Hetherington Happenings

For the love of reading

I can't begin to express to you how overjoyed I am that my boys like love to read. Not that neither is proficient in reading on their own, but either child can often be found sitting by one of our many bookcases, surrounded by a pile of scattered books. 

My dilema is that the "pile of scattered books" drives me nuts! I want the books to be standing straight and tall like a library; the boys toss them on the floor and sometimes they manage to get them on the shelfs....upside down, backwards, sideways.  So to find some middle ground I found this great idea on another blog, Raising Olives, for creating personal books shelves.  This amazing lady (whom I do not know, but just like her blog) posted step-by-step instructions and photos on her blog if you want to do it yourself.

The shelves weren't too difficult and I had intended to do them all by myself. But my dearest hubby like projects. Alot. And he is a perfectionist, of the best kind. So I gave in and let him take over because I knew he'd do it much faster than me, and he'd get it right the first time.

Mikhal, I actually caught reading, and this was just too good of a pose for me not to take a photo! He was very excited to pick out his favorite books from the other cases and place them here on his own personal shelf.

Max is excited that he can now read a book without getting out of bed. And yes, of course he is whistling and is reading Star Wars at the same time.

The Miracle of Mercy Land Book Review

I know I'm finally getting a post up and you maybe thinking you want to see a personal entry and not a book review...well, this is on a deadline to be posted by Friday.  I have a draft of a few other posts, and am just getting photos organized and transferred...soon, I promise!

"The Miracle of Mercy Land" is a novel by author River Jordan, the first I've read of any of her books. The story follows Mercy Land, a female assistant to a newspaper editor in rural Alabama during the 1930's.  Mercy is a backwoods, small-town girl who found her passion in the newsroom, and in the heart of her editor, Doc.  Mercy recives a call from Doc one evening that changes both of their lives, reaching even unto everyone whom she knows in her small town of Bay City, yet she must keep it all whispered in the corners of heart alone.  The secret journey they follow is one of mystery and romance, good and evil.

Ok, now for my personal thoughts on the book (spoiler ahead...): I enjoyed reading this book while lying on the white sands of Maui...ok, really, how could it not be enjoyable being on the beach in Hawaii.  This book is not what I expected. While I would agree it is fictional romance, personally I'd label it science fiction romance. The plot of the story revolves around an event that I am skeptical could actually happen, and Sci-fi / unexplainable mystery is just not my thing when it comes to romance. The story is not "Lord of the Rings" or "Narnia" or "Star Wars" ; it is modern day (ok, 1930) America, and the plot just didn't work for me. I think I'd like to read another book by this author to determine if this is her style, or if it was just this book that wasn't my thing.

I didn't find the book to fall under the category of "Christian", or even faith-based. It doesn't really mention God, well, kinda off-handedly I guess it does. The story mentions a bit about prayer in a manner that most people do:  that one doesn't even have to believe in God to pray any more, and thats the way I feel this book approached it. And thats ok if the intended audience is the Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble marketplace. However, I was under the impression the target audience for this book was Christians, and I found no spiritual encouragement, no theological insight, and no doctrine stated or alluded too. Thus I'd have to say it was just another nice book, with good morals and an expectedly happy ending. This book was provided to me for review by Waterbrook Multnomah. You can purchase a copy at Amazon.com, or post a comment and I'll send you my copy.

Shades of Morning Book Review



Shades of Morning

Author: Marlo Schalesky

Believe it or not, I’ve actually managed to read a few books in the midst of moving, swim lessons and trying my best to stay outdoors while the sunshines. I recently read "Shades of Morning" by Marlo Schalesky, since the book was provided to me for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. 

This fiction novel follows Marnie Wittier on a journey back into her past following the death of her sister, and the arrival of her nephew, a special needs child. It’s part mystery, part romance. I enjoyed the story as Marnies past merged with her future and she must decide whether God is big enough to trust with her life and heal her hurts. I found myself relating well to the roller-coaster emotions of raising a special needs child: the behaviors and frustrations that make you want to scream followed by the wonder and innocence of such childlike faith & love being offered unconditionally.  Now, I don’t want to spoil the ending so I won’t say too much, but being the parent of a special needs child, I didn’t care for the way the story is wrapped up. And I found myself sometimes confused and having to re-read a paragraph to get whether I was reading about Marnies past or her present. Other than that, it’s a nice pool side read.  The author has other books entitled, "Beyond the Night" and "Tomorrow Never Comes" which appear to be of the same genre and following some of the characters found in this novel.

I don’t have any giveaways for this book because I knew my life would be loco with the move, but you can pick up a copy on WaterBrook Multnomah’s website (http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601420251) .

Radical: Taking Back your faith from the American Dream

The latest book I'm reading is Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt.

I am so into this book and want to get beyond chapter 5 but time constraints - i.e., two children and a husband -- have prevented my efforts. So let me share a few quick thoughts with you that I have been pondering the past few days.

First, to make certain you are following my train of thought, let me share the authors use of the term "the American Dream" as coined by James Truslow Adams: "a dream...in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are."

The author, David Platt, states: "while the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God."

He goes on to state, "In direct contradiction to the American dream, God actually delights in exalting our inability. He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him. In the process he powerfully demonstrates his ability to provide everything his people need in ways they could never have mustered up or imagined. And in the end, he makes much of his own name."

Wow. 

I have been absorbing those statements over the past week. They sum up my feelings all too well. I am absolutely in a situation where I am face to face with my need of God. Daily. I feel so inadequate - - words can't begin to express. I never imagined how overwhelming, how physically and utterly emotionally draining it could be to raise a child with special needs.

Now, read on as the author says, "This is how God works. He puts his people in positions where they are desperate for his power, and then he shows his provision in ways that display his greatness."

I'm not looking for your sympathy (altho your prayers are always appreciated). I have reached the edge of the cliff...the end of my rope...and I am desperate for the power of God to provide for me to have the ability to care for my son.

Yet as I read these statements by David Platt, I wonder as much as they apply to me, it is to an even greater degree a promise of hope for my precious son. Whatever becomes of Max in the future is only going to happen because of the power of God in him and through him.

I can't wait to keep reading to the end of this book. I'll be back to blog more on this book in another post.

In the meantime, WaterBrook Multnomah was giving away free copies (a limited number of them). You can request a free copy of The Radical Question by going to www.WaterBrookMultnomah.com/RadicalQuestion

And if that giveaway has ended, leave a comment on my blog and I'll have a drawing to give away a copy next Friday, May 14.

The Bridegrooms book review

The Bridegrooms, by Allison Pittman

Set in the late 1800’s in Ohio, a single father who is a doctor, brings an ill patient into his home where chaos and romance blossom for his four young adult daughters. A little romance, a little mystery mingled together.

Easy reading if you’re looking for something mindless, yet wholesome, add this to your poolside-summer reading list. If you’re a Jane Austen lover, as I am, you’ll be a bit disappointed with this romance. Okay, really disappointed. The author had some great storylines, that I feel led to simple, undeveloped, uninteresting outcomes.

That said, This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, and I always am up for the challenge.  You can pick one up yourself on Amazon or CBD,  or just post a comment on my blog between now and Saturday, April 24th.

This Little Prayer book winner

Okay, I love blogging...but apparently I'm not as tech savvy as I like to think I am!  I still can't get a random number generator to imbed onto my post. Arrrrghgggh!

So once again, here is what I did. I went to random number generator and did a widget from 1 - 4 and the random number was 3. Brenda!

I'm trying to insert it here to show you

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 3 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

but it looks kinda funky and not so cool like it does on other blogs.

Any ideas? Anyone?

This Little Prayer of Mine book review

Summary:

This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano, helps children learn to be thankful for everyday joys and to have hope for the future. Children learn the importance of beginning a relationship with God by communicating with Him through their own simple prayers. Simple childish prayers, but oh so sweet, to the ears of God!

What I thought:

I’m always on the hunt for kids books that will captivate their attention, while teaching teach them something positive, and this is one of those books my kids enjoyed. Looking for a cute bedtime book for your kids, this will be a fun addition to your library. The artwork is cute, the thoughts simple, and the reading easy - - just the kind of book we like to read before bed.  This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, and I was quite happy to do so!

You can pick one up yourself at Random House  or post a comment on my blog between now and Saturday, April 10th.  I'll let you know the winner on Sunday, April 12th.

Book drawing winner

Ok, I've never embedded a random # widget on my page so this is exciting and new for me!  Let's hope it works. 

Here's to the 4 loyal readers who left a comment.

And the winner was comment #2  David....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2

Timestamp: 2010-03-20 21:07:36 UTC

ok, i tried to embed this about 10 times, but I don't understand why the result is not showing up in the result box so you're gonna have to trust me that I did this honestly and fairly. I gotta do this more often to get it figured out.

Any advice? Please comment again and let me know.

Start Here book review

I finished reading another book last week, this one entitled, "Start Here: Doing hard things right where you are"  by Alex & Brett Harris

Here's the gist of the book:

“Doing hard things is the most satisfying, thrilling way to live some of the best years of our lives.”  So begins this challenging little book written by two college-age brothers to an audience of teens as it explores topics and feed back they received from their first book, Do The Hard Things. 

This book encourages and inspires teens to keep on being faithful and making hard choices - - take on social issues; raise funds for local and global needs; stand up and be a voice in their schools. Instead of viewing the teen years as the “goof off” years, the authors challenge teens to look beyond themselves to their family, community and the world, and do something big, something hard, something only they can dream. A teenager can make an incredible difference in this world. Check out the authors website at TheRebelution.com to learn more about the book and what it means to be a Rebelutionary.

Here's what I thought:

Don’t let the fact that college kids wrote it, or that their audience is teenagers, make you walk away from this book.  I found this book (which was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group) inspiring to me as a mom, well out of my teenage years (enough said).  Doing the hard thing may be starting a non-profit organization, it may be organizing a fundraiser for awareness of a cause, it may be taking a stand against abortion or for abstinence. But that’s not where it starts.“Being disciplined and organized in how we use our time is one of those important small hard things that allows us to do some of the bigger hard thing God’s given us to do.”

Case in point:  it may be doing the laundry when I’d rather be blogging (um, I've done 5 loads this weekend); taking out the trash when I’d rather be reading a book; fixing dinner from scratch when I’d rather be out with the girls; cooking a meal for a friend instead of watching Oprah; exercising when I’d rather be sleeping.

Start Here is just that....starting here. In my home. With my children. In their school. In my community. Its not necessarily water for Africa or shoes for Siberia.

Starting here is right where God wants me to be in this moment. In His word each morning. Seeking Him and finding hope and joy for each new day.

Recommendation:

If you are a teen, you work with teens, or know a teen - - get this book!  It’s an easy read with a hard message that will challenge your life in a very positive way.

And guess what, I just happen to have a copy that I will send you for free if you leave a comment about this book on my blog between now and Friday March 19th.

So what are you waiting for Start Here...comment now :)

Hear No Evil book review

So I read this new book, Hear No Evil, by Matthew Paul Turner. Never read anything by him, but thought why not since this book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. 

The first half of the book had me laughing, sometimes out loud, because I could relate to him - - having myself come from an Independent Bible Baptist Church, grounded in fundamentalism (i.e., legalism). If you’ve ever been to one as a visitor, a member or are a recovering IBBC member, then you’ll understand the humor in this book. If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, then you’ll read this book and think, “wow! those people are in a cult, how could they swallow that stuff”; this book is not for you.

The author is involved in the Christian music scene and writes from a purported insiders view. Christian rock music was not allowed in my church, or my house, when I was growing up. It was quite heretical to use the words christian and rock music in the same sentence.  My dad consider Amy Grant the devils right hand gal, and Sandy Patty was just “fatty Patty”, and Petra...whew, now they were about as close to satanic music as you could get.  I connected with the author and got his dry humor; I shared his experience with christian rock music, the KJV Bible, the satanic woes of alcohol and movies, hellfire and brimstone halloweens, altar calls and being sheltered. Some of the authors recollections are laugh-out-loud funny.

In my opinion, about two-thirds of the way through the book the authors views changed from mine.  He found the grace and freedom that I did in Romans 14, but my opinion of the rest of the book, is that this author pushes that grace which Romans 6:1-2 warns us not to do.

In particular I disagree with his sarcasm of abstinence before marriage. I do not care for the off-handed, lackadaisical manner in which he describes he and his friends “experimenting” with sex, but not having intercourse, so its ok and not sin (according to the author). And why bring up the “M” word if you are not going to deal with it. Seems to me the author is just glorifying the situations -- why not leave that to the TV sitcoms.

Sure the christian music industry is not perfect. Neither is the IBBC, nor any other denomination for that matter.  Still, I do have friends in the music business in Nashville and their lifestyle does not condone homosexuality and/or sex outside of marriage.

Bottom line, I enjoyed pages 1-120, but pages 120-231 left me deciding this is NOT a book I would recommend to anyone. I’ll send my copy to my brother to review; if you want a copy, save the money and check your local library, or go purchase it at http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400074723