Making Monday 41

Welcome to this week's Making Monday.

This is a party where you can find fun new creative ideas and tasty recipes shared by amazingly talented people. Every Monday bloggers stop by to link up their posts and share with all you party goers. By joining in {both bloggers and non-bloggers} you will discover new blogs, be inspired to make something new, try a yummy new recipe, and most importantly make new friends!

This party is hosted by Gracie and me, and your projects will be shared on both of our blogs.

 

We love that you're here and we love featuring you on our social media so be sure to follow us so you can see if your post gets shared!

Kitchen Table Art | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

A Bright and Beautiful Life | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

 

We also pin to our Making Monday Pinterest board and we'd love to have you follow along! This is a place you can find projects from all the previous parties, too, so it is like a party every day!

 

This is what your hostesses have been up to:

Gracie is busy going through a blog/creativity transformation. Click {here} to read all about it. I'm eager to be see how she shares her talents and to learn all she has to teach.

Lori has a new book review for The Mitford Years series. They would make a great summertime read.

Cathy from Three Kids and a Fish.

Welcome Cathy!

Cathy has some great recipes and lots of family helps on her blog so click {here} to go take a look.

Today she's sharing her Cobb Salad that looks delicious and nutritious, simple and refreshing for our warm days ahead.

 

These are the features from last week's party chosen by Lori ~

#1. Simple Flower Arrangements ~ Kay at White Gunpowder. #2. Traditional Shortbread Cookies ~ Cynthia at Feeding Big.

#3. How to Paint and Iron Clawfoot Tub ~ Sarah at 702 Park Project. #4. Planting the Pots ~ Carole at From My Carolina Home.

#5. Entertainment Center Makeover ~ Kelly at The Moon and Me. #6. Free Printables and 10 Homeschooling Resources ~ Erika at Living Frugal with Erika.

#7. Paleo/Gluten-free Peppermint Patties ~ Jordyn at Almost Supermom. #8. Natural and Dog Safe Pest Repellents ~ Felissa at Two Little Cavaliers.

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And don't forget, if you didn't make it as a feature this week to check out the Pin board and to keep linking up, next week could be you.

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An InLinkz Link-up

2014 Summer Reading List

I've had this post sitting for a while, like back in January... But I wanted to make sure I took the time to sit down and really tell y'all what my heart learned from these books! Each of these books are AH-MAZING and get you hooked super quickly, but besides being a great novel they have some amazing truths in them as well.

So, here is my first ever attempt at a reading list and book review :)

Well, all of these books are written by Francine Rivers. She is an amazing Christian Fiction novelist who captures biblical stories with such a creative and truthful mind that you feel like you are seeing the events of the bible actually being played out in full detail. She is a very well known author so I wouldn't be surprised if most of you have read something by her in the past. But I encourage you, whole heartedly, to read some of these others by her and look at the books as more than just a great way to pass the summer time.

I first read Redeeming Love when I was in middle school. It spread like wild fire around my youth group and for good reason! This book takes the story of Hosea and makes it a bit more understandable and relatable. We may not all be a young girl sold in to prostitution but we all have felt unworthy of the pursuit and love of the Lord. This book is a beautiful example of how God can change anyones heart, even if they aren't looking for Him to change it. And how He can also use anyone to help in His purpose. The husband in this book is an amazing listener, to both his wife and to God. He pursued the Lords will even when it didn't make sense or come easily. this book is precious, and comes with so many beautiful reminders of why our God reins. 

Then last summer my mom introduced me to the Mark of the Lion Trilogy by Rivers. Again, the entire series is so captivating that you can't help but learn from the characters. In this series Rivers uses a young slave girl to enforce the importance of faith and trusting that you are exactly where God wants you, even if that means your in an arena with a hungry lion. The characters all struggle with their place in life regardless of how "easy" it should be. I never thought I would learn so much from a fiction book, but Rivers has taken almost everything I have read from her and made it in to something that I can apply to my life. READ THE BOOKS :) 

The next two books I found out of sheer need for another book that would teach me to walk closer to the Lord while also being an enticing novel. These two books are based off biblical characters once again and it is unreal how realistic these have been written. Rivers sure does do her research and brings to life the biblical times beautifully!  Sons of Encouragement tells the story of 5 biblical men (Amos, Aaron, Jonathan, Caleb, and Silas)  who we have all heard of but most likely know little about. Rivers takes theirs stories and brings to light how important their relationships where. How despite not getting the "full spotlight" in this life they were able to change eternity for all of us. Again, amazing how much you can learn from a novel but now reading through the bible I am able to connect with these characters and understand so much more of what is going on. Equally as informative and captivating is Lineage of Grace, the story of the 5 women God chose to play in the lineage of Christ the savior. Each of these women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary face unbelievable challenges but teach us to endure and trust in the Lord with all our hearts. The circumstances they faced where harsh but they fought through it all with their eyes on the Lord. 

So there you have it! A reading list full of stories that will not only captivate you to the point you can't put it down, but will also teach you lesson after lesson on how to pursue the Lord and become a stronger, more faithful servant.

 These books are perfect for summer time, where you have endless sunlight to embrace and time to soak it all in :) I have some on my Kindle and some hard copies, both of them have notes all over them. All of these books have great reminders that could be written out and placed around your home. 

Basically, READ THE BOOKS :)