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One of the best pieces of advice we got when our children were little was not to compare them with other children and not to compare ourselves to other parents.  There are so many milestones ripe for comparison when you have babies. Is he crawling or standing yet? How tall is she? How much does he eat? How much does she weigh? Do you nurse or bottle feed? Do you leave him in day care? Do you read to her every night? Is he in a play group? My husband remembers being grilled at the park like this by an absolute stranger (perhaps stranger than most). The woman sized up the child my husband was babysitting, then began comparing her to her own. "When did your baby start walking? Speaking? Eating solid foods?" My husband guessed at answers he didn't know exactly, and she scoffed and gloated every time her baby won this pointless competition. "Nine months? Mine was seven." Each time Tom's baby "won," she said he must not be corr...

The mother of two of my closest friends in high school passed away unexpectedly a few weeks ago. As I have thought about her these past few days, I remember three things in particular: her smile, her laugh, and her strength. She was a tough cookie!  They were a Navy family, and one of the ways she showed strength was by holding tightly to her children and marriage as they moved from country to country to country. Now that my own family has moved from country to country to country--and back again--I know what that feels like. It ain't easy. Her daughter, my friend, is a tough cookie, too. This past year, she faced a living nightmare as her youngest girl contracted a life-threatening infection. She was med-evac'ed to a hospital and spent 140 days there--nearly five months. My friend stayed with her daughter day after day, praying for her, encouraging her and holding out hope as her child went through a coma; a tracheostomy; several close calls; and relearning to s...

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One of the best things about children's picture books is their illustrations, and when What a Bragger!  by Lee Ann Mancini arrived in the mail, its artwork certainly caught my eye! Dan Sharp's under-the-sea images are creative, colorful, whimsical. I wondered if the book's text would hold up to the lovely outside cover, but Mancini's story is engaging, relevant and well-told. In this book in the "Adventures of the Sea Kids" series, Melissa the blowfish starts bragging about things she supposedly has at home. However, she is suspected very quickly of lying. How the situation is resolved in the end is realistic and compassionate, and subtly teaches little listeners a way to handle this part of growing up. I think children would love this book. It has cute characters and a theme that they can both relate to and learn from. I also love the attention to detail in the book. Sharp's artwork includes more than a dozen icthus fish, hidden on the pages for r...

Want to win a copy of How to Enjoy Reading Your Bible by Keith Ferrin? Leave a comment below sharing a Bible verse that inspires you OR comment with a thought about Bible study and what you hope this book might do for you. I plan to draw a winner after midnight (PST) August 5th. Drawing open to anyone in the USA, except where legal restrictions disallow it. Happy commenting! :)

I grew up in church and don't remember an age where I wasn't either reading the Bible or having it read to me. So, I'll admit that there was a part of me that wondered about the title of this book. If I don't enjoy reading my Bible (I do, but that's a hypothetical "if") after this many years, how is this little ten-dollar paperback going to make a difference? I underestimated it. Just as the title says, this book contains ten tips (in ten chapters, followed by study guide sections) to enjoy Bible reading. Ferrin looks at the mental, spiritual and physical approach we take to Bible reading and how our routines are often erroneous. By changing our perceptions and habits, our lives can be changed. That sounds a bit exaggerated, I realize, but it's true. How we look at the Bible, how we make time in our schedule for the Bible, how we study the Bible. . . . these are all worth a second look. I don't want to give away too many of his th...

So, here is my good news for today. . . My husband just brought me 22 roses to celebrate 22 years of marriage today! (And my children each brought me a rose as well!) God is good. Enjoy your weekend!