Diseases in History, MALARIA by Kevin Cunningham ~ Mae read this book and encouraged me to as well. It was a good overview of how Malaria has spread over the globe, how it has effected life and how the attempt to eradicate it failed in the poorest areas of the world.
As our youngest daughter has had an interest in preventing malaria for several years, she held a Lemonade Stand earlier in the month. Reading this book I realized that my sweet girl is partnering with BiteBack at Malaria in one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of this vicious disease. What a joy to see her stepping out to make the world a better place, and educating me in the process.
On a side note, this book does have a strong evolutionary tone.
Beyond Hope’s Valley by Tricia Goyer, see Blog Tour review here.
By Faith, Not By Sight by Scott MacIntyre
This book is one that I will be thinking on for some time. Scott is a young man who has allowed the many struggles in his life to make him wise and grateful. My full review is linked here.
wish you were here by Beth K. Vogt, complete review here.
Chasing the Sun by Tracie Peterson. This has been the month for Civil War stories and field trips. It is a neat thing when a common thread ties a theme together over a short period of time. Read my review here.
audiobooks
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt, Performed by Tom Stechschulte. We listened to this audio book on our recent road trip to visit family. This is the hard story of young Jethro Creighton as he grows up during the horrors of the Civil War. I appreciated the depth of character protrayal in this story and the impact it had on myself and my daughters. There is a spot in the beginning of the story that struck me profoundly, where the main character’s older brother is torn between the South and the North, and chooses the South. He compares the slavery to the terrible issues faced by child factory workers in the North. We all have sin, we have injustice and wickedness within that we wrestle with and I appreciate the perspective given by Bill Creighton.
Now, I by no means justify slavery in the previous paragraph, it is WRONG. WICKED. UNJUST. But I do believe it is good to take a look at what might be happening just under our noses to children who are wrongly, horribly used to provide us with goods and services. It was happening then. It is happening now.
We visited Nicodemus National Historic Site as we headed home at the end of our trip. It was a great
tie in to Across Five Aprils. What a blessing to have the opportunity to listen to the book, visit a historyic site and learn about terrible time in our country’s history. I hope it deepens and enriches the understanding next year when we study American history in more depth.
Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
This was the audio book I listened to on our recent road trip while the children slept. (We started each side of the trip early in the morning.) This was the first time I was able to appreciate Dave Ramsey’s tone and message. I very much appreciated his words of hope towards the end of the book. This most recent trip was made for hard reasons despite all the good woven in, and I truly need to be reminded of the hope offered by our God as we walk this road of life. Hope in finances, hope in purpose, hope in HIS redemption of all the struggles and hard stuff.
By Quiet Waters 
