Books Read During the Month of July

Did you know that one of my favourite things to do while on vacation is to read books?  I know.. totally shocking eh?  (not).  :)

Anyways, we had a week camping up at Grundy Lake, only a week so I brought nine books with me and got 8.5 read.   

Timestoppers: quest for golden arrow is the second in a series that I am thoroughly enjoying. I won't tell you a whole lot about it as a review is coming up.  Suffice it to say though... GOOD BOOK.  Hubby is waiting in line to read it after the lad gets finished (though that might take a spell).

 

The Help.  Wow.. fascinating book.  A look into the lives of negro house servants after emancipation and what not.  How friendships were formed, how hatred and bigotry were shown just so casually, how black people had to be so careful to walk the right thin line.   It was eye-opening and a very interesting read.

 

Alex Cross's Trial.  Other black's in the south motif for this book.  This one with a darker theme when the KKK was active, people taking a stand.  I do not understand the level of hatred and vitirol displayed.   It makes no sense to me the betrayal, the whites only and the depth people would go to protect their own and attack another race.  I know things like this go on today in other forms and stuff, but it's just plain nastiness.   Hard read, but glad I took a look into that world.

 


Vision in White.   What can I say.. a romance with a touch of mystery to it.  It's a light easy read and much needed after the two previous books.  Discovering strength within, overcoming ones' past.  Themes were good.






A train of thought.  I love trains and thought I just might enjoy this story.  I DID!  I want the lad to read it when he's older.  The wisdom in the stories, and old railroader speaking to how things were.  It's a review coming up so won't say much more.

NYPD RED 2.  Another Patterson book but quite different. The mob, vigilante justice, the power of a evil minded leader and a docile follower.   Disaster neatly avoided.  I was intrigued throughout the whole book AND surprised a time or two.   Good read if you like a suspense-filled mystery.



Fatal Illusions.  OH.. oh ...oh.. how I wanted this bad guy caught!   He was just a nasty minded fellow out of a nasty minded woman.  Oh.. but a positive note.  A family was drawn closer together.  Faith was made evident.   Repentance seen where needed AND.... (spoiler alert) bad guy was stopped!  Makes for a good read that!  :)


 

Alexandria.  Honestly started this one, but didn't finish it.  Not sure I will.  The style of writing and the time period is just totally loosing me.   A mystery in Egypt when Britain was "helping" rule her.







The Villa.  Another Nora Roberts book.  Needed a light easy read after going through NYPD RED and Fatal Illusions.    I haven't finished this one yet, but so far, it's a decent read.

OH!   I almost forgot.  The Memory Keeper's Daughter.  WOW...this book was fascinating and very sad and lost and drew me in like a moth to the flame.  Captivated by the joy, the sorrow.  The fact that a hidden secret about ruined a family and then drew them back in again.  Fascinating book.  





Books read as reviews: 
The Benevolent Bee: I liked this book.  A bit more technical than the other bee book I read, but a good book with stories, crafts, recipes.  

TimeStoppers book one!   Loved this first book, begged for the second.  :)   Good sci-fi book for younger readers as well as older ones.  :)

My Jesus Bible.  Hardcover bible story book for preschoolers. 

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies.  A fascinating book about how art and science intermingled, creating new information for the science community while producing good works of art. 

Junk Drawer Engineering.  A rather neat STEM book for upper elementary through highschool, with hints and options for various ages AND the science behind it. 

Miniscapes: Create your own terrarium.   My son is in LOVE with this book currently.  Making different terrariums, gaining new insights into the world of miniature plants. 

50 Natural Wonders to Blow your Mind. Neat little book about different natural wonders from around the world.   Pictures and facts. 

Goats of Anarchy.  A neat picture book about a goat rescue. 

The Beginner's Bible for Little Ones.   Hardcover bible for young children.

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Death to sin, live letting God use us for Good.

 Today we are reading from Romans 6:1-14.

 So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us even more grace? 
I always find this an interesting question.  The thought that it even needs to be raised!  To me it's an automatic no, though in some way I can understand people thinking it, so I guess it did need to be raised.  
 
  ² No! We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? ³ Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. ⁴ When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life.
Paul gives an emphatic NO.  We shouldn't be running around sinning thinking we're all that, so that God's grace can abound all the more in us.  Seriously dude... when we believe in Christ, in his death on the cross, that means we are part of him.  Do we really want something as ugly as sin to be part of that as well?   ICK when you think about it.  Adding that dirtiness to something so pure.   Paul's point is this though... we have DIED to our old sinful lives, so why would we want to deliberately choose to continue living in that sin.  Just as Christ was raised to a new life through God's power, so we can have that new life as well.   Don't live in the past!
  
⁵ Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from the dead as he did. ⁶ We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. ⁷ Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.
Oh.. I like this line.  " Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control."  To be free of sin's control.  It's such a battle you know?   To always want to live in the past, with what I know so well. And yet seeing that brighter future and possibility. Fighting for that.  You know what I mean?   Paul gives us hope here.  He tells what the new reality is.  We have DIED to the old way.  God's power is there to help us live a new life.   Take that power!  Use it.  Remember that sin doesn't have control of us anymore. 

⁸ If we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ Christ was raised from the dead, and we know that he cannot die again. Death has no power over him now. ¹⁰ Yes, when Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time—enough for all time. He now has a new life, and his new life is with God. ¹¹ In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus.
Paul spells it out for us.
We died with Christ (if we believe in him).   That means we also LIVE with Christ.
Christ, raised from the dead.   We live with him.
He can't die again.  Death has no power over him.   
Think about that.  We live with Christ...one that death has no power over, he can't die again.  We live with him.   That's a surety don't you find?  A surety of hope, of sin no longer having the upper hand.
I need to see this more clearly in my life, what about you?   To see God's power to keep me in the new life.
 
¹² So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to serve sin, as things to be used in doing evil. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used in doing good. ¹⁴ Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law but under God’s grace.
Hear Paul's Words to us.   Do not let sin control your life.   Don't let parts of your body be used for evil.   Don't let that sinful self do what it wants.  Remember.. we died to sin's control.

Instead do this:
Offer your body up to do good.   Give it up to God.  You are under God's grace, not under the law of sin.   So let God use your body to do good.  I see choice in these words.  People can choose to live the old way, the way they died to.  OR they can choose to let God use their body for good. and live   Follow the old way.. or choose to let God work in you.   Let us today make that right choice eh?

What say you? 

 To follow along with the rest of this devotional series in Romans Click Here.

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Parenting Series: Control

Can you believe we only have three chapters left!!!   I know.. time flies eh?

Today's chapter is about control...and I like this chapter.  Frankly it fits where we are at in the raising of our lad.   We are giving him more and more choices about things and it's flummoxing him.   He's such a people pleaser that we are trying to give him no-fail options and he's still struggling.  I think with time it will come, but right now he's just flummoxed. 

You see.. I figure if he starts out small... when we can help guide his actions and help him consider the larger ramifications of things in the light of who  GOD wants us to be, it will serve him well in the long run.

We ran into that today with a "game troll" today that has the lad all upset and wanting to respond to him, and we told him.. Let it Go.  Don't feed the troll.  Ignore him and eventually he will stop (or at least we'll get used to ignoring him). The lad didn't understand why or how that would work and why he couldn't yell at this troublemaker.  Which gave us a chance to talking about how if you don't feed the troll it helps bring peace again.  How God calls us to go beyond ourselves.  It's good to help him think these types of things through.

So as we work through this choice and decision making time with our lad we need to consider his needs.
For Guidance, protection, instruction, wisdom, authority, rules, structure, preparation, understanding, confrontation, discipline, warning, love, forgiveness, and security.

But beyond this wonderful list there is a deeper need that our children have. 
To understand their sin so they will call out to God for mercy.
To understand the nature of sin so they don't negate it's danger
To understand that their problem is not with their parents, but with God. 
To understand that sin produces behaviour problems.
To understand their only real help is to run to the forgiving grace of God.

The end is God.  That's where it is.
Working through decisions, you need to see God's help.

This is what I need to do with my lad...help him to see God in his decision-making, helping him, guiding him, forgiving him.   This is something he is needful more and more of seeing.
Seeing it this deeper need, makes the letting go of a lad an easier thing. A good thing as he matures and becomes more of the person God has called him to be.  

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites