Review: "Bible Maps and Charts" is a must-have resource!

Are you studying Bible history? Are you studying the Old or New Testament? Are you doing Ancient and early Christian history? Have I got a supplement for you!

Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts is an amazing resource that is a must-have for anyone doing research or learning about the Biblical eras -- from the Old Testament on through the New Testament to the Epistles and Revelations.  This book is filled with great maps of the journeys of the Biblical figures as well as schematics of important buildings (for example, an approximation of Solomon's Temple footprint and a drawing of what it would have contained). In addition, there are charts of the story-lines, the principal characters, events and other important information for each book of the Bible.

One thing that is VERY cool is that Thomas Nelson publishers give reproducible copyrights to the owner of the book -- you can make up to 1000 copies of each map, chart, picture, etc as long as you aren't selling the copies or profiting from the content. And they thought of everything -- each map or chart is on it's own page for easy copying! There is also a link to online-sourcing for downloading pdfs of these pages; this makes it easy to include this information in powerpoint or other digital presentations.

Here's how Bible Maps and Charts approaches each book of the Bible:

• discussion of the traditional author (with any notes debating the authorship)
• approximates dates of time period covered
• themes and literary structure (including a chart outlining the text and an "at-a-glance" chart that explains topic, location and time-period)
• map(s) of the area discussed and any other charts of pertinent information

NOTE: for Catholics, this book will have differences from Church teaching in the book's interpretation of some of the scriptures as well as omitting various parts of the Bible. All quotes used in this book are from the New King James Version -- which is similar to, but not the same as, the Bible used by Catholics. BUT, don't let that dissuade you from using this book -- there is too much other good stuff in here.

I highly recommend this book for any student, teacher or class studying the Ancient times whether for History, Religion or Theology course-work. The only down-side to this book -- it's paperback-bound which means that we'll probably need to replace it at least once as I can see us refering to this book fairly frequently!

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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.”

Snow: Blizzard of February 5-6, 2010

Wow ... have we had a snowfall this weekend ... much more (and wetter, messier) than the snow in December.  We had better warning this time ... dh didn't have school on Friday ... so we were able to brace for it a bit (stocking up on essentials like baking supplies, SuperBowl snack-foods and beverages) and movies/books from the library.

Yesterday, the snow started early, but it was just above freezing so nothing was sticking.  Poor LegoManiac was sure we wouldn't have much at'all. 

Hah, was he wrong!

Here's a photo-essay of our day today ....

At 0630, we were getting a pretty good layer of snow on top of the snow from yesterday.  The temp hovered just below freezing all night, so the snow was pretty wet.  Our poor magnolia ... we didn't think it would survive December ... and we're pretty sure it won't survive February!

Still snowing at 0800 but time to start shoveling ... the bird-bath on the left and feeder just to the left of center are good indicators of snow amounts.

At 0900, I took a break from shoveling to get a picture of this bluebird trying to eat from the suet feeder ... after a few attempts, he gave up and we haven't seen them all day

At 1000, I realized, we never had a picture shooting toward the house ... I love how the dark house looks behind the winter-wonderland of the front yard.

At 1530 today ... we're getting a bit tired of the snow... See the power line drooping? It's our neighbor's line but it would be a real shame to lose power tonight!  You can't even see the Lake .... it's pretty much a white out around here.

A fellow teacher of Rick's stopped in to say howdy (his mom lives at the Lake) and we had a wonderful afternoon respite from shoveling and ate Hello Dolly Bars and drank tea.   At 1730, dh is outside shoveling again while I prep dinner .... we're hoping to get to Mass tomorrow but may not even be able to drive out of the neighborhood!  But, we're cozy and warm and have plenty to eat and drink and nowhere to go tonight and no one to worry about coming .... life is good and the snow is beautiful!

Hope you're having a lovely, cozy day, too! 

Sometimes it's the little things ...

... that remind us of God's great love ...

We just put out the suet feeder and seed in the bird-feeder ... and the bluebirds have found their bounty!  If you look closely, you can see five bluebirds ... Monday they found the feed and since we often see two or three on the feeder while others are below eating the spillage; as many as 10 have been enjoying the feast we provided for them.

God is so good to give us this gift today ... the bright blue plumage against the white, pure snow ... the hope of Spring to come. 

I really needed to see this today ... we have so many prayer intentions for friends and neighbors ... prayers for new lives and the saving of old lives ... for many things that weigh heavy on our hearts ... for providence to fill our needs.

It's wonderful that the birds are taken care of .... and God is reminding me that He will do the same for us all.

God bless you all ... and thank you for your prayers for all our intentions today.

Review: Divine Mercy - A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI

Have I found the perfect book for Lenten meditations!

Divine Mercy - A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI is just the right blend of philosophy, theology and lovely writing to make this a great book for meditative reading during Lent.

The author, Robert Stackpole (a theology professor at Redeemer Pacific College and Director of the JP2Institute of Divine Mercy), is not just an "expert" on the Catholic Church's teachings on Divine Mercy; he is also on-fire with the belief in God's Mercy and wants to share this faith and knowledge with his reader.  This is clear on every page of this opus.

What is Divine Mercy?  Here's how Stackpole defines it:

Divine Mercy, therefore, is the form that God's eternal love takes when He reaches out to us in the midst of our need and our brokenness.  Whatever the nature of our need or our misery might be -- sin, guilt, suffering, or death -- He is always ready to pour out His merciful, compassionate love for us, to help in time of need.

Stackpole builds a secure foundation for his belief in Divine Mercy by starting with scripture; from Genesis through Revelations, he explains all the occurrences of Divine Mercy as well as the meaning for this great gift from God to humble humanity. 

Once the scriptural base is dealt with, Stackpole than turns to the lives of the saints -- primarily fathers and doctors of the Church -- to elucidate the Catholic teachings on Divine Mercy.  Saints Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, John Edues, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Alphonosus Liguori, Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Dina Belanger of Quebec are the Catholic Church's more prolific writers/explainers of Divine Mercy.  Stackpole clearly and completely describes the saints' lives, works and beliefs regarding Mercy. 

Of course, no book about Divine Mercy would be complete without explaining St. Faustina Kowalska's private revelations and John Paul the Great's teachings on his fellow Pole's writings.  Thanks to John Paul the Great, the Catholic world has the opportunity to celebrate Divine Mercy on the Sunday following Easter (this year, April 11th).  

Stackpole concludes this updated edition by including Pope Benedict XVI's many teachings on God's Mercy.  Stackpole summarizes these pontifical teachings by the message that all Catholics, particularly the young, must be "heralds" of the message of God's mercy and love to ALL mankind.  

I particularly like that at the end of each chapter, the author includes study questions -- which help me focus on the important points of the writings -- and then concludes with a discussion starter, or I would say, a "meditation question".  These discussion starters make me look deeper than the writings ... into myself and my relationship with God ... to help steer me toward a greater love of God, my Church and be able to "preach the good news to the Nations".

Highly recommend this for high-schoolers and older, particularly during Lent, who want to deepen their understanding of exactly WHY Jesus died on the Cross and what it means for each of us today.

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This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company (where I received a free copy of Divine Mercy with the promise to write a truthful review). Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI and to purchase the resources mentioned in this review.

Stackpole, Robert -- Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI. 2009. Marian Press (Stockbridge, MA). ISBN: 978-1-59614-208-4. paperback 275 pages.

Feast: Presentation of Our Lord

God, our Father, source of eternal light,

fill the hearts of all believers with the light of faith!

Birthdays: Happy Birthday Aunt Anne!

God bless you today, and everyday!

We love you ....

Feast Day: St. Brigid of Ireland

FEBRUARY!  How did that happen? 

Well, too late to fuss about that, so let's embrace the month that leads to Easter ... a month full of feast days (and birthdays -- my sister is a year older today!)

Happy Birthday Anne Marie!

We start off the month with one of our favorites -- St. Brigid (NOT "Bridget") of Ireland.  St. Brigid is the female equivalent of St. Patrick ... she evangelised throughout Ireland, founding convents as she went.   String Bean carries her name and her godmother, Breda, from the old-sod (with the brogue to match) know the proper spelling for this wonderful, tireless worker for God.

We'll make our own version of a St. Brigid's cross, saying this prayer as we hang it in our home:

The kids are spending the morning putting together a play based on the marvelous book, Brigid's Cloak by Brice Milligan.  We LOVE this fanciful tale of St. Brigid's early life and years ago I made String Bean a two-side cloak that we use every year to present this "play".  Here's a cool coloring page of St. Brigid from lovely Waltzing Matilda .... String Bean loves these!

Tonight, we'll have ham and potatoes and soda bread.  Here's our version, which uses the sweet/tart of cranberries to really give it some zing ....

Cranberry Soda Bread

[If you're not already a fan of soda bread, you will be after you've tried this variation. To achieve the right texture, you should cool it before serving.]

Ingredients:
• ½ cup old-fashioned oats
• 1-3/4 cup yogurt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tbls oil
• 3 tbls ground flaxseed
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Step 1:  Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a large baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal. Measure the oats into a bowl, then stir in the buttermilk, honey, and oil.

Step 2:In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and make a well in the middle. Pour the liquid into it and stir briskly with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls together in a shaggy mass.

Step 3:  Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes, covered. Turn it onto a floured surface and gently knead the dough for about 30 seconds.

Step 4:  Next, divide it in half and form each half into a football shape with rounded ends. Place the loaves on the baking sheet with plenty of room between them and cut a shallow slit down the center of each.

Step 5:  Bake the bread for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake another 25 minutes, or until the loaves are golden and crusty and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Cool before serving. Makes 2 loaves of REALLY delicious soda bread.  You can freeze one for another day; just thaw the night before and place in 350 oven (wrapped in foil) for 15-30 minutes to "freshen".