Book Review: Before I Dream Bedtime Bible Storybook

Review: Before I Dream Betime Bible Storybook by Karyn Henley

As we await little A's arrival, we have been reading a bedtime story each night. Yes, I read to my belly, and yes, he sometimes seems to respond. Recently we finished reading Karyn Henley's Before I Dream Bedtime Bible Storybook. I bought this book at an Abilene Educational Supply booksale and got the copy that came with a CD of music. The same issue with CD can be found on Amazon for about $50. You might try second-hand bookstores or Christian bookstore's clearance racks for a better deal. Tyndale gives it a retail value of $15, but it is currently out of print.

That being said, keep your eyes out for this book at any second-hand sales or your church's library! I loved reading through this book. It covers a variety of stories from the Old and New Testament, some children's classics such as Noah and David and Goliath, but also some lesser heard stories such as Samuel and Saul. A's favorite seemed to be the couple with Solomon.

Ms. Henley describes her purpose for the book as sending kids off to sleep with positive images in their minds. She does just that. Even when some of the more gritty stories are included, they are tastefully made child-friendly. There is plenty of onomatopoeia ("clip-clop, clip-clop" "whoosh") in the stories to help the reader and listener get into the spirit of things a bit more. Each story also has at least one illustration, and some have full page art.

Overall, this was a great book and I would highly recommend scooping it up if you find a copy!

One Year Later

Yesterday was one year since my LEEP to remove precancerous cells from my cervix.

A year ago, I thought my life was about to take turn dramatically for the worse.

A year ago, I was scared, make that terrified that my dreams of becoming a mother would be gone forever.

A year ago, I had no idea how strong I was.

I was terrified of what would happen. I was worried that they would find out that it was worse than the biopsy showed. I didn't think anyone understood or could understand. And I had no idea what I was doing.

I took it one day at a time and leaned on my husband more than I ever thought I would. I learned that in all of his discomfort with my tears and emotions, he would always be there for me. I learned that he is my rock and my teddy bear all in one. He really was amazing (and still is).

I struggled with what it meant to trust God and be faithful to the command to not worry. I struggled even more with what it meant to take your cares to your brothers and sisters in Christ and ask for prayer. I found myself conflicted in the role of care taker for so many and needing to be cared for, and I learned the importance of being vulnerable even as you care for the broken.

And now I find myself "as big as house" with a wiggling, kicking, little baby growing inside of me and a clean bill of health. I feel closer to my husband that I did before even when he's hundreds of miles away. I feel more at peace and content with the situation and world that God has placed me in. Most of all, I have been humbled to a place of deep appreciation for the glory and majesty of our Lord and the life that we have within him.

I am honored to be able to share my story with anyone who might see this and pray that I might provide hope to someone who needs it.

To read about the events of last here, click here.



My ever growing "very pregnant" belly. :)



Musings from Matthew 5

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. -Matthew 5:27-29


Tonight, I'd like to talk, or better type, about something that stands out to me. We often hear the above verse, but I don't think we really take it seriously very often. And ladies, I think we tend to down right ignore it. Tonight I specifically want to talk about how this verse applies to celebrities. 


Often I hear women talking about how handsome, good-looking, sexy, etc. certain male celebrities are. I admit, I've done the same. However, it struck me a few months back how this verse applies to such talk. It struck me when a friend was going on about how good looking (with various many more adjectives and facial expressions) Ryan Reynolds is. What hit me, was that she did this right in front of her husband. Now, he didn't say anything, and I don't know if they talked about it later, but it struck me: women often think this okay.


Now ladies, if you husband stood there in front of you and went on about hot, sexy, attractive, ect. Jennifer Aniston or Katherine Heigl was, how would you feel? I know that personally, I would possibly be very hurt or angry, depending upon my mood. 


So, I let this stew around in my mind a little. Women tend to talk about male celebrities fairly often as part of "girl talk," or at least, many of my friends do. However, I think that our "talk" borders dangerously close to the mental adultery that Jesus warns against.

Yes, male celebrities tend to be good looking men. However, I would encourage us wives to have eyes, and libidos, solely for our husbands. Perhaps this means that you should limit what you watch. Perhaps this means limiting what you talk about with your friends. Perhaps for you this is just something to think about. Let's just each work a little harder to honor ourselves, our husbands, and our faith with what we say and how we act.

Childless in Church (Part II)

I am incredibly disillusioned with my Bible study right now. With a group of ladies from church, we're working through Beth Moore's To Live Is Christ. I was working through some of the homework and I just had to stop. It just wasn't going well.

This day's lesson is talking about Timothy and the legacy of faith through his mother and grandmother. So, let's talk about our children. Here came the one simple sentence that brought me to tears: "Hang in there parent!"

As someone who longs for children so much, such a simple phrase can be such a sharp sword. Now I know that most of the women who will follow this study are parents, because most women are, and once again, I know that there was no ill intent.

But my heart is broken. I know that tomorrow morning the ladies will all want to talk about how important it is for them to instill faith in their children, and I will have nothing to add. They will talk about ways that they teach the stories of the Bible and of the joy of watching their children grow to accept Christ.

Perhaps today is simply a bad day to have done this part of the study. Maybe my hormones are getting the best of me. It's possible that I'm just overly sensitive right now. But I feel like I owe it to myself to be honest about what I'm feeling, and I owe it to the other women in the some position to give them a little louder of a voice.

Season of Gratitude

In the Bible study I'm doing (Beth Moore's To Live is Christ) there was a section on hardship and struggle. Beth shared the following verse:

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faint -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:7

It is with this verse in mind that today I will be grateful for the refining work of God within my life. Although it rarely feels good and often seems unfortunate, I know that the troubles and hardships of this life are signs of the work of God within me and those around me.

Further, I stand in faith in the promise of this verse, that my hardships are not only for my benefit, but through faith they may result in praise, glory, and honor to the one living and true God.

Micah 6&7

I heard this song this morning and it touched my heart. Specifically, I love the verse that the young lady sings towards the end. Micah 6:8, "Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." With that verse swimming in my mind, I decided to read Micah 6 and 7 again. These two chapters struck me as being incredibly relevant to our society.

In this part of Micah, you see the Lord's accusation of Israel. Once again, the chosen nation has turned away from its God and has forgotten the awesome acts of mercy that have saved them in the past. The writer hears the Lord's accusations and knows that he is guilty. He pleads with God, what can I do to make you love me again? What do I need to give you? He asks God which sacrifice would be necessary. Barrels of oil? Costly livestock? His own son? He offers God everything that God does not need and nothing that God wants.

God's reply is simple. He wants a faithful people. He wants his chosen nation to seek justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.

Still, the people seek to find their fulfillment elsewhere, but it is not successful. Micah 6:14-16:

You will eat but not be satisfied;
   your stomach will still be empty.
You will store up but save nothing,
   because what you save I will give to the sword.
You will plant but not harvest;
   you will press olives but not use the oil,
   you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.

The writer continues to talk of the corruption all around him. Everyone is corrupted from the nation's leader to his own wife. He is crying out against the evil around him, but his voice is so small among the crowds. Yet,

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
   I wait for God my Savior;
   my God will hear me. 

Do not gloat over me, my enemy! 
   Though I have fallen, I will rise. 
Though I sit in darkness, 

   the LORD will be my light. (7:7-8)

How can this man, surrounded my evil, watching his nation suffer rightly due to their own sin, have such hope? Because he has walked with his God. He proclaims at the end of the book the reason for his hope-- He can have hope, because he knows who his God is.

Who is a God like you, 
   who pardons sin and forgives the transgression 
   of the remnant of his inheritance? 
You do not stay angry forever 
   but delight to show mercy. 
You will again have compassion on us; 
   you will tread our sins underfoot 
   and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 
You will be faithful to Jacob, 
   and show love to Abraham, 
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors 
   in days long ago. (Micah 7:18-20)


Today, I know that it is easy to look around and see the corruption of our world. It is easy to see how even those of the Church have strayed away from their God. But today, I challenge us to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, because then we will have the hope that comes from knowing the person of our God and knowing that He will always be faithful to us, no matter how unfaithful our world becomes.