Face to Face by S. Michael Wilcox

I officially have a new favorite book that I want to share from the rooftops with every faith-seeking person I know.

I was so grateful when Deseret book gave me the opportunity to read S. Michael Wilcox's latest book, Face to Face: Seeking a Personal Relationship with God. If you are not familiar with Brother Wilcox and his powerful way of highlighting life-changing truths out of the scriptures, take a few minutes before you read this review to listen to his talk The Fourth Watch (scroll down to the end of the post to watch the video), or to read this devotional he gave at BYU-Hawaii.



Brother Wilcox was one of my Book of Mormon professors back in the day. His class and the one I took from Susan Easton Black played important roles in the process of really gaining my firm testimony of the Book of Mormon. So I feel a special, personal connection with Brother Wilcox -- even though I realize I am only one of the thousands of people who have been so influenced by him.

I have long had a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. I have known that God is aware of me; I have felt Him guide my life, particularly at major crossroads times of decision.

But it's only in the last few years that I've come to realize how much I still have yet to know and understand about my Heavenly Father and His very personal love for me. This book helped deepen both my testimony of God's love, and my desire to reach out more to build a relationship with Him and trust in Him more in my life.

As is Brother Wilcox's style, he uses a masterful combination of scriptural insight and personal experience to discuss ways we can not just pray, but reach in our communication with Heavenly Father. He discusses reaching through pouring out, reaching through wrestling, reaching through believing, reaching through acting, and reaching through knocking. The principles in each chapter weave and fold into each other, but I think (at least on my first reading), the first chapter is my favorite. I wept as I read and felt the power of his insights and testimony.

The following quote has stayed with me. As someone who spent a lot of time holding back in my prayers, I find this notion of pouring out (something, again, I've only started to understand in the last few years) is extremely profound.

Brother Wilcox uses the poignant example of Hannah in the scriptures, “who poured out her soul out of the abundance of her complaint and grief.”

“The soul can be described as a vessel that fills from time to time with various emotions, thoughts, memories, questions, and so forth. The very phrase pour out suggests this visual image. I have found it useful to see my soul as a vessel; I often ask myself what it contains before I kneel before the Lord. There is a difference to my approach when I say “I’m going to pour out my soul to God” rather than “I’m going to say my prayers.” The very phrase suggests there will be no holding back…. It is helpful to me to understand or recognize exactly what is in my soul. I must be totally honest with myself. Is it confusion, or doubt, or sorrow, or love, or gratitude, or guilt, or shame, or worry? I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls. I sense that unless we pour out, he cannot pour in. We want to make sure we empty everything to make room for what he will give us in return” (p. 19).

I'm reminded of President Eyring's talk about the pavilions that can sometimes keep us from feeling God's love for and awareness of us. Brother Wilcox shares his own personal experiences with doubt, grief (he lost his wife to cancer a couple of years ago), inadequacy, fear...the emotions that most mortals will struggle with at some point or another. This book feels like a sort of pouring out, a vulnerable, powerful testimony of what can happen when we are vulnerable with our Father.

This book is a treasure. I cannot recommend it enough.

Longing for Home by Sarah Eden

I am a day late on getting my post up, and it won't be a review...but a review is forthcoming! A lucky giveaway winner is going to do a review of the book for our blog. She's a huge Sarah Eden fan, so I'm excited to hear what she has to say about Longing for Home.

Longing for Home is a book in a new brand of books by Shadow Moutain called Proper Romance. 

"This new brand of “proper” romance allows readers to enjoy romance at its very best—and at its cleanest—portraying everything they love about a passionate, romantic novel, without busting corsets or bed scenes."

I'm not a huge romance novel fan myself, but I'm thrilled that there is a proactive effort to provide clean novels for those who do love them. And given what I've heard from fans of Sarah Eden, Longing for Home should be on the want list of romance readers. There will be a Book 2 as well, coming in Spring of 2014.

Here's a description of the novel:

Though she was only a child during the darkest days of Ireland s Great Famine, Katie Macauley feels responsible for the loss of her family s land and the death of her sister. Now a woman grown, Katie has left Ireland for America and the promise of earning money enough to return home again and plead for her family s forgiveness. She arrives in Hope Springs, Wyoming Territory, a town sharply divided between the Americans who have settled there, with their deep hatred of the Irish, and the Irish immigrants who have come searching for a place to call home. Her arrival tips the precarious balance, and the feud erupts anew. Even in the midst of hatred and violence, however, Katie finds reason to hope. Two men, as different as they are intriguing, vie for her heart, turning her thoughts for the first time toward a future away from Ireland. Katie must now make the hardest decision of her life: stay and give her heart a chance at love, or return home and give her soul the possibility of peace.

If you would like to read what others have said about Longing for Home, take a hop, skip, and a jump around the blog tour.

Here are a few highlights of what people have said:

Stephanie at Diapers and Divinity says " I really, really liked it. In fact, I think it may be my favorite of her books so far."

LDS Writer Mom, Julie Coulter Bellon writes: "I love all of Sarah's books. There is just something about her characters and style of writing that strikes a chord with me. This book was no different....This book is a definite five stars from me. Every historical fiction fan should read this book and put it on your Christmas and birthday lists. Completely loved it."

Books are Sanity says: "This story is no ordinary one; it weaves together a past of pain, a present of hard work and the unknown and a future of decisions yet to be made. If you want a book with a real story, with historical roots and about one courageous woman, then this is the book for you."

Reading the reviews makes me wish I was a romance novel reader. If any of you have read this book or others written by Sarah Eden, let us know what you think.

About the author:

Sarah M. Eden is the author of multiple historical romances, including Whitney Award finalistsSeeking Persephone (2008, Covenant Communications) and Courting Miss Lancaster(2010, Covenant Communications). Combining her obsession with history and affinity for tender love stories, Sarah loves crafting witty characters and heartfelt romances. She holds a Bachelor's degree in research and happily spends hours perusing the reference shelves of her local library. Sarah has twice served as the Master of Ceremonies for the LDStorymakers Writers Conference, acted as the Writer in Residence at the Northwest Writers Retreat and is one-third of the team at the AppendixPodcast.com. Sarah is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg at Foreword Literary Agency.

Stay updated about Sarah Eden's work by liking her Facebook page and following her blog.

Penumbras by Braden Bell

I'm thrilled to be able to write a review for Penumbras, the second in the Middle School Magic series by Braden Bell. We really enjoyed the first book, The Kindling (which I reviewed here). We love reading about the adventures and struggles of Conner, Lexa and Melanie (oh, and we can't forget Pilaf, whose adventures intensify in this book as well).

Thanks to the fact that the author let us read a draft copy of his book, I was able to do what I did with The Kindling and claim it as a read-aloud-with-Mom-only book. (It's hard to find a fantasy book my kids have not read and knowing of a book before it's published gives me an advantage!) Our recent vacation gave us time to finally finish it (it's hard to find a time when all three kiddos are in one place). We completed it just in time for the book's launch and blog tour.

We love the story and the characters and the suspense and the lessons explored in the books.

But I want to write this review (as I did the first time) more in momma mode, because I know parents often like to hear what other parents think about the entertainment available to their children.

Short answer is this: I love this series. It's definitely for older tweens/teens (lots of action, light-vs-dark moments, and some teenage crush-love stuff that likely will be too much for younger kids), but the books are well-written and both fun and meaningful.

As a mom, I always appreciate books and stories that can help give our family a springboard to talk and think about the reality of light and darkness, of good and evil, of trials and opportunities. Because we read this book aloud, it gave us a shared experience for such pondering and discussion.

It is clear to me that the author (a junior high/middle school teacher) understands and cares deeply about teenagers. In a world where often teens can be at the brunt of jokes and eye rolls, this is refreshing. In my view, the author's personal investment in youth comes out strongly in his writing.

I also was grateful for some teaching moments that the author capitalized on. In fact, as I was mulling over what to write for this review, the example I wanted to share was one that my starting-the-eighth-grade daughter brought up on her own as something that stuck with her.

Dr. Timberi gives some sage advice about teenage romances to one of his students that any mother would, I think, be thrilled to read aloud with her teens:

"Now, please accept a bit of advice from someone who has watched dozens and dozens of adolescent relationships pop like bubbles and ruin friendships....Teenage romances are notoriously unstable. Protect your friendship with prudence. Be friends. Good friends. Affectionate friends. But leave it at that. If love is real, it will grow along with you until you are both mature enough for a durable relationship that will shelter and feed it.

"[She] nodded. Super embarrassing to hear that from a teacher, but she saw the wisdom of Dr. Timberi's words."

I've always been grateful for other adults in my children's lives who care enough to share important, direct advice born of experience and concern. I love how the author weaves this advice into the plot -- far enough into the series that it doesn't come across as preaching, but clear enough that the message cannot be missed.

(I like how on his blog, too, he takes time to share some thoughts and advice for youth and their parents in a feature called Middle School Mondays.)

Just as with the first book, there were moments in this book where I struggled to read out loud because I got choked up. He hits on some topics and truths that really moved me; the lessons and topics explored in these books definitely extend beyond a teen's world. And just as with the first book, we had a hard time putting it down.

I think this book is, as another reviewer said, Braden Bell's best book yet. We highly recommend this series. (And we anxiously look forward to Book Three!)

 - - - -

About Braden Bell, author of the Middle School Magic series:

Braden Bell earned  a Ph.D. in educational theatre from New York University. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in theatre arts and child drama from Brigham Young University. He and his family live on a quiet, wooded lot in Tennessee, where he teaches theatre and music at a private middle school--the world described in The Kindling and Penumbras(whether his evenings and weekends are spent fighting evil is something he cannot disclose). An experienced performer, Braden enjoys singing, acting, reading, gardening, and long walks with the dog.

Braden enjoys interacting with readers on his blog or Facebook page. He's available for schools assemblies, classroom visits, and book clubs in person or via Skype. You can contact him by leaving a message here.

Penumbras Website (trailers, photos, sample chapters): http://www. bradenbell.com / penumbras.html
Author Facebook:  https://www. facebook.com/pages/Braden- Bell-author/107471269272359? ref = hl
Author Twitter: @ bradenbellcom
Author Blog:  http://www.bradenbell. com / bradens-blog.html

Cougar Football Cookbook compiled by Holly Mendenhall

The first time I heard about this book, I was so excited because I am such a big BYU fan.  So I began to read it right away.





The cookbook was great.  There were many fun homemade recipes that I was very excited to bake.  And what was even better was it was for their Thursdays Heroes charity. [Momma's note: See https://www.broncomendenhall.com/thursdays-heroes/ or https://www.facebook.com/fullyinvested for more info about Thursday's Heroes.]

At the bottom of the page it had the name of the person who made the recipe or added it in.  So it was fun to see the different names and then see who they are related to that made them famous in BYU football.  For example: Lenore V. Mendenhall is the mother of Coach Bronco Mendenhall.

The organization was very creative; it was set into "Football Slang" you might call it.   Pre-game warm ups, Rise and Shout, ect.  There was only one glitch.  The only glitch was there were no pictures!  In my opinion, there should always be pictures so you get a sense of what it looks like or how it can look like once it is done.

At the closing of this review, I would like to share my favorite recipe [that sounded good] from each section:

Pre-game Warm-ups- Homemade Granola Bars
Rise and Shout- Becca's Salsa
First Downs-Asian Grilled Chicken Salad
Bowl Games-Taco Soup
Touchdown-The Best Itallian Meatballs
Cheers from the Sidelines-Pineapple Bake
The Point After-Chocolate Chip Cake
Water Break-Grape Sparkle
                                                 
                                    -An almost 12 year-old