Two great books....

I just finished reading Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot, which I started out reading to see if it would be required reading for Mackenzie. (yes, it will be) I did not realize how much I would find in there for me, as was true with another book I just finished "previewing"as well- Do Hard Things by homeschooled brothers, Alex and Brett Harris (Also required reading). I thought I would post a few quotes from these books that really stuck with me.

From Passion and Purity:

"Life requires countless little 'deaths'= occasions when we are given the chance to say no to self and yes to God."

"Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection form suffering. The love of God is of a differnt nature altogether. It does not hate tragedy. It never denies reality. It stands in the very teeth of suffering. The love of God did not protect his own son. That was proof of his love-that he gave that son-that he let him go to Calvary's cross, though legions of angels might have rescued him. He will not necessarily protect us- not from anything that makes us like his son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process."

"Purity means freedom from contamination, from anything that would spoil the taste or the pleasure, reduce the power or in any way adulterate what the thing was meant to be. It means clean-ness, clearness-no additives, nothing artificial-in other words, 'all natural', in the sense in which the original designer designed it to be. Can I say categorically that a kiss (before marriage) is a sin? I can say that it might be. I can say that it might take the edge off, spoil the taste ans pleasure later on. It might reduce the power, it might distract the heart."

I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our own way in the end, but by his making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are honestly able to pray, 'thy will be done.' Acceptance of whatever that means is the great victory of faith that overcomes the world."

And from Do Hard Things.....

"The fence that keeps us from breaking out of our comfort zone is nearly always built of fear. Fear of weakness, discomfort, failure, humiliation. We've noticed something else too: You can't live by fear and live by faith at the same time. II Timothy 1:7 reads "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, of self discipline.' And when we read about the Bible heroes who accomplished big, hard things for God, we discover the main job requirement: 'Without faith it is impossible to please God.' (Heb. 11:6)"

"The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility. They are the training ground of future leaders who dare to be responsible now."

True courage is not the absence of fear. It is refusing to allow fear to control your actions."

The Harris brothers quote many other well known people in their book as well:

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." -Corrie Ten Boom

"Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials." -Smith Wigglesworth

My next one to "preview" is So Much More by the Botkin sisters. I'd love to hear what others suggest as required reading for their teens.

In our read aloud time, We are devouring the "Millie Keith" books of the Life of Faith series.
Mackenzie has already read all the Life of Faith books over and over and over....but she reccomended that I read Millie aloud to Mae and Noah and they have loved every minute.
We have 2 chapters left in book three, and I really am supposed to be reading to them some historical fiction that coincides with our studies of Ancient Egypt, but I am hooked on these wonderful books! We are also having a great time reading Dinosaurs of Eden and I am enjoying (surprisingly) reading the girls' Apologia science text-Exploring Creation with General Science.