MAPLESTONE

WHEN A NATION FORGETS GOD



As an avid bookworm and history buff, this book really peaked my interest.
I have read many books, and taken classes on WWII and the Holocaust but there have been questions that I have always pondered...
How in the world did the Holocaust come to be?

Really, yes the Germans were suffering economically after WWI and then the Great Depression.

 But,
 how did a man so full of hatred and evil come into power and dupe his own countrymen into turning a blind eye to the atrocities around them?

The book I'm telling you about today is a specific breakdown of how certain events changed peoples lives forever. I highly recommend that when you read this book, you take it slow  (although the books is a little over 100 pages) and pay close attention to the parallels between past and present events. This book is kind of eerie.

Here is what the author wrote about his intentions behind writing this book:

"If you read this book with the sole intention of finding more grist for your political conviction, then you have missed my heart. Yes, I am deeply distressed over the direction our nation is taking, but I am even more concerned about how the church, the people of God, will react to what is taking place.  To become angry, vindictive, and filled with self-pity is hardly what God expects of us.  We must respond on many different levels, but surely of the most important is that we as individual and the church at large must bear a credible witness to the saving grace of God in Christ.

God is humbling us. The political solution that we thought would rescue our nation from its moral and spiritual free fall have had scant effect. We are learning that the problem is deeper than we thought, thus the solution itself must be deeper also. In sum, we must realize that only God can save us from those trends that have already evoked his judgment.
As you read these pages, please pay careful attention to the last section of each chapter where I point the reader to scriptural promises and attempt to give encouragement as we face the huge task that confronts us. Although hope fades as we focus only on the trajectory we as a nation have chosen, I pray that hope will rise as we focus on the privilege of living at this time in history when our faith really counts. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13)"
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer

I really do recommend that you read this book.

The next book is actually one that I read a long time ago but decided to read again with the re-release.
I absolutely LOVE Agatha Christie's little Belgium sleuth Hercule Poirot!

Agatha Christie's

DEAD MAN'S FOLLY

"Ariadne Oliver is asked to devise a murder hunt for a Devon fête, but her sense of foreboding summons Poirot to the scene. Her fears are realized when, during the fête, the girl playing her murder victim winds up well and truly murdered."

Now this last book...
WILL NOT
be for everyone out there.
It is a true crime novel...
it is explicit, gut wrenching sadistic; you find yourself wondering if you would survive that kind of situation, but when his physical nightmare is over your cheering for him.

Please be prepared if you read this book.

Anthony Flacco w/Jerry Clark

THE ROAD OUT OF HELL

Summary

From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least 20 murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, was held captive there from the age of 13 to 15, and was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, acclaimed crime writer Anthony Flacco—using never-before-heard information from Sanford’s son Jerry Clark—tells the real story behind the case that riveted the nation.  

Forced by Northcott to take part in the murders, Sanford carried tremendous guilt all his life. Yet despite his youth and the trauma, he helped gain some justice for the dead and their families by testifying at Northcott’s trial–which led to his conviction and execution. It was a shocking story, but perhaps the most shocking part of all is the extraordinarily ordinary life Clark went on to live as a decorated WWII vet, a devoted husband of 55 years, a loving father, and a productive citizen.

In dramatizing one of the darkest cases in American crime, Flacco constructs a riveting psychological drama about how Sanford was able to detoxify himself from the evil he’d encountered, offering the ultimately redemptive story of one man’s remarkable ability to survive a nightmare and emerge intact.

Ok there you have three books from my summer into fall reading list.

STAY CONNECTED

  Do you have large dogs in your home?

Do you elevate the bowls?

I have heard mixed opinions from Vets as to whether you should or shouldn't elevate their bowls. I decided I would try it with our dogs. I raised the bowls for two weeks then placed them back on the floor. Apparently, our dogs prefer them elevated! Placing the bowls back on the floor lasted 2 days. So, elevated dog bowls is what they got!

And what did I use to elevate their bowls?

  Well, back over the summer I was given a breakfast tray. Now I was going to use it to place my laptop on when I was sitting on the couch or in bed, but decided not to.

So, it sat in the garage for a few weeks, when I got the idea to use it to elevate our dogs bowls.

I painted it red first...

but didn't like it! Then I repainted it white and loved it.

I placed a piece of plastic underneath the bowls so clean-up was easier. 

After looking at it for about a week, I really didn't like the way it looked; so I decided to take some left over burlap and cover the inside of the tray with it.

It was easy to do.

What you need:

fabric 

spray adhesive

hot glue
ribbon, jute or trim of choice

spray poly 

1. Cut your fabric to size

2. spray adhesive on tray and then on fabric

3. carefully place fabric in place and smooth

4. if you want to protect the edges from peeling up or unraveling, hot glue trim of your choice around the edge.

4. spray on 4 to 5 coats of poly, this will seal the fabric so spills don't seep through.

Here is what it looks like now.