Currently Reading

This book.

I heard about it a couple years ago, but watching this trailer got me hooked. I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie. 

This is the story of a passionate runner, Olympian, survivor at sea, prisoner of war, and his survival through the traumatic suffering and the most inhumane treatment a human person can go through in a lifetime. 

May I learn from the lessons of his life: the lesson of will power, the lesson of a God who does not abandon his own, the lesson of suffering without a meaning compared to suffering with purpose, 

the lesson to be broken is to be wide open for redemption. 

"A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory." - Unbroken

Summer Reading

I accidentally happened upon a crazy good book: 

The back cover reads: 

WHAT IF 

THE LIFE YOU REALLY WANT, 

AND 

THE FUTURE

GOD WANTS FOR YOU, 

IS HIDING 

RIGHT 

NOW

IN YOUR BIGGEST 

PROBLEM,

YOUR WORST 

FAILURE...

YOUR GREASTEST 

FEAR?

I was invited to join a summer book study the morning it started, with this as the book of choice. I jumped at the chance :)

The basis of the book starts with the real biblical short story of Benaiah, a man who went into a pit, to kill a lion, on a snowy day.  

It's an easy read with extremely thought provoking and revealing insights. 

We all have crazy fears in all shapes and sizes or failures or major crisis...and how do we handle them? What are the qualities of men like Benaiah when faced with great fear? 

One out of dozens of great quotes in the book, love this one: 

"God is in the resume-building business. He is always using past experiences to prepare us for future opportunities. But those God-given opportunities often come disguised as man-eating lions. And how we react when we encounter those lions will determine our destiny." 

Highly recommend for all humans ;) 

Books, Bumps, and Kung Po

So, I've been informed that January is Accident Awareness Month.

Within the past 48 hours we have had 1 busted all-the-way-through lip, 2 head first falls (feet in the air), and 14 trips and slips. Between Avila and Christiana, I will need triple bi-pass surgery by the end of the month.

I'm praying for the grace to have more sympathy than to stare in utter bewilderment and dismay.

Avila Maria.
Alias:  "Adrenalin Junkie" or "Evil Kneivil".

Don't be deceived by appearances to think otherwise ;)


We watched Kung Fu Panda 2 for Family Movie Night and it hit me.

Our own personal Kung Po Panda...

KUNG PO SOMEBODY

Similarities: Love for Food, Going shirtless and letting that big belly hang over her pants, Somebody Thinks she can do Kung Fu moves...it has left her with a big lower lip. Andrew thought her new haircut last week leaves her somewhat gender neutral. :)

Earlier today we took a family outing to the Library and I got to check out some of my favorite books....for the kids ;)

We read some chapters from Charlotte's Web and Nicholas and Christiana (and their mother) were completely engaged in it's wonderful story.

The newest Book on the Nook: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I'm only a few chapters in, but it promises to be 12 billion times better than the movie, although I did love the musical score of the Broadway show and latest movie.