Book Review: Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

This time around, I gave my husband Joe the opportunity to review a book for my blog, since I knew the subject would be right up his alley!    Here are his thoughts on the book “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” by Eric Metaxas.

This book was a biography chronicling the life and message of Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his childhood to his execution.  Bonhoeffer lived in Germany during the second World War and the story details his transformation from a theologian to a pastor to a conspirator against Hitler and the Nazi regime, as well as the inner and outer turmoil that he endured as he struggled to figure out God’s will in a time of godlessness in his country.

I thought that the information was very clear and at the end of the biography, I felt like a had a good understanding of the life and thoughts of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The author made a great effort to include multiple excerpts from letters and historical documents to support the telling of the story, which was very informative, but which at times felt excessive and more detail than was perhaps necessary.  I didn’t find the book deeply riveting and it was sometimes difficult to continue to plow through, but because of my interest in World War 2 and the compelling nature of Bonhoeffer’s journey, it is still a very interesting read.  If the author was seeking to be thorough in this telling of Bonhoeffer’s life, he was definitely successful, but it may have been more compelling had it been more concise and fast-paced.

I was deeply impacted by the insights I gained from understanding the Church’s struggle in Germany leading up to and through World War 2.  As a theologian, Bonhoeffer’s Biblical revelation and his stand on various issues, including his thoughts on what the role of the Church should be in the midst of an evil governmental regime, were very thought-provoking and probably ahead of his time.  It was sobering to see the parallels between that era and the day we live in today and the necessity for the Church to be deeply founded in prayer and operating in power.  I would recommend this book because of the detailed knowledge of living in a time of war and Church persecution from the perspective of a Christian leader that would be difficult to find elsewhere. 

Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller.

My Handsome Boy

It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything about my dear & handsome son Justice, since Rayah sort of stole the show with all of her birthday & sickness drama!   Justice is quite the spunky fellow lately, with his favorite phrases being, “I won’t ______ / I can’t ______ / I don’t have to _______ / I don’t want to _________ - ever, Ever, EVER!!”  LOL.  He is becoming quite independent and is very adamant about dressing himself in the mornings now, so it takes some creative parenting to convince him to let us help him when things don’t go quite right.  He is also becoming more creative in his imaginative playing and increasing in his drumming & dancing skillz!  He’s a hilarious kid with a fantastic smile who brings us MUCH joy!  

Anyways, here are some fantastic photos my friend Alyssa took of Justice during a family photo shoot we had in the fall that I absolutely love!

Original & Fun Gift Ideas

I just wanted to take a moment to share about some lovely friends of mine who make original and fun creations that could potentially be great gift ideas for your friends and family or maybe even for me!  Hahaha – joking…..but totally serious!

First of all, let me tell you about Bethany Vanderputten, who you may remember, is the talented artist who painted the beautiful header for my blog.  She does amazing work that she has transformed into a myriad of products so that you can enjoy her artwork in your own home!  A couple of her items that I think are fantastic are her Florette 2011 Calendar…

And this fantastic iPhone 4 case that I absolutely adore (yes, you can buy this for me)!  She also has versions for the iPad and the iPhone 3G, if you are interested!

You can also check out her original artwork for sale in her Etsy shop or her artwork throw pillows with scripture verses on the reverse side in her website shop.  Not to mention the many other products in Bethany’s Boutique where you can get her artwork on a water bottle, tote bag, mug, magnet, cards, coaster, journal – you name it!

Secondly, let me tell you about the cute & cozy creations of Whimsy Knitter who knits adorable things such as this…

…and this piece that I am in LOVE with (please buy for me! )…

Thirdly, I must introduce you to my dear friend Jen who is a very talented seamstress and fashion designer!  While she does design and sell garments for us regular-sized people, her specialty is actually creating amazingly detailed and creative designs for dolls!  Now, I don’t actually have any dolls, but if you happen to be a doll collector or you have little girls who love dolls and dressing them up, then you should definitely check out her Etsy shop!  Here are a couple of my favorites…

 

I also love her creation here that is already purchased by someone else, but too gorgeous not to share!

So there you have it!  I love seeing friends use their gifts and abilities to create such fabulous and beautiful works of art that we can all enjoy.  Do you or any of your friends have their own creations that you’d like to share?  Tell us in the comments!

Shutterfly me to Christmas Card Heaven!

I recently heard about Shutterfly.com from a friend’s blog and when I went to check them out, I was totally impressed!  This year I am just so busy with being back at work and with two very busy little kids running around that I’ve barely had time to even think about getting Christmas cards made.  In the past I have sometimes designed my own, but this year I knew it would be so much easier to use a template. 

I’ve looked at other stores and sites where you can create your own Christmas cards online, but none of them even came close to comparing with Shutterfly when it came to selection and style!  There are almost 200 flat Photo Card designs (and some of these even come in variations that can use different numbers of photos), plus they have nearly 400 Stationary Card designs (better quality paper & a little pricier), and over 200 Folding Card designs.  The designs overlap between these 3 categories, but I was still amazed at the choice and how much I actually really loved the designs!  Let’s be honest, some of the ones we’ve seen out there are pretty cheesy and pathetic looking, which is why I’ve designed my own in the past – but I would be more than happy with using many of Shutterfly’s great cards!

Now while I’m still trying to decide which one I’m going to use, I’ve been playing around in their design studio and it’s super easy to use!  You can upload your pics, easily drag & drop them into the card design of your choice, add text (with many fonts to choose from), crop, zoom in & out of pics and move them around until the card is exactly how you want it.  You can also save your projects so that you can easily go back and edit them before making your order.

However, I think what I liked most was that there are several great card options with Biblical Christ-centered themes, which can sometimes be hard to find when everything is about Santa and Snowmen!  Here are just a few of the ones that I really like!

 

 

And there are so many more!  You might even want to consider their very fun & cute looking wall calendars with the new year approaching (I could waste a lot of time playing with this!). Plus, the prices are totally reasonable and very competitive with other retail stores.  An extra little bonus, if you sign up for an account you will get 50 free 4×6 prints!  Okay, but I have to go finish designing my Christmas card so that I can get them sent to me & get them to my loved ones!