What a joy it is to read Helen Lee's The Missional Mom: Living with Purpose at Home and in the World (Moody Publishers: Chicago, IL) after reading Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Penguin Press). Although the book is written from the perspective of a Christian mother, the same principles of missional living can be applied to dads and to non-parents as well.
Lee's writing is lively and insightful. The book integrates Scripture and real-life stories both to inspire and to challenge Christian to live out their faiths. Questioning the stereotypical Christian belief that moms should focus inside the home and not outside the home, Lee challenges us to lift our eyes up from the home and turn to God himself instead. Focusing on material comfort or on achievements are not what God intends for us to do. He wants us to help further His kingdom, wherever we are.
And that sometimes not only means giving up something that we ourselves hold dear. It may also mean sacrifices for the family as well. Putting God first really means that nothing else can be put first. So a mother's first calling is not to her family after all, but to God.
Fortunately practicing being a missional mom is not as daunting as it may seem. Using real life examples of missional moms, Lee shows us how to integrate our mission with our lives. She asked us to examine not only where we want to be, but also where each of us is now. What gifts has God given me, and how can I use them to his glory? Who are the people He has put me in contact with every day, and how can I bring them closer to Him? What are the issues He has placed on my heart to care about and how can I work on these issues for His glory and to further His kingdom?
These are questions and challenges not only for moms, but also for anyone. Lee skillfully leads us into the heart of God by breaking down the worldly barriers one by one. Her engaging style invites us to follow her and other missional moms to keep our minds, hearts, and lives open to others.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Four thumbs up for the Nook Color
My dear husband bought me Barnes and Noble's new Nook Color for my birthday. So for past 15 days or so, I was having fun playing with the new toy. And then this past weekend, my 9-year-old son start reading children's books on my new Nook as well. Both of us have enjoyed using the device thus far.
I have always been an avid reader. I devour everything that is printed, be it books, magazines, newspapers, academic journals... When I was a child I even read the dictionary, the telephone book, street signs, and food labels for fun. So I was not sure at first if I would like an E-reader. Holding a pad just doesn't seem the same as turning pages. But the Nook Color is so easy to use and has so many features that the print medium cannot offer that I am officially sold.
First, the device is very easy to carry around. Measuring only 8.1 inches by 5 inches and less than 0.5 inches thick, it is about the same size as a small note pad. And it weighs less than one pound. So it is convenient to tuck into either the purse or the briefcase. The battery holds 8 hours of charge with the wireless off, but I haven't had to test this out yet. Second, the back-lit screen makes it easy to read during the day as well as at night, and the colors on the screen are quite vivid, especially when reading magazines. Page-loading and page-scrolling are both fast, which is essential for me, because I am a fast reader, and don't want an e-reader to slow down by one-minute-per-page reading speed. The best feature is the Nook special "article read" function that allows you to read entire magazine articles in one column, using finger swipes on the touch screen to scroll down.
The Nook Color also connects to the internet through a wireless connection and I was able to browse the web, watch Youtube videos, listen to music via Pandora, and connect to Facebook and Twitter without any problems. I even shared a quote from a book I was reading on Facebook. The only drawback is that there is not support for flash games, so I couldn't play Wordscraper games on Facebook, but then this is just an E-reader, not a tablet PC, so one can't expect it to be able to support games as well.]
For an E-reader, the Nook is fantastic. Some of the bells and whistles such as bookmarks, highlights, and notes took a little practice to master, but in general, the Nook reads well, navigates well, and you can even share quotes via social media and lend and borrow books (but only if the books are designated lendable by the publisher, and library books cannot be lent out.)
My 9-year-old has been busy downloading free classics such as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He had less trouble fingering out how to use bookmarks then I did. While we have not tried MP3 books yet, I am sure that is not far into the future.
So our adventures into Nook Color Land for the past half a month has been quite enjoyable. The device is definitely the best E-reader in the market thus far, and gets four thumbs up total from this mom-and-son review team.
I have always been an avid reader. I devour everything that is printed, be it books, magazines, newspapers, academic journals... When I was a child I even read the dictionary, the telephone book, street signs, and food labels for fun. So I was not sure at first if I would like an E-reader. Holding a pad just doesn't seem the same as turning pages. But the Nook Color is so easy to use and has so many features that the print medium cannot offer that I am officially sold.
First, the device is very easy to carry around. Measuring only 8.1 inches by 5 inches and less than 0.5 inches thick, it is about the same size as a small note pad. And it weighs less than one pound. So it is convenient to tuck into either the purse or the briefcase. The battery holds 8 hours of charge with the wireless off, but I haven't had to test this out yet. Second, the back-lit screen makes it easy to read during the day as well as at night, and the colors on the screen are quite vivid, especially when reading magazines. Page-loading and page-scrolling are both fast, which is essential for me, because I am a fast reader, and don't want an e-reader to slow down by one-minute-per-page reading speed. The best feature is the Nook special "article read" function that allows you to read entire magazine articles in one column, using finger swipes on the touch screen to scroll down.
The Nook Color also connects to the internet through a wireless connection and I was able to browse the web, watch Youtube videos, listen to music via Pandora, and connect to Facebook and Twitter without any problems. I even shared a quote from a book I was reading on Facebook. The only drawback is that there is not support for flash games, so I couldn't play Wordscraper games on Facebook, but then this is just an E-reader, not a tablet PC, so one can't expect it to be able to support games as well.]
For an E-reader, the Nook is fantastic. Some of the bells and whistles such as bookmarks, highlights, and notes took a little practice to master, but in general, the Nook reads well, navigates well, and you can even share quotes via social media and lend and borrow books (but only if the books are designated lendable by the publisher, and library books cannot be lent out.)
My 9-year-old has been busy downloading free classics such as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He had less trouble fingering out how to use bookmarks then I did. While we have not tried MP3 books yet, I am sure that is not far into the future.
So our adventures into Nook Color Land for the past half a month has been quite enjoyable. The device is definitely the best E-reader in the market thus far, and gets four thumbs up total from this mom-and-son review team.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)