What I read this week...

Well this week was unexpected -

1) our chihuahua ended up with infected/impacted glands

2) our rabbit has somehow caught a cold

3) we traveled last week and now I have come down with what I pray is just a cold

It seems like we have spent the week running to the vet and now I feel so crummy I just want to crawl into bed and stay there for the weekend.

I read Beauty and the Beast by K.M.Shea.  One of my daughters and I decided to just read through the entire Timeless Fairytale series (I think there are eleven books?) - this is such a great series.  I will write a proper post when I feel better...

I am also over half way through Let Prayer Change Your Life by Becky Tirabassi.  There is a very neat story attached to this book, but it will have to wait for another day.

Sense and Second-Degree Murder

by Tirzah Price -  (a retelling of Sense and Sensibility as a mystery/crime)

OH.MY.GOODNESS.  I think this has to be one of my MOST favorite books from this year so far.  We ended up traveling a bit unexpectedly, so I listened to it while driving and the narrator (Morag Sims) made this SO utterly delightful.  

With the cast of characters operating under the same names and mostly under the same personalities - this was SUCH a neat retelling of this beloved classic.  After Elinor discovers her father's body in his study slumped over his desk, their mother descends into a deep grief, so it is up to the three Dashwood sisters to investigate the suspicious death....

I HIGHLY recommend this book (and if you like audio books, the audible version is truly SO enchanting).  

I also absolutely adore the Harry Potter series and have read/listened to it countless times, so I was excited to see this week's challenge to revisit an old book.  As I re-listened to it at night while falling asleep, I realized it was as if I packed myself away to visit an old friend whom I haven't seen in a while. DELIGHTFUL.  Don't you just love rereading and re-listening to favorite books?  

Well, I have to get some sleep...I hope you had a great reading week 💟

What I read this week...

I finished book three in the Snow Queen series...actually I failed to realize they each have their own title - ha!  Number one's official title is Heart of Ice, number two is called Sacrifice and number three (technically she refers to it as 2.5) is called Snowflakes.  I own the kindle version and as a three-in-one, so I guess that is how I missed the individual titles.  Anyway - I LOVE this trilogy.  It is sooooo beautiful.  The third one is indeed a collection of short stories that falls before, during, and after the first two stories.  Now that I am done, I want to go back and read at least the first one again, because I understand so much more now, more about Rakel, more about Steinar and Oskar and Halvor...and I want to reread the story from that perspective.  Highly recommend this trilogy by K.M. Shea.

I am almost done reading a book called Half-Magic.  Technically this is a children's book, but I LOVE it.  It is written by Edgar Eager and has all the necessary components of a great story - imagination, enchanting characters, amazing adventures, and unexplainable events.  The best part?  They love to read!!!  I've loved every single moment of this enchanting book, I can't wait to finish it (hopefully tomorrow!!)

I am slowly plodding along with my Bible reading, I decided to pull over - so to speak - and dive a bit deeper into Romans, so obviously I will not be finishing the New Testament in 90 days..  This summer, I haven't wanted to read it, I have wanted to dig deeper and meditate on it.  I'm also continuing on with The Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.

So, hope you guys had an amazing week (today is my husband's birthday!!!!  I love birthdays!) - have a beautiful weekend 💖

Christ in the Classroom by Jared Dees

A few years ago I used the Lectio Divina method to study the Word and then when I found out that quite a few teachers use this method to lesson plan, I was intrigued.  

I stumbled upon this book in the late winter/early spring and have excitedly looked forward to reading it ever since it arrived.  I was a little worried that it would be so similar to Teaching to Change Lives (since ironically that one is also geared towards Sunday school/religious teaching) that it would be a waste of time to read this book too.  I am happy to say this was not the case!

I'm not Catholic, however I did go to Catholic school (through sixth grade) and distinctly remember religion class.  These classes, like all other subjects, consisted mainly of textbook reading, followed by what felt like endless workbook pages (aka "busy work").  After reading this, I very much wish I'd been in Mr. Dees class.

This book is amazing.  It begins off reminding us as teachers (in any capacity - public, private, home, Sunday, book clubs...) - that our primary responsibility is not to teach; it is to ensure our students learn. Mr. Dees goes on to remind us of how easy it is to fall into the trap of thinking that just because you have taught something (followed your lesson plans, your power point, your lecture etc;) this means that now the responsibility is completely on their shoulders to learn and understand it.  In other words, once you have presented/taught your lesson plan, your job is done.  The ball is now in their court.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is our job to monitor the learning that is (or is not) taking place and to make course adjustments as needed to ensure that the students are learning and understanding.  Why is this so important?  Because, as Mr. Dees reminds us, it is our job to teach the head so that Christ can touch the heart.  And I believe this is as true for studying the Word of God and the doctrines of your faith as it is for History and Math and Science.  

Mr. Dees does a fantastic job demonstrating how to apply Lectio Divina in lesson planning.  He explains why it matters so deeply that we put so much thought, effort, planning, and love into teaching and he does this in a thoughtful and engaging manner.  Although there were aspects that do not apply to me (because I am not Catholic) I loved this book so much and heartedly recommend it.  

The Snow Queen book two by KM Shea

I originally read book one of this series in March.  I was supposed to be prereading it for one of my teens because so many things can go wrong with a fairytale re-write, but then, I got sucked into Rakel's (the snow queen) story and wanted to see the series through to the end.

WOW.

K.M. Shea is a fantastic fairytale re-writer, and she does not disappoint in book two.  I do not want to give away anything (so hard to write a review when book two completely hinges on book one) so I will just say this.  This portion of the story is such a beautiful picture of forgiveness, love, and the entire time I was reading it, I drew parallels to the Gospel.  This is NOT Christian in nature, but the themes of love and forgiveness are so deeply woven in each chapter, you can't help but notice the parallels.

I highly recommend The Snow Queen.  I am already reading "book three" but it appears that each chapter in this book contains a short story that sprinkles throughout the timelines of the first two books.  I am not sure if it adds more to the story than what was wrapped up in book two or not?  Either way, the ending in book two ties up loose ends nicely.  

When I turned the last page and laid the book down yesterday, it felt like I just said goodbye to a group of friends, I love books like that.  You get so swept up in to the story, that you forget you don't really know Rakel or Phile, or Oskar or Halvor, or little Gerta and Kai in real life.  These stories make you forget lots of things, like the pile of laundry you were supposed to be folding, or that it is ten o'clock and you have an early morning tomorrow, or that the water was boiling for the eggs...

None of these (except of course book one) are stand alone books.  You need to read them in order and if possible I would buy The Snow Queen Saga as it contains all three books in one.  (it comes in both paperback and kindle versions)

Journal Keeping: Writing for Spiritual Growth

This week, I continued on in the reading of my George Mueller autobiography as well as reading a book I was given several years ago: Journal Keeping Writing for Spiritual Growth by Luann Budd.

I was taken by surprise with this book - it was such an encouragement to sit with a pen early in the morning and dig into the first part.  This portion extends an invitation to write, an encouragement to revisit your writing, as well as reminding the reader of the absolute importance of writing honestly and openly, without thought or fear of someone else reading the words you pen.

As much as I liked the first part, I cherished the second section with the lessons in how to write to discover...like the true feelings that are often buried deeper than we ever usually care to dig, or in processing forgiveness, especially when the hurt runs deep.  It goes on to remind you as the reader how important writing is to learning.  Have you ever noticed that when you write things down you process it and think about it on a much deeper level than just passively taking in information?

I love to read, but I absolutely love to write.  There is something about a pen scratching across the paper that is one of my absolute favorite things in life.  This was such a neat book and I highly recommend it.

I love The Autobiography of George Mueller, I've enjoyed reading it slowly, being challenged by Mr. Mueller's faith and buoyed by God's unshakable faithfulness, Mr. Mueller's life of prayer was amazing.  I am ashamed at how little I pray, George Mueller's adult life is totally defined by prayer.  I want to emulate that.💖