Pilots and Christians

I read a story by a pilot friend of mine about the importance of checking all the instruments and gauges on the dash of a plane or jet. There is a gauge called an attitude indicator and the standby is a gyro. The attitude indicator is the instrument that shows you up from down. Some younger pilots will tend to ignore the gyro because it needs more maintenance—it needs to be righted after big turns and rolls. This friend wrote how even he tended to ignore the gyro in his younger days. There was one day he was thankful he maintained his gyro and paid attention to all the instrumentation—the day his main attitude indicator went out. If he had continued to only pay attention to his main indicator, he would have continued into a nosedive and crashed. Instead, by maintaining the gyro and watching all the other instruments, he was able to right the plane and land safely—with a little help from the approach controller.


As I read that story, it reminded me so much of our Christian lives. We can walk into a situation and ignore our initial reaction, our conscience, our attitude indicator. We can make excuses. We can try to rationalize. But if we read our Bibles every day and keep the communication open with God and surround ourselves with Christian friends who will keep us accountable, we can still right ourselves instead of crashing and burning in temptation.


Proverbs 15:22 (New International Reader's Version)
22 Plans fail without good advice.
But they succeed when there are many advisers.


P.S. You can read the pilot’s story here:
The Ops Check That Saved My Life

We all have a choice

I watched a video of one of my friends presenting a devotional of sorts at a Christian high school assembly. While I liked what he had to say and how he said it, I was surprised at the comments.
• So according to you those kids who are atheist or who don't believe in your version of a monotheistic god are … flawed? What a disgusting thing to say at a school and to kids....
• so thank you for willingly contributing to the ignorance of our future generations
• “It's just sad to see kids being mentally circumcised and brainwashed like that. being a christian school and faith based doesnt mean you deliberately close their minds with crude statements like that man, cmon.... there are many moral codes but they are all flawed? why don't you people give these kids a chance to make up their own mind instead of force feeding them that kind of [bull]. it's just so sad. it should be agents the law and a form of child abuse....”


First off, it’s funny that this commenter would talk about circumcision since God started that one in the Bible. But if I’m not mistaken, every parent from every religion of the world brings their kids up in their religion. Kids are raised on the religion of their parents. Even if you don’t “force feed” them or “shove it down their throats” they will still learn it by watching you. Parents lead by example. And who says these kids don’t have the chance to make up their own mind? If they’ve made it to high school, they have a brain and they can think. If they can choose whether to be a cheerleader, a jock, a book worm then they can choose what religion they will ultimately follow. If they can choose which college to attend, which major to study, which job to apply for, which career to pursue; then they can choose whether to continue to worship as their parents do or go another way.

grew overnight

A school day a couple years ago, my older daughter went to put on a pair of pants that she had only worn a week ago, and on this day she couldn’t get them on. They were too small. We quickly went through the rest of the pants in her closet to find there was only one pair that still fit. One pair. I sent her off to school and I went on a search for pants that would fit. In most stores, those pants were out of season. It took me a while to find her some clothes to get her through the remainder of the season.


As I watched the clearance racks in the children’s section, an idea struck me. What if as clothes go out of season and go on sale I stock up on future sizes and future seasons? Sometimes things that are normally $10 will be priced as low as $2. Over the last two to three years this has served me well and my kids have not run out of clothes since!

A Christian Nancy Drew?

Vanished by Kristi Holl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Vanished by Kristi Holl is about a 6th grade girl named Jeri McKane at an all girls boarding school. Her best friend Rosa goes missing while on an art class field trip along with 5 other students and the art teacher Mr. Reeves. The town turns out to help look for the van and missing people. Jeri calls Jake Phillips, a local reporter whom she looks up to, to come and help with the investigation. Then Jeri discovers that Jake’s stories aren’t adding up. Did the van run off the road and crash through the ice on the lake? Did Mr. Reeves kidnap the students? Did Jake have something to do with the disappearance? Jeri is determined to discover the truth.





The main character acts like an older sixth grader. Some of her logic seems to be a bit old for her but perhaps that works for a detective personality.





Overall this was an enjoyable read and not overly preachy. In fact, there are only a few references sprinkled throughout the story of Jeri’s relationship with Jesus. I think this would be fun and appropriate for girls aged 10-12 years. It has just enough suspense to keep you guessing and turning pages without being too scary.





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Little Changes

I am no fitness expert or health guru, but I know what has worked for me in the past. It really is the little things. Leaving one bite on my plate. Drinking a glass of water before I get a snack. Eating fruits or vegetables before I reach for chips or candy. Cut your serving size by one-fourth, one-third, or even one-half. Skip dessert or eat a smaller portion. Decrease your soda intake. Notice serving sizes and consider what size you really need according to your caloric needs (personally, I don’t need 2000 calories a day, so if that is what the serving size is based on, I need a smaller portion).

Think about it. If you started on the first day of the month to eat one less cookie or one less chip and each day decrease again (on the first of the month, one less, on the second day of the month, two less, on the third day of the month, three less, etc). Imagine the difference that could make by the end of the month.

Try adding a fruit or vegetable each week. By the end of the month you could add four fruits or vegetables to your menu. Then try eating the fruit before you reach for the cookies or the candy or the vegetable before the chips.

You can use this same strategy for physical activity (jumping jacks, running, jump rope, walking, hiking, swimming, dancing, bicycling, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, etc.). Choose an activity and do one on the first day of the month, two on the second day, three on the third day, etc. You could be doing thirty jumping jacks or sit-ups or whatever by the end of just one month!

All of these little changes will add up over time. What if you had one less chip, added one fruit or vegetable, AND added one activity over the course of the month? Why don’t you give it a try and see what happens? Can’t hurt, right? What’s the worst that could happen?

Thank You, God, for Mommy

Thank You, God, For Mommy by Amy Parker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Thank You, God, for Mommy by Amy Parker is a cute picture book that illustrates the various ways moms can care for and show love to their children. A panda bear and her cub star as the rhyming text reminds the reader to be thankful for all that mommies do.





Most of the text flows smoothly and highlights enough different roles that I think everyone will be able to relate. I especially liked the illustration on the last page of a very touching interaction between momma and cub.





I received this book free from the publisher in order to read and give an honest review.





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A new Dr. Doolittle angle

Dogs Don't Lie by Clea Simon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Pru Marlowe was training to be an animal behaviorist, until she managed to work herself sick. She then woke up to realize she could hear animals’ thoughts, beginning with her own cat, Wallis. She tried to escape the animals’ voices by heading back home to a small town and told everyone it was because of her ailing mother. When her mother passed away, she inherited her childhood home. Pru was trying to build a business of working with people’s animals, secretly using her ability to hear the animal’s thoughts and get the real story, when she finds one of her clients dead. Charles Harris is brutally murdered in his living room. His throat has been ripped to shreds and the number one suspect is his pit bull, Tetris. Since Pru has been training with Charles and Tetris, Pru disagrees that Tetris would murder her owner. Pru is determined to clear Tetris’ name as well as her own. Only, Tetris tells Pru that she is no fighter and she prefers to be called Lily. Pru seeks counsel from Wallis, as she tries to sort out human motives and animal reasoning. Can she clear Lily’s name and her own? Can she keep her psychic abilities a secret? How does she piece together all the information she receives from the town’s pets? Can she reveal what she knows without telling how she found out?



The character development is fantastic, even the animals. The storyline itself has many twists and turns and I never saw the ending coming. I think Clea Simon has done a great job coming up with a new angle on the common Dr. Doolittle character. I may have to check out some of her other writings as well.



I received this book free from the publisher to read and give an honest review.





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