I’ve always said that parenting is about 99% prayer. Mothers pray. A lot. In honor of that, this month’s book review focuses on supporting a mother’s prayer life through daily Bible reading. But, I have to admit, I have not completed the book for this month’s book review. However, since tomorrow, Thursday, May 6 is the 2021 National Day of Prayer in the US, it seemed a good time to review this month’s book, The One Year Pray for America Bible (Tyndale). First, a little bit of history on the National Day of Prayer. Prayer has a long and valued heritage in American history. Even before we became the nation…

At Rhubarb & Rubbish, we are continually reading and reviewing books that peak our interests. Our mission is to cultivate an intentional life, right? Meaning we take out the fluff and junk to focus on our values and what is most important to us. This book offers advice on how to take your business or career into something that will give you the time for what is important to you…whatever that may be. Although the author focuses on how the principles allowed him to travel extensively, the principles work for anything. It can be used to have more time for family, hobbies, leisure and more. For myself, I am always…

Unglued–A book that gives you a different perspective on handling life’s interruptions. It talks about our raw emotions and how we deal with them. Lysa helps us define who we are: an exploder that blames others, an exploder that shames herself, a stuffer that builds barriers, or a stuffer that collects retaliation rocks (comments). As you read the book you start to figure out which of those categories you most fit in or whether it’s a combination of a couple of them. God gave us these emotions so we can enjoy life and we sometimes need to think about them before we react. We also need to take time to…

One of my time-honored holiday traditions is reading a Christmas story each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have read quite a few over the years. Some I have reread because they were so good. This year, I chose to read a new story, The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. Baldacci typically writes political thrillers. I was first introduced to his work through a movie adaptation of Absolute Power (1996), directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. While I have not read all his books, I have enjoyed the ones I have read. The Christmas Train provides just what most of us are looking for at Christmas. A little bit of…

We are a short month away from the 2020 election. I keep hearing people say that they can’t wait until it is over so we can go back to normal and some of the social unrest we feel dissipates. I used to say that myself, until I realized that what we are experiencing is the new norm. It’s not going away. At least not anytime soon. And, it certainly won’t if we as Americans don’t start working to heal the wounds we have inflicted on each other. I ran across Arthur Brooks’ book, Love Your Enemies, last year and immediately resonated with much of what he had to say. Brooks’,…