I realized today that it’s been a long time since I last had a midweek mix-up and perhaps it’s getting about time for another! (For one thing, my “links to share” folder is getting very full!)
We’ve been having beautiful weather the past couple days—rain, that is slowly working at bringing our side of the country back to life after the 1 ½-year drought we’ve just had. Perfect weather for reading…
Want a quick and easy, but fairly filling soup? This rice and tomato soup recipe is a great choice—and one our family loves!
A few months ago, a friend of mine reminded me of the attempted recipe video series I started about two years ago (in total, I made three videos). Since then, I’ve learned a little more about how I do things, and creating a recipe video every week is not one of those things I can continue very long.
New year.
What’s your new year looking like so far? For me, it’s looking busy. The holidays always bring more traffic through the motel and campground where I work, and since I’m in the southern hemisphere we have summer right now, too—which means extra busy!
Being an eight year old is a wonderful time of life. Not quite a grown-up, not quite a full child anymore, I believe all eight year olds need to have great books to accompany their lives. The reason I’ve chosen to share some books for eight-year-olds is simple. By this time, they’re pretty much done with all the easy readers, ready for something a little bit more challenging (and interesting!), but not quite ready for long books, ones with big words, or ones that take a long time to get into.
Age eight is a fun time of life. For all you children out there, I hope you’ll find some lifetime friends in the books below (I know I did when I was your age)!
Note: The first ten books, especially, have Christian themes in them.
Sarah’s family live in the new, sparsely-populated state of New Hampshire. Pa and Ma have a great faith in God, and they teach their children to love and honor God as well. Then one day, four-year-old Sarah wanders into the great forest, and gets lost. When she doesn’t appear on call, the family gets desperate—and soon all the neighboring men come to help search for the little girl. With all kinds of wild animals in the woods, hungry and alone, Sarah could easily die. Pa has faith that the Lord will direct them to where his daughter is, but as two days pass people begin to give up the search—she could be anywhere, or even dead by now. Then, a stranger comes, saying he’s had a dream of a little lost girl, and knows where she is. Has Pa’s faith in God paid off? Will the family get their sister and daughter back? With so many wild animals around, will she be safe? This is a true story, written so well that even adults will enjoy it. I loved the strong Christian themes of hope and faith through the story!
In this age of technology, we teens tend to spend more time on our devices than with our families or learning about the things that really matter. The books below are a small collection of some of the wonderful, worthwhile books out there. Most are about fascinating missionaries—people who put their all into the work God gave them.
The teen years are the amazing developing years—when we finally decide what we’re going to believe about the world—and as such, we need to make sure that the books we read at that time are worthwhile and upbuilding, as well. While some of these Christian books for teens are for younger teenagers, some are for young adults—and there is so much to learn (and enjoy!) in each one of them.
This book is a gem. It discusses some pretty weighty matters, and yet it’s well-written and gripping. Through the stories of different teens in the Bible—Joseph, Daniel, Mary, James and John—Steve Gerali draws powerful lessons on what it means be, think, and behave like a Christian when you’re a teen. I loved how he made the Bible stories so relatable—almost like bringing them into the 21st century, helping us understand why things are the way they are in the Bible. If you’re looking for encouragement, or a helping hand as you navigate the world of teendom (is that a word?), this is a great resource.