March Reading Roundup

The number of books I read or listened to in March was down from January and February of this year.  March was a very busy month for me, and I honestly had a hard time find books that I was so interested in that I just couldn't stop reading.  I only read one fiction book, and it was average reading at best.  A lot of my books are already packed up for our upcoming move, and I didn't have a lot of time to browse at the library. I read  mostly nonfiction, just because that seems to be what I was interested in this month.  Here are my thoughts about the books I read in March. 

Holding On ****

by S. Michael Wilcox

This book has some good thoughts about and strategies for holding on to faith and staying in the church in an increasingly faithless and Godless world.  This book tackle some tough things head on. There are no easy answers but Holding On gives us much to think about and hold on to.  I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads. (I listened to the audiobook on Deseret Bookshelf Plus).

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder ***

By Holly Jackson

For her senior capstone project, Pippa Fitz-Ambi decides to uncover the truth about the murder of a popular girl and the suicide of her boyfriend some five years before.  As Pippa reexamines the closed case, she discovers a trail of dark secrets  and lies in her small idyllic hometown and the people who live there, most of whom she has known most of her life.  

This is a very involved fast-moving mystery, that had a lot of twists and turns, and more than one false lead. Because the book was so detailed, I had a hard time getting into at first.  I liked it in the middle, but the end seemed to drag and it felt like the author kept writing when she should have wound things up and stopped.  

Although a number of these books were donated to our high school classroom libraries, there is a lot adult content in this "Young Adult" book. The more mature content includes violence, drug use, date rape and sexting.  There was also some adult language.  By the end of the book, I felt bogged down in the story and was more than a little tired of it. I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads.   (Read paperback version from classroom library).

Live Your Truth and Other Lies ****

by Alisa Childers

In this book, author Alisa Childers, (who also exposed "progressive" Christianity. in her first book, Another Gospel?) discusses and dispels, once again, philosophies of self-help "Christian" authors and influencers to be out of alignment with the teachings of Jesus and Biblical scripture.  Childers calls out several popular authors by name, including Brene Brown and Glennon Doyle, who identify themselves as "Christian" but who push ideas that not actually based in the Bible.

While I have read and liked books by Brown and Doyle, I found myself agreeing with Childers and her arguments, most of which are based in the New Testament. I found the book interesting, just as I did Childers' first book, and it gave me a lot of food for thought.   As a Christian myself, I agree with Childers that we must look to Jesus and scripture for self-worth and life-directing, soul restoring truth. I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads. (Listened to audiobook from the library). 

You're Not Enough and That's Okay *****

by Allie Beth Stuckey

I have listened to Allie Beth Stuckey's podcast, Relatable, and while I don't agree with everything she says, I agree overall with her Christian worldview.  This book takes issue with self-help gurus, bloggers and influencers who tell us that self-love is the key to success, love and "having it all" in life.  Stuckey shows that this world view can become toxic and can actually hinder our Christian walk and ultimate happiness.  This book is much like another book I recently read, Live Your Truth and Other Lies by Alisa Childers, but I actually liked Stuckey's book much more.  Like the name of her podcast, Stuckey's book was relatable to me.  The book was quick moving and, while she did mention other Christian writers and influencers, Stuckey didn't get bogged down in trying to prove them wrong.  Stuckey makes her points, in interesting ways, and then moves on, which kept my attention.  I ended up giving this book 5/5 stars because when I had finished the audiobook, I actually wished there was more.  I also personally agree with most of Stuckey's worldview and what she has to say in the book.  (Listened to audiobook from the library). 

Becoming Free Indeed ***

By Jinger Duggar Vuolo

I used to watch the reality TV show, "Nineteen Kids and Counting" for several seasons several years ago.  While the Duggars had what seemed some odd and extreme practices, they seemed to be sincerely trying to live their Christian beliefs.  In subsequent years, we have found that the family was hiding some big and harmful secrets - like Josh Duggar's molestation of his sisters, his infidelity to his wife and then possession of child pornography, for which he is serving 20 years in prison.  In this book, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, the 6th child of the Duggar 19, tells how her parent's adherence to and practice of the "principles" of "The Institute of Basic Life Principles" (IBLP), a so-called Christian organization founded and run by Bill Gothard, caused problems for her her and other Duggar children. In this book, Jinger tells of the guilt she experienced if she missed a day of Bible reading. She says that Gothard's extreme rules for home schooling, dress, dating, courting, marriage, procreation (have as many children as you can) caused many raised under the IBLP to completely walk away from Christianity and belief in God as they grew older. Jinger says that she has remained a Christian (she is married to a Christian pastor) but her belief system has changed and she no longer believes in or adheres to IBLP teachings.  This book is not a "tell-all" of the Duggar family, and in fact, Jinger mentions her brother Josh only briefly and says she has not been in contact with him for several years. 

While the book has a somewhat interesting account of Bill Gothard and the extreme rules and abusive things taught by the IBLP, I was left wondering if Jinger Duggar Vuolo's belief system has merely gone from being controlled by the IBLP to being controlled by her husband and the his belief system.  She mentions again and again throughout the book, how her husband Jeremy is responsible for "disentangling" her faith from the IBLP, but there are places where it seems that she now looks to her husband the way she used to look to her father and Bill Gothard.  In other words, it appears to me, after reading this book, that Jinger grew up so accustomed to having  a man tell her what to believe and how to behave, that her real "entanglement" is that she has never learned to think for herself.  If Jim Bob Duggar or Bill Gothard are no longer telling her what to do, then Jeremy Vuolo is. At the end of the book, she tries to dispel this appearance of belief control, but it left me wondering if her husband was the real writer of the book, or at least had a lot of input into what she said. 

The book is not particularly well written, and there were parts that were quite a chore to plod through.  She does tell a lot of her experiences with Bill Gothard and IBLP events and teachings.  She draws only a very vague connection to how these teachings might have lead to the serious issues that put her oldest brother Josh in prison.  I gave the book 3/5 stars on Goodreads.  (Read library book). 

Learning at the Feet of the Savior *****

by David J. Ridges and Taylor Halverson

This book, by scripture teachers David J. Ridges and Dr. Taylor Halverson provides a detailed look at the events of the life of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament.  Background, culture and historical insights into each event provide additional knowledge and understanding of what Jesus taught.  Each chapter is short, but packed with relevant details, information and insight.  This book is an excellent "Come Follow Me" study and teaching resource.  I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads. (Read Kindle edition on my phone, but also own hardbound version).

That's it for my March reading.  I am hoping to read more in April.  I already have some interesting things that I am starting tonight.  I would love to hear what you've been reading.  Thanks for visiting.

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"You know you've read a good book

when you turn the last page and 

feel a little as if you 

have lost a friend."

~Paul Sweeney

Gratitude and a Broken Heart

Last week, I didn't get a chance to participate in the weekly opportunity to remember the past week with gratitude. I am glad to be back and joining with Susanne and other blogging friends over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five. 

😊 I've posted about this before, but last Saturday we got to spend some time with our daughter and her family.  I am so grateful for all of my children and grandchildren, the time we spend together and the memories made.  

😊 Charly and I had a lovely spring break getaway to St. George in southern Utah.  I am grateful that Charly and I had a nice trip and made some good memories. 

😊 We stayed in our Worldmark timeshare condo while we were in St. George. We were on the 3rd floor and and had lovely views.  I am grateful that we have a timeshare that provides us a comfortable place to stay when we travel.  We've had the time-share for years and it gives us a nice, comfortable, convenient place to stay at many fun destinations.  For us, it's been a good value, especially since we bought our shares for fraction of the original cost back in the early 2000s.

😊 One of the the things that Charly and I enjoy doing in St. George is looking for treasures at some good thrift stores there.  We visited three thrift stores, and didn't get a lot because we are going very choosy about what we buy when we are trying to pare down possessions. I was very pleased with this "Faith" sign that I found at one thrift store because I like to fill my home with positive things that remind me to "Look to God and Live." I am grateful that I found this lovely reminder for my home.

😊 While in St. George, we looked at few houses that are in our price range, because this is one place that we are considering relocating to when I retire.  All of the snowy, cold temperatures as well as air pollution in the Salt Lake Valley impact Charly's asthma. St. George is also an easy drive from where our daughter Tiffany and her family live and where Josh says he wants to settle, so that is another positive factor.  I am grateful that we found nice homes we could afford and that we have good options for retirement. 

😊 After a nice trip, I am grateful that we arrived home safely.  We actually cut our trip short by a day to miss yet another snow storm, which came as predicted Wednesday night.  The prediction for one part of our drive was several inches of new snow, but Wednesday we had dry roads.  I am thankful that we opted to cut our St. George trip short by a day, and that we are safe at home after a nice getaway. 

😊 I'm grateful that I have been able to sleep in a bit during Spring Break. The 5 a.m. alarm that gets me up on school days is very early and a little more sleep is a good thing. 

😊 I admit that during this very stormy, snowy winter, Charly and I have gotten out of the habit of walking outside every day.  While I have been exercising every day on equipment downstairs, it doesn't have the same benefits as walking outside.  I am grateful that Charly motivated me to go on a walk outside with him on Thursday morning, despite snow, cold temperatures, and wet, slushy sidewalks.  It was good to be walking outside. 

That is all for this week's gratitude, but I want to end this post by saying that my thoughts are with the Christian families in Nashville who last children and loved ones in the horrific mass school shooting at Covenant Christian School.  My heart is so grieved that once again, sweet children and kind adults were gunned down by someone intent on evil.  Would stricter gun laws work?  Maybe, but guns have been around for a long, long time, and mass shootings are a recent occurrence.  How about more mental health screening?  That would perhaps have some small impact, but what is making so many in our society "mentally ill"? In reality, however, it is the complete disregard of God and the moral teachings of scriptures that leads to the kind of evil that we saw in Nashville.  A new poll published in the Wall Street Journal shows that, as a nation, we are pulling away from the values that have traditionally defined us, including faith in God and religious observance. There is no long-term solution but God.  Our society must return to the values that made us great. We must return to God and look to Him for answers.

💔😢🙏

Until next time,

Deb

"A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks

of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord. 

Thank God in the midst of trials and every persecution" 

~Billy Graham

Back to St. George for Spring Break

 

We decided to come down to St. George for Spring Break. We like St. George.  While it is about four hours away from where we live, the drive is usually an easy one straight down the 1-15, and St. George is considerably warmer and sunnier than our area, especially during the winter and spring months.  We have access to a timeshare condo where we like to stay. This time, our condo was on the top (3rd floor) and we had some amazing views of the beautiful St. George area. 

One of the places we really wanted to go during spring break was Gunlock State Park which is about 15 miles from St. George. Gunlock State Park has a 266-acre reservoir which holds irrigation water.  During years when there is plenty of rain in normally dry Southern Utah, water from the reservoir overflows and creates beautiful waterfalls down the surrounding red rocks and cliffs.  This doesn't happen every year, but because of the record breaking rain and snow our state has had this year, the Gunlock Waterfalls are flowing and they are truly something to see.  We went to Gunlock State Park over spring break and hiked and scrambled up the big red boulders to get these pictures of the renowned waterfalls. 

This is Charly hiking down the trail that went over to falls. 

After seeing the waterfalls from below, we hiked another trail that went around Gunlock Lake and to the upper source of the waterfalls.  Here are some pictures of the Lake/Reservoir and waterfalls from above, where the lake is overflowing. 

One evening, we hiked at the Virgin River Trail in St. George. This is the portion of the trail we were on (the entire trail is over 11 miles long), but we hiked two out and back miles.  It was very pleasant.  Here are some pictures of what we saw.  Just like Gunlock Lake, the Virgin River is running much deeper and swifter than usual because of all the rain and snow we have had.  Last week, the river flooded in some places causing this trail to be closed in places. 

While we had beautiful blue skies during our entire stay, we had to cut our spring break trip short due to yet another snow storm forecast for northern Utah and along our route home up the I-15.  We are grateful that we were able to make the trip. We had an enjoyable spring getaway in St. George. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"In spring break, 

we play,

we laugh,

we cherish."

~anon.

A Nice Saturday

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to our daughter's home in Utah country, about 40 miles south of where we live. The day was cold and cloudy as you can see from the picture. We had some snow flurries, but driving conditions on the freeway were fine. When we got off of the freeway, however, in our daughter's town, the roads were very, very icy and just getting to our daughter's home was tricky and dangerous. 

Eventually, we did get there.  Our granddaughter loved her birthday gifts and all of our grandchildren liked the fun Easter surprises.  We visited a while at the house, then took our granddaughter out to breakfast to a restaurant of her choosing.  We had a very nice time. 

When we got back to the house after breakfast, the boys of the family were busy with their Saturday activities, but the two youngest girls were still home and I got some pictures.  This is our four-year-old granddaughter. 

This is her eight-year-old sister.  Our oldest grandson was on the way out of the house just as we were coming in.  He was on his way to the junkyard to pull a transmission from a car there to put in an old car he purchased and is restoring.  He is getting to be quite a talented mechanic, and he is still 16-years-old! Our 12-year-old grandson was in and out during our entire visit, doing whatever 12-year-olds do. I accidently left my phone in the car for part of our visit, so I didn't get pictures of everyone.  Our grandson's birthday is next, in April, and he is excited to have a special birthday breakfast with grandma and grandpa at his choice of restaurants.  

After leaving our daughter's, we decided to spend the day in Utah county. Our favorite bookstore was having a "buy one, get one free" sale, so we just had to check that out, and yes, I admit that both Charly and I took advantage of the sale and got some books. 

We couldn't pass up a visit to our favorite thrift store in that area, which is huge and has lots of fun stuff.  We each bought a few things, but we exercised restraint because we are paring down our possessions for our move.

My best thrift store find of the day, was these lovely, colorful knitted slippers, which, I am pretty sure where never worn.  Only $2! I love comfy knitted slippers, and like to have several pair on hand.  They keep my feet so toasty warm, which is great because tonight (Saturday) our temperatures are back down in the 20s! 

That's all for this Saturday.  I will post more about this weekend in a few days, because more fun and enjoyable times are in the works.  Thanks for visiting.  See you again soon!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Grandchildren are called 'grand' for a reason."

~anon.

 

Welcome Spring?

 

I am taking a quick break from my blog break to share what our first weekend of spring looked like here in the Salt Lake Valley.  This was the scene on my drive to work on Friday morning.  It was the snowiest and most slippery commute of the entire season.  Driving to school was definitely not fun Friday morning.   

This is the school parking lot when I got there.  It was a teacher training and grading day, so no students were there, and the parking lot was all but empty, except for the snow.  

Here are some more pictures of the school campus during the heavy snow storm we had this morning.  All time snow records have been broken and Friday afternoon some of the ski resorts in the mountains not far from here are actually closed, and skiers are confined to lodges because of heavy snowfall and avalanche danger. 

After our teacher meeting on Friday morning, our principal told us we could go home as soon as our grades were posted.  Because my grades were finished and posted Thursday afternoon, I was home before 10 a.m. Friday to begin spring break. Charly suggested that we go out for a lunch date to celebrate. We went to our favorite Chinese food place in the area, and enjoyed Mongolian Beef and rice. 

Back home after lunch, I decided a little nap would be nice so I curled up on the couch with a blanket and a book, just like on any snowy winter afternoon, even though it was technically spring. 

Saturday morning we are headed to our daughter's house to see the entire family and take our beautiful 15-year-old granddaughter out to breakfast for her birthday. 

Our granddaughter's birthday gift is ready, along with fun Easter surprises for the entire family.   We are also looking forward to more spring break fun over the next few days. 

I may check in again in a day or two with an update about our spring break.  Hopefully, we will have some spring weather to enjoy, but even more rain and snow is in the forecast for at least a few days next week, so no guarantees.

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

• "No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn."
•  ~Hal Borland