I am so very excited to start reading Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. Mockingbird was one of my favorites books not only to read, but also to teach. I have read numerous reviews of Lee's new book and am very intrigued by what I have been seeing. I am eager to meet up with Atticus once again. I hear that Scout is the moral center of the novel. I wonder if Jem is still the crazy excited spirited person that he always was.
Hopefully, I will be finished by Monday and will be able to give you all an update. Enjoy reading.
Blessings,
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
The Giver
Thanks for spending the last few days in class watching The Giver with me. What a powerful Dystopian film. I have always enjoyed the book, but as this was my first time watching the film, it took my enjoyment to a new level.
What struck me the most was the line near the end when the Head Elder says, "When humans are given choice, they will always choose wrong." The giver responds to this by saying that "We need to teach them to choose better."
That is why I teach. I teach because want to try and help you to choose better. Our theme this year is "Love Does." Bob Goff gives us so many examples from his life where he takes the opportunity that God gives him to make a choice that is actively doing His love.
It is so easy to make selfish choices. It is so easy to exclude. It is so easy to hate. It is so easy to be passive. The devil works very hard at being the great deceiver and has perfected his craft. If we don't choose better maybe we do need the "sameness" of Jonas' community.
I want to choose LOVE! In doing so I need to choose the hard path of following Jesus. He gave us the example of His life to follow. I readily choose that path. I want to feel, dance, sing, all of Him.
What struck me the most was the line near the end when the Head Elder says, "When humans are given choice, they will always choose wrong." The giver responds to this by saying that "We need to teach them to choose better."
That is why I teach. I teach because want to try and help you to choose better. Our theme this year is "Love Does." Bob Goff gives us so many examples from his life where he takes the opportunity that God gives him to make a choice that is actively doing His love.
It is so easy to make selfish choices. It is so easy to exclude. It is so easy to hate. It is so easy to be passive. The devil works very hard at being the great deceiver and has perfected his craft. If we don't choose better maybe we do need the "sameness" of Jonas' community.
I want to choose LOVE! In doing so I need to choose the hard path of following Jesus. He gave us the example of His life to follow. I readily choose that path. I want to feel, dance, sing, all of Him.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Showdown
I am a Ted Dekker fan...Sorry if I am boring you with updates from his books, but I am in a phase where he is all I want to read.
I just finished Showdown, a beautiful story about 37 boys who grow up in a monastery, shielded from the evil of the outside world. Evil, however, is powerful and makes its way inside the monastery. It is only through great sacrifice that good comes out of the evil.
Ted, has an amazing way of telling story, but also telling the truth of the gospel. I love that. I love truth. Currently I am reading Sinner, another book by Dekker that builds off Showdown.
Friends, this is the first time in my life I can honestly say that I have been so INTO one author. I feel like I am really getting to know him through his books. Let yourself go into a good author sometime - it is a really cool feeling.
Love you and keep reading!!
I just finished Showdown, a beautiful story about 37 boys who grow up in a monastery, shielded from the evil of the outside world. Evil, however, is powerful and makes its way inside the monastery. It is only through great sacrifice that good comes out of the evil.
Ted, has an amazing way of telling story, but also telling the truth of the gospel. I love that. I love truth. Currently I am reading Sinner, another book by Dekker that builds off Showdown.
Friends, this is the first time in my life I can honestly say that I have been so INTO one author. I feel like I am really getting to know him through his books. Let yourself go into a good author sometime - it is a really cool feeling.
Love you and keep reading!!
Friday, January 23, 2015
The Lost Books
I am excited for second semester! I hope that you are as well. Last semester I read 26 books - I hope to beat out that margin this semester.
To begin I have just finished reading The Lost Books, a six book series written by Ted Dekker, and have really enjoyed them. I started during exam week and am 3/4 of the way through book six. The books tell the behind the scenes story to the Circle Trilogy. In fact, the tell the story of the 15 years between book one and book two (black and red).
My hope this semester is that you can find a book or two (hopefully more) that you really can dive into and get lost in. I am always searching for the "next great read." Read great things this semester and share. Share with me, with your friends, with your parents. I got into Ted Dekker through Mr. Sportel and I am so very thankful.
Enjoy reading. God gave us incredibly creative and imaginative minds that He desires us to use.
Love ya,
To begin I have just finished reading The Lost Books, a six book series written by Ted Dekker, and have really enjoyed them. I started during exam week and am 3/4 of the way through book six. The books tell the behind the scenes story to the Circle Trilogy. In fact, the tell the story of the 15 years between book one and book two (black and red).
My hope this semester is that you can find a book or two (hopefully more) that you really can dive into and get lost in. I am always searching for the "next great read." Read great things this semester and share. Share with me, with your friends, with your parents. I got into Ted Dekker through Mr. Sportel and I am so very thankful.
Enjoy reading. God gave us incredibly creative and imaginative minds that He desires us to use.
Love ya,
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Circle Trilogy
I finished book three, WHITE, last night at 12:15 am. Sometimes trilogies can leave you disappointed in the sense they book one starts off so wonderful and they go downhill from there. I can honestly say that each book got better as the series went on. What a joy to read such an amazing author, Ted Dekker. I have just picked up GREEN, book 0 in this same trilogy and am excited to read what happened before before one.
A bit about the story...without giving away too much.
Thomas Hunter is a 24 year old kid who is living in the U.S. in 2010. Every time he falls asleep he wakes up in a separate reality, one where good and evil are visible and separated from one another. Early on in book one that separation is broken by the selfish actions of Tanis, the first man created. The rest of the series is the struggle of good verses evil both in Thomas's reality and in the 2010 reality where a deadly virus is released to the entire world.
Thomas uses information from each reality to help in the what he faces in the opposite reality. It sounds very confusing, but it is beautiful and incredibly biblical.
The way Dekker describes God's love in this series is beyond beautiful. I walk away feel in a profound love for God and a desire to love Him with all that I am. Any book that can evoke this in me, I will highly recommend.
Enjoy the series - it is amazing.
A bit about the story...without giving away too much.
Thomas Hunter is a 24 year old kid who is living in the U.S. in 2010. Every time he falls asleep he wakes up in a separate reality, one where good and evil are visible and separated from one another. Early on in book one that separation is broken by the selfish actions of Tanis, the first man created. The rest of the series is the struggle of good verses evil both in Thomas's reality and in the 2010 reality where a deadly virus is released to the entire world.
Thomas uses information from each reality to help in the what he faces in the opposite reality. It sounds very confusing, but it is beautiful and incredibly biblical.
The way Dekker describes God's love in this series is beyond beautiful. I walk away feel in a profound love for God and a desire to love Him with all that I am. Any book that can evoke this in me, I will highly recommend.
Enjoy the series - it is amazing.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Mr. Sportel
I entered into a new trilogy this week - The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. Book one is titled Black. Book two is titled Red. Book three is titled White.
I started reading this new series because of a good friend. Mr. Sportel and I were talking in the hallway the other day after school and the subject of reading came up...shocking I know. He asked me if I had ever read Ted Dekker. I replied, "no." He went on and on about how this trilogy is one of the only book series that he owns...not just read but owns. He highly recommended it to me and I, of course, went to our library and checked out all three books.
This is my favorite way to read. I love reading a book that is recommended to me by a friend that I love and trust. Do you have these people in your life? Do you have people who not only recommend books to you, but also who shepherd you through life? My good friend Tim told me a piece of advice that I will never forget. He said, "Koeman, surround yourself with people who push you to be better than you already are."
Today, I want to be the best version of the man that God created. A big part of that is choosing my friends with wisdom. I want people in my life who will love and encourage me, even if it means confronting me from time to time.
I am 211 pages into book one. It is good. Real good. I am not surprised. Mr. Sportel recommended it after all :)
I started reading this new series because of a good friend. Mr. Sportel and I were talking in the hallway the other day after school and the subject of reading came up...shocking I know. He asked me if I had ever read Ted Dekker. I replied, "no." He went on and on about how this trilogy is one of the only book series that he owns...not just read but owns. He highly recommended it to me and I, of course, went to our library and checked out all three books.
This is my favorite way to read. I love reading a book that is recommended to me by a friend that I love and trust. Do you have these people in your life? Do you have people who not only recommend books to you, but also who shepherd you through life? My good friend Tim told me a piece of advice that I will never forget. He said, "Koeman, surround yourself with people who push you to be better than you already are."
Today, I want to be the best version of the man that God created. A big part of that is choosing my friends with wisdom. I want people in my life who will love and encourage me, even if it means confronting me from time to time.
I am 211 pages into book one. It is good. Real good. I am not surprised. Mr. Sportel recommended it after all :)
Monday, November 10, 2014
Be awhile...
So it's been awhile since I last posted. Seems like it has been one of those weeks (literally). Since the break, I have been in two different series: The Maze Runner and Matched.
The Maze Runner Series - What a fun and crazy series all in one. The series is three books: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure. The story is Futuristic and is basically about what happen to earth after solar flares hit the surface. I will not say anymore about the plot as I do not want to give ANYTHING away. I highly recommend the series and even the bonus 4th book The Kill Order - which goes back in time to before the 1st book.
Matched Series - Another Dystopian set of books. I am enjoying the storyline. Currently, I am in the third and final book, Reached. The second book is called Crossed. In this world a group called "The Society" makes all the decision and so humans live a perfect life but have no real choices. Like all Dystopian novels (Hunger Games, Divergent, Chosen) a group steps up and challenges this way of life.
Lately, I am finding that I am enjoying being caught up in a series. It simply feels like one book cannot possibly tell everything. I think your story is much like that as well. Keep reading - it is so very god for you nd it is great fun especially if you connect with that great book.
The Maze Runner Series - What a fun and crazy series all in one. The series is three books: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure. The story is Futuristic and is basically about what happen to earth after solar flares hit the surface. I will not say anymore about the plot as I do not want to give ANYTHING away. I highly recommend the series and even the bonus 4th book The Kill Order - which goes back in time to before the 1st book.
Matched Series - Another Dystopian set of books. I am enjoying the storyline. Currently, I am in the third and final book, Reached. The second book is called Crossed. In this world a group called "The Society" makes all the decision and so humans live a perfect life but have no real choices. Like all Dystopian novels (Hunger Games, Divergent, Chosen) a group steps up and challenges this way of life.
Lately, I am finding that I am enjoying being caught up in a series. It simply feels like one book cannot possibly tell everything. I think your story is much like that as well. Keep reading - it is so very god for you nd it is great fun especially if you connect with that great book.
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