What I've Been Reading--October

Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry has been on our to read list for quite some time.  We finally got around to reading it in the beginning of the month.  This book is about the wild ponies who live on Assateague Island off the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. Two young children, Paul and Maureen, live on the neighboring island of Chincoteague and have their hearts set on buying a mysterious wild pony named Phantom.   This is no small goal for the Phantom has outsmarted the round-up men on Pony Penning Day for two years.  We found this book to be very enjoyable to read.  There are many valuable lessons to be learned in this book, the most notable of which is setting a goal and working hard to achieve it.  We are looking forward to reading the sequel that just came in the mail through PaperBackSwap (our local library didn't have it).

I have heard so much talk of Dave Ramsey from people that I finally decided to read one of his books.  Prior to reading The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, my impressions of Dave Ramsey were more or less that he had some extreme views about credit cards and mortgages.  After reading this book, though, I discovered that I agree with him on most points.  I was pleased to read that mortgages are the one kind of debt that he doesn't yell about, since that's the one kind we have:)  This book will teach you the steps to take to achieve fiscal fitness.  It also includes success stories from people who have used this plan to get out from under mounds of debt, which I imagine would be very encouraging to someone struggling in that area.  I really like Dave Ramsey's writing style and witty remarks.  He really makes the topic of finance enjoyable to read about!

I finally finished reading Muscular Christianity by P.G. Mathew.  Yes, it took me a long time to read this one.  That's because the sermons are so substantial, so rich!  You really don't want to read this book too quickly.  Like dark chocolate, take small bites and savor!  This book is a series of sermons on the book of Hebrews preached at Grace Valley Christian Center between October 2006 and October 2007 by the author, P.G. Mathew.  I think the description from the back of the book is excellent: "P.G. Mathew introduces us to muscular Christianity.  We are to derive strength from our great high priest and strain our spiritual muscles so that, by faith, we can continue our race until it has been completed.  Reading this challenging and inspiring exposition of Hebrews is the type of mental exercise that will equip you to better run this race."


We chose to read King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry, since we enjoyed Misty of Chincoteague so much.  This book is a fictionalized account of the origins of the Godolphin Arabian.  According to Wikipedia, the Godolphin Arabian is "one of three stallions that were the founders of the modern thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock."  This is a wonderful story of the love and devotion of a stable boy, Agba, for his horse, Sham.  No matter what, Agba stood by Sham and always believed in him, in spite of opposition from others.

Honestly, I didn't really have high expectations for Raising Motivated Kids: Inspiring Enthusiasm for a Great Start in Life (School Savvy Kids) by Cheri Fuller.  My earnest desire for my children is that they will be motivated by the love of God and labor on this earth to bring glory to Him alone.  So, I questioned whether I could really benefit from a secular book on the subject of motivation.  Although this book does not come from a biblical perspective, I thought the author made some really good points about how we can inspire or hinder our children.  Below are some points that really stuck out to me:

• Develop close relationships with your children and love them because of who they are not what they do.
• What you do is more important than what you say.
• Expect your children to succeed.
• Avoid comparing your children with their siblings or peers.
• Avoid focusing on grades but instead focus on knowledge attained.
• Praise liberally and criticize sparingly.
• Children need down-time, time to create, invent, daydream, explore, play, etc.
• Encourage your children to ask questions by responding with answers to their questions.
• Require age-appropriate chores at home to teach children responsibility.

I enjoyed Total Money Makeover so much that I thought I'd check out Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey also.  I didn't find this book quite as humorous, but I still enjoyed it.  While we have many issues, living beyond our means is not one of them.  So, I have found Dave Ramsey to be a great source of affirmation that we are doing the right thing with our money.  On our own we have followed his baby steps approach: we have an emergency fund; we do not have debt outside our home mortgage; we invest 15% towards retirement; we have college funds for each of the children.  We are now working on paying down the principal on our mortgage more aggressively, so that we will be completely free of debt.  Another piece of wisdom that I have appreciated concerns loans and friends/family.  Essentially, he says don't loan money to a friend or family member.  If you want to help them out, give them the money, but loaning anyone money changes the relationship to a slave/master relationship.  Anyways, I never really looked at it that way before, but I think he is right on.  What Dave Ramsey has to say concerning finances agrees with biblical principles.  I also love what he says at the end of this book, in essence that financial peace means we have peace with money, that we are managing it and it is not managing us, but that true peace, the peace that we all long for, is peace with God, which can be found in and through Jesus Christ.