Review: The Big Pig Stampede

One of my favorite places is the bargain book table. I love going through the stacks of books that seem to just not be popular enough, or perhaps too popular at some point, and just need to clear the shelf space they are taking up. I've found some real gems at deep discounts. One of my most recent finds was "The Big Pig Stampede" by Bob Hartman.

This book follows the misadventures of 'Goat Boy' the son of a travelling merchant in Judea. Goat Boy, along with Bug and Bug's cousin Lump, travel with their fathers setting up shop to sell their various wares from village to village. Life is pretty routine for them until one day a friend of Bug's who is serving at a big wedding tells them the party has run out of wine. The boys gather up all the wine their father's have to sell and run off to the banquet. Once they get there however, they are told there is plenty of wine because a rabbi named Jesus turned a whole bunch of water into the best wine anyone had ever had.

This is but one adventure their little group has as their fathers decide to follow Jesus where ever he goes because where Jesus go, the crowds go and crowds mean customers.

The book is entertaining to say the least but also gives a very interesting perspective on the ministry of Jesus through the eyes of a young boy who is just going about life. In my opinion, Hartman has done a very good job at weaving a story kids can relate to with the events found in the Gospel clearly seen in the background. One could easily launch from each chapter of this book into the appropriate Gospel account. The book is also easy to read and would be accessible to any child starting to read basic chapter books.

All that to say, this is a book that certainly rises above the bargain table.

Review: Tech-wise Family

As a parent, I'm concerned about what my kids are exposed to and how they learn to interact with the world around them. As someone who is quite tech-savvy and worked in the tech sector, I am also very familiar with what is out there and what my kids could get into. How technology is shaping our culture needs to shape our parenting. 

This book is very easy to read and filled with wonderful wisdom. Crouch does a good job at laying out the issues technology creates in our lives and provides easy to remember (though at times hard to implement) guidelines for keeping technology in its place. I very much appreciated the intro and way Crouch differentiates between tools and technology. He also makes a great distinction between leisure and rest. I think the book is worth reading, just for understanding those distinctions.

After the introduction, the book is broken up into short chapters, each unpacking one of their family's tech-wise commitments. Now each family will be different and some of these will be harder than others. What I really appreciated about these was the reality check at the end of each chapter where Crouch admits where their family falls short of this. This admission of not quite being there but wanting to be, adds a dimension of genuineness and encouragement. 

This is a book that I will most definately be recommending widely and will be a part of our family's toolkit as we walk through life.

(I received a copy of this book from Baker Publishing for review purposes)

Review: Raising Uncommon Kids

I just finished reading "Raising Uncommon Kids" by Sami Cone this week. In this book Cone lays out 12 biblical truths needed to raise selfless kids. This is raising children who care for others and display the fruits of the spirit was all are to strive for. This book is not a step by step how-to guide to raise kids who obey our every command, rather it is about building the necessary traits in our own lives that we can model for our children. The book was challenging as it calls one to examine one's self and underscores the need to model the behaviors, and the values that underlie them, and live them out. 

What I liked about this book is that the chapters are broken into short sections, which is helpful when the kidlets are running around. Each chapter also has a break out section with a mentor minute with a helpful, practical help from someone who has impacted the author. Each chapter then ends with a "Making it practical" section with about a half dozen practical things you can do as a family to work on building the chapter's theme into your lives. Many of the practical ideas are further fleshed out with additional resources available on the author's website. 

All told, I found this a good read and one that my wife and I will work through together as wee seek to raise children who will be people of character.


(I received this book from Baker Books in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own)

Our Daily Bread for Kids

Daily devotions are something that we, like many families, are trying to do and model. It can be hard to find the right one, as there are so many out there, and there is certainly no one size fits all. For where our kids are at right now, we've found the "Our Daily Bread for Kids: 365 Meaningful Moments with God" a great one. There is a short devotional with a verse for each day of the year (including Feb 29 so it really should be 366 Meaningful Moments, but I digress) that we ready each night as part of our bedtime routine. We have found it a great starting place for our daughter who is nearing 5 and our 3 year old likes the pictures. There is a 30 day sampler that we received from our church that pointed us towards this one. If you can get your hands on the sampler I highly recommend trying it or just go ahead and order the full year.

What I've been reading - Disability and the Gospel

This is a book I've had on my to-read pile for some time. I hadn't gotten to it, not because I didn't want to read it but because I thought it would be hard to read. You see my son has Down Syndrome so this is far more than a passing academic discussion for me  how I reconcile the Gospel and disability looks me in the eye everyday. I found this book to really be a breath of fresh air. I think the greatest take away is that those with disabilities allow us to better reflect Christ as we serve those who by many standards cannot benefit us. They also remind us that we are all broken and all need to be restored. Personally I find that my son has a joy and an exuberance for life that we all need.

What's in the Bible Vol. 5

OK I'm excited. This is a great series that I've been very impressed with for content and songs that I can't get out of my head.

We'll be adding this to our collection very soon!