With a Heart for Uplifting Books

I have two boys - a three-year-old and a six-month-old.  They are a  delight to me!  My three-year-old has been changing lately, becoming  more boy if that's possible.  He is still sweet, but now I hear growling  and roaring noises more often.  Occasionally, I will find him jumping  off the arm of the couch onto a nice stack of pillows built up on the  cushions.  Then there are the times I hear him mention putting someone  in a dungeon or using the word kill and pointing a child-size broom at  someone.  Oh my!  When did he cross that line from ever-sweet boy to  boy-boy with a side of sweet?  I have been struggling a bit with the  changes in him.  They certainly are not bad changes, but they have me  questioning God and wondering how to tame the boy without taking the  "man" out of him. 

A difficult thing for a mom to puzzle out with her oldest son.

When the opportunity to review Praying for Boys came along, it  was a great choice for me with my growing questions concerning how to  parent my boy.  What I didn't realize, when I clicked that decisive  button saying I wanted to review Praying for Boys, was that the book wasn't quite what I thought it was.  Praying for Boys by  Brooke McGlothlin is a great book for those moms (like me) that just  aren't sure what to do but know that praying is really the best place to  start.  Brooke encourages moms of boys to get down on their knees and  pray for their sons.  It's not just about praying but about what to pray  - God's word.  With twenty-one chapters covering twenty-one things that  boys need in their lives to help them be men of God, this book should  have a place on every mom's shelf (prayer warrior or not).  Brooke talks  about not wanting to take the things away from her sons that make them  boys but to pray for the things that will make them men of God (men with  character).  What mom doesn't want her son to have good character?   This is not a parenting book, although some of Brooke's parenting  strategies do pop up in her stories.  I found her strategies intriguing  and thought-provoking.  The crucial concept to be found within the pages  of Praying for Boys is getting down on your knees every day (if  possible) to pray for our sons' hearts.  Asking God to turn them to  hearts of flesh.  Boys will be boys may be an excuse for bad behavior,  but God has a plan for each of our sons and a blueprint for them to  follow.  Instead of standing in the path of our sons trying to take away  the parts of them that make them boys, we should thank God for those  things and pray for His honing hand in their lives, their character,  their beliefs.

Another neat feature of Brooke's book is the 21-day prayer guide for  small groups in the back.  If you feel compelled to do so, you can use  the provided guide to lead a small group in praying for their sons using  the prayers in Praying for Boys.  A great and quick read!  The  scriptures featured in Brooke's book also make a great jumping off point  for finding other verses to pray over your sons (or daughters).  Moms,  get on your knees for your children (I know I need to more than I do)!

 Kathy Peel is the Family Manager extraordinaire.  In Desperate Households,  she covers 10 areas that can cause stress to Family Managers.  These  areas include: dinnertime, clutter, finances, priorities,  self-development, and others.  With real-life examples and great  tips/ideas that can be easily implemented, this book is a must read for  any Family Manager in need of some de-stress tactics.  Is your morning  routine causing issues within your family, or do school days send you  into a whirlwind of lost shoes?  Then I highly recommend this easy  read!  You can even skip right to the chapter that really speaks to your  current need!  I suggest tackling one area at a time rather than trying  to hit all 10 at once.  That would cause you more stress!  Great hints  from her own experience and that of other women will set you on the road  to order and easy-breathing.  Don't be "desperate" anymore - read Desperate Households!

 Deena’s story is one I think that many of us can relate to on some  level. She has been deeply hurt and chooses to hide behind walls she has  built around parts of herself. She doesn’t want to let certain people  see the real Deena. Through her journey to a new place and the help of a  group of preteens she learns about herself, who she really is.
I found this book refreshing and enjoyable. There were a number of  characters that really captured my attention. I could relate to their  circumstances or their personalities. I was disappointed to find that  the plumber did not meet up to the standards issued in the back cover  description. He only quoted Dr. Seuss once; he did, however, quote the  Eagles many times. I was sad that I didn’t get to relive my childhood  reading through the Dr. Seuss-quoting plumber.
Wisler’s style has the feel of another writer’s Southern fiction, that of Denise Hildreth. If you have ever read Hildreth’s Savannah books you may find a similar feel and flair in this book. It was a very  good story, with a charm all its own. If you want a bittersweet treat,  then pick up this yummy book and enjoy. I definitely did!

 It has taken me a really long time to finish this book, which isn't to  say that I didn't enjoy it.  Alice Wisler's writing style is a little  different that what I normally read.  It's gritty, heart searching, and  sometimes feels very real emotionally.  She takes you into the lives of  her characters and has you try on their emotions, their feelings, and  their past. I enjoyed reading Samantha Bravencourt's story of teaching  in a refugee camp in the Philippines and her life experience years after  that has been saturated by her year abroad.  Her story has heartache,  doubt, faith, and renewal.  This book has some Southern flair mixed in  with the dirty streets of the refugee camp.  Two very different worlds  collide in this book as we learn Samantha's history and her present.  A  deep-reaching book with a lot of light thrown in.  Great book club read  for a group, and there are discussion questions in the back!