We recently finished O. F. Walton’s Saved at Sea during our morning read aloud time, and I’m very happy to report that this an excellent book.  I love it as much as the kids did.  This is a story of a young boy name Alec and his grandfather living on a lonely island taking care of the lighthouse.  The duo’s lives were typically lonely and unexciting, but their lives were changed when they rescued a little girl from a sinking ship.

The book moves quickly from chapter to chapter which makes the story captivating and exciting.  My children thoroughly enjoyed this book, and once again, to my surprise, they understood the story more than I’d imagined.

When an old gentleman visited Alec and his grandfather on the island and asked what kind of foundation their house was built on, Alec answered it was built on a solid rock.  Then the old gentleman inquired again, “And are you on the rock, my lad?” (p. 56)  Alec didn’t quite understand what the old gentleman was getting at so Alec repeated his previous answer and reaffirmed the guest that their house was indeed built on a solid rock.  The old gentleman thus asked again, “But you, are you on the rock?” At this point my eldest stood up and said, “He’s talking about Christ the solid rock!”  Upon hearing that, my second born said, “I know how to sing that song!” and immediately started humming the tune.  I was so pleasantly surprised.  I love the fact that the gospel message is woven into the story and how Alec and his grandfather came to know the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The lyrics for the hymn The Solid Rock is included in the back of the book with several pages of explanation.

Note: At the time of reading, the ages of my children are 6 1/2, 4 1/2, 4, 2 1/4, and 3 months.

P.S. The text of the book, with illustrations, is also available online for free in various formats.

I’ve been having a hard time of late.  The children’s constant attention and needs are very demanding so I was released from my motherly duties for two hours yesterday afternoon.  My hubby came home earlier from work and volunteered to watch the kids.  So. . . where did a mother of five go when she had two free hours to spare. . . . ALONE?

I went to a local coffee shop to read.  I sipped coffee and read an interesting book on adoption. . . . . ALONE.

After some time I got hungry so I walked next door to a Greek restaurant to eat some Greek food and watch a little bit of Greek music videos. . . . ALONE.

Even though I don’t understand any of the spoken words since “it’s all Greek to me,” (please. . . laugh with me.  It’s a pun)  Greek music videos are as ridiculous as American ones.  After a while it was just funny to me.  By the way, did I mention that I was all ALONE?

Finally my ALONE time was up because I needed to return home to nurse my four-month-old.

When I finally got home, I was surprised to see two good friends having dinner with my family.  After the children went to bed, we had a good time chatting and catching up with life.

I really needed that break and it was indeed refreshing to be able to go out all ALONE. I think I can make a habit of this time ALONE.

There are many wonderful nuggets of wisdom from Rick Horne’s book Get Outta My Face!, and one of which is the importance of presentation when speaking to angry teens.  When parents have wisdom to impart to their children, they need to consider not only the content of their message, but the fashion in which it’s presented.  Horne alludes to an episode of the 80′s sitcom “The Cosby Show,” in which Dr. Huxtable goes to great lengths to describe a mouth-watering steak, only to conclude with, “and I give it to you on [a garbage can] lid…” (view clip here).  Would you want to eat that?  Of course not.  As Dr. Huxtable puts it, “It’s in the presentation!”  So Horne takes the point of that dialogue: even though the steak dinner is appetizing — or parental counsel wise — it doesn’t seem appetizing at all when its presented in a disgusting or unattractive fashion.  In other words, when parents are not careful with the way they present their counsel, their children will likely dismiss it out of hand because it is “packaged” in a way that causes them not to want to listen (for example, with raised volume and angry tones, the verbal equivalent of a garbage can lid for a plate).

I’ve been pondering on this topic for a while now and I’m in total agreement that we must present our counsel well to our children.  This gets our foot in the door.  As I interact with my children, I’m becoming more and more aware of the way I communicate with them.  Am I presenting my counsel in an appetizing fashion?  Do I expect them to accept my words of wisdom even when I’m dispensing them through harsh tones or anger?  Are they encouraged or discouraged by my presentation?  May there always be grace and tenderness accompanying our words to our children, that they be more likely to heed them.

The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
~ Proverbs 16:21 ~

I just finished reading Mary Jones and Her Bible by Mary Ropes to the kids during our morning read aloud time.  This book is about a little Welsh girl who lived 200 years ago.  The Word of God was more precious than anything to Mary Jones.  But she did not possess her own copy of the Scriptures.  So for six years, she took on odd jobs to earn money, and then finally walked 25 miles to the nearest seller of Welsh bibles to procure her own copy.

The story isn’t exciting and full of adventures like the last book we read (The Golden Thread).  It simply tells the account of a little girl and her desire to have a Bible of her own.  I couldn’t help but be so enthralled by Mary’s determined plan to get a Bible despite numerous obstacles along the way.  If only we, the more privileged ones in this century, had the same mindset as Mary Jones.  In fact, her story inspired the eventual founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

My children loved this book and already I have seen the influence this book has had on my boys.  My oldest told me that he wanted to earn the $5 he’s supposed to bring for his AWANA club in order to help start AWANA clubs in third world countries.  He went on to say that Mary Jones took on many side jobs in order to earn money to buy a Bible, so he wanted to do chores around the house to earn the $5 for his AWANA club.  This was his idea and naturally, I was so encouraged by my boy’s determination.

My second boy told me that he wanted to learn how to read so he can go to AWANA next year.  This again came from Mary Jones’ example.  Mary was a poor little girl and didn’t know how to read.  Because of her desire to have a Bible of her own, Mary was diligent and used her time wisely in learning how to read.  My little boy was inspired by Mary’s example.  He was once reluctant in doing his phonics lessons, but nowadays he’s more diligent and more willing to read.

When a book inspires the little ones towards the Lord, I know I’ve got a good book and it’s definitely a keeper.  So, without reservation, I heartily recommend this book.

In reading Rick Horne’s Get Outta My Face!, I came across Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”   Horne comments on this verse:

What we speak can encourage or discourage, energize or dishearten.  How we speak to our teens and what we say can exasperate and infuriate, or communicate hope and anticipation.  Truly, our words tend to influence our hearers toward the most radical of extremes:  either death or life.  (p. 147)

This was extremely enlightening for me.  My spoken words can either bring life or death.  They are indeed powerful.  This verse convicted my heart because I know I’ve failed many times in how I speak to my children.  The tone and the words I used brought on discouragement in my children.  Even though they didn’t tell me how they felt, I knew my words brought death and not life.

It is my deepest desire to encourage my children, but in my haste and busyness, I have often been a source of words of death in my house, thus harming my children.  The Word of God is very convicting and penetrating.  When we truly grasp the severity of our spoken words, by God’s grace, may we do our very best to only communicate with words that bring life and not death.  May we always be mindful of what comes out of our mouths.

I just finished Rick Horne’s book Get Outta My Face: How to Reach Angry, Unmotivated Teens With Biblical Counsel.  With a title like that, how can you not like it?  I just love that title because any parents with an angry teen knows exactly what “get outta my face” looks like.  I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with an angry teen in the house.  My blog readers know that all my children are young and I don’t have a teenager in the house yet, let alone angry teenagers.  However, I find the principles in this books to be beneficial even as I parent my little ones.  I really appreciate this book because not only does Rick Horne’s 30+ years of counseling and parenting experience show clearly in the book, the principles and solutions he laid out in the book are very Biblical.

The book is divided into three parts:

Part I: What you must understand to connect with your teen

In this section the parents are called to seek first God’s glory as they parent their teens.  The parents are also encouraged to examine their own sins and failures so to remove the logs in their own eyes.

Part II: What you must do to help your teen

Here Rick Horne discusses the acronym LCLP which gives the parents a plan on how to communicate and help their teens.

Listen Big – to build a bridge to your teen

Clarify Narrow – to expose the realities of your teen’s experience

Look Wide – to discover your teen’s solutions

Plan Small – to support changes your teen wants

Part III:   How to make the changes stick

After the parents helped their teens change, they need to encourage follow-up conversations.  Most importantly, parents are to point their children to the cross.  Mere outward behavioral change is not the goal, but a heart change that’s from the inside out.

I am much encouraged by this book and I believe it gives real gospel-grounded hope to parents with angry teens.  One of the key strengths of this book is the presentation of concrete techniques for parents to implement that are grounded in Biblical principles.  Far from merely giving a theoretical theology of parenting, Horne manages to intertwine sound Biblical underpinnings with real and specific tools for any parent looking to more effectively parent his or her teen-aged child.   And most helpful of all Rick Horne’s repeated theme of looking to Jesus Christ in our failures, problems, and sins.  If you are a parent with any children still living in your home, you should read this book!

Making pizza at home:

Hamming it up for the camera with “monster faces” at Lowe’s kids build-it workshop (with our usual “visiting scholar” on the right in the back row):

Bethany smiling for Mommy at 3 months of age: