Part of a new series from
Thomas Nelson called "Christian Encounters", John Perry's quick-read biography of the amazing
Winston Churchill 
is fabulous! Detailing the great-man's life from birth at
Blenheim to death 91 years later, Perry awakens an interest in the reader to pursue further information about this British statesman.
Churchill, born to an upper-crust family (who lost all their money through various vices) in 1874, spent much of his growing up years away from home. According to Perry, Churchill's closest "family member" was his nanny of many years, Elizabeth Everest, from whom Churchill learned about love and family and religion and loyalty. Churchill went on to study at
Sandhurst for a military career which he parlayed into a reporting job with first-hand accounts of Cuban conflicts, the Boer war and Indian insurrections. Churchill had these accounts -- reportedly more fictionalized than fact -- published into books that were popularly successful, launching his now-famous political career. They also netted him quite an income that allowed him to live a life-style that his family funds wouldn't have been able to afford.
Churchill's popularity led him to run for Parliament -- as a member of the House of Commons in 1900. His political career, begun under the reign of Queen Victoria, spanned more than 60 years. But his finest hour, for which he is most remembered, would be his drive and spirit and oratory during the dark years of World War 2. Churchill consistently mentions in his letters, journals and public speeches, that God saved him through many childhood illnesses and accidents ... carried him through the time of being a prisoner of war during the Boer War ... kept bringing him back to Parliament for the express reason to have Churchill as Prime Minister of Britain during the war-torn years of 1940-45.
Throughout this book, Perry gives us peeks at Churchill's spirtituality, his understanding of religion, and his "take" on God. Because of his upbringing -- basically raised by an Anglican, anti-Catholic nanny -- Churchill never felt pulled to any specific organized religion. During his time spent fighting and reporting conflict in the early 1900s, Churchill began to study religion -- to understand his place in the greater scheme of things. It was at this time that Churchill finally synthesized his own spirituality -- God is in His heaven, watching over us all, but man makes his own opportunities and responds accordingly. In other words, Churchill would give God credit for the things he himself couldn't do (protecting Churchill from harm or disease) but also had a healthy (if not, egocentric) believe in his own greatness.
A quick-read at just 157 pages, this book gives a great introduction to a man who stood only five-foot-eight and yet comes down to us through history as a giant among men. I would recommend this for upper highschool years and above. A cool thing that Thomas Nelson Publishers has done is create
an online reading-group guide to this book, as well as all the books in their Christian Encounter series.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their
BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “
Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Here's one of my knitted designs in the Knit Picks' Independent Designers Program. Elegant Eliza would look very cute in your daughter's Easter Basket, no? But if you only have boys ... or aren't into pink ... there is no reason you couldn't knit an Edgar or Edward Bunny in "boy" colors (KP has lovely colors in their Comfy Worsted) ... or you could do a bunny in au naturel in one of their Simply Cotton Organic Worsted.
Here's Eliza without her skirt so you can get an idea of how easy it would be to change her "look".
for homemade waffles -- this is the kind of waffle-maker we had as kids; I love this thing! It folds flat and has smooth/bumpy plates so you can have a griddle, sandwich-maker or waffle iron. And the waffles are the nice square ones that fit into a standard toaster -- perfect for making a huge batch and feeding the kids breakfast for a few days!
-- Rick loves the taste of buckwheat and Bob's Red Mill has the best mixes with all natural ingredients. Now you can buy direct from Bob or through grocery stores, but Amazon packs four bags of the mix into one sturdy box and it's much more economical. And with the state the economy is in, economical is hip and groovy around here!
-- this is the only way to make coffee. And since this carafe is truly unbreakable (well, for normal use) we can even bring it with us when we go camping this summer. We had Peet's Coffee and enjoyed every drop of this elixir -- dh gave it up for Lent and I've been cutting way back, so it was a real treat to have real coffee (I know, I know .... we're just a couple of wild-and-crazy folks).
-- which had been recommended by Kotch (18yo college daughter). What a great movie! The kids wanted to see Up!
but we like "real people solving real problem" movies for family movie night ..... and the kids and adults were enthralled with this one.
, republished this year by Thomas Nelson Publishers. I wish the publishers had realized what a fun, oft-read book this will become -- they printed it on newsprint type pages that won't hold up to as much reading as we'll give this book.
game like Daring Game for Girls
(which I would have LOVED at this age), she opted for a day spent with moi antiquing and eating lunch. 
click the button to come visit OR check out my Ravelry Pattern Store for individual, unique hand-knits.
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