Raising an Original

Most Christian parents are bombarded with all kinds of advice and plans and programs for how to be a great parent. In parenting eight kids over the last twenty-five years, Julie Lyles Carr and her husband experienced plenty of opportunity for learning, but it was when they began to understand it was about parenting each child according to their own unique needs and personality style that something wonderful happened.

In Raising an Original, Carr helps to redefine the primary purpose of Christian parenting, this raising of the next generation. God has given each of our children specific gifts, abilities and capacities for specific purposes and He can equip parents to discover and support those powerful personality traits if they know where to look and how to respond. So many kids raised in Christian homes launch into their adult lives without any sense of knowing who they are called to be or what their mission on earth is. What if parents, teachers or mentors could help them discover the wondrous, unique threads woven within them that will enable them to see their part in the fabric of God’s universe?

I will start off by saying that I wish I had not taken so long to pick this book up!  It was packed full of wonderful advice on being a parent and how to help your child develop into the person God created them to be.  It's a great book to read no matter what stage of parenting you are in.  It really helped me to see that I can't expect my child to be like anyone else, nor should they be.  It also shined a light on my tendency to see faults as failures, rather than assets in their lives.  Each child is so uniquely created and they deserve parents who will allow them to become fully who they were created to be in every aspect.  I can definitely see myself picking this one up again as my children grow just to be reminded.  This was a wonderful tool to remind me of how amazing my kids, and all kids, are!

 * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

The Summer We Lost Her

It’s been a busy—and expensive—few years for Matt and Elise Sorenson and their young daughter Gracie, whom they affectionately call Little Green. Matt, a Manhattan lawyer, has just been offered a partnership, and Elise’s equestrian ambitions as a competitive dressage rider may finally vault her into the Olympics. But her long absences from home and endless hours of training have strained their relationships nearly to the breaking point.

Now they’re up in the Adirondacks, preparing to sell the valuable lakefront cabin that’s been in Matt’s family for generations. Both he and Elise agree it’s time to let it go. But as they navigate the memories the cabin holds—and come face to face with Matt’s teenage crush, now an unnervingly attractive single mother living right next door—Gracie disappears without a trace.

Faced with the possibility that they’ll never see their daughter again, Elise and Matt struggle to come to terms with what their future may bring. The fate of the family property, the history of this not-so-tiny town, and the limits of Matt and Elise’s love for each other are inextricably bound up with Gracie’s disappearance. Everything for the Sorenson family is about to change—the messy tangle of their past, the harrowing truth of their present, and whether or not their love will survive a parent’s worst nightmare.

This is one of my favorite types of books, a family drama without promising to be the "thriller of the year".  The characters were developed well and I think they were be polarizing.  I've read some reviews that couldn't stand Elise and some that couldn't stand Matt.  I firmly sit in the anti-Matt camp, but regardless I love that a novel can read so differently and evoke so many emotions.  I think this would be a great book club selection because there are so many things that could be discussed.  This was a solid 4.5 stars for me.  My only issues were I think edits could have been made to the middle so I could have had a more drawn out ending.  It just came so fast, I wanted a little more resolution and accountability.  It's hard to talk about a book like this because I don't want to give anything away, but I think this book is definitely worth a try.

         * I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *