Just In Case You Ever Wonder

Just In Case You Ever Wonder

This is a book review for Booksneeze. 

When I saw another children's book was available by Max Lucado, I had to jump on the opportunity. Lucado's book, Just In Case You Ever Wonder, is a good short read for any child's bedtime story. The illustrations show the child as a little girl, but I think the story still applies to a little boy just the same.

The story begins with God thinking about the baby and tells how it was His decision to bring the baby into this world. Lucado talks about the same God that made the universe and world fashions each and every single one of us. Sharing with the reader that we are special, because God made us. Lucado goes on to talk about how unique we are physically compared to anyone else in the world. Again, emphasizing that we are special. Because we are special, Lucado says, God had to place us in a special place...with our parents.

The book goes on to share how the love of the parent grows each day with the baby. Lucado shares how things grow and change, but some things remain the same; the parental affection, love, and presence. Lucado ends the book by emphasizing that being with parents is not the only special place He made for us. He made a place called heaven we can spend with him, and like life with our parents there we can feel God's affection, love, and presence forever along with our parents.

I am a big fan of children's books that emphasize spiritual relationship. This is a great book to share with your children. I know my one year old is too young to appreciate it, but I cannot wait to share it with my three year old. 

It Couldnt Just Happen: Knowing the Truth About God's Awesome Creation

It Couldn't Just Happen: Knowing the Truth About God's Awesome Creation

This is a book review for a book I received from Booksneeze.com. 

This book is great for the middle school child or newly converted. I like how Lawrence O. Richards takes a subject that most Christians shy away from, religion and science, and presents the material in a way that produces a confidence in the young believer to reassure a Christian worldview.

Scattered throughout the book the reader finds explanations of how biblical truths help explain scientific facts. For example, the reader learns about the vastness of outer space and then is presented with Psalm 19, which tells of the heavens declaring the glory of God. In another area of the book, Richards gives a timeline with the assumed scientific sequence of events biologically and geologically speaking. Right beside this timeline he gives quotes from scientists that shed a light on the doubts of evolutionary history in their own words. Another neat area of the book can be found at the end of every chapter called "Just For Fun." This is an area for the inner nerd or trivia buff within us all. It also provides an learning opportunity focused on the theme of the chapter.

I thought this was a good book. I have middle school aged family and two children of my own that I feel like this book would be a great learning tool. Additionally, I think this book would help reinforce the much-needed Christian worldview.

Daddy Dates

Daddy Dates

This review is for Thomas Nelson and Booksneeze.com. I was very excited to see this book and begin reading it. I am a father of two little girls, Abigail (3) and Amelia (1), and want to be the best dad I can be to them. I am always looking for ways to better as a person, husband, and father, so I was thrilled when the book arrived in my mailbox.

Greg Wright does a good job telling fathers of how they can better their relationship with their children. He tells how fathers should be the pursuer in establishing a relationship with their children just as they do with their wife. Wright mentions that pursuit takes effort and should evolve as your child grows from a child to an adult. He says a father’s job is to help keep his daughter grounded. Daddy Dates is a book that gives a father’s view of how to break away from passive parenting. Instead it shows Wright’s way of creating leverage in his relationship with his daughters by being real and getting to know them.

Wright gives a wonderful talk on rules and relationship as parenting models. He mentions that parenting with rules but no relationship leads to rebellion, and a model with relationship but no rules leads to destruction. However, Wright suggests that a parenting model with rules and relationship leads to connection. He gives a great illustration using a wet bar of soap. I won’t ruin it for you here, so get the book and glean.

One thing I would be interested in learning is the result of how this applies with his daughters after they have grown, married, and moved on. Overall this is a great book with wonderful illustrations and practical idea. Good job!

Wild At Heart

Wild at Heart

This is a review for Thomas Nelson and Booksneeze.com. In approaching this book, I had heard many mixed reviews going into it. Some folks were saying it was not worth the read, was unbiblical, and painted men in a bad picture. That being said, I think the jury is still out in some areas and you could look beyond the critical reviews on masculinity and femininity to find some theme that could be beneficial to the Christian male (Oops! I meant man). What appears to be the premise of the book is that culture (and churches) has slowly emasculated men to the point John Eldredge has a hard time separating the two. It is a call to rebirth the male soul back to his masculine roots.

There are a few concepts I believe men can take from this book no matter your thoughts on the masculinity vs. femininity or the potential over usage of King David as the example of a man. (Tangent: I don't think Eldredge's goal is for people to assume you have to murder people for their wife and/or dance naked before the Lord to become a true man.)

First, every man longs for a battle to fight. Eldredge suggests instead of men taking a passive approach, men need to take charge and learn to fight for things he wants. Second, every man longs for an adventure to live. Eldredge is referring to this as man's search for what he was always meant to be. Third, every man longs for a beauty to rescue. Eldredge is suggesting we men all have a deep desire for romance.

Overall, I think it's worth the read and like anything people should remember that books are written from the author's point of view.

Plan B

Plan B

Well, I never expected the events that happened in 2010. I had a plan in mind and then Plan B kicked into place... we had someone walk up to us and ask to buy our house, sold our house, lived out of suitcases for a month, found and bought a new home, moved into and made the new home livable in time for our second child's birth. Talk about having things laid out in your mind and then God changing the plans you had. And during all this I saw a book by Pete Wilson on Plan B: What to do when God doesn't show up the way you thought he would? by Thomas Nelson Publishing. I thought it'd be a great book to read based on the circumstances.

I feel this book is perfect for the twenty or thirty something that is going through the phase of life where nothing seems to be going as planned and nothing seems to be making any sense. A quote I found reassuring from the book was, "Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren't turning out the way you expected, but that doesn't mean your life is spinning out of control. It just means you're not in control." It seem liked during the point in my life that this book was placed into my hands that I thought I had things under control. Even though I have been a Christian all my life and have read and heard the scripture that says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding," it seemed like I thought I had it all under control and my plans were solid.

Well, God changed his plans and had a "Plan B" in store, and Pete Wilson's book helped play an important role in that. I would highly suggest this book to anyone, but specifically the twenty or thirty something. I plan on reading this book throughout the coming years and sharing it with others, too.