The Christmas Dog

In the book "The Christmas Dog" by Melody Carlson, a dirty, uncared for mutt shows up on the doorstep of Betty Kowalski's house, and completely changes her views and her Christmas!
 I generally don't enjoy the kind of 'mushy' stories that tend to come out at Christmas time, they tend to get a little 'corny'. However Carlson was able to capture the emotion in the story without taking it too far. Which meant that although the story was an emotional one, it didn't cross that line into becoming too mushy!
At times i would have liked to have seen a little more depth to some of the characters and their connection in the book, (I.e; Avery's mother, or a little more information/interaction with Jack) however that is about the only criticism i can give this book. It was well written, great story line, and it had a message that was easy to read without becoming "preachy" This is a book that I think even my Non-religious friends would enjoy!
I would totally recommend this to friends and family (Plus its short enough that i was able to read it together with my 7 yr old son, {Who loves dog stories, lol} and he really enjoyed it as well!) Would be a great family story to read through the holidays!!

*Available now at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

The Unfinished Gift

I LOVED this book, right from the first page Dan Walsh was able to bring you deeply into the story and keep you there! The story is about a little boy named Patrick who after a series of heartbreaking events ends up having to stay at the home of his estranged Grandfather.  After many mishaps and mistakes we see a true relationship begin to form.
This was one of those books that I couldn't put down until I finished it. Walsh's book was well written and heart warming, perfect for the holiday season! I honestly have no criticisms of this book, this is one that I will be recommending to my friends and family as one of the 'must have' holiday books this year!


* Available now at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group!

An Amish Christmas

I got this book on Friday and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! I had prepared myself for a pretty tame and slow moving novel, but this book is anything but! I love  that each 'book' within the book focuses on a different Character, but is still connected to the other books. The books basically focus on the lives of three Amish women and their hopes, struggles and hurts. One of the things that i really appreciated about the book was that when you read 'outside' your denomination, the authors tend to get a little preachy with why their way is the 'best' way. This book had absolutely None of that in it! They were informative without that 'prideful' aspect you tend to get from some authors!
The books were very well written and moved at a nice pace, I loved hearing about some of the different traditions within the old order Amish. Also I absolutely LOVED that there are Old order Amish recipes at the back of the book! I can't wait to sit down and try them!

Healing Sands

In the book "Healing sands" by Nancy Rue and Stephen Arterburn  we are introduced to Ryan Coe a photojournalist who's job has now turned into a mundane work of shooting minor stories. That is until she's at a crime scene getting ready to shoot some photo's and see's her son right in the middle of it!
I really enjoyed this book, its one of those ones that once you pick it up you can't put it down again till you're finished! The characters in the story we very well thought out and authentic, and I found the entire book to be very well written and interesting! This is definitely one of those books that I'll be recommending to friends and family!

Graf Martin

So i've joined a Blog Tour with Graf martin, and they sent me some excerpts of a few books to post until i post my review. So i wanted to share them with you! (I'm very excited about reading these!!)

The Christmas Dog:


http://www.revellbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780800718817.pdf

The Unfinished Gift:
http://www.revellbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780800719241.pdf

 Finding Christmas:

http://www.revellbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780800719395.pdf

Faith, Hope, Love

Ok, this is the last of the paintings that i completed for Christmas! The pictures look orange but are really a deep red in person.
The verse on the main one is from 1 Corinthians 13:13 "But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Close up of the right side

Close up of the left

Fearfully and wonderfully made!

My second painting, that I just finished this evening! This one was made for my nieces, and has the verse from Psalm 139:14 on it!

Love is:

This is the newest painting, and hopefully a first in a series of paintings! I absolutely without a doubt love this one. The verse at the top is from 1st Corinthians 13:4+7.

The Liturgical year

I was a little disappointed with this book,  when i requested it I imagined it would give me a bit of historic background, look at the practices. And while it does give  one, i was really hoping it would go deeper. Plus It was a fair bit more difficult to understand than i thought it would be. The book reads a lot more like a text book, which in its own sense is fine, but when i read something i tend to want more of a flow to what i'm reading. It is however well written and Chittister definitely has here info down pat.
One other thing that confused me was I'm not sure if what i read was Catholic/Lutheran/ etc... it was really hard to pin down what denomination this book was aimed at. So it was informative, but i would have liked a bit more information wise, and well written but didn't quite have the flow that i really like. All in all, i probably wouldn't reccommend this book to my friends, I just didn't enjoy it very much!

Encouraging Words!

Psalm 103:8-13(NIV)

 ⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
       slow to anger, abounding in love.

 ⁹ He will not always accuse,
       nor will he harbour his anger forever;

 ¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
       or repay us according to our iniquities.

 ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
       so great is his love for those who fear him;

 ¹² as far as the east is from the west,
       so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
       so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+103%3A8-13&version=NIV 

Graf martin Review

A while back Graf martin sent a christmas package (Including a new testament book, invitation card, and 30 free days of an online study bible). I have to say i was really impressed! The whole presentation of the package was really classy (a white and gold theme), and very appropriate in a church setting. I really thought that the New Testament, paired with the study bible online was a Fantastic feature, and a great evangelism tool!