"Fireflies in December"

"Daddy didn't say anything for a minute or so, and then he reached up and caught a firefly as it glowed beside him. 'See this light?' he asked me when the firefly lit up his hand.
'Yes'r.'
'that light is bright enough to light up a little speck of the night sky so a man can see it a ways away. That's what God expects us to do. We're to be lights in the dark, cold days that are this world.
Like fireflies in December.'
'Ain't much lightin' one of them can do, Daddy.'
'Not by himself. But give him some company, and you'd get a good piece of light.'
'Don't look to me like we got much company in this town.'
He leaned over and patted my knee softly, 'It's got to start somewhere, Jessilyn. It's got to start somewhere.'"



Loved this book! Written in the viewpoint of a 13 year old girl living in the South in 1932, it reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help. Starting with "The summer I turned 13, I thought I'd killed a man.", the author pulled me into the story immediately. Jessilyn tells of the summer her family adopts a black girl as their own when her parents die in a fire. As a result, Jessilyn's family is ostracized by the town and attacked by the Klan. Jessilyn describes how her family stood firm for their viewpoint, "like fireflies in December."

I would definitely read this aga................oh my goodness! I just realized there are sequels! I don't have time for writing book reviews! I have books to read! :)

Heaven is for Real

I read such a great book this past weekend! I missed pretty much the entire Super Bowl because I just couldn't put the book down (and I really did want to watch the game...it was a good one even if my team didn't win).

Written by a pastor, it's a true story about his three year old son who slips from consciousness and enters heaven during a life-threatening surgery. In the months after the surgery, the boy starts telling his parents about how he went to heaven while he was in surgery. He tells them how he sat on Jesus' lap and tells them things there was no way he could have known, including what the parents were doing while the boy was in surgery. I cried so many times at the father's description of almost losing a son and how hard it was for him to have faith during that time. I just kept imagining Joel going through a scary surgery, wondering how I would deal with it.

Although I was a little bit skeptical of the story before reading it, the author does a decent job of finding scriptural backing of what his son claims to have seen. After reading the book, I do not doubt that their story is true. However, I think everyone should read this story with caution as they should with all claims of glimpses into the other side of life. I'm sure the family has received a lot of criticism and skepticism over their story, but regardless of whether the story is true or not, it is still an incredible book simply by showing the faith of a father who thought he was losing his son, the importance of prayer, the hope that we have in Jesus, and a picture of heaven.

This is not a long book...I finished it in just a couple hours (just long enough to miss the Super Bowl). You can get it on Kindle, but the paperback has pictures the Kindle does not include, although you can look up some of the pictures online. Nate and I plan on rereading Heaven is for Real together. It will definitely be on my top ten list of books at the end of the year!