It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

As Christmas day approaches it's easy to get caught up in shopping, decorating, etc. It's also easy to forget about the true meaning behind Christmas. I know that I am just as guilty of staying busy all through the season as anybody else. I make a wish list, buy presents, decorate the tree, attend Christmas parties, and I start to focus on the material part of it. But presents and parties are what man has added to this day. The real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have to realize that the gifts we give can never amount to the gift that Jesus already gave to us; eternal life with our creator, God, by offering His life. So, as the season progresses I encourage you to put down the presents, sit back and reflect upon what Jesus did for you and to read the account of his birth that you can find in the Bible.

Good Books

There are many sayings concerning books including "Don't judge a book by its cover.", "Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.", "A good book has no ending.", and "The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." While these quotes tell us some about good books they don't help you know how to find one. Well, I know from experience that a good book is hard to find. There are millions of books. There are classics and new best sellers. But how do you know which book will make a good read? I know that I read books based on suggestions or reviews so I have decided to compile my own little list of favorites. I hope that you'll decide to pick one up, read it and enjoy it.

Classics:
A classic book is an older book that despite its age hasn't lost any of its meaning. Here are a few classics I recommend.
*The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Not only are these books filled with magic, mystery and adventure but they are backed with a Christian allegory telling of the struggles of a Christian with temptation and sin. Tolkien is also accredited with basically creating the whole Sci-Fi genre.
*Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
*Call of the Wild by Jack London
*The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Modern Greats:
A modern great is a book that I believe will one day be a classic but is too recent to be.
*The Circle Series (Green, Black, Red, White) by Ted Dekker. The Circle series about a young man named Thomas. You follow Thomas from our planet to "Other Earth" and back. It's a tale of love and forgiveness that is filled with action and power. You could begin the series as I did and read the books in the order they were written in (Black, Red, White, Green) or you could start with book Zero and read the books in the order the author now intends them to be read in (Green, Black, Red, White). You decide because these books truly do form a circle.
*The Oath by Frank E. Peretti
*The Noticer by Andy Andrews
*A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Miscellaneous:
Any other good books I could think of.
*The Paradise Novels (Showdown, Saint, Sinner) by Ted Dekker
*This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti
*The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
*Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
*Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
*The Phantom Stallion series (24 books) by Terri Farley
*The Summer Hill Secrets series by Beverly Lewis
*The Left Behind series by Tim LaHay and Jerry B. Jenkins

Giving Thanks

With the holidays kicking off tomorrow I thought this post would be appropriate. Seeing as Thanksgiving is tomorrow I would like to share a few of the things that I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my savior, Jesus, who died for me. I'm thankful that I live in a free country where I'm free to worship God. I'm thankful for my family and friends whom I love and who love me. I'm thankful for where I live and that I have a home and food to eat. I'm thankful for a good many things and this lists just a few of those things. I think that our thankfulness shouldn't stop or start with Thanksgiving. But rather we should be thankful every day of the year. We really have been given alot. just think about it... If you're reading this you have a computer or at least access to a computer. So there's a start for your thankful list. So, be thankful, have a happy Thanksgiving, etcetera.

New People and Friends

I know just how hard it can be to make new friends. Everyone tends to gravitate toward who they know, myself included. As a shy kind of person I find it difficult to thrust myself into a group of new people, so I tend to stay on the fringes of a crowd and observe.

For example, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage with youth at church. A lot of the people in my youth group know each other from school. Everyone is friendly, but when the "greeting time" is over people go sit with others that they know. I do that, too. And most of the time that works okay. But sometimes the two people that I know are not there and I find myself sitting alone or beside one of the adult leaders. When this happens I think, "I really wish that someone would invite me to sit with them."

I admit that I'm a part of the problem. I'm shy. So, instead of meeting new people I'm stickin' with my friends. We should follow Jesus' example and love the "insiders" and the "outsiders". We should be focusing on Christ and living our ways according to His plan. And because the two greatest commandments both involve love (loving God first and your neighbors second) I believe that that it what I should be doing. Because I know how hard it is for me to include myself in someone else's conversation and how hard it is to find someone to sit with. When I see the "new kid" walk in I should invite them to sit with me and include them in my conversation. I'm going to try to do this. How about you?

Green by Ted Dekker

Do you know what over a million people, including myself, have been waiting for? Green-- The beginning and the end of the famed Circle Series by Ted Dekker. With high expectations, I began reading. As with the other Circle books I was on the edge of my seat from the start. Ted Dekker's writing style really brought the characters alive in my mind. Green is the birth and fulfillment of a great story that spans two realities about love, forgiveness, redemption, second chances, war, peace, Elyon, and a man named Thomas Hunter. With all of its twists and turns I'm sure that You'll be reading late into the night like I was.

TIME: Great Discoveries

Besides the obvious faults that a creationist can find with a book like TIME: Great Discoveries, I really enjoyed this book. The information that it provides and the wide range of topics that it covers from all kinds of geographical locations is great just as the title implies. From mummies in Egypt to Yellowstone Nation Park. The photos are always in the right place to perfectly illustrate the meaning of the words. I do have one warning to readers. If you purchase this, some of the pictures are graphic and could be disturbing to younger children. These include the illustrations in the "mummy" and "bog people" sections.

Getting Older

I happened to be inspired to write this due to my recent birthday. I'm going to skip the details about my party, and instead I'm going to talk more about what I have learned by growing older. I admit that I'm not too terribly old and because of that I don't have nearly as much experience and wisdom as other people. Despite this I do want to express my own thoughts on the subject of aging anyways. We all are growing older. That is a fact that the majority of us fight against. Or maybe we are fighting the symptoms of getting older. We dye hair, try our best to erase wrinkles, etc. I'm not sure exactly why we do it. I am pretty sure that our dislike of getting older has to do with living in a fallen world. Maybe our fear of death or the inevitable is what drives us to such lengths. Let's go back to the beginning, when God had first created the world and everything in it. There was no death or dying so I assume that we didn't age either. Then Adam and Eve sinned and we were cast out of the garden and death began. I'm guessing that aging and the effects of aging started then, too. Perhaps covering gray hairs and wrinkles is another way that we try to bring ourselves back to Eden. A way to cheat death. Or a way to lie to ourselves about dying. But I know that I no longer have to fear death. Because my savior conquered death! It no longer has power over me or anyone else who follows Jesus! I have already died to this world and I live again. Oh death where is your sting? My God died and rose again. Death had no hold over Him! Because He loved us He died for us so that we could have hope, be made whole again, be right with our creator, and go to heaven instead of hell. So, I don't care if I age. It's what's going to happen and I'm okay with that because I know the ending of my story. I may not know how I'll get there but I know that however I arrive whether old or young I know the end. We win. Jesus prevails and so we prevail. Whatever happens in my lifetime I must remember my purpose so that I don't get distracted by petty thing of this world. Our purpose as Christ followers is to bring glory to God in all that we do and to bring as many people to Christ as we can. So remember this and do not fear growing older or death unless you don't have a relationship with my best friend, Jesus. If you don't know him personally then I encourage you to send me an email so we can talk about Jesus and what he's done for you and me. If you would like to talk more about the stuff that I touched on here then email me at: homeschooled_horse_lover@yahoo.com

Hope: Lessons From A Hummingbird

Unfortunately, I really couldn’t identify with William M. Cuccia’s book, Hope: Lessons from a Hummingbird. However, I did learned many facts about hummingbirds. Cuccia used those facts to draw parallels about life and living. Many points of the story are good, especially the point made about redemption. Cuccia suffered from rage and depression which was destroying his marriage. He and his wife rescued a hummingbird and by learning lessons from a hummingbird, God brought healing and hope. I really don’t like to find fault in a book, but I must point out a few of the book’s downsides. The writing, though heartfelt I’m sure, sometimes came across as hokey. William Cuccia repeated himself often and because of this I had a hard time enjoying the book. His ideals and faith, to me, seemed somewhat shallow. He talks about being a normal guy and I agree that we are all pretty normal, but God takes normal people and transforms them into extraordinary vessels for His work. Cuccia didn’t seem to reflect that in his book.

A Trip To Callaway Gardens

My parents and I went to Callaway Gardens last Saturday. IT was my first time ever going to the gardens and my dad's also. My mom had gone when she was a little girl. We had so much fun exploring the gardens and being inspired by the natural and artificial beauty in the gardens. We went to the birds of prey show and I learned lots of things that I had never known about some of God's most interesting winged creations. Like how the owls' eyes are not spheres but are light bulb shaped and that we see the smallest part of their eyes. That is why they can't move their eyes and they have to move their heads instead. Another fact about owls' is that their ears are not symmetrical. One ear is higher on its head than the other. This gives the owl a kind of surround sound. We also participated in a scavenger hunt in the backyard habitat part of the gardens. The backyard habitat is full of fun facts about how to create your own certified backyard habitat for wildlife and I learned about the 4 things that make up a good habitat. Food, water, cover, and a place to raise young. Another thing that we did was go and see the vegetable garden there. In the garden we told time by a human sun dial, potted a parsley plant that I got to take home, and did a leaf pounding. The thing that I think was the most fun though was going to the butterfly atrium. The butterfly atrium is a big glass building that they keep at about 98 degrees. It's filled with all kinds of tropical butterflies and everything a butterfly could ever want. You get to walk with the butterflies and sometimes a butterfly will land on you. You could also watch all kinds of butterflies hatch out of their chrysalises in another part of the building. I really enjoyed the entire experience and I recommend going if you want a fun way to come closer to God's creations.

And The Winner of Letters From Beth's First Book Giveaway Is...

Emily!

Congratulations, Emily, for winning a free copy of A Million Miles In A Thousand Years by Donald Miller.

Thanks to all of my contestants for participating in Letters From Beth's first book giveaway! Be sure to keep your eye out for future giveaways and other fun stuff here on my blog!