sabbath.”

I wish every book I read that these truths in it.  I wish I had some of these responses in my life’s situations.

How many times have I wished I said or even had the attitude or belief in challenging situations of “As God wills”?  Or “Leave it in God’s hands and don’t be satisfied with any less”?  How many times should I have responded “But God knows me, and that is enough” to a situation instead of with anger, resentment, and hostility?

This is great stuff for me.  I recognize it when I read it but my kids only absorb it subconsciously, storing it later for future use.

This book has constant references to God:

“May God guide you”, “God be with you”, “God speed you”, “May God preserve you”, “But God knows me, and that’s enough”, “Liberty is one of heaven’s best gifts.  A man should risk even his life for liberty”, “In God’s hands be it”

Don Quixote gives advice to Sancho:

“First, fear God.  Second, remember  who you are…”

“Remember that you have not earned this favor by your own merit”

“Don’t speak harshly to the man you have to punish; the pain of the punishment is enough…” [I substituted kids for man here.]  “Show mercy, for the mercy of God shines more brightly in our eyes than His justice.”

Why do we have to go back 400 years old to get such rich stories filled with God-fearing characters as memorable as Don Quixote and Sancho?  Characters who live out “As God wills”.  Characters who everyone else thinks are wacko but they themselves have the strength and conviction to stick to their beliefs.  Neither care what others think of them.  They are the butt of practical jokes but both adhere to their beliefs better than superglue.  They follow their true North.

They live their lives following their hearts and God is in their hearts.

I pray I can write such stories; ones that will reflect God’s will yet make an impact in young people’s hearts. My goal is to make Him known, subtly, through my character’s struggles and responses to life situations and live out “As God wills.”

It’s Not About Me

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

I read Sarah Palin’s new book, America By Heart.  It was good.  It echoes a lot of what Glenn Beck and The 5000 Year Leap say about country, pride, faith, and America.

One book she quoted in her book that struck me was It’s Not About Me by Max Lucado.  Since my husband and I have both been accused of being selfish by his family recently, I thought this book apropos.  Plus, what better way to begin the New Year?

I like Max Lucado.  As creator of the Wemmicks, he’s a special guy in my kids’ eyes.  But I’ve only read one adult book of his until this one.

Here’s the best parts and quotes:

When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or a favor from God, but God himself, we cross a threshold.

Lucado then discusses Moses in the desert and while talking to God he asks him, “Show me your Glory.” (Exodus 33:18)  Lucado asks, “Don’t we all need to be asking the same thing?”  So we can be changed forever as Moses was?

We exist to reveal His glory but we must first see and know His glory and live it in our lives.

Holy is repeated 3 times in Isaiah 6:2.  What other adjective is repeated to describe God?

God’s mercy makes us holy.

We can endure any challenge for a moment when our reward is eternity.

If it’s all about you, then it’s all up to you.  God loves us too much to give us such a burden.  He loves us too much to give us too much.  He knows our limitations and weaknesses.  Because He loves us.

Side Note:  Lucado told a story about Queen Victoria’s daughter, Alice, and how she loved her sick son so much so kissed him even though he was in quarantine.  She died a few days later.  I immediately looked this up on the internet because I had never heard of this story.  Great stuff.  Be prepared to shed a tear.

As we behold His glory, we become it.  As we become it, we reflect it for all to see.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

Our body is interwoven with the soul.  “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?”  1 Corinthians 6:15  So whatever touches the body, impacts the soul.

Your body, God’s tool.  Maintain it.

Your body, God’s temple.  Respect it.

God does leave us to the consequences of our stupid decisions. But our pain has a purpose: problems, struggles, heartaches, and hassles cooperate toward one end–the glory of God.  Is there any change you have been selected to struggle for God’s glory?  “To suffer for Him.” Philippians 1:29

God will use whatever He wants to display His glory.  Nations.  People.  Problems.

God can be seen through your problems.

Your success is all about God.  God lets you excel so you can make Him known.  You are good at what you do for God’s sake.

We exist to give honor to his name.  If they know His child (us humans), then they know His heart.

There is a great section in here discussing Isaiah and when he saw the glory of God, was cleansed by the seraphs, and said, “Here am I!”  This was especially satisfying to me since I knew exactly what Lucado was getting at–all thanks to BSF!

This was a great reminder book.  Easy read and relatively short.  Great ideas and lessons from the Bible. Everything in our lives: our bodies, our struggles, our success, our salvation, and our messages are for God’s glory.  It’s all about God, not us.

Live for God.

The 5000 Year Leap

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews

I picked up this book by W. Cleon Skousen based on Glenn Beck’s recommendation.  It was phenomenal! If you ever wanted to know in a snap-shot about the Founders beliefs, where they got their ideas, and how this was incorporated into the Constitution without doing years of research, then this book is for you.

Take this quote from the book that sums up my exact feelings:

I was completely, totally, functionally illiterate when it came to a working knowledge of the principles and practices of freedom.  I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.

Lately, I’ve been feeling that a lot is missing in my education and from my general knowledge base.  In school, we always ran out of time before we ever got to study the 20th century.  We never, ever studied the Constitution in depth if at all beyond who wrote it and when.  This is one reason driving my need to homeschool my kids.  I don’t want them to be 33 and just learning this stuff.  I don’t want them to learn frivolous garbage from schools.  I want to learn the stuff I never got to learn, the stuff that is important like where our Constitution came from instead of the latest fashion or what have you.

Anyways, The 5000 Year Leap lays out 28 Principles the Founders believed that drove the founding of the Republic of the United States of America.

God is prevalent throughout this book and describes in length out the Founders believed God was driving the country and its founding.  The Founders were bound by the laws of God as the rules of their conduct. The Founders based the Constitution on Anglo-Saxon Common Law and the People’s Law of Ancient Israel (God’s Law). The Founders were remarkably well read and mostly from the same books: the Bible, Greek, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, European, English history and philosophers: Cicero, Montesquieu, John Locke, Polybius, Thomas Hooker, Blackstone, Coke, Adam Smith.

Natural Law is the laws that the Supreme Creator has already established.  Reasoning, God’s gift, leads to common-sense conclusions.  Love God first, Man as yourself second, and teach those who follow us the same principles so these truths never die.

This book emphasized the importance of virtue.  Some quotes:

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. Benjamin Franklin

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.  John Adams (Also quoted in Glenn Beck’s book, Broke)

The sum of it all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it.  Samuel Adams

The quality of virtue and morality in the character of a nation is the secret to its survival.

The best citizens should accept major roles in public life.  One must be prepared (study politics) and experienced and should not be in politics for the money.

The natural aristocracy is based on virtue and talent, not birth and wealth.

America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.  Alexis De Tocqueville.

I loved the Fifth Principle:  The Role of the Creator which basically lays out that God has to exist and why.  It’s based on John Locke’s arguments.  If  you know an atheist, this would be the logical argument to prove he or she is just not thinking when it comes to God’s existence. A persistent pursuit of the truth would bring them to the threshold of reality, where the Creator could be recognized and thereafter have a place in their lives.

Other nuggets:

Society provides equal opportunity but not equal results.

Inequality would exist as long as liberty existed…as an unavoidable result of that very liberty itself. Alexander Hamilton

Guarantee the equal protection of rights to ensure the freedom to prosper.

Whenever we attempt to mend the scheme of Providence, and to interfere with the government of the world, we had need be very circumspect, lest we do more harm than good.  Benjamin Franklin

Life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws to protect them in the first place. Frederic Bastiat

With rights comes duties imposed by God.  P.134-5

God’s law is the supreme law of the land.

The US is a republic, not a democracy.  See book for definitions.

The Constitution was designed to control something which has not changed and will not change–human nature. Human nature never changes and every person in power must be watched and questioned least egos and self-aggrandizement takes hold.

Private property is an extension of a person’s life, energy, and ingenuity so to take it is an attack on the essence of life itself. (Locke’s theory)

Property is the fruit of labor.  Otherwise, why work?

Four laws of economic freedom:  the freedom to try, buy, sell, and fail.

Adam Smith–specialized production–let each person do what they do best.

Separation of powers–began with Polybius, then Montesquieu, and then John Adams.

To solve problems by peaceful means was the primary purpose of the US Constitution.

What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed?  The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body….Thomas Jefferson

Without the protection of law there can be no liberty.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood…James Madison

Education includes morality and politics and extensive Bible reading which provides moral standards.

Avoid alliances.  The book recounts how Washington wanted the US to be neutral and how the US should have been the peacemaker and not the policeman of the world.  Now, seeing how other countries hate us for our involvement in their affairs (no matter how noble our cause), I agree with this assessment.  We would do better being an example of prosperity and peace rather than aggression and coercion.

An orderly life is the surest path to happiness.  Alexis De Tocqueville

Neither is a man without a woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:11)

Marriage is the most natural state of man, and therefore the state in which you are most likely to find solid happiness.  It is man and woman united that make a complete human being.  Together they are more likely to succeed in the world. Benjamin Franklin

Debt is borrowing against the future.  Frugality a virtue.

Poverty often deprives a man of his spirit and virtue.  (Ben Franklin)

Americans believed they were to lay an everlasting foundation of God’s Kingdom upon Earth.

The Founders formed the design of a great Confederacy, which it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate. James Madison

I found this book enlightening.  It took the author 50 years of research to put all of this together and it was worth every bit of wait.  The power of the truths in this book, especially for believers, is amazing. You will realize how powerful God is when He designed the US and how terrible we have fallen as society has moved away from Him.

I got this book from the library but I plan to purchase it for Christmas and eventually have my kids read it.  You can get bogged down in the language (something the people used to value–eloquent speaking) so keep a dictionary handy but if you keep plugging away, you’ll be glad you did.

The 5000 Year Leap does an excellent job of not pushing an agenda and keeps an opinions to a very minimal.  The facts and quotes are laid out for you, the reader, to decide.

I have gotten a few comments on my blog about Glenn Beck being a Mormon and the author of this book was a Mormon as well.  To me, that does not matter; the message is the same: turn to God, religion, morality, and virtue and the US would be in a much healthier state.  Anyone in today’s society who promotes a higher power and the reliance of man on a higher power should be admired even if it’s not exactly what others believe.

Glenn Beck is using his forum to promote good, morals, and values.  Who can fault him for that?

Glenn Beck’s Broke

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews

I like to read and mostly it’s kids books since I read out-loud to my kids constantly.  But occasionally, in-between writing tasks, I like to read my stuff.

So, I picked up Glenn Beck’s Broke at Sam’s Club the other day and have been devouring it ever since.  It’s a sobering look at where our country is heading financially due to our out of control spending and enormous debt.

If you read nothing else, I would recommend the chapter on religion.  It reads like a summation of Isaiah’s Bible Study so far.

First line of Chapter Fifteen:  When was the last time you trembled while thinking about God?

Here are some of my favorite highlights from the chapter:

God expects us to take care of the gifts we are given.

We are broke because we are broken.

Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate for a government of any other.  John Adams

A republic can only function if a specific percentage of the population is virtuous.  But virtue requires morality and morality requires religion.

“Faith is more than just a belief in a specific religious doctrine; it’s something that fills us from the inside. It makes us whole.  If  you strip that away, something has to fill the void.”  P. 252

The void is meant to be filled by God (my addition.).

This last one hit me hard.  Straight from the Notes on Isaiah Lesson 7: All sinful acts find their origin in the sin of refusing to acknowledge God as the Supreme Authority in one’s life.  God has created each human being with a void that must be filled by something or someone outside of himself or herself. Failure to look to God to fill that void will result in looking elsewhere.

I was a fan of Glenn Beck before but now I’m an ubber-fan.  I wonder if he does BSF?  Or maybe his wife?

Broke is a great book to get you inspired and remind you of our revolutionary roots.  It gives me hope that I can make a difference in our backwards world.  It is chalked full of history lessons I never learned and facts about the economy that no one else will tell you.  It’s sobering, scary, and heart-wrenching.  It’s eye-opening and informing.  It’s encouraging and just plain good.

It emphasized the primacy of religion in our founders’ lives and its indispensability in the governance of our country.  Remember the Pilgrims?  People risked their lives to come to America just to worship the God of their choice–Yahweh.  Everything comes back to God.

You are reminded of what made this country great and how it can be that once again.  And God plays a big role in our survival.

Lessons From Gilgamesh Part 2

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews

I love kids books and I read a lot of them since I have three little ones.  I also like quotes and I love the story of Gilgamesh.  I have a previous post from this summer that is from another translation of Gilgamesh with lessons learned as well and a summary of the story. 

You can read that here:  http://atozmomm.com/2010/05/25/lessons-from-gilgamesh/

All quotes are from “Gilgamesh the Hero” by Geraldine McCaughrean.

“Why live if not to make a mark on this world?  To blaze a trail through it!  To do deeds worthy of remembrance!  Do or die!”

“The trouble with you, madam, is that you start by kissing and end by cursing.”

“It was unbearable, and yet it had to be borne.”

“Do or die.”

“Grab the day and run with it.”

You need “someone who can weather you even when you’re sour as a lemon.”

“It’s the quality of life that matters, not how long it drags on…”

“I’ve had time to learn the important things are few.  A wife, contentment, memories, peace.”

“Bread is like the life of man:  sweet smelling and softly tender at first, harder with age–a hard outer crust to defend a man against life’s knocks, then little by little more and more brittle until at last, decay.”

“The gods never meant you to live forever, so why spoil the life they did give you?  Is the rainbow any less beautiful because it’s short-lived?  Or because you can’t grasp hold of it?  Perhaps it is beautiful expressly because of that.”

“He walked through darkness and so glimpsed the light.”

Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews

This is the title of an older book (published in 1992) on education by William Kilpatrick.  Surprisingly, I found this book fascinating.

I’m not one for books on education especially one that quotes studies and other books (which this book does a lot of).  But, just in case my school needs a new Board member, I’ll be ready (you have to read this book in order to apply).

What I took from this book (the overarching premise): Kids need to be taught morals through stories in school.  Kids need to be taught the classics so they will have a frame of reference in order to act.  They need to hear examples of heros such as Odysseus returning home to his family and David slewing Goliath as an under dog.

Every person has a story and kids need to be connected with their story.  If you lose your story and your place and significance in life, kids will be headed for trouble.  Stories help us to see our lives are worth living.  We are willing to endure suffering when the suffering has meaning.

Our greatest need is to find meaning in our lives.  We need to feel that we are getting somewhere, making progress.  This impulse leads us to buy books that have a plot since we want our lives to have a plot.  Look at Harry Potter.  He’s trying to save the world from Lord Voldermort and he himself is key to his defeat.

Acting nobly is not behaviors that come naturally to men so we need to hear about how to overcome temptations.

Fairy tales and hero stories teach that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable and a part of human existance.  One must be able to overcome innate selfishness and believe he or she will make a significant contribution to life–if not now, then at some point in the future.  This is what keeps me writing–knowing in my heart some day I will leave my mark.

It’s a Wonderful Life resonates with so many people because the everyman learns his life does have meaning to someone.

Kids need to be taught to act against their own self-interest for the sake of something larger.  Kids need examples that go against our nature in order to learn what is right and what is wrong.

At one point Kilpatrick says, “One of the surest routes for bringing morality back to society is to bring back marriage.” (P. 250)

I LOVED this!  I wish more people would talk about the importance of a mother and a father to kids.

Of course, most of this book was preaching to the choir as I thoroughly agree with most of this.  But it’s good to read that I’m not the only one out there who believes this stuff and it’s good to just refresh myself on why I am such a psycho when it comes to my kids and their education.

This book is a must-read (okay, you can skip the studies and theories) for parents who want to know what a good education entails and looks like.  It has a whole section on what parents can do (again, I’ve already done all of its suggestions).

Cultural Literacy by E.D. Hirsch

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews

I just finished this book (admittedly skimmed some parts since I find studies incredibly boring) and found it interesting.

I had never thought how our language did come to be and come to be standardized.  It was fascinating to read how people actually sat down and decided to do this hundreds of years ago.

It is a great reminder how things can be manipulated in life and how I must be ever the more vigilant with my children’s education.

I agree whole-heartedly with the premise that there must be a national cultural literacy in order to function in today’s society.  You have to know what people are talking about in order to talk to people.  Most of this book was preaching to the choir but I have to constantly remind myself of the importance of my kids’ education.

For me, it’s more I enjoy learning and like to know where things come from and how.  But it makes me re-focus on what my kids need to know.

They attend a Core Knowledge school so I know they will get most of this stuff.  Still, it is up to me to supplement (as always) where needed.

There Is a Tide…

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Life

There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat,

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures.

Passage from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

I hope this is me now.