When I first read about The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski, I got very excited. I think I even got goosebumps because the timing of it was one of those “God-timed moments.” I had been searching and browsing and trying to decide which bible story book to read with my kids in 2012.

The subheading on the book grabbed my attention immediately” “The Gospel Story Bible: DISCOVERING JESUS IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.” Presenting God’s plan of salvation through Christ from beginning to end? I love this already!

I kept reading, very excited that it’s based off of the ESV version of the bible, my personal preference for the past 6 years or so, and was intrigued to discover that Marty Machowski is a pastor at Covenant Fellowship church (a Sovereign Grace Ministries church.)

And if these weren’t enough to convince me to give it a try, I pulled up the product page on Christianbook.com and sure enough, it gave me a chance to peek inside at the vividly colorful pages (illustrations by A. E. Macha), read a sample, and browse the table of contents. I was sold.

Now, I tend to shy away from “Story” bibles. I remember growing up, learning the stories, and not gaining an understanding of which books of the bible they came from, or their relationship together, or their context. I was surprised to begin to discover these things as a teenager! However — I’ve come back around full circle with the opinion that, perhaps, story bibles are not ALL bad, as long as you’re reading the bible, too, learning scripture as well, and getting the bigger picture. And, of course, if the story bible is done WELL.

The Gospel Story Bible does not disappoint.

Marty Machowski does not simply tell a child’s version of each story. He includes scripture throughout it. He connects the stories together. He ties each story to the bigger picture, and he leaves each story with a few questions to ask. His tone is also easy, interesting, readable and realistic, not talking down too much or writing too loftily. It is, as he says, a story for the whole family.

Let me share a few examples.

In the story of Creation, Marty says this at the end:

Later in God’s gospel story, we learn one special thing from the apostle Paul. Paul wrote that God the Son, who became Jesus, created all that we see. “All things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). That means that God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son were all involved in the creation of the earth…

In the story of Adam and Eve we find this supporting scripture referenced:

King David once said, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)

One more, this demonstrates how he ties stories together and makes connections that I didn’t make as a child. In the story of The Tower of Babel, Marty begins with:

Noah’s sons and their wives left the ark and their families grew. Soon the earth began to fill with people again as their children had children of their own and their grand-children raised families, all in keeping with God’s command to fill the earth. All of Noah’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren spoke the same language.

I actually wish I could continue with that quote on that last one, and tell you the whole story. I found the way he made it all make sense very interesting and refreshing!

Overall I’m very pleased with the story bible that Marty Machowski has put out, and I’m glad to have found it for our bible study time this year. I’m pleased with the way the content is presented, as I said the pictures are also very colorful and my children always like being read to so they are happy as well. I’m sure it’s possible at some point that I will come across *some* story that I feel was incomplete or inadequate, but I haven’t yet, and flipping through it, I like what I see.

I typically try to present a fair review, listing the things I liked and the things I didn’t like about a book. I like to be honest and straight forward about it, you know? Truth is, I can’t really think of anything I don’t like about it — aside from my reservations about story bibles in general, which I’ve already mentioned. But even then,.. this really does seem to be one of those “done well” story bibles, removing that reservation in regard to this story bible at least, and leaving me just… very happy. I’m enjoying this book,… and I really do think that you would, too.

**Note: I received a copy of The Gospel Story Bible in exchange for an honest review.

Ah, yes, it’s that time again. Time for resolutions. Or in my case, a self-evaluation and a new list of habits and goals to work on. And when I say “list” of course I mean “LIST.” Or “really-long-and-incredibly-ambitious-list.” Because as I mentioned last year I’m pretty good at making lists. And the way I see it, when you’re good at something you should stick with it, right? ; )

I can’t believe a whole year has passed already since I made the last big list. I ran out of time for some of them but overall I did pretty well, I think. I’m going to leave the 2011 List page up for another week or so and then I’m going to take it down and replace it with the 2012 List. If you’re curious, hop on over there real quick and check out the kinds of things I did (and didn’t do) in 2011. Some of my favorites were:

• Establishing a morning routine. I learned that the secret to getting up early is to JUST DO IT. Just make yourself get out of bed. Even if you end up falling asleep in your chair 15 minutes later that’s the way to start. I also learned that the way to become a morning person and enjoy the morning is to get up A REALLY LONG TIME before the kids do so that you’re all the way awake, coffeed up, and prayed up when they start getting up and needing things from you. ; )
• Developing a bed time/story time routine. OH MY GOODNESS, Y’ALL. It’s amazing how beneficial a good bedtime routine can be. For a long while this year we had the Best. Bedtime Routine. Ever. We got out of the habit for reasons not worth mentioning but we’re getting back into it now, because through doing that we learned how helpful and good it is for our family.
• Finding a good church for us and going to church with James.
• Painting.
• Canning.
• Reading more books. (On my Kindle, too! Woohoo!)

Sometimes I find it helpful to sit down and make a list of things that are important to me, or the kind of person I want to be, or the things I think God wants me to do with my life. I find it helpful to focus for just a minute. In 2012, among other things, I just want to work on being a better person, a better wife and mother, a better imitation of Christ. I don’t want to just take things for granted, accept second best, or waste what I’ve been given. I want to be what GOD desires of me. This is my prayer:

My word for 2012 is “Transformation.” Inside and out. Last year it was “Well-functioning.” We worked on a lot of daily habits in pursuit of a well functioning home and we discovered and practiced a lot of things that really work well for us. This year we need to keep that up and JUST DO IT when it needs to be done, even if we don’t want to. This year we need to take off laziness and put on diligence. We need to shed complaining and put on contentment. We will discard leaving things for someone else and take initiative. It won’t be easy. But if we keep practicing the habits we’ve been working on and seek God for wisdom and strength we can transform our bad habits into good ones. The same is true for taking care of myself better – I have lots of bad habits to shed and plenty of good ones to take on instead.

So then, my verse for 2012 is Romans 12: 1-2:

 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Do you pick words for the new year? What’s yours? (Or if you DID.. what would you pick?)

Also, you can read my “resolution”, er “To Do in 2012″ post, here.

This is linked with Meghan’s New Year’s post at The Tuckers Take Tennessee. Check it out! You can read what others are using for THEIR 2012 word.

Christmas has come and gone and now 2011 is about to go, too! We had a really good visit with some family members from out of state and our local family members as well.  And I spent all of this past week recovering from all the noise and whatnot that comes with large family gatherings. ; )

And now as I stay up late with my girls waiting for 2012 to arrive, I look back over 2011. We could so easily dwell on the rough patches and the setbacks but the truth is that we are blessed and we must not forget that! Thinking back through the year, several “highlights” come to mind:

• I finally learned how to be a morning person! –Yes, I’ve really struggled the past two months, but I have not completely relapsed. I’m not abandoning it though, I’ve been working on backing my schedule up and getting up earlier again. It’s harder in the winter! Who wants to get up when it’s dark and cold out?! = p
• My parents moved back and I am SO thankful!
• Princess got braces (I’m not sure SHE’D call that a highlight.) But her teeth were SO crooked (cross bite, overbite, deep bite) and in 8 months they’ve already corrected all 3 of those and now the rest of the work that needs to be done is turning, torquing and fine tuning her mouth shape and teeth alignment. I’m so impressed!
• We found a church that we all like as a family and it’s starting to feel like ‘home’ church.
• As I already mentioned, we got to see out of state family for Christmas (it’s been 2 years since we saw them last.)
• Princess made a new friend (and so did we, with the mom.)
• We got chickens! (And then the incredible 110 degree summer temps killed them. That, and the neighbors dogs. =\) Our last lonely chicken is going to winter at a neighbor friend’s house and in the spring I hope we can have a better coop set up and we can get more. = )
• Drama Queen had the privilege and fun of attending puppy training classes with my mom and her new dog (who they adopted a 8 months.) It was a great experience for her and she continues to prove to be a great and consistent dog trainer. It’s good for her, too, focusing and calming down while she’s working with the dogs. She works with them every time we go over to my mom’s — and now she’s teaching them NEW commands, AND she’s teaching the dog that’s afraid of the doggy door how to go through it! She’s so patient and consistent.
• Princess turned 11, Drama Queen turned 8 and Little Prince turned 6! (And I turned 30-something. I’ve seriously lost count. I’d have to do the math in my head…)
• We started painting! Not much, I’d like to paint more next year. But I let go of my mess-fear as much as I could and let the kids pull out the paint quite frequently and we started painting. (Yeah, we painted sometimes before that, but always water colors and not very often. But now we have a great big bucket full of paint bottles, brushes, palettes, watercolor paper and even a few canvas boards.)
• My mom and I really got into canning after she moved back. We’ve canned and canned and canned!
• I got a kindle for Mother’s Day. Should that go on a list of highlights? Yeah, sure, why not… = )
• I started and went to a first annual homeschooler blogger field trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. (Even though the only people who came were IRL friends.) ; )
• I was able to attend the Apologia Live Retreat in Austin, Texas with an IRL homeschool bloggy friend and we had such a good time!
• Little Prince learned how to ride a bike!
• My mother in law sadly moved away but then moved back — that’s a mixed blessing for them but it’s nice for our kids to have both grandmothers nearby. = )

Image Credit:  Some rights reserved by bayasaa

Truth & Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Girls is a new devotional for girls ages 9-11 by Ann-Margaret Hovsepian. When I saw this, I was intrigued. I’ve blogged a little bit about looking for good resources for raising girls as mine enter the pre-teen years, and that includes books for them to read on their own. I’ve also been impressed with the need to get our morning routine back on track and to give my kids the tools and training to create good bible study habits. I’m not the only one, either. I’ve read and heard other moms express the same desires. So when the opportunity to read and review this book came through my inbox I was, as I said, intrigued and very interested.

At first glance the Truth & Dare devotional is colorful and inviting, and I’m not the only one who thought so. Eleven-year-old Princess grabbed it up with bright eyes as she asked, “Is this for ME??” The cover and the description on the back compel you to open the book and read further. Inside, the pages (though black and white) are decorated with a doodled pencil look–fun and tween girly. Each devotion is divided into sections: a verse to look up, a summary thought, a paragraph to read and think about, a “dare” – a follow-up live-it-out-in-real-life challenge, and a place to journal your thoughts. You can see the inside preview on the Amazon website.

Princess has been reading Truth & Dare for several weeks now. She’s trying to develop a daily habit and even though she often forgets she’s self-initiating her devotion time when she does remember. She looks forward to it. On the occasion that she’s shared what she has learned and showed me what she journaled, I’ve been surprised and impressed with what she has written. It gives me an insight into the heart of my otherwise introverted little girl who finds it hard to share what she’s thinking and feeling.

Overall we’ve been fairly pleased with the book so far, but before I share my final thoughts I thought I’d share what Princess had to say about it. Princess’ final assessment: “I like it.”

Princess’ Likes:

~ That it gives things to do after each devotion.

~ That the devotions are “labeled” by the days of the week at the top. She says “It helps me keep track.”

~ That the lessons are short.

Princess’ Dislikes:

~ That it’s only in black and white on the inside and not color also. I think she got her hopes up by the colorful cover.

As you can see, Princess likes Truth & Dare despite the lack of color illustration on the inside. Her desire to grow as a person and Christian and her hopes for letting this book help her do that are evident by how she turned to me one day and asked, “Have I been a better person since I’ve started using this devotion book?”

For me, it’s become clear that I have high expectations for Christian literature, and that I have special issues with devotion books of most types. As a general rule, I have a dislike for teaching that operates on a one-verse method. “Here’s a verse, here’s something we can learn from it, let’s discuss that, and then pray a specific prayer about that.” Granted, every verse has truth and wisdom to be gained by studying it. On the other hand, perhaps we can learn more from a verse when we study it in context, when we read the whole paragraph or the whole chapter. Perhaps by doing that we can make sure that we keep the intent of the verse true. Maybe the message of a verse can be further proven and strengthened when we study other passages with the same recurring message. Perhaps there is value in learning to study the bible in this way. Obviously I’m using words like “maybe” and “perhaps” to encourage thought and discussion and it’s obvious that I feel definitively that “yes, these are good things.” I tend to find devotions like the above (verse, paragraph, prayer) usually lacking, sometimes superficial, often wrapped up in emotional or material matters and less-than-desirably pointed at Jesus and God,…. in other words, “low calorie.” It’s not that there’s no nutritional value to them, it’s that devotion books can still leave me hungry. Maybe devotionals give little nibbles on purpose, and I just need to read meatier books. Having said that, I wanted to approach this book objectively so I kept this in perspective as I flipped through and read the pages. I came to a few conclusions:

1.) This book is aimed at young girls, girls who are probably new or young in their faith, and they need small bites. And this book does that.

2.) The book is aimed at giving practical advice for living out their faith. The author wants to challenge girls to think about how they will live for God in the midst of various daily situations. This book does that.

3.) The author wants to enable young girls to develop a daily habit of meeting with God and thinking about living for Him throughout the day. The author does (of course, the rest is up to the girl.)

So, yes, this is one of “those” devotionals with one verse, a paragraph, a thought for the day. But all in all, it’s not so bad. It does, after all, take it a step farther with a daily challenge and there are valuable nuggets of wisdom for relating to family, friends and others and sharing/living your faith for all to see. My assessment: “I like it pretty well. I love that my daughter likes it wants to use it. But a devotional alone is obviously not enough and I want to encourage her to read her bible daily as well. It is, after all, THE source of truth and wisdom.”

Pros:

~ age appropriate

~ well written

~ thought-provoking

~ habit setting

Cons:

~ The verse to read isn’t typed on the page, just the reference. I presume this is so the girls have to look it up. But since the whole devotion is centered around the one verse, it would be nice if it was on the page.

~ I would have been even happier with the book if the girls were asked to read the whole passage and then focus on the one verse, obviously, and if there were passages listed for further reading.

On the whole, I think this will be a good book for my daughter to read. I think it’s helpful for her when she reads lessons from other women instructing them to treat her siblings, friends, parents, etc, the same way that I’ve been teaching her to treat her siblings, friends, parents, etc. It reinforces the fact that I’m not making it up or asking too much of her. It will hopefully encourage her as we try to develop a better daily morning habit. And it will hopefully encourage her in her walk as she navigates the ever perplexing road that is the pre-teen years. As her mother, I’m encouraged already by what I’ve seen of her desire to study and learn and grow in God. Over this past year we’ve worked on simply establishing a morning routine that includes individual bible study — which we fluxed in an out of throughout the year. My goal for the new upcoming year is to keep striving toward a regular morning routine but also to deepen our study in the word, together. This devotional is going to be Princess’ devotional for most of the year and I look forward to seeing the future discussions and growth that come out of it.

~

Book Title: Truth & Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Girls

Author: Ann-Margret Hovsepian

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

**Special thanks to Audra Jennings at  The B&B Media Group for sending me a copy to review.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Legos are going to be a very expensive hobby!!

The boy, now 6, is finally old enough that we’ve given in to his request for Legos and he received several Lego things for his birthday and is hoping for more for Christmas. After bday shopping online and online wishlist browsing with Little Prince, I just have one thing to say — yowza! Legos are expensive! Especially the Star Wars Legos. Ay ay ay. I guess we’ll just be amassing a Lego collection little by little over the next few years.

On the other hand, Little Prince is very mechanically minded.. he likes to construct and build things. He has an enormous imagination and he is very creative. Legos are toys that also exercise his mind and keep his hands busy. It’s worthwhile, right?

For his birthday on Monday, Little Prince received a 300 piece Lot of miscellaneous Legos, a Star Wars ship kit, and a few Star Wars Lego minifigures. It’s a small start. So I sat down with Little Prince and browsed Amazon to get an idea of other Lego things he’d like to have. Of course, they call Wish Lists “WISH lists” for a reason, right? So of course Little Prince’s wish list is chock full of lots of things to wish for. < insert obvious Amazon links now. > ; )

Oh boys and their big dreams! = p Little Prince won’t get all of that for Christmas… but we can probably add to it a little bit. I definitely do want to get more Legos, though. It’s something that all three kids are having fun playing with TOGETHER. “Together” is always good!!