One Year Later: 10 Positive Things About Staying Home

One year ago today our family started social distancing and staying home. 

We made the call early, before it was required, because I was expecting Emily and nobody knew if or how Covid could impact a developing baby. It was hard. In fact due to this choice we lost some of the few Pennsylvania friends we had made since our move. 

We have now spent 365 days in which we have zero social interactions except with our closed circle of people (that included my mom, our next door neighbor family, and a single soldier). 

No movies, no museums, no parties, no in-person-church, no in-person-grocery shopping, no play-dates, and no trips out of state to see family.

And it was absolutely worth it. 

I know that the pandemic has been hard and awful. But I don't want to write off an entire year of my life as bad. So I am writing out 10 positive things that happened for our family while we made the choice to social distance so that in years to come I can look back and remember all the positive things that came from spending a year at home together.

1. We slowed life WAY down by cutting out all the unnecessary stuff that we have allowed to fill our calendars in the past.
2. We read a TON of books together as a family.
3. We taught the kids about boundaries.
4. We did a great job of maintaining those boundaries even when it wasn't easy or fun.
5. We hiked a minimum of 2 miles almost every single weekend... with three and then four small children! 
6. We talked about loving like Jesus by doing the hard things to protect others (like their great grandmother) from illness.
7. We did a lot of science experiments with the kids and got to see how they think and solve problems. I can say that 100% would not have been able to squeeze that in prior to the shut downs.
8. We read a TON of books together as a family, discussed them, and inspired the kids to write their own. 
9. We talked a LOT about rules and authority with the kids when it came to government imposed limits and masks. 
10. We spent a lot of time in prayer together as a family. We prayed for friends, family, leaders, scientists, and medial staff. 

I notice that all of those sentences started with "we". Our family spent the last 365 days together. So yes, the pandemic is incredibly hard. 

Having a baby during a global pandemic was one of the most challenging things I have ever faced. Wearing a mask during a C-Section was awful y'all! The uncertainty during the postpartum phase was REALLY HARD.

Being stuck at home was sometimes boring... but we did it. 

I am proud that we made the choice to stay at home and to wear a mask when we go outdoors.  

We will continue to make those choices until vaccines are readily available and the community at large can be safe. 

We will do that because we want to be like Jesus.

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. 

According to the website the goal of this particular day of awareness is to "Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality."

In light of that, I thought I would share my favorite books about women who have greatly impacted the world. Keep in mind that I am a Christian so almost all of the books come from that perspective.

Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God
by Shirley Ray Redmond

First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped the Presidents
by Bonnie Angelo

Reformation Women: Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity's Rebirth
by Rebecca VanDoodewaard

First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies 

by Kate Andersen Brower

The One Year Women in Christian History Devotional: Daily Inspirations from God's Work in the Lives of Women 

by Randy Petersen 

Great Women in Christian History: 37 Women Who Changed Their World 

by A. Kenneth Curtis

Title Tuesday: Shattered Vows

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Good morning! Every once in a while I share book reviews geared towards women trying to recovery from a husband's (physical/emotional/cyber) infidelity. These books will not interest most people, so if you are one of my regular #Title Tuesday readers and you aren't interested in this topic, I promise I will be back to my regular reviews/cartoons next week.

Alright, those of you that are still reading, I want to share with you about Debra Laaser's book, Shattered Vows. For anyone that has had their marriage ravaged by infidelity, you know that it is a devastating blow. It can take months to years to heal from a single affair, longer if their are repeat offenses or continued lying.

In the case of Debra Laaser, her marriage was rocked by the discovery of her husband's multiple sexual betrayals. Her husband lost his job and they entered a very difficult season of recovery and trust rebuilding. Now, they travel together all over the globe and tell other couples their story. They are an incredible example of the redemptive nature of Jesus Christ in a marriage.

I won't lie to you, some of this book is difficult to read. The concept of dealing with your own issues and pain can be frustrating when your heart has been broken by your spouse. However, there was one particular paragraph from Laaser's book that made me keep reading and pushing forward, On page 67 Debra writes,

The feelings won't just go away over time. Not thinking about your husband's sinful decisions won't make them magically disappear. Quickly forgiving your husband and "moving on" will only bury your feelings of anger and sadness- only to have them seep out at unexpected times down the road. The better choice is to go to any lengths to get the support you deserve so you can heal and thrive, not just survive.

This, to me, summarizes the entire book. Recovery from (physical/emotional/cyber) infidelity is incredibly hard and Debra Laaser walks the reader through the first steps with incredible grace.

In Shattered Vows, Debra tackles tough topics like:
-does marital sex prevent pornography use?
--sexually transmitted diseases
-the drip disclosure method
-healthy grieving
-slips and relapses
-and a whole lot more

Debra is honest, concise, and doesn't pander to the "the wife needs to stay in her lane" junk that is often passed around in moral/sexual purity discussion. She does delve a bit into the idea of "codependency", which I don't believe is a prevalent as many psychologists and counselors seem to think. However, that withstanding, this book is excellent and I strongly recommend it to anyone deal with marital (physical/emotional/cyber) infidelity. Overall I give Debra Laaser's book Shattered Vows a solid A+, and it is the first book I recommend to women dealing with marital infidelity.

Title Tuesday: The Memory House

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Today I am sharing Rachel Hauck's newest book The Memory House. I want to start this review by saying that I desperately wanted to like this book. Parts of The Memory House is set in Waco, Texas, a place that I spent a fair amount of time in growing up. The delight of a book being set in my old stomping grounds was quickly squashed however when the author referred to a storm in Waco as a "south Texas storm" on page 95 of the book. Let me set the record straight. Waco is not a south Texas town. It is a town located on I35 in the north of central Texas. Any true Texas reading this book will notice that first thing.

From there my disappointment with this book just grew.

The Memory House tells the story of a New York City cop Beck and her love interest Bruno in quipy little vinyets while simultaneously telling the story of the man and woman who left Beck a house, Everleigh and Don. The back story is that Beck is pregnant and hiding it from everyone when Everleigh dies leaving The Memory House to Beck. Beck literally runs away to Florida to stay in the memory house for a few weeks and falls in love with her childhood friend Bruno, who is not the father of her baby. In a tidy turn of events the father of the baby (and his long suffering wife) come to Florida to ask Beck to let them raise the baby as her parents. All of this is happening while the reader is bombarded with choppy flashbacks to tell the story of how Everleigh and Don got together. In the end, everyone ends up happy.

The pros of The Memory House? There really aren't very many.

The cons of The Memory House?

• A woman has sex with a (married) man in a supply closet at a bar and gets pregnant... and it all magically works out.
• Beck runs away from her problems.
• Her family seems to have no issue with the fact that she hid a pregnancy from her family while living with them.
• Bruno and his mom have a seemingly good relationship that we later find out belongs on a television reality show.
• Bruno has some serious temper issues that are never really addressed in the book.
• Everleigh leaves her mother's home and doesn't even have the courage to tell her face to face
• Don is all but engaged to another woman when he is dating (and kissing) Everleigh

As if this list isn't enough taking a look at the theology of the book is enough to make your head hurt. This book is billed as a contemporary Christian romance. The only thing "Christian" about this book is the fact that they mention God. But lets be honest, even demons believe in God (James 2:19). It is also slightly worshipful of Everliegh and leans heavily towards the idea that it is HER rather than God that is orchestrating the life events. There is also the odd mentions of is it an angel talking to Beck or God? Don't even get me started on the fact that the author talks like Everleigh became an angel (which is as we all know completely incorrect theology).

Overall, I give this book a C- rating. If I had a lower rating, I would use that. This book is like a Hallmark movie and a soap opera had a baby. It seems to me that the author threw a few Christian phrases into the book so it could go into the Christian fiction market. At best it is cultural Christianity, at worst it is imitating Christianity to mislead people. Neither one warrants more than a C- from me.

Title Tuesday: Becoming Gertrude

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Today I am sharing my thoughts on Becoming Gertrude by Janice Peterson. Let me start by saying that I wanted to like this book from the beginning. It is from NavPress and that automatically makes it interesting to me.

There were a lot of things in this book that I really liked. My absolute favorite thing was her mentioning of the fact that "spiritual mentor-ship" gives the impression that there is some kind of hierarchy in the Christian faith when in fact we are all equal at the foot of the cross. She recommends instead "spiritual friendships" where you share one another's burdens and joys in Christ. That is awesome and I have never seen that in a Christian book before!

However...

As the author tells several stories about her interactions with various friends I came to realize that she has absolutely no problem with women being friends with men that are not their husbands. These are not casual friendships either. These are the kind with inside jokes and meeting together for extended periods of time, confiding and sharing intimate life details. While this author may have had the maturity to keep her heart in check I am willing to bet 75% of her target audience won't have the same discipline. Due to that fact alone, I cannot in good conscience give this book anything higher than a C- and I cannot recommend it to fellow believers.

Title Tuesday: Audio Book Sale!

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Today is a little different on Title Tuesday. I love helping people find good books to read. Helping them to do it at a great price is even better. In the past I have written about how to get audiobooks for free, how to keep track of your reading list, and even how to make time to read when you are a busy mom.

But today I want to share a special deal with you, as I do from time to time. I do not benefit from this in any way. I don't get a portion of your purchase, nothing. I originally had a different post up for today, but this deal was SO good I just had to change my plan. (Don't worry my other review will go up next week instead!)

Christian Audio is my FAVORITE place to purchase audio books and they are having a massive sale right now. Brand new audio books are available for just $4.99! But this deal ends on Wednesday November 21, 2018 so make sure you do it soon so that you don't forget. Click here to see ALL of the title included in this sale.

I wont lie... my digital library has expanded... again.

I am just dying to read Susie the biography of Charles Spurgeon's wife!

Wife to Wife Wednesday: Getting Out of the Rut

Good morning! 

Welcome to Wife to Wife Wednesday, the day that we discuss any and all issues relating to marriage. As I said in my series introduction a few weeks ago, sex is a super important part of marriage. It is an incredible gift that can be amazing... but it can also be devastating when it doesn't go well. We have talked about when Body Image impacts your sex-life and where Christians can purchase lingerie without feeling skeevy. (Yes, I said skeevy, deal with it.)

Today I want to talk about something that may make a few readers uncomfortable and it is, an intimacy app for married couples. It is designed to help get married couple out of a rut in the bedroom. This app is called Ultimate Intimacy and it is AMAZING. But, this isn't your usual sex app. As it says on the website,

Ultimate Intimacy is the product of two Christian couples on a mission to strengthen marriages by making lovemaking fun and deepening couples’ connection and intimacy.

There isn’t anything that is gross or unseemly.

You can edit your preferences in the settings. This includes things like foreplay, oral actions, and duration of each action.

The Ultimate Intimacy app allows for the users to enter their names so the instructions say “Morgan does this…” rather than being generic. You can also set a password for the app if you have older children that often use your phone. :)

There are a TON of different sexual positions and recommendation to try and the best part is that these are done with figures, not real life people. There won’t be any concern over seeing something inappropriate or that could trigger moral purity issues for a spouse.

There are a list of topics to discuss so that the intimacy isn’t just sexual, but really getting to know your spouse. There are links to articles, resources, and gifts to help build up your marriage.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend the Ultimate Intimacy app. It is a fun way to keep the spark burning in your marriage in a God honoring way. You can download the app here for Android and here for Apple.

I should also mention that I am not an affiliate of this website.
I don't get anything from recommending it.

We tried it and enjoyed it.
I thought there might be other spouses out there that would enjoy this neat resource.

Title Tuesday: Rethinking Sexuality

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Today, I want to talk about sex.

Wait! It is Title Tuesday. Why are we talking about sex?!?

The answer is, sex permeates our culture and with good reason. God gave us sex to be an awesome experience between a man and woman in the bounds of holy matrimony.  Sex and sensual imagery is all over our society, but not in the way that God designed it. It is assaulting our minds on billboards, oozing into our homes via television, and commandeering the screens on our computers. 

Because of the prevalence of rape, infidelity, homosexuality, transgenderism, pornography, and just plain lust, sex is a topic that the Christian church should be addressing regularly, and yet in most churches it is almost never addressed. 

That is why I want to tell you about Dr. Juli Slattery's newest book, Rethinking Sexuality. Dr. Slattery takes a hard stance on sexual brokenness and the effect that it has on a believer's life. This book is specifically geared towards Bible-believing Christians. On page 8 of Rethinking Sexuality Slattery states, 

The focus has been on compelling teenagers to stay virgins and exposing the many ways that sexuality translates into sin. Because we tend to address sexuality with this problem-solving approach, we divide people into categories of virgins and sinners, sexually whole and sexually broken. If you found yourself in the wrong category, church was the last place that you wanted to seek help. 

This resonates SO MUCH with me and this is just from the first chapter! 

Slattery spends the rest of the book explaining that sexual discipleship should be prevalent in every church congregation. Se also does a fabulous job of explaining exactly how our sexuality interfaces with our theology and our beliefs about God. This book is not written for one gender or another. Instead this book is designed to help bring light into the shadowy places that we as Christians think that God should not be. (As if He doesn't already know about it????) Slattery forces the readers to change their way of thinking about sexuality to help Christian better model sacred sexuality rather than a shame filled secret to be hidden away.

Overall, I give Rethinking Sexuality a solid A+. I think this book is something that literally every Christian should read. It doesn't matter if you are single, newly married, or celebrating your golden anniversary. This book has tools and resources to help you to model your sexuality after the inventor of sexuality and to stand firm in the face of society's pressure to conform to worldly sexuality. 

This book becomes available next week, July 24th. but you can pre-order it on Amazon here, and I totally recommend doing that! 

Title Tuesday: Live in the Bible

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Thus morning on Title Tuesday I want to talk about something that is often overlooked in Christian communities. 

Reading is a wonderful pastime especially when you are reading personal development books and books that help encourage your walk with God. 

But, there is a caveat to that statement... 

You should only be reading those books if you are ALSO reading the Bible. A good rule of thumb is that if you want to spend an hour reading fiction then you need to spend an hour in the word of God first. I say to read the Bible first to ensure that you actually do the Bible reading. If you allow yourself to read the fiction or self development first and something comes up, it is east to brush off the Bible reading. I say this not to discourage people from reading secular or fictional texts but rather to encourage them to draw closer to God before doing anything else. 

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "Visit many books, but live in the Bible." Nothing should be more important than spending time in the word of God every single day, even a really good book.

How do you make reading scripture a priority in your daily life? 

Title Tuesday: Christian Audio Book Sale!

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Today's Title Tuesday is super special! 

Christian Audio is a free app (IOS and Android friendly) that allows you to listen to Christian audio-books. I love this company because it gives out a free audio-book once a month. 

But, right now Christian Audio is having their twice a year sale which means that almost all books on the website are available for just $7.49! 

I won't lie, I bought several that i just can't wait to review on Title Tuesday in the coming weeks and months including:

The Jesus Storybook Bible
The Screwtape Letters
Liturgy of the Ordinary
Adopted for Life 

...and many more!

I had to share this because reading can be an expensive pastime if you aren't careful, so I am always on the lookout for a good deal. This deal will be going on until Saturday so be sure to check it out and stock up on great audio-books for your summer road trips! 

Scripture Saturday: Titus 2:3-5

Do you have those things that just nag at you? Things that really irk you? 

I have recently found that one of my greatest irritants is Christian women. 

Wait... What? 

Isn't this blog all about biblical womanhood?

Yes, and I want to clarify that there is a HUGE difference between being just a Christian woman and living out biblical womanhood. 

If you are a woman and you take Christ as your Lord and savior, then you are a Christian woman. That is it. But living out biblical womanhood takes work and effort. One of the best descriptions of biblical womanhood can be found in Titus 2:3-5 which says,  

"...the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."

That makes it pretty clear doesn't it? 

So here is the part that gets me... 

WHERE ARE THESE WOMEN? 

I see SO many Christian women being bogged down by the daily grid that they are completely out of the battlefield. They are failing to practice these things much less teach them to other women. These women are struggling with holding it all together when God has called us to thrive and pursue Him. I think that is due in large part to the abdication of older women from their roles as teachers. 

Now, please hear me, I am not saying OLD WOMEN are failing. I am saying if you are further along in your spiritual journey than another person, YOU are the older woman, even if you are 14 years old. 

So this is where I challenge you and myself. 

We as the body of Christ need to do better.

Be the one to reach out your hand and say I am here. Let the struggling women know that they are not alone. You can do that in two ways, physically and spiritually.  

Physically, you can be the person to:

volunteer to babysit her children (for free!)
volunteer to help her catch up on housework

volunteer to host her family in your home for a meal

Spiritually you can be the person to drive the conversation toward God by: 

asking about her time in the word

asking how you can pray for them, 

asking how God is working in her life right now 

These are so simple, and yet we have entire congregations filled with women that are so overwhelmed by everyday life that they aren't in the battle for God's kingdom. 

We should be outraged by that!  

I for one refuse to sit on the sideline. I want to see godly women living out biblical womanhood every single day. I want Titus 2 women working for God's glory the way that HE called us to. 

So join me. 

Think about the women in your church, Bible study, mommy group, or office. Is there someone there that you can reach out to? 

If so, DO IT. 

If not, look again. I bet they are there.