50. Messiah Meditations by Carol Weaver

I wondered why I had not read as many books in December as I usually do because our ministry usually takes a December break, and I am usually not one to be a busy Christmas person. Then I realized that I read through the devotional book that I wrote last year, and I should count that as a book even though I wrote it! LOL!

I am a certified Messiah nerd. It all started when I ordered the John Rutter version of Messiah (in the picture above) several years ago. I had never actually listened to the WHOLE Messiah. So, I did it for Christmas. When I was crying in a pile on the floor when I got to the Hallelujah Chorus, I knew that I was nerd certified.

I started the Bible Book Club in 2008, and I added the words to Messiah at the end of YEAR TWO (2009) because it is such a great review of the Old Testament! 

Then christianaudio.com had a free audiobook called Messiah:Comfort for God's People by Calvin Stapert available in December 2010, but I could not get into it, and I put it down. It seemed too technical. (I have since learned that it was more the narrator's very haughty voice that turned me off than the book itself.) 

In Christmas 2011, I went through the musical score and followed along with it as I listened to Messiah (picture above).

Despite my dislike of the narration, I listened to Stapert's book during Christmas of 2012, taking copious notes:

Have I convinced you that I am a total nerd?

I continued to post just the words at the Bible Book Club blog. Then, I ordered Stapert's book on my Kindle, and I LOVED it! Reading it was so much more valuable! (The book is great, and the narrator is not.) 

Then, last June/July I decided to write a devotional book and include the backgrounds from my Bible Book Club posts to explain the Scripture in Messiah along with my personal reflections and application of what I was learning. 

Writing this devotional was amazing! My husband had changed jobs, and his company put us up in a hotel while we looked for homes in another town (never moved though) so I worked all day on it and was saturated in it! I finished on July 11, 2013. In December, I transferred it all to a word processor too. 

This year, I actually read it as an Advent devotional, and it was great! The whole book is posted on my blog, but I think I might even have a physical devotional book printed someday. :) 

49. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

This is my third time reading this book in one year. I think this is a record. It is because our ministry reads it, and I always read it again with them. 

I do believe this is one of my top ten favorite non-fiction books. It is such a challenging read. It has been my lifelong desire to have a 24/7/365. 

Last week, I had two of what will be four biopsies on suspicious spots on my skin.  I have no results and must go through Christmas before I hear. Reading this again brought such comfort to my soul. God is always with us. It is all about a relationship with Him. I listened to this with a whole new perspective on my own immortality.

Here is my previous review:

http://carolhomeschool2.blogspot.com/2014/01/2-practice-of-presence-of-god-by.html

48. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

"His will is your hiding place" Betsie Ten Boom

“There are no 'ifs' in God's Kingdom. His timing is perfect. His will is our hiding place. Lord Jesus, keep me in Your will! Don't let me go mad by poking about outside it.”  Corrie Ten Boom

"There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still." Betsie Ten Boom

I read this book in 1993 and again in 2009 with my book club, and they gave it the second highest score of all time with a 9.65 out of 10 (out of 117 books read over a 10 year period). It is a book I think everyone should read at least once in their lifetime. It is that good. 

This is one of my top ten favorite books. I was offered a free audiobook in April 2011, but I had never gotten around to listening to it. Having several long car journeys, I thought it would be perfect time to take the plunge. The narration was excellent.

I was also motivated to reread it after having the opportunity to go to Corrie Ten Boom's home and THE hiding place in May of this year: 

The Hiding Place - Hard to Believe So Many Jews Hid in this Very Small Space

What a thrill to sit in the front room of the Ten Boom home that I read about in the book:

Or look out over the city from the little balcony where the Jews could sometimes sit to get some fresh air:

You can read my reflections on that day HERE. It was a dream come true to go to the home of my heroes: The Ten Boom family!

The Ten Booms owned a clock shop in Haarlem, Netherlands and began hiding Jews in their "secret room" during the Nazi occupation of their country during World War II. They were sent to a concentration camp for their selfless service. This is their story told from Corrie's perspective. 

Corrie's Father's Father Began the Ten Boom Watch Shop in January 1837. It still exists today!

The alleyway at the side of the Ten Boom Jewelers 

It is such a beautiful book. 

My husband thought it was odd I was listening to this book during the Christmas season, but as I listened to the last few pages, I realized that this Christmas week is the 70th anniversary of Corrie Ten Boom's release from Ravensbrück Concentration Camp!

Love this!

For Unto Us a Child is Born

So what that I am out in the open part of the library, and there was noise from the electronic equipment of the son of the family sitting next to me. My quiet was shattered. For 1 1/2 hours I was on a roll starting my Bible Book Club for Matthew for YEAR THREE (Yes, I am over a year ahead of schedule in my editing!). The only other people was an older man quietly reading and a young 20 something quietly scrolling the internet. 

No problem! I am prepared for unnecessary noise! 

So, I get out my noise canceling headphones; and "For Unto us a Child is Born" comes blaring out. A son was given to that family. They feel self conscious but infinitely more important in this life is that UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN - bless the son that you were given, dear family next to me. Make as much noise as you want. It will join with me as I praise GOD this morning. 

You have been given a son. Rejoice! He may make noise, but what a gift he is to your family. As Jesus is a gift to us. He came to shattered our solitary world in a good way. "Unto us a son is given!" 

WOOHOO!

(And I am very weird - back to work) 

47. Walk in a Relaxed Manner by Joyce Rupp

This was recommended to me by a nun at the Mount Angel Shalom Prayer Center after I told her that it is my dream to walk the Camino de Santiago. I waited until I could find a good used copy. It was worth the wait. What a delightful read. It is written topically. Rupp is an excellent and easy writer. The lessons are applicable to our life's journey and not just to the Camino.

I was a nanny in Santiago de Compostela from Columbus Day 1982 to New Year's Eve 1983. It was probably the hardest three months of my entire life as a 23 year old, out of the country for the first time and dealing with a bad living situation. It was also the best three months of my life in that it drew me ever closer to the Lord. Although I have long since healed from the effects of my three months there and gained much wisdom from the suffering I endured, I want to walk the Camino to that ancient city. I will probably cry like a baby when I arrive. God is good.  

Someday.

46. Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank C. Laubach

I have not read this book since 2009! I thought I had read it since then, but NO. I have read The Game with Minutes three times because it is part of our ministry curriculum, but this is one of my top ten favorite books that deserves a reread! 

I have never written a review of it, other than having referred to it when I have reviewed other Laubach books, but I found a very old post from this blog entitled, "In His Presence" from July 30, 2009 that gets to the heart of why I love this book: 

I do not know what is happening with me. There is this amazing connection that I am having with God right now.

My dream has always been to see a 24/7/365 kind of relationship with God (You - for I write this blog to You and for You). I remember reading The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence in the early 80's and felt like I had a new role-model. I specifically remember leaving Gill Coliseum on the OSU Campus one night, being tilted over by some strange encounter with Diane's guy friend, Chris. I cried out to You with the desire to not let strange encounters with others derail me from Your precious presence. It became my passion and something in which to strive because "In Your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forever" (Psalm 16:11). Yet, being the emotional self that I am, it has always been difficult. Those bi-monthly extended times of prayer helped to recalibrate me, but by the end of the sixty days, I was undone again. Oh, to be undone only by God because of His overwhelming presence. That is what I yearned for more than anything. 

Later in my journey, I read excerpts from Frank Laubach's (1884-1970) Letters by a Modern Mystic where he resolved: "I would succeed better this year with my experiment of filling every minute full of the thought of God than I succeeded last year. And I added another resolve -- to be as wide open toward people and their need as I am toward God. Window open outward as well as upward." 

Somehow, Frank's effort seemed so realistic with little increments of growth year by year. He also did not live a monastic existence as Brother Lawrence did. His inward and outward growth were simultaneous. I wanted that moment by moment experience of God in the midst of the daily grind of life with "tilting people."

Then a couple of months later, in the fall of 2009, I read The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg and The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, and they BOTH quoted Laubach! I realized that I had only read a chapter with longer excerpts (referred to above) from Laubach called "Opening Windows to God" in the Devotional Classics by Foster and Smith. This was in the early 90's and back when it was a loose leaf notebook and only available through Renovaré!

Why had I never read him? If people like Willard and Ortberg and Foster (and countless others) were quoting him, why have I never read him directly? So I Googled and found this book. Part of the reason I had never read him in the 90's was that this book was out of print, and there were not opportunities on the internet to search out copies of it. Thankfully, by 2009, this 2007 edition had been made available, and I ate it up! I never knew that he was a worker among the Moro people in Southeast Asia too! My kind of guy!

The Introduction by Ken Smitherman, President of the Association of Christian Schools International puts it well, when he says that, "Although these letters were written nearly eighty years ago they speak forcefully to anyone who desires the highest level of the pursuit of God and effective discipleship and discipling." I recommend it to all the women I disciple. It is that important of a book, and paired with The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, it is that much more powerful! 

There is an online version, but I really like this little pocket book that includes The Game with Minutes too.

Here is the online version though: Letters by a Modern Mystic 

45. The Game with Minutes by Frank C. Laubach

This was the first book I read for 2014, and it is going to be one of the last ones. It is such an important concept. :) 

Here is a PDF Download of it: The Game with Minutes

Here is my previous review of the book.

Don't stop at this book by the author. Read Letters by a Modern Mystic too! I make a practice of reading it regularly! 

Saturday Morning Freewrite

I am trying to do more freewrites, but it does mean sitting longer, but I can always stand up. I think maybe I should ask for a "sit to stand" desk for Christmas and make my desk in the guest room downstairs. Or maybe I could do it in my office so I don't have to go to the cold downstairs room in the winter. It is also my guest room, and I suspect that I might have some guests in the winter and spring.

Went for a wonderful walk with Kellie to the Jackson-Frazier Wetland yesterday. It started to sprinkle as we crested over the hill on Maxine, but we kept walking (she is not intimidated by rain as she grew up in Seattle), and we were rewarded by blue sky and the sun streaming low across the fields. Beautiful afternoon.

I am trying to go to the wetland every season, and I don't think that I had been there since the late summer. I wish I had gone at the peak of fall to see how it looked with leaves turning, but I am not sure that it has trees like that. It seems like it would, but I saw no signs of leaves matted on the ground. So maybe not. 

It was beautiful and the longest walk I have taken since my back wig out on November 19th. We walked over four miles.

Then I stretched at home and prayed with Kellie. Then I went out to dinner with Kellie and Teala (they have become friends because of the listening prayer class they were both in together). It was very pleasant, and Corvallis looked so lovely with all of its Christmas lights downtown. The Winter Celebration was going on too. This is a celebration where they set up a white tent on one of the main downtown streets. It is expensive, but I think it raises money for charity, and there are nice treats from local restaurants and such. It is so quintessential Corvallis, and I want to go someday when our life slows down a bit (HAHAHAAHAHA).

I woke up in a night sweat at about three this morning. When that happens, it is often difficult for me to fall back asleep. I slept in on Thursday and Friday morning. So I knew that I would be having a very early morning to make my average six hours of sleep. That always happens. If I am sick and sleep more hours, it always evens out to six over the course of time. Just how my body clock works as a "Sleepless Elite" (and now I have the research program that I participated in last summer to prove it). 

Well, I am doing the Messiah Meditations, and Kim is doing it with me this year. She wrote me and said she was really enjoying it. I am listening to it once again, and I NEVER tire of that music. I did not listen to it all this year so that I would just listen to it at Christmas, but I bet I could listen to it year round and never tire of it! It has been great to go along with my "Game with Minutes" challenge for the Kingdom Community! 

I also liked that I was writing out Scriptures all week. I am having our people skip from Abraham to the Christmas story since their friends will probably ask them what it is about, but I did not want my journal writings to be all out of order (I want ONE journal to have all of the Discovering God stories in it. Last year, my stories were spread over TWO journals, and I wish I had planned better for that!) so I wrote all the stories from Abraham to Christ, and I cannot believe how wonderful that was for my soul! I wrote and wrote and wrote every opportunity I had! It was so great!

So, now I am at Christ. But it was so nice to write through David and see those Messianic Psalms and write from Isaiah, and of course, it all goes with my time in the Messiah which I am going to right now because my time is almost out! 

44. God is in the Manger by Bonhoeffer

This is an Advent devotional book that I will complete before the end of the year (even though it goes until January 6 - Epiphany), but I wanted to review it now in case anyone wanted to get it for their Advent readings. It is precious. I forgot it was on my iPhone until walking this morning and decided to listen to it again this season after having done it in 2012 prior. I got it from christianaudio.com, and is 2 hours and 19 minutes. SO GOOD! It is a perfect thing for preparing yourself for the coming of Jesus!

It starts on the first Sunday of Advent which this year was November 30, but it would only take you about thirty minutes of reading to catch up to today.  

If you have never read his writings, this is an excellent place to start! It definitely has the editor's writings in there though. So some people do not like that it is not just Bonhoeffer. It is a collection of his writings with a devotional attached to that theme written by someone else. 

The four weeks of Advent have these title:

Waiting
Mystery
Redemption
Incarnation

It continues to . . . 
The Twelve Days of Christmas and Epiphany

Here is a review of the book and a brief biography of Bonhoeffer from amazon.com:

"These Advent and Christmas reflections of Bonhoeffer flew from his prison cell, flung open the doors of hope, and sailed heavenward as heart-wrenching prayers, prayers from a condemned man, prayers from a hopeful man, prayers from a man who embodied what it means to pray 'May your kingdom come.' This will be my Advent and Christmas book." Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University, and author of The Jesus Creed and The Blue Parakeet --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45) was a Christian minister, seminary professor, and theologian who became one of the leading voices of opposition against Nazism during World War II. He was a founding member of Germany's Confessing Church and was executed for participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler. His theological views have become highly influential in the years since his death.

Here is the review from Christian Audio:

"There are only two places where the powerful and great in this world lose their courage, tremble in the depths of their souls, and become truly afraid. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ." 

"No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet, all Christian theology finds its beginnings in the miracle of miracles, that God became human."

These stirring words are among forty devotions that guide and inspire readers as they move thematically through the weeks of Advent and Christmas, from waiting and mystery to redemption, incarnation, and joy. Supplemented by an informative introduction, short excerpts from Bonhoeffer's letters, and passages from his Christmas sermons, these daily devotions are timeless and moving reminders of the true gift of Christmas. 

Thursday Thirteen Freewrite

I have already gotten distracted once on my way to writing this freewrite. I went to put my timer on for 13 minutes, and I saw a nice email that I read. Then I picked up the project that I was working on (checking to make sure the Jesus Stories in my journal are in chronological order) a while ago, and I totally forgot to set the timer. So I set it. What is thirteen minutes to write a bit as day gives way to dusk? Can there be dusk when it has been a dreary, dark, rainy, cold day? Anyway, I got the alarm for Mahgrib. So, it really is dusk.

I am in no pain or tightness, and maybe that is why I was laying here feeling such absolute calm. There is always a bit of guarding that goes on, and while I have experienced more and more days that have turned into even weeks of this no pain or tightness, I have had a horrendous time since November 19 when my Quadratus Lumborum (QL) wigged out on me while on a morning walk. I think it was a combination of sitting too long writing, working on our ministry schedule Excel spread sheet, and doing counseling combined with a very cold week where i did not go out and do my regular routine of warming up by walking and then stretching. (Not to mention that i often go walking with the person I am counseling, but it was either too cold or too wet to do that during that week.)

Anywho, four osteopathic appointments (Hannah, Dr. Myers, my brother in law on Thanksgiving, and Dr. Myers again today), one acupuncture session, and a massage couple with lots of rest later, I am finally free of any pain or tightness. I have been pretty good since Thanksgiving last week, but I am truly free today (maybe a slight neck hot spot on the left side, but I will take that over a tight QL any day). I am still hedging my bets and have been resting since my OMT appointment that ended at 12:30. I think I will watch Peter Pan tonight and continue to rest. (I do hope it is better than The Sound of Music last year!)

Paul is working on a paper that he will not tell me the length of. He seems to be fine with it and got an "A" on the last one.

I have been loving listening once again to Messiah. I thought I might finally be tired of it, but NOTHING focuses me more on the true meaning of this season than this BRILLIANT masterpiece of music (perhaps the best ever written). 

It is cool because I have been writing Scripture furiously in my Obedience-Based Study (personal Discovery Bible Study) journal because we are skipping from Abraham to the birth of Jesus next week because of the holiday, but there is Moses, Sinai, David, prophecy in Isaiah, and Jonah between Abraham and Jesus, BUT many of the things that I have been writing out are prophecies that are in Messiah and the Jesse Tree so, it is all integrated! I have loved writing them, and it has been pages and pages because I decided to write out all of Jonah! That was really fun. I am at the Birth of Jesus now and will start on that when I get to those verse in Luke in my Messiah Meditations and finish practicing the story of Abraham for our meeting on Sunday! 

Well, that was a very fast thirteen minutes. I am sending this with five seconds to spare! BYE! 

43. Dealing with the CrazyMakers in Your Life by Dr. David Hawkins

I seriously thought I made up this term when talking to my girlfriend years ago (2004) about the people she worked with at the time. They were just making her go crazy, and she was acting in ways she does not usually act. So, I said you would not be crazy if you did not have CrazyMakers in your life. I have used this term with many people over the years including a woman I am working with right now. So I was surprised to find that it has been a term around for a while. :) 

I liked this book. It was really helpful for me to deal with a person who is a Crazy Maker that is distantly in my life. I was finishing up this book when that person called, and I was able to not let that person "set the hook" and set appropriate boundaries. This author uses the analogy of fishing to communicate what the different kind of Crazy Makers (Aggressors, Egoists, Borderline Personality Disorder, Sufferers, and Control Freaks) do to "lure" you in and "set the hook". He teaches effective ways to "flinging back the hook." It was helpful to have a refresher course on what I learned 25 years ago when I went to see a counselor and she recommended reading Codependent, No More.  I am so much healthier, but since I am a recovering codependent/rescuer type, it was great to have the refresher course!

I am so grateful that all of my relationships are no longer toxic! YAY! I feel such compassion for people who are not in healthy relationships, especially with their spouses. This book would help anyone move toward health. 

42. Finding God by Larry Crabb

 I read Effective Biblical Counseling in the 80's, and it was helpful in many ways with identifying the problem underlying much of my problems. I have read most of Larry Crabb's books, attended the Institute of Biblical Counseling (ten days after the death of my dad in 1985), went through a biblical counseling class (PEOPLE Class - People Encouraging Other People to Live Effectively) where we practiced group interaction and "telling our stories" over the course of a year, and led a discussion group from the book Encouragement by the same author. 

This book is really more of the same. I thank Dr. Crabb for giving me a Biblical basis for looking at issues. I think counseling, in general, is very good at helping one understand why we do what we do. I do not necessarily think it completes the process of healing to finding Him. Only God can do that:"No one comes to the Me unless the Father draws Him...And they will be taught of God" (John 6:44,45). I think Dr. Crabb puts far too much importance on his method than on the power of God to draw us to Himself and to speak to our souls which gets to the core of what he says is the core problem: Doubting God and His goodness because "He who comes to God, must believe that He is and is a rewarded of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

It reminds me of a time I was really struggling, and I went to pray, and I said to my husband that I would not leave until I heard from God. So I was there four days, and God spoke to me. I believed Him. I found Him in that carved out time. I did not doubt His goodness in the thing that had happened to me. I forgave the people who wronged me (and have not struggled with anger or unforgiveness since then). It was all through meditating deeply in the story of Joseph with the Holy Spirit. I was released.

I went up to the church, and there was a woman there who asked me what I had been doing, and I told her. She said, "You know I struggled with depression for years, and I started going and just doing extended days of prayer just like you, and I no longer struggle with depression. He is the Wonderful Counselor, isn't He?"  AMEN. 

Larry Crabb is not the Wonderful Counselor, and I feel like he almost knocks any kind of supernatural experience one might have with our Wonderful Counselor where He might truly speak to us.

I think this is Crabb's attempt at helping people go past just looking at problems to finding God. He says at the beginning that it is not about spiritual disciplines, but his solution at the end is to tell your story (more of what he has said before in his other books, but he has gone from a one-on-one counseling approach to being in community to tell our stories, which is good) and read your Bible by the fireplace with the Holy Spirit. So I do not feel he really contributes much to truly finding God that has not already been said before. He almost contradicts himself by saying that it is not about spiritual disciplines but yet saying to read your Bible. 

I have found that it helps for people to tell their stories and be validated and then create space for God to speak to the person. Crabb doesn't really deal with the whole idea of that intimate encounter where we hear the voice of God who speaks truth to us in our innermost being. I feel when we create space to hear in the midst of our pain (like I did on that prayer retreat), we find Him and learn to trust Him (because he says that doubting God and His goodness is at the core of our issues). 

This can be a facilitated sort of thing with a prayer counselor where that space is created and encouraged with a loving person (or group of people which is even better but some people are not always able to open up to a group, and we must respect how God made them) who helps the person to listen to and find God. 

I think Crabb makes it far too complicated with his charts and diagrams. 

I feel like he is on a journey and decided to write a book. He wrote this book several years ago, and I hope he has gained more intimacy with Him. It seems like he really intellectualizes the whole process FAR too much! 

Hard to articulate what I really feel about this book. I had some quotes I thought were great, a few I disagreed with. 

Monday Morning Fifteen Freewrite

The fifteen minute timer was beckoning this morning. It is a beautiful day for a walk, but it is still pretty cold outside (25 degree F) so I will wait for it to warm up a bit more before I venture out. 

I also have a couple of listening prayer appointments today so I need to sit a ton today so I will definitely need to walk before the first one and between the first and second one.

My back is doing great. I found this YouTube video about how to break up the fascia in your feet (because she says that runners have gnarly feet), and it miraculously releases tight hamstrings, which is a big part of why I have the tight back (not out or in pain anymore just tight if I sit too long or forget to stretch or sit too long and then go running). It really does work which is so weird. But BOY does it every hurt my feet! I have my massage therapist start at my feet now because that is the source of much of my issue. 

So I am on the mend. I am probably at 90% now, and I need to constantly be mindful of keeping myself limber and not sit too long. That is the rest of my life if I want to be free of pain.

My eating has been great! I gave myself grace for Sunday because we had snacks at our Kingdom Community meeting. So I tend to eat more when I am in community, and the stats prove that. I found this really cool article with all this data about weight gain. Nothing was surprising but it was nice to have it backed up with FACTS versus FALLACY which is so much of "diets" today!

I should put a link to that article while I am thinking about it. But I will do it after the freewrite so I can keep on typing as I am supposed to do with a freewrite. 

Speaking of writing, I wrote out the WHOLE story of Noah for the first time. In the past, I have just done "key verses" for the Discovery Bible Study, but it was good to do the whole thing, but it was 9 1/2 pages in my journal. Then I wrote it again in MY WORDS for another 9 1/2 pages. So last week was a lot of writing! ACK!!!

Back to the eating, I wanted to get down to a lower weight before the holidays, and I was too afraid to weigh myself because I thought I had gained a ton of weight over the last month, but I had not! YAY! I felt God said to weigh myself and "Do not fear," and I was so encouraged that I have not gotten out of control. It was just a little bit, and I am very close to my medium frame weight (my goal is to always be within single digits of it and then course correct as it creeps up). So, YAY! I am still in single digits! 

So, I have been counting calories and posting them to Rachel and Katrina and told them I would owe them 100 dollars if I did not do it last week. So, money talks for me, and I did it! 

YAY! I just overeat a BIT when I am not counting. My goal is to not overeat at all AND not count calories, but I am not there yet. I have a hard time knowing where the line is, but when you are only overeating maybe 100 calories a day, that is a very FINE LINE that is hard to know because 100 calories could be an extra orange! Not much at all. So, I continue to count if I inch up.

BUT I am so much better than two years ago when I was almost 25 pounds heavier! I have not gained it all back and have kept most of it off for 1 year and 7 months! YAY! I am going to keep it off forever, but I need to keep on learning little by little. 

Had a sweet time in Kingdom Community praying for each other. It was very nice.

Well, my time is almost gone, and I want to find that article to put a link here. I have to go to Facebook to do it. I need to get up and not sit any longer. Maybe I will go to SNAP Fitness so that I do not have to be out in the FREEZING COLD weather! LOL!  Bye!


12 Graphs that Show Why People Get Fat

Here is the graph about social environment affecting overeating. So TRUE!:

41. Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale

I read this again this year for the group we lead. I LOVE this book. It is always so encouraging as this is my third time reading through it!

I am really excited because I get to meet the author in January!!! YAY! 

Here is my first review of the book from 2012:

http://carolhomeschool2.blogspot.com/2012/05/52-in-52-week-22-miraculous-movements.html