Reading is Learning

The next book on my Reading is Learning adventure is:

The Tenth Circle

By: Jodi Picoult

Now every book that I've read by Jodi Picoult has left me with more questions than answers which is sooo not good for a girl like me with such an active imagination.  So instead of talking about things I've learned...I'm going to present you with a discussion/question about what was going through my head while reading this book.

As parents, we do everything in our power to protect our kids.  We teach them not to text and drive but we can't keep the creep in the next lane from drinking and driving and potentially causing them harm.  We teach them to wash their hands but we can't keep all the other germ ridden kids in the class from passing on their bugs and making them sick.  We teach them that they are beautiful but we can't keep other people from commenting that they are too skinny or their nose is a little too big.  So what if we are going about this all wrong thus setting them up for disappointment!

For example, maybe we should say, hey kid...you are sooo handsome but there are others out there who may not think the same.  Or, being in love is the greatest feeling in the world, until some creep breaks your heart into a thousand pieces.  Or mommy always wants to keep you safe, but there will be times when I can't so you're on your own to make wise choices! Okay, maybe we shouldn't be that blunt but it's the truth whether we like it or not.  Our children may get physically hurt, hearts broken, self esteem shattered or their worlds can be rocked in hundreds of other different ways.  We have to somehow let them understand that we as parents are not perfect...neither is life so when the obstacles come, and they will, you've got to be prepared to roll with the punches.  I think Forest Gump said it best...

Anyway,  as much as we hate to admit it, we are not in control.  Only God is.  All we can do is our best and let Him handle the rest.  I know we want our kids to hang on to their innocence as long as possible, but at what point do we have the whole "life isn't fair" speech.  At some point we have to admit that there are times when we as parents may come up lacking.  Never fear though because God's has our back! He is the only one who is all-powerful and all-knowing and although we as parents, want our children to think we are the best thing since sliced bread, we will always pale in comparison to Him.  And that's the way it should be!

Oh, and by the way, for those who don't have time to read....there is a movie out based on this book!

 

Reading is Learning

I read.  A lot.  It's one of my favorite past times.  Next to eating.  I can read for hours straight.  I admit that I mostly read girly love stories or any book about moms, families, and relationships because that's where I am in my life right now.  I seldom read non fiction books whose sole purpose is to impart some type of knowledge or explain some type of phenomenon.  I read to escape reality...no to delve deeper into it.  Hey... some people have drugs and alcohol....I have my books!

Anyway,  my loving father in law, a.k.a. Pop, was baffled when he realized how much time I actually spend reading.  He was even more baffled when I told him I usually spend hours reading non fiction books that often end in happy endings.  The guy always gets the girl and they live happily ever after.  He loves to read but he only reads non fiction.  Can you imagine?  I like turning my brain off every now and again.  It's a form of therapy.  I don't want to read a book and have to actually have to work hard to understand what it says.  I did enough of that in nursing school.  All my nursing buddies.... holla if ya hear me!

Well, Pop kind of made me question my favorite past time and now, although I'm not giving up my sappy fiction, I am making an effort to learn something from each and every book I read.

My first book on my Reading is Learning adventure is:

Daniel's Gift

by: Barbara Freethy

I really liked this book.  I don't want to spoil it for those who would like to read it but I did learn a few important things that I'd like to share.

1. I learned that God NEVER makes mistakes.  Everything is part of His perfect plan.  Good and bad.
2. Nobody is perfect and we will be disappointed every time when we expect perfection from an imperfect being.
3. Life is bigger than just us. Being self centered only pushes others away and sets us up for failure. We are not in control.  He is!  So just save yourself the trouble and do what He says!
4. Try to focus on the good in people instead of the bad.
5. Sometimes we are hurt the most by people we call family.
6. Life is not always pleasant and bad things happen to good people and YES God allows it to happen.  But we should trust Him and his perfect will for our lives.  Having a taste of the bad, makes us appreciate the good even more.  How can we enjoy the sunshine if we've never experienced the rain?  How can we appreciate having someone we can trust if we've never been let down before?  How can we appreciate joy without the pain?  Get my point?
7. Love really does conquer all.  It is the most powerful and beneficial emotion that we can experience!

So see Pop...I am now reading with a purpose.  Aren't you proud of me?

Read to Succeed

Evan's school is initiating their Read to Succeed initiative. The goal is to encourage children to read for fun in order to gain an appreciation for books and learn the importance of reading. Children are required to read 6 hours of recreational reading in one month. Those who complete the six hours of reading will receive a ticket to Six Flags! You can read more about it here.

Well I had the grand idea to start out reading a chapter book so I wouldn't have to write a lot of different books on the log sheet. I figured it would keep Evan more interested if he had a consistent story to look forward to... You know, a little suspense each night before bedtime! So we chose to read Charlotte's Web. How's that for suspense!?





We started our reading adventure on a good note. He dived right in sounding out words he didn't know and was reading out loud with relative ease. Amazing for a kindergartner in my opinion. Then we hit a couple of road blocks that we haven't been exposed to when reading our beginner books. Things like words in Italics. The print was too fancy and he kept stumbling over them. He would say things like... "Mommy that 'k' looks like an 'r' to me"!  Also the different names he ran across like Fern, Wilbur, and Mr. Arable were foreign to him so he had a bit of trouble sounding them out.  Another major issue was that the words were kind of close together so he kept losing his place or skipping lines or repeating the same line. I'm thinking... Look buddy, you have to learn to follow your finger cuz you're killin' me!  He also got stumbled when a word was cut in the middle and continued on the next line.





We read the first night for 23 minutes. I didn't know he had that kind of reading stamina to read on his own for that long. I was impressed! It's usually me doing all the reading. I could get used to this.




This is going to be an excellent reading adventure. My next step is to get Evan to read to Ian every night before bed. That way I can send them to bed without even going up the stairs! Gotta love it! Just joking (kind of).

Pray my strength

My boys have been acting up these past couple of weeks.
This is what it's come down to....



Self help books!



Hopefully I'll find some useful tidbits in one of these books. If not...well, let's just say these books and a lot of prayer are all I have left in my arsenal. I'm really close to putting them on a plane to Kansas City and calling my in-laws to tell them to head to the airport for a nice surprise (they have both retired and I'm sure they need something to do to occupy their time)!



~Shanita~

New Kid

It's been a rough week in our home.  So much so that I am now reading this book:

I'll let you know what I think about it!

Monday Manna

A coworker of mine let me borrow a book entitled A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers.  Here’s a summary of the book from the author’s website…

The stories of the five unlikely women who changed eternity. Tamar, betrayed by the men who controlled her future, she fought for her right to believe in a loving God. Rahab, a woman with a past to whom God gave a future. Ruth, who gave up everything, expecting nothing, and God honored her. Bathsheba, whose beauty stirred the passion of a king, and whose pain moved the heart of God. Mary, who responded in simple obedience to God’s call.  Each was faced with extraordinary —even scandalous— challenges, each took great personal risk to fulfill her calling, and each was destined to play a key role in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

I have learned so much about the lineage of Christ.  I will be the first to admit that I tend to stay away from the Old Testament when I study the Bible.  When it starts talking about such and such begat such and such and naming all those names I just zone out and place the Good Book back on the nightstand and try again at a later date. 

Now it all makes a little more sense. Although it is a work of fiction, the way the author tells the story, sheds a whole new light on these five women of the Bible.  Their customs make more sense, why they did the things they did makes more sense, and why God chose these women in particular makes more sense. 

I know some of you are thinking…”Why is it so important to know the lineage of Christ?  Isn’t is just good enough to know that He’s the Messiah. Or that he is able to perform miracles and that believing in Him and living for Him can secure us a mansion in Heaven?”

Of course it’s important to know where a person comes from.  Take President Obama for example.  I think that the fact that his mother is white, his father Nigerian, his step father Asian and his wife is black explains a lot about him.  Knowing a bit about his diverse history can explain why he behaves the way he does, or makes the decisions that he does.  He is able to see things from a lot of different perspectives. The decisions that he makes and the things that he believes have been influenced by his diverse background.

My point is that this book is more than a history lesson about Christ’s ancestors.  It explains some of the ideals, beliefs, and customs of the time period leading up to Christ thus giving us a better understanding of who Christ is. 

So whether you read works of historical fiction, encyclopedias, manuscripts, or the Bible itself (the most preferred method), just make sure you take time to study God’s word so that you will know Christ for yourself.