Review for The Future Door

The Future Door

By Jason Lethcoe

In volume 2 of this Sherlock Holmes knockoff series for kids, Griffin Sharpe is deemed “the world’s most secret detective” and he and his uncle Rupert Snodgrass find themselves traveling through time through the use of a time machine in the form of a teapot invented by the uncle to battle the ever evil and sneaky Professor Moriarty. 

While I enjoyed the definite “Holmes’ flavor of this juvenile literature’s setting, I found myself putting off finishing it after I had gotten into the first few chapters. One problem was that the character’s names seemed misapplied. Rupert, the name of the uncle, seemed more fitting for the younger detective, and Griffin seemed an older name. The passing of twenty-five years in one descriptive chapter dragged my attention down  as well. Despite these obstacles, The Future Door is a nice read for youngsters. Especially Holmes aficionados who may have difficulty trudging through the verbiage of the creator of Sherlock Holmes,  Sir Conan Doyle, who wrote two centuries back, which may present a time travel problem of a different kind.

I received a complimentary copy of The Future Door from Thomas Nelson publishers in return for my honest opinion about the book.

Rolling in the Deep

Adelle is seemingly at the top of her world, mainly due to the success of,  among other hits, "Rolling in the Deep", a song ironically lucky for her, about  failed love.

While I have listened to, and enjoyed my quota of  'Adelle-bytes', the deep that I am currently rolling in has nothing to do with failed love and everything to do with another kind.

In Cowman's  Streams in the Desert  a devotional book first published in 1925, she describes an immersion 'into the deep of God's purposes...until He becomes a bright, dazzling, sweet, fathomless summer sea, in which we bathe and bask and breathe, losing ourselves and our sorrows in the calmness and peace of His everlasting presence."

Frankly, this kind of thing is hardly possible, ironically once again,  without falling into deep waters of one kind or another.

The truth of God's great love and His deep purpose for me has been illuminated by difficult times. May it be true for you if you happen to find yourself 'rolling in the deep'.

Thanks, Adelle. Glory to God.

The Education of Life

I never understood kindness, until I saw it in the presence of ill will.

I never saw generosity, until it replaced selfishness.

I never knew mercy, until I beheld it beside cruelty.

I never felt contentment, until I experienced want.

I never received love, until I became completely unworthy of it. 

It took the opposite of light to illuminate the truth of it.

The education I received came at great cost. It took from me my naivety, my blind faith in humanity, and my youthful ignorance, but gave me much more in return.

There is no light without shadow, without contrast, no dimension. Though we decry a darker side, it enables our soul to open up to the possibility, and the hope of good.

Inspiring Book on Miracles Spans Divine and Mundane

Miracles are For Real

By James L Garlow and Keith Wall

Have you found yourself praying for a miracle? You are not alone. Author Jim Garlow is praying for his wife’s full recovery from cancer. And in the middle of that horrendous journey, he wrote a book on miracles. Other people’s miracles. 

Incidences such as a child falling 30 feet from an apartment window to cement below and recovering fully days later, against all medical prognosis, and a woman lifting a two ton vehicle when a man was about to be trapped under it are documented alongside stories of people ‘finding contacts’ in foreign countries against all odds.

I found this book amazingly inspiring and down to earth at the same time. The stories are carefully chosen from trusted friends and sources, so say Garlow and partner writer Keith Wall. These stories will astound you, warm your heart and most of all, encourage you to look for your own miracle. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in return for my honest opinion.

Clean Up - A Bite at a Time

January is the official month to clean, purge, and organize, or so it seems everywhere you look. Magazine articles, sales ads and blogs are touting the best way to de-clutter, and fit an entire life into a series of containers, large and small, to simplify the business of living.

For the first few days, ok-weeks, of the new year, I was resistant, but that was probably because there was so much Christmas to be put away that tackling anything else seemed overwhelming. So now, with 2011 Christmas jammed into the container in the garage, and spilling over in some cases, I have succumbed to the pressure of all those ads, and perhaps with a jump start from a free book I downloaded onto my android amazon kindle, I am now on the wagon.

Getting control of your 'things' is never easy if you have even the average amount of stuff we Americans accumulate. I've found that I tend to hoard due to feeling the financial pinch, (what if I need this later and can;'t afford it? *panic*) and this year hasn't been stellar for either extra money, or less stuff.

So I wrote out a jobs list for our family so everyone could have a part in the clean-up. There were daily and weekly tasks, as well as a laundry schedule. Every person has their own designated day to do laundry. With six in the house and only one of them male, well, you can imagine the laundry.I got a little scared to try it all at once, so I procrastinated a couple days and then hit upon what I think is the perfect solution.

After looking at the list several times, and talking it up to the kids, I am taking it slow, and only institute one major change at a time. I've decided we'll tackle the laundry schedule first, and then when that becomes routine, we'll proceed to the cleaning schedule. In the meantime, we'll make do with our patchwork cleaning.

It's probably just as well that cleanup begins in January. It may take me to the next January to get organized!

Yes, I Did Take a Shopping Cart

Ironically, the only time I've seen a police car on my street recently, was the day my car decided  not to start, and I had to walk to the grocery store, 'borrow' a cart, promising to give it back. The manager at the store was kind and understanding, and readily gave me permission to take the cart and return it.

I was just emerging from my street on the return trip with the empty cart in tow, when the patrol car slowed, and stopped beside me. The officer eyed me warily, asking what I was doing with the cart. Several answers, in retrospect would have made an embarrasing situation funny - or maybe not.

"I plan on stealing it and using it to transport illegal drugs around the neighborhood."

"I always take this cart; I'm surprised you haven't noticed before."

"I'm homeless and I'm going to raid the trash cans at the park for plastic and aluminum."

"Can I get your name? I'd like to put in a good word for you at the station. I'm awfully glad you're out here checking the neighborhood!"

-and my personal favorite-

"I'm researching attitudes of policemen towards low income society."

He gave me a grudging pass and moved on. It felt a little like when I was a child and everyone else had jumped on the bed, but when I got on, Mom walked in the room. 

We want to be thought well of, don't we? Even when all appearance shouts otherwise!

At any rate, I'm going to be a bit less judgmental when spying someone else with a shopping cart.

Full Nest

Fruit bowl overflowing with bananas, apples, oranges and tangerines.












Food from all over the world crammed in the pantry.

 


 Old silver-plate and white, lacy doilies stacked in cupboards.














Music books from ancient times to modern struggling to keep within their boundaries near the piano. Bookshelves spilling out their treasures into stacks on the floor. Autographs of friends and guests scrawled on the 'graffiti wall' in the coat closet. Care packages waiting to be sent to Germany and South Korea.




A garage full of Christmas decorations, camping gear and sewing projects. Logs piled up on the back porch.








Sound equipment, cds, dvds in bedrooms, living rooms. Schoolwork on coffee tables. Bills and files on the counter. People talking, eating, watching movies, reading books, doing homework and cleaning up their belongings in every nook and cranny.

This ain't no empty nest, baby! This is my life.


And I love it!