Near to the Heart

Children's Book Review: The Bedtime Book by Mary EngelBreit

About the Book:

Mama comes to tuck you in,

Pulls the covers to your chin,

Squeezes fingers, squeezes toes,

Lays a kiss upon your nose.

New York Times bestselling author Mary Engelbreit presents The Bedtime Book, a beautifully-illustrated picture book that pairs sleepy time text with Mary’s beloved, timeless art. From endearing poems and snuggly stories to sweet blessings and precious prayers, each page of The Bedtime Book features ways for you to read your little one to sleep.  The Bedtime Book has a beautiful cover decorated with embossing and spot gloss.

My Review:
Mary Engelbreit does not disappoint with her latest illustrations in The Bedtime Book. Each page is colorful and fun. She creates such incredible detail in each picture. Children and adults will delight in looking for all the creatures, flowers, stars and so much more. The poems, prayers, and stories will become bedtime favorites. This would be a beautiful gift or a great book to keep stashed at Grandma's house. You can't go wrong with this lovely read-out-loud gem. 

Board Book Review: Ready, Set, Find: Noah's Ark

Book Description:

Noah has an important job. He needs to build a huge ark and fill it with animals too. Now there are things and animals along the way he needs your help to find, like the hammer, the hen, and the hedgehog. Are you ready to help Noah? If so, on your mark, Ready, Set, Find! Read the classic story of Noah’s Ark in this engaging look-and-find book for young children.

My Review:

Noah's Ark is a sturdy board book with tabs that make turning each page easy for little fingers. The illustrations are colorful and cute. However, I found it difficult to find some of the hidden tools and animals. A small child might need help looking for the partially hidden items. I do think children will enjoy the short version of Noah's story. This book would be a good teaching tool, as well. I received this book for free.

Broken and Blessed

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

I just spent the weekend with amazing ladies—dear, dear friends—from Kentucky Christian College. We first met over forty years ago, when we all attended KCC. Since then our paths diverged all over the country; yet it's like we were never apart. That's because we've all kept loving Jesus. You see he's the reason we all converged on KCC in the 70s. We loved the Lord and wanted to serve him.

Thanks to social media, snail mail, and phone calls, we've reconnected and found our love for each other and God still holds true. I'd venture to say that love is even stronger.  We discovered, as a group, we've suffered broken hearts, failed relationships, parents growing old, our children's heartbreak, health issues, and the oh so human struggle with sin. Our dear friend, Holly, shared a devotion with us. She talked about the tears of God and how we shed tears in times of fear, sadness, depression, and even joy. But he takes them and stores them in his bottle, on his scrolls—Psalm 56:8. He gathers our tears and heartaches because he loves us. He holds our tears and understands our sorrows.

I'm a broken person. One who has lived life, suffered, struggled, and sinned. I'm also one who has asked forgiveness and felt God's grace and love pour over me. Even though my friends and I have all experienced the pains of life, we've been blessed by the hope that comes only through Jesus. Jesus is the way to a life of joy and peace. He's the way to heaven. I praise God for friendships anchored by the hope that is in him!

Psalm 116:8-9
For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

A Puffin Haiku

Beacons of Hope

Last summer, Tim and I climbed Marblehead Lighthouse. We enjoyed the view of Lake Erie and the surrounding area. I imagined what life might have been like for the lightkeeper and family. A soft breeze blew with warm temperatures. A perfect day to be outside. But think about what lightkeepers went through in the winter. Freezing degrees of cold, ice, and snow. They trudged through blizzards, storms, and other inclement weather to bring safety to the boats that traveled nearby. 

I've had a fascination with lighthouses for years. The tall beacons of light remind me of the hope I have in Jesus. The hope that helps me trek through life's circumstances with a sense of peace, joy, and safety. 

On our trip to Maine this summer, Tim and I saw seventeen different beacons of hope. Ten in Maine, on the beautiful Atlantic, and seven in Ohio, on Lake Erie. Hope you enjoy their beauty as much as we have.

Ram Island Ledge Light----------------------------Portland Head Light----------------Portland Breakwater---Maine

Nubble Lighthouse---------------------------------Kittery Lighthouse--------------------------Pemaquid Lighthouse----------Maine

Pond Island, Popham Beach Light----Wood Island, Biddeford----Whaleback Lighthouse---Spring Point Ledge Light---Maine

Fairport Harbor Light------------Vermillion Lighthouse---------Conneaut Breakwater Light----Marblehead------Ohio

Port Clinton Lighthouse--------------------------Lorain Lighthouse----------------Fairport Harbor West Breakwater--------Ohio

A Measure of Growth

Colossians 1:9-14
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

When we vacationed in Maine, Tim and I took a "Lobster Tour." Our first afternoon in that beautiful state we boarded the Lucky Catch, on the Casco Bay in Portland. The little red boat held about fourteen tourists ready to learn about the trade of lobstering. First, we filled mesh bags with chubs and herring, then tied them into the traps. The captain taught us about the traps, how the larger lobsters get caught and the little ones have an escape hatch. The whole experience was hands-on. When we pulled in the traps and found a female, they showed us she was a layer and threw her back. Then the captain demonstrated which of the larger male lobsters to keep and which to send back to the water.

The captain grabbed the lobster and a gage. He hooked one end of the measuring tool to the socket behind the lobster's eye, then drew the other end straight down along the crustacean's carapace (back). The minimum length had to be three and a quarter inches for him to keep it. Otherwise back to the deep they went for a chance to grow.

Like those lobsters that get thrown into the sea, God wants me to keep growing. My Father knows where I am as a believer. He knows my heart and sees my soul. When I think of ways to grow spiritually I call up the verses in Galatians where Paul names the Fruit of the Spirit. My love needs to multiply. Does God draw me through the fires of life to increase my compassion for people? I'm willing to say yes. Does he require I wait to develop patience? Of course. How about experiencing hurt and pain to remember to be kind and gentle. Yes! God wants me to grow in my relationship with Jesus. He wants me to strengthen my knowledge of his word. Does he use a gage to measure my growth? No, instead he checks my heart. Jesus knows me. He loves me and he wants me to be filled with joy. And that takes growth—in learning his word, in prayer, and in obedience.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.