Stumbling on Open Ground

Having a close family member who is now battling cancer made this book appealing to me from the beginning. I wanted to know more about what the day to day life is like from another Christian who has gone through these battles and has come out triumphant, both in his health and in his spiritual walk. This is what this book captures - Ken Mansfield had not one, but two horrific struggles with cancer, and each time, his personal relationship with the Lord was strengthened even as his faith was tested to the limits. Ken is an incredible writer, with an amazing gift to communitcate personal details of his life in a way that helps the reader walk with him through the recollection of each stage of his battle. This God given gift of writing made the personal account come alive in a way that was both awe-inspiring and incredibly scary. He was brutally honest in the times that he questioned his faith and even wanted to relive in his mind past times of success that weren't in Gods plan, but then he kept coming back to his trust in the Lord and that God's will would be done no matter what. One of the most moving parts of the book was near the end when he stated that he almost missed those most difficult times because it was then that his relationship with the Lord was the sweetest. How amazing! Even though, he was in such physical pain, the precious relationship and personal walk with God at that time was even better because of his complete reliance on him when those horrific things happened. The book helps give an overall better understanding of the complete physical, emotional and even spiritual battle that people who are battling cancer go through. His honesty of each stage was so important because it showed his real and genuine spiritual transformation through it all. His accounts of his walks and talks with the Lord on the beach or in the woods and his longing for those quiet times with the Lord was inspirational for me and I think would be for many others. It was so inspirational to see his love for the Lord deepen even as the symptoms became increasingly severe and his future was definitely unknown. I think the great take away from this book is for us to love the Lord with an even greater passion no matter what we are personally battling, because He is always there for us with outstretched hands.

The Money Smart Family System

As a mother of 3 small children, I loved this book and am so glad I read it while they are still little and we can implement changes now. It has so many practical, life-changing tips and lessons that I have already seen impact my kids and our family system. They teach how to raise financially smart and independent children by giving life lessons and guidelines at each stage. Many of the chapters are broken down into 5 stages, which are: the $5 stage (ages 0-5), the $50 stage (ages 6-11), the $500 stage (ages 12-17), the $5,000 stage (ages 18-23) and finally, the $50,000 stage (ages 24 and beyond). Because of this breakdown in ages and respective lessons at each age, parents of children at all ages can greatly benefit from the book. One example that I especially appreciated was their view on teaching kids how to save money. They break the savings into: spend, save and give. We have found a piggy bank that is divided into those three areas which makes it easy for small children to visualize the separation of savings. It helps teach them from a young age the importance of long-term savings, giving to charities, church and/or those in need, and short term goals of the spending category. It has been wonderful to teach these values to our boys at a young age with the hopes that these values will stay with them throughout their lives as to how they view money. Another thing they teach is the point system where kids can earn points for doing chores, things around the house and family household duties, and the points are cashed in at the end of the week for money. We have implemented this within our family and it has helped tremendously in positively motivating our kids help with the household activities, and increase their positive behavior in various other areas. They have looked forward to payday and have enjoyed seeing rewards for their hard work and have learned to really value purchases with this money because they have worked hard to attain it, rather than things just being given to them. Lessons learned have been: greater appreciation for things they buy, patience in waiting to payday, importance of giving to others and learning to have longterm savings also. I would highly recommend this book to any and all parents wanting to raise financially responsible children who will one day be fiscally wise adults.

Bibleman: Combating the Commandment of Confusion

I think the best review of this movie was the reaction of my 3 ½ year old son as he watched it the first time. He was absolutely mesmerized! I was actually surprised that the movie would have his attention as fully as it did, especially considering it is different from the movies he is accustomed to. No cartoon movie, just real life actors depicting a Biblical message in a way that captures the attention of kids of various ages – what a fabulous concept!

This particular video demonstrated the importance of putting on the Entire Armour of God and used several Scriptures that reinforced the concept of Bibleman’s main power – the Bible! I was so excited to find this video and am looking forward to finding more movies and Bibleman gear for my sons. For someone who has been into superheroes for a while now, I am so happy to know that as his mom, I can introduce my son to a “superhero” who teaches him positive life-changing lessons from the Word of God.

Jane Austen: Christian Encounters

This book was quite enlightening as well as entertaining about the life and times of Jane Austen. Reading it made me want to reread her most famous novels. It’s always interesting to get a glimpse into the life of an author, especially one as timeless as Jane Austen. To see into her everyday life through information such as excerpts from personal letters gave a truer picture of who this amazing “authoress” was. The book did a thorough job of painting the background of the people and places most influential in her life, particularly her beloved family and favorite homes. Reading this book gave me a greater respect for her (her compassion, her humor, and overall virtuous nature) as well as awareness to the depth of who she was and the work that went into her novels. It was enlightening to see the pattern of writing in her life – beginning in her teens, taking a break for a decade during her personal trials, and then culminating in such success at the end of her very young life. She was a remarkable woman as well as writer.

Love and Respect

This book does a great job of summarizing the basic needs of men and women in relationships. He describes the cycles of relationships and how we get trapped in "The Crazy Cycle" vs. putting forth a little extra effort to start a more rewarding "Energizing Cycle". He defines fears and worries that men have that prevent them from truly loving their wives as well as fears that women harbor, preventing them from respecting their husbands. There are several "ah-ha" moments when reading this book. By breaking it down into such simple explanations, it is pretty amazing to see how we get easily trapped in the destructive cycles. However, his acronyms “C-O-U-P-L-E” and “C-H-A-I-R-S” show and simplify the ways that men can truly display love to their wives (COUPLE – closeness, openness, understanding, peacemaking, loyalty, esteem) and that women can show true respect for their husbands (CHAIRS – conquest, hierarchy, authority, insight, relationship, and sexuality). This can be a very helpful tool for creating closeness and more unity in relationships - especially if shared by husband and wife!

Fearless

This book is so perfectly fitting for this day and age. It’s amazing how we are completely engulfed in fear in our every day lives and this book addresses not only the reality of living in those fears, but practical, scripture based application of how to deal with it – head on! His biblically inspired exhortations are so uplifting and enlightening – they are actually freeing! In applying the principals he suggests, there is a new liberty in living our lives the way we are supposed to – without the crippling grips of fear that Satan would have us live in.

I have enjoyed the concepts in this book so much that I have already recommended it to family and friends – and my small group! I think this is a book that could be read once a year as a very uplifting reminder of keeping our faith in the Lord, thereby freeing us from the fears of “what could be” in this life.

Between Wyomings

This book was very unique in several ways. Ken Mansfield is a very accomplished record producer. To follow the journey of his life, through both the secular and Christian world, was quite incredible. His candidness and honesty were refreshing and his sense of humor and creativity gave it an entertaining side.

However, not being familiar with a lot of the artists he worked with, I found it somewhat difficult to stay “involved” with the book. I felt like it was perhaps too detailed about scenarios, situations, incidents, etc. that I couldn’t appreciate perhaps as much as someone with a greater knowledge of these artists and music. So, for these reasons it took me a while to get through the book, but overall it was an encouraging read. My favorite part of the book was the end where he tied together the lessons of his life and how he felt the 4 persons of his life (representing the different eras of his life) all merged together through God’s work in his life. I appreciated his’sharing the lessons of his life journey through the book.