Tina The Storyteller

Ordering Your Private World is one of those books that would have been awesome to read about twenty years ago. I'm thankful that I read it now with its re-release. MacDonald has been a pastor for over 50 years. In the beginning of the book, he shares a time in which he was constantly moving from one thing to the next within his work. After arriving at a place in which he couldn't continue the pace, he realized that his private world needed some priority in his life. Ordering Your Private World is basically of how MacDonald went about moving from the world directing his steps to his steps directed by God. Not that he wasn't seeking God's will before but there is a definite difference in the priorities of life when you are centering yourself in God's will on a regular basis and when you just do what others say you should be doing even if those others are fellow Christians. This book systematically takes the reader through the ability to recognize if your inne...

We started studying Swedish this past year. H has been learning the language as well as the culture. One of the first books we looked into in regards to culture was Fika also by Kindvall. It was a great introduction to the afternoon snacktime popular throughout Sweden. Smorgasbord opened up the world of Swedish entertainment even further. Smorgasbord shares not only the concept of the self-serve dinner party with finger food but has many wonderful recipes to get you started. I tried several of them with great results. Including creating a sourdough starter and making a lovely scalded rye loaf from it. The starter uses small amounts of flour/rye from the beginning, making it less expensive and less wasteful than other starter recipes I've used in the past. It takes a week to get it to the point of being able to use it, but well worth the effort. And it makes a fun science experiment. The scalded rye loaf used only the starter for leavening and yielded a dense, moist b...

I haven't shared much about our homeschooling lately. To be honest, my daughter is pretty independent most days. I try to help her with things but she's at a point where she's figuring a lot of stuff out on her own. We still converse, I try to get as much information as I can into our conversations and will follow them up with links to articles or youtube videos. So there isn't really much to share in regards to actual school work. I have been thinking today about that transition that I had to make when we first got started. I was one of those people that loved school. I tried my best to have perfect attendance, straight A's, and turn all my work in on time. I did my homework the night before, unless I completely forgot about it, like that report for Mr. Prospero about Will Rogers which I totally just biffed and wrote it the morning of while I was walking between classes. Let's just say that was the last time I forgot to go to the library for his class. It...

The Wellness Revelation is an 8-week workbook. Each week takes a different focus of spiritual and physical wellness. Keeton does an excellent job of showing how the two are related and gently leads the reader through helpful revelations to open doors to better health and encouragement. The main downfall of the book is that it references several workout routines, assessments, and plans that are not included in the book nor on the website. I'm assuming that they are available for a monthly fee through her organization. Without those, the book isn't as helpful as it could be. I felt a little like I was reading the class notes for a class I wasn't a part of. So I got the idea but felt that there was more out there. As it is, it has several aha moments that it can help those that are looking to connect their spiritual and physical lives. I tried working through the book myself but because of the lack of assessments and personal accountability group, I was not encouraged to ...