Upside-Down Prayers for Parents (overall review)

by Sonya Writes on May 12, 2013 at 6:39 pm
Posted In: Book Reviews

I have mixed feelings about this book. I see a lot of value in what the author is trying to do, but my opinion of the book itself is that the delivery was not up to par. For one, I got a lot more out of the chapter titles than I got out of the chapters themselves, and for two, I noticed through the book that many of the chapters were turning the attention on me instead of on my children, and I really wanted to be thinking more about my children as I read this book than about me.

For me, the chapter titles gave a lot to think about, but I found many of the chapters to seem kind of watery and not very deep. There were a few chapters that I got a lot out of, but not enough that I would say I loved the book.

Another thing, which some others have mentioned, is that some of the chapter titles seemed a bit harsh. Rather than praying that bad things to happen our kids so they can learn needed lessons, the book would have read a lot ‘nicer’ if it was worded to be praying that they learn certain lessons when bad things happen to them.

I did get a lot out of this book, but most of what I got out of it were the things I pondered and thought about on my own after reading the chapter titles. Some of the chapters, as I said, I did find rather helpful, but there were so many that I didn’t find helpful that it’s hard to be excited about the book as a whole.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

  Comment

Some Kind of Mental Detox

by Sonya Writes on May 3, 2013 at 12:03 am
Posted In: Updates

I didn’t specifically plan to take a month off of blogging, but that’s what happened. My last blog post was April 3rd and by the time I’m done typing here it will probably be after 12am and therefore May 3rd. For the last month I’ve told myself several times, “I need to update my website. I need to read these books and review them. I need to…” but the thoughts only lasted a moment or so before I realized, “I really don’t feel like doing that right now.”

I don’t always base my actions on my feelings, in fact I try to only do that rarely, but in this case, a break from maintaining my website and writing book reviews was much-needed.

This is what the start of my year looked like:

January I was wrapping up the Kickstarter project for Matching Lions, a card game that was my daughter’s idea which I really wanted to produce for her. Then, early in the month and before the project was over, my two daughters and myself fell ill with a horrible fever. The illness lasted almost two months on and off, though it definitely hit my daughters harder than it hit me. Every time I thought we were all better, one of my daughters would get a fever again, then the other one, and then sometimes me. Around and around it went until finally at some point in early March the illness all stopped. I was feeling much better by the end of February but my kids weren’t 100% again for a week or so after that.

As I started feeling better, it started to really hit me all of the things I’d fallen behind on while being sick and taking care of two sick kids. I determined to use March to catch up as much as possible, and decided to take a break from Facebook for the entire month of March. March was spent doing all kinds of things, one of the most time consuming being assembling and shipping decks of cards. Some of the card decks went out in February but most of them were assembled and shipped in March. All in all I had about 250 decks of cards sold through Matching Lions’ Kickstarter campaign and I was determined to have them all shipped by the end of March as I had promised.

I’d also agreed to post regularly throughout the month of March about the book Upside-Down Prayers for Parents. I didn’t expect to feel so worn out by this! Fourteen posts in one month is my new record and I don’t intend to beat it any time soon. I see some people blogging daily and I sincerely don’t know how they do it. By the time I was done with that I felt burnt out, and so for the last month I haven’t even picked up any of the books I was supposed to review.

Needless to say, March was my “let’s play catch up!” month after being sick, and I over-did myself. It was very stressful and it burnt me out. So, now I’m behind again, but this time I’m not stressing about it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last 30 days it’s that I really need to slow down and relax more often. I’m feeling way more at peace after not pushing myself so hard, and I’m ready to get going again, but at a healthier pace. In March I felt the consequences of being sick and falling behind, but in April I felt the consequences of seriously burning myself out! I don’t want to do that again. Illness I can’t always control, but whether or not I’m over-doing myself is something I can control.

I’m still feeling the consequences in some ways. My monthly book sales have gone down by 2/3 since I stopped blogging and updating my Facebook page, which I’ve found really interesting, because I didn’t think my book sales actually had much of anything to do with my website or my Facebook page. If they start going up again now that I’m “back” then I guess that will confirm for me that people actually read this stuff and that what I write here has some impact on my book sales.

One thing I did do in April was to make Gordon Likes Math available for free for Kindle for 5 days. During those free days, I “sold” 100 copies to the US, 4 copies to India, 8 copies to the UK, 1 copy to Germany and 2 copies to Canada. Gordon Likes Math was bumped up to the top 100 humor books for a few hours, which of course I found exciting. The only other book of mine that’s happened with before was Share the Story: Ellie the Elephant which saw a surge of sales last April and made it to the top 100 for Preschool Education books for about a week.

So, anyway, I’m back now, and I plan to start reviewing books here again. I’m also planning to launch another game on Kickstarter either later this month or early next month, called Gemstone Island. I’m really excited about that and having a lot of fun putting together all the final touches right now, as well as playing the game as much as I can with anyone who’s willing! Unfortunately, this one is just slightly too complicated for Acacia, so she hasn’t been one of my play-testers, but she really wants to learn the game. I think it won’t be long before she’s playing this one with me as well.

And with all that said, I think it’s time for me to call it a night :)

1 Comment

Upside-Down Prayers for Parents (days 24-31)

by Sonya Writes on April 3, 2013 at 11:15 am
Posted In: Book Reviews

I didn’t have time to blog yesterday, so here it is:

Day 24

I pray your beliefs will be challenged–and the roots of your faith will be strengthened.

This chapter was about being prepared with an answer for those who question our beliefs (1 Peter 3:15).

Day 25

I pray you’ll be confronted by your shortcomings–and recognize you need a Savior.

This chapter brings up a point that I’ve certainly heard before: “If you’re having trouble with everyone else, a good place to start is some self-examination.” It’s easy to pin problems on everyone else, but often the best place to look is yourself. I’m rather skilled at self-blame, but I’ve also been guilty of blaming everyone except myself at times, usually when I feel that others should carry more of the blame than I do.

Day 26

I pray that when you are broken–you’ll discover that, in healing, you grow stronger.

For this chapter, the author uses the example of her daughter grieving the death of a much-loved cousin, and directing her toward God and hope for healing. Probably anyone who’s human and has a conscience goes through despair at times, and I know that for me it’s true that I tend to come out stronger, which I believe has to do with my faith and mindset. One thing I liked about this one is that it says “when you are broken” not “that you will be broken.” I think all of the chapter titles could have been more realistic prayers if they were changed to “when XYZ happens” instead of “I pray that XYZ will happen”.

Day 27

I pray you’ll press through heartbreak–and be better able to identify true love.

This chapter touches on teen “love” and that God can use even heartbreak for good. Toward the end of the chapter the author asks the question “Did you ever suffer a broken heart, before or during marriage? What did you gain from the experience?” Well, I’ve gained a lot in all my experiences. I’ve definitely grown. And, I’ll gladly pray that my children can be equally resilient and able to press through heartbreak when it happens.

Day 28

I pray you’ll confront evil–and recognize that Good is a stronger force.

This chapter gave me a reminder that I needed: “if they are not aware of evil, how can they fully recognize God’s good and mighty power? Without feeling cold, you cannot fully appreciate warmth.” I definitely appreciated this chapter and I got a lot of encouragement out of it for the struggles my children will likely face in the years ahead.

Day 29

I pray you’ll have to let go of a dream–and live to discover new ones.

This was another chapter that I related to a lot. In fact, I could relate to pretty much the author said in this chapter. She had me at the first sentence: “I’m a dreamer and an entrepreneur and a novelist,” and from there went on to describe me even more! Looking back, it’s true that I’ve gotten a lot out of the dreams I’ve had to drop. But still, it’s hard to know how to handle the dreams my children have. Most of them are easy to encourage, but there are times when it’s best to step back and let things unravel without my interference. A lot can be learned from a dream seeing realization, but a lot can be learned as well from needing to let go of a dream.

Day 30

I pray you’ll watch a friendship fade–and discover the value of heart-friends who go the distance.

I had a best friend in elementary school who I still miss at times. We started going different ways in middle school. I haven’t heard from her in many years, but I think about her now and then and wonder how her life is and what she’s up to now. But still, on some level, I struggled to relate to this chapter, and I’m not exactly sure why.

Day 31

I pray you’ll one day pray over a child of your own–and know more about why you’re a beloved, treasured child yourself.

I thought this was an excellent close to the book. I’ve learned so much through being a parent that I don’t think I could have fully comprehended without having children. It’s love on a different level. It’s appreciation on a different level. I’m apprehensive about ever having children again myself, for a variety of reasons, but I hope my children will grow up and have the experience of loving as a parent, and the enhanced appreciation of what their parents and grandparents and God have done for them.

Earlier posts about this book:
Book Introduction Post
Days 1-3
Day 4
Days 5-7
Days 8-11
Day 12
Days 13-15
Days 16-18
Days 19-23

  Comment

Upside-Down Prayers for Parents (days 19-23)

by Sonya Writes on March 31, 2013 at 11:39 am
Posted In: Book Reviews

I’ve fallen behind in my reading and posting, so now it is time for a little bit of “catch up!” I should be writing about day 31 today, but alas I am only on day 23. I’ll try to read through several more days and post again on Tuesday.

Day 19

I pray you’ll have selective hearing–deaf to all but the Father’s voice.

This was a decent chapter about how all the noise in our lives can distract us from taking time to talk with and listen to God. I’ve always loved having periods of silence and I find having these times is very important to my mental well-being. This is a value that I try to pass on to my children through regular “quiet time”, though I must admit it doesn’t always work unless they fall asleep!

Day 20

I pray you’ll know fear–and find courage in living with God beside you.

This chapter was a good, short reminder that God is in control. I really liked this sentence: “Too often we get lost in the what-ifs instead of walking with our God through the what-is.”

Day 21

I pray you’ll take crazy risks–and dare to adventure where your Shepherd leads.”

This was another chapter about listening to God and following His lead, but for some reason I struggled to relate to this chapter very much. Also, it was another reminder of something I’ve found frustrating throughout this book: the chapter titles are prayers for the child, but the chapters themselves tend to focus on me, the parent, until about the last paragraph or so. I find this distracting and also disappointing, as I didn’t want to spend my time in this book thinking about myself, but that’s where this book directs me to think. I hoped to read this book while thinking about my children and what is best for them. I have plenty of books on improving myself and my faulty thinking already, and I was really looking forward to what I thought this book would offer in regards to helping my children through prayer.

Day 22

I pray you’ll face financial hardship–and see how God is after something bigger than food and shelter.

Just the title of this one made me laugh as I thought, “Can I save this prayer for when they’re grown? I don’t want any more financial hardship!” I do want them to learn the lessons that can be learned from hard times, but I really really really don’t want to keep going through this. I don’t want them to go through it either. It would be nice to just learn the lesson without the trials. Though, I realize that those with financial security still have trials–just different ones.

Day 23

I pray you’ll be disappointed in people–and realize that we’re all fallible, sinful, and redeemable.

This chapter reminded me of a scenario I’ve seen happen far too often: someone in church puts someone else on a pedestal, and when they find out that the person they admire is imperfect, the disappointment is so great that sometimes they stop coming to church altogether. On a smaller scale I’ve been guilty of this too, though I’ve not stopped attending church because of it. From what I’ve seen, this struggle seems to be the most difficult and devastating during the teen years and early young adult years, when you realize that people you’ve looked up to from childhood are no longer what you thought they were. My children experience disappointments in others, and I do my best to explain to them and remind them that no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.

Earlier posts about this book:
Book Introduction Post
Days 1-3
Day 4
Days 5-7
Days 8-11
Day 12
Days 13-15
Days 16-18

  Comment

Current Kickstarters #2

by Sonya Writes on March 20, 2013 at 9:57 am
Posted In: Kickstarters by others

If you are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it works like this: someone puts their project on Kickstarter, and offer things related to their project as “rewards” for helping the project see funding. So a board game project would most likely offer a copy of their board game as a “reward.” If enough people pledge money toward the project, the project is funded and everyone receives the rewards they pledged for. If not enough money is raised by the ending date, then no one is charged any money and the project is not created.

So, here are some Kickstarters going on right now that I particularly like!

This one is just a no-brainer to me. Promoting a tournament for kids to play chess? Absolutely! I just posted about Acacia, my 5 year old daughter, playing her first full game of chess with me yesterday. I love chess, and I think it’s an excellent game to teach children. They’ve already met their goal but I’m going to post it here anyway!

Empires of Zidal is a deck-building game, and it looks very interesting to me. This looks like a game that I would have loved to play about ten years ago when I was surrounded by male friends and cousins who would play these types of games with me. Now I’m a single mom though and I don’t have a group of male buddies to play with, I have other women, moms and their kids, and my kids. So it’s not the game for me right now, but I think it looks like a fun game anyhow (I still like deck-building even if I haven’t played a deck-building game in years), and I want to highlight it here because I’d like to see this game jump way past the initial funding goal.

3Doodler. Now, this thing just looks awesome! Yes, they’re already WAY past their funding goal, but seriously, a 3D Drawing Pen? I’d be surprised if they weren’t so far past their goal! I’d love to have one of these to try out, and to let my kids use. Definitely not in the budget right now, but I’ll be interested to see where this project goes over the next few years.

2 Comments