Wow! Can I just tell you what a joy it was to read, Man Shoes-The Journey To Becoming A Better Man, Husband & Father? It is my privilege to review this book; I believe that the author, Tom Watson, has some real valuable wisdom to offer his readers. Tom was born to parents ill prepared to raise a child in a healthy & life affirming way. He was placed into 13 different foster homes…some of which were little more than a systemic form of a physical & psychological torture chamber.
Tom was placed into foster care because his Aunt Donna & Uncle Roy found the courage to report the erratic parental care that infant Tom was experiencing. His parents would drop him off here and there and neglect to pick him up at the times that they agreed to. At one year of age, he became a foster child because his aunt and uncle found the strength of character to endure family censure by reporting the situation to the proper authorities. Tom expresses his gratefulness to them for doing so…even though he suffered greatly in multiple foster homes until he came to the place where his body and soul were nurtured. His life story actually proceeds with joy and gratefulness. Read the rest of this entry…
One Call Away is a memoir written by Brenda Warner, wife of NFL football player Kurt Warner. She has written a book of remembrances of her life’s challenges that she tries to face with what she calls an unshakable faith. Brenda is a Christian who has had more than her share of trials and tribulations. She was married to a fellow marine who developed some seizures. He was unable to work after he was released from the marine corps. After they were married…they decided to have a baby. When their son was born, Brenda went back to work. While in the care of his father, her son was dropped in the bathtub and suffered a head injury and breathing problems. Apparently, the father feeling scared and confused only said that their son was breathing funny to both Brenda and the medical staff who began to care for their son when they rushed him to the hospital.
What happened to their son because of the delay in getting the truth of the injury is not only horrific…but can be considered criminal in some cases. In fact, protective services does get involved. In the meantime, throughout the story…both the mother and father are questioned several times over by protective service workers as well as medical staff; as their son lay in the intensive care unit with a quickly swelling brain. There is severe damage done to the young child while the doctors are trying to figure out what is wrong with the four month old child. When Brenda finds out the horrible truth that the father dropped the child on accident…but discovers that the father didn’t tell the whole truth…she is devastated.
She is praying constantly for her child. If only they had known…they may have been able to intervene sooner to prevent some of the damage caused by the swelling brain. They son and their whole family is affected forever. Eventually, their marriage does not stand strong in the face of this tragedy and many other challenges that they faced. They divorce only after having a second child. Brenda becomes a single mother of one special needs child and one healthy child. She becomes a proactive advocate for her special needs child in the area of his education and medical care.
She goes back to school after having to leave the Marine Corps that she had committed herself to. She becomes a registered nurse, caring for her patients, her children and struggling financially. She has the support of her family…but must move a ways away from them to find a job to support her children. Eventually she meets a young man who is, at that time, considered a ladies man and a good time joe football player. Kurt Warner has big dreams of playing for the NFL. They start a relationship. They are at somewhat differently places spiritually…and that impacts the growth of their relationship as Brenda feels that a big part of the failure of her first marriage is because she was alone in her faith.
Together, they find their way through the deaths of Brenda’s beloved parents to a severe tornado, through financial difficulties, through long hours of schooling and long distance relationship issues. Eventually, we learn of the challenges of a sudden change in circumstances due to Kurt being accepted into the NFL and the financial freedom that this brings. The learning of having to put up boundaries for those who would make demands on them because of their wealth or their status.
Underneath it all is Brenda’s desire to give back to single mothers who are struggling. The media picks at Brenda’s looks and actions as an NFL wife; this can be hard on a person’s self esteem. Throughout it all…Brenda and Kurt’s faith is growing…changes are being made internally and externally. Eventually, they become the parents of 7 children…and the book makes for an interesting read. The message comes through loud and clear, human beings can let you down…but God is there in your life through the good times and the bad…waiting to help you meet those challenges and bring you closer to him. Brenda and Kurt discover that living by God’s rules makes life gets better and more productive. They were intimate before marriage and once they face the fact that God doesn’t endorse premarital sex…they stop having a sexual relationship to honor that until after they wed. The book is inspirational for young single mothers, fathers trying to do right by their families and for everyone who has ever felt that they were going through life’s challenges alone.
The book was copyrighted in 2011 and published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Just to be fair…I need to let you know that i received a copy of this book from: Booksneeze . Receiving the review copy of the book in no way guaranteed a positive review. Thanks for visiting!
Dana Jennings has written a book on life lessons regarding love and healing with the help of a small family dog in the home. The Jenning’s dog named Bijou helped both Dana and his son, physically and emotionally, as they each battled health challenges. This book was copywritten in 2010 by Thorndike Press. You can find them here: http://gale.cengage.com/thorndike.
Anyone who has ever battled a long term or chronic illness understands the layers of healing that need to take place. Patients often go through stages of anger, depression, sadness, fear and loneliness not to mention the occasional setbacks caused by treatments or medication. Fellow human beings often don’t know what to say or do to help; in fact, many just prefer not to come around until the healing is done. Canines on the other hand, if they are part of the family and are connected to the patient can often have a huge impact on the healing process.
Bijou has lots of love to give and a sensitivity to the changes “his” family went through as they dealt with their health challenges. Bijou also has needs, quirks and routines to attend to. Those very things allow Dana and his son to get up, get out, and get moving and connecting with the world at large as they heal. Bijou was theraputic in this regard for the family.
I found Bijou’s antics and interactions with the human beings and other animals in the book to be entertaining, uplifting and inspiring. At the same time, when Bijou is talked about towards the end of the book…I am attached and sad…you see Bijou is battling aging and health issues of her own.
If you know of someone who is on a journey towards a physical, spiritual or emotional healing; give this book as a gift and watch it touch a life or two. I love that animals have the impact that they do on our lives and I think as the reader reads this book, What A Difference A Dog Makes, you will be reminded how special it is that they weave so much love, hope and laughter in day to day living.
Three Wishes is a story about three friends who have chosen journalism as their careers each woman, Pam, Carey and Beth, successful professionally in their own right. Personally, each woman is at a cross road in the decision making process in their approach to parenthood. So far, relationships have not been stable enough to bring a child into the picture. The question remains, how to fulfill their desire to parent a child.
Carey is the first of the three to choose an un-traditional route. She forgoes waiting for the perfect man to drop into her life to co-parent with…instead, she purchases sperm from a donor at a sperm bank. Does she follow through with her plan to become pregnant by an unknown man?
Pam and Beth are also on the path towards changing the course of their future. How does this decision to go forward with a plan to parent, change their lives? Is the road smooth; or is there heartbreak for any of the three women? This story brings into question the idea of whether we as individuals are in control of the direction of our lives or is there a force outside of ourselves that steers the ship?
I found the book, Three Wishes, interesting enough to finish reading. It is thought provoking…how far does one go to become a parent? Oh by the way, the story is about real women…and, is a true story! Read it and see how things turned out for each woman.
Three Wishes was published in 2010 by Little, Brown and Company; Hachette Book Group.
Have you ever read a book that was filled with so much introspection that you felt as if you were invading the writer’s right to privacy? At first I felt that way while reading; Orange Is The New Black-My Year In A Women’s Prison; then, I decided to experience the book in a manner in which I felt that it was written. I believe it was written in such a way as to educate, inspire, encourage and to challenge those who read it to understand that everyone who goes to prison is human and has value.
Often I think society tends to think of those in prison as people who are unworthy of consideration; after all, they did the crime and they must do the time, right? Lock ’em up and throw away the key until they have served their time, right? Well, part of that is true in the sense that criminal behavior must have consequences otherwise we would become a world of continual chaos with little accountability for our behaviors. However, what many people dismiss or never even consider is that there are so many layers of issues that cause a person to do the things that they do to find themselves in the position of becoming incarcerated at all. Not everyone who ends up in prison is hopeless or unworthy of a future of freedom; even though there are some prisoners who should not again be turned loose on society.
Then, also consider this…for each person incarcerated; there is a mother/father/sister/brother/son/daughter/aunt/uncle/cousin/grandparent/ friend/neighbor, etc who is affected by what takes place when a person they care about enters the prison system.
A prisoner’s world is turned upside down when their basic freedoms are taken from them. Rules and expectations are different; and relationships must be forged with strangers out of necessity, in what is probably the most stressful time in that person’s life, just to be able to survive their prison term. Fear, frustration and anger are part of the package as well as loneliness and shame. How a person chooses to proceed can affect the rest of their life. Do they keep former relationships alive or close off to those people who knew them before prison? Should they form friendships with other prisoners or try to be invisible? How long is their prison term and how do they best navigate all of the changes in their life once they have been convicted?
It is no small thing to maintain a relationship with someone who is behind bars. After all, there are limited opportunities to visit in person, talk on the phone, exchange letters with one another. Add to that, someone has to “hold down the fort” no matter how long that person is jailed. Life never stops changing and that includes children who grow up, people within relationships with the prisoner who become ill, pass away, or are hospitalized. Don’t forget the financial hardship on innocent family members who must struggle to maintain a place to live, jobs, child rearing, pay legal fees, and handle all things pertinent to paying the bills and helping everyone “left behind” as they struggle with the emotional implications of having a loved one incarcerated.
I think Piper Kerman does a fine job of shining a light on all of these facets of life, and more, when a person is convicted of a crime. Of course her book is about her experience as she went through the system. How decisions she made as a young women impacted her future with her friends, family and future mate. The shame, the frustration, the acceptance of her fate as well as her determination to make the best of the prison time by learning what she could from the experience and turning it into a personal development of sorts.
While her journey into this phase of her life is not something I would recommend to a person searching for a deeper understanding of the criminal justice system and it’s impact on American society; I would recommend this book to anyone who wants, or needs, to know how to navigate the most challenging shock to the loss of freedom when they or a loved one is facing a prison term.
Piper’s book is the next best thing for learning from the experience besides having to go through it personally. I think it is an eye- opening book, and one definitely worth reading. I will warn you that there is some rough language in places…however, because of the nature of the book; I would expect most people could understand the context of it’s use. This book will challenge you to think about how you view the prison system and those who are a part of it.
You can learn more about Piper here on her website: http://piperkerman.com/ and her book was published , in 2010, by Spiegel and Grau, which is an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group.
The Road To Me- I Now Know Why That Caged Bird Sang, is an exploratory autobiography of a woman who has known abandonment, cancer, abuse, domestic violence, foster care, love and loss in many forms. Jessica Angelique is a very special woman. She has been to the depths of pain and loss and yet she has not built her life on dispair. She has also known love and life; and yet, she has not had a smooth storybook ending. This is a woman who deserves a great two- sided love which will be built out of mutual respect, admiration, decency and purpose.
Her life as a young child can be described as, one horror after another. Her definition of family was redefined by her experiences. She considers one certain foster family to be her parents and that would be Barb and Dave. Jessica considers their children Tony and Alyssa her brother and sister.
They were a foster family that had the care of Jessica within their family for one blissful year. They accepted her as their own until the foster care system decided to end her stay there. The tragedy is that she doesn’t know their last name or, what city in Indiana that they lived in. To top it off…the system will not allow her to try to trace them or contact them. It would be an amazing miracle to find them after all of these years. Her heart aches to reconnect with them and to tell them of their impact on her life. They gave her gifts that they may not realize that they bestowed upon the young girl who had never known unselfish love and acceptance. How different would her life have been had she been allowed to put down roots in this family and grown to flourish and flower? Read the rest of this entry…
This book is one that I have been waiting to read for some time now. Messenger-The Legacy Of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and Heartsongs is the story, behind the story, of Mattie Stepanek who was a young author of poetry and prose. He was also an ambassador for the MDA, Muscular Dystrophy Association. He believed that God gave him a mission of passing on the message of peace and hope to the world. He took his mission very seriously, in fact, so seriously that he often put his physical and emotional discomfort aside to spread the message to all who would stop and listen. He often reminded people ” to play after the storm”. Everyone weathers storms of one kind or another throughout their lives…it is easy to forget to play, to laugh, to love and to enjoy the moments after one of those storms. Mattie never forgot and he never forgot to remind others to do the same.
Many people did stop and listen because Mattie’s personality and the way that he delivered that message of hope, love, and peace was such that he was very engaging. I remember seeing him on talk shows and news programs and being very impressed by him. He was a gifted writer and a deep thinker. He knew, communicated and worked alongside of celebrities like Oprah, presidents like Jimmy Carter, media personalities like Chris Cuomo, or musicians like Christopher Cross, actors like Sean Austin from the Harry Potter movies, champions like firefighters and advocates, like Jerry Lewis, for those suffering with muscular dystrophy and everyday people; to share his message of peace and hope. I am grateful for and respectful of his sacrifices while delivering the message he bore in his heart. That is a person who understands commitment and passion.
He suffered much in his physical affliction. He suffered much emotionally at the loss of his siblings. He was loved and guided by a mother named Jeni who not only raised her child to be so special but also recognized that he had something to accomplish in the short time that he was given to live here on Earth. I think that she is pretty inspirational too. She lost all four of her children to this disease and she lives with it herself. She has not let it stop her from living her best life or from continuing to spread the message that God put on Mattie’s heart while he lived. Surely God will bless her for continuing to be faithful in her love for him in spite of all of the challenges that her family has faced.
Mattie Stepanek was a young man with an amazing personality and wisdom far beyond his 13 years. He lived his best life to the fullest by fulfilling his purpose to the best of his ability. I think you will be blessed by this behind the scene’s story of Mattie’s life and mission. You will be blessed by reading any of Mattie’s writings, his series of books called Heartsongs. I dare you to read them and not be changed in some kind of positive way!
If you want to learn more or are interested in one of his books you can go to the site that was set up for Mattie before his death here: http://www.mattieonline.com/ .
Even though this book is compact and only 128 pages it is packed with enough information to last into Eternity. Jason DeVelvis has written a fresh look at the book of Revelation from the Bible. In his book Jason doesn’t attempt to explain everything about the symbolism and the layers of meaning behind each word.
Instead, Jason brings his own perspective about how living a life in pursuit of a close learning relationship with God, through his son Jesus, will allow all who accept him and strive to live by God’s principals to be admitted to heaven. God says that no sin will enter into heaven; and trust me, no one is going to want to be left here on Earth once Jesus has come back for the saints; because, Satan will be unleashed to wreak havoc on those who have not commited their lives to God before hand.
Jason felt God delivered the title of the book to him and that he planted the need to write this book because Armageddon is coming soon and God wishes that none miss their opportunity to avoid the trials and tribulations that are to come for those who are not ready when he returns for those who have prepared their hearts and minds, before that takes place. It is going to be hell on earth after Jesus returns and takes his saints away. The book of Revelations describes in great detail what will happen and how it will happen. Jason’s book strives to point out the wisdom in heeding the warnings in the book of Revelations by learning the lessons that God wanted the churches and the individuals in the Bible to understand. Grow and seek his guidance and approval in all things so that all who read it may draw closer to him and be saved!
Jason does not claim to be a pastor or a theologian; but he writes the book with a sincere heart. He felt compelled to write the book to share with as many people as possible. He does a very fine job of breaking down some very difficult to understand Biblical text that many people avoid reading because they say they can’t understand it. This book would be a great way to witness to those who are on the fence with making a commitment to God and the calling that he has on their lives to live according to his purpose.
Thank you Jason for being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit by writing, In Case Of Armageddon, Break Glass. The book was copyrighted in 2009 and it can be purchased on Amazon.com.