Book Review: Unlocking Your Family Patterns

by Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend, Dave Carder, and Dr. Earl Henslin

Do you suffer from an abusive or conflicted family past? This book is for you. Do you come from a completely normal family that did everything right? This book is for you. We may think that only some families are cursed with anguish or abuse, but the fact is that we are all human, and we are all fallen. Unlocking Your Family Patterns begins by examining three families in the Bible: David’s, Isaac’s, and Jesus’ families. We see in the first two how righteous men had harmful family patterns that were repeated for generations, and the pain and broken relationships that resulted. We also see an example of how Jesus resisted the fallen nature of man (remember, His earthly parents were fallen and struggled with sin just like the rest of us) and did not allow the earthly nature of his well-meaning parents rub off on Him. Jesus is looked to as an example in many ways, and His interactions with family are no exception.

The book describes patterns and modes of communication common in many families, whether Christian or non-Christian. The authors stress the importance of healing from a dysfunctional family past in order to “break the cycle” and not repeat your parents mistakes. Naturally, no one is perfect or we would have all had a perfect upbringing. It is important to realize when reading this book that our parents meant well and did the best they could, and reading the book won’t make us all perfect parents to our children. However, the more harmful patterns are worth avoiding repetition and this book gives guidelines for how to avoid repeating those patterns.

I found Unlocking Your Family Patterns to be very eye-opening and helpful. This is definitely a book that will stay on my shelf and garner a few more reads when I start my own family!

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Moody Publishers blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The House Project: The Stone

Finally! This blog is about the last major set of work we had done to the house to date! Since then it has been all work that we did on our own! I will post later about all that.

We went with Austin stone for the exterior. Austin stone is basically white, but can have red or yellow mixed in as well. We went for mostly white, and it turned out beautifully! We shopped around for a contractor on this one, and finally got a great deal on a referral from a family member!

I think Bruce and I can honestly say that out of all the contractors we hired, this group was the easiest! The guy we hired actually had his crew finished in the time he said they would, and the work was done very well the first time! I didn't get as many pictures as usual partly because by this time (late October 2012) I was back at work and could only take pictures in the evening, and they got it done in three or four days!

They worked fast! Notice the cedar trim right above the rock and then just below the roof? All that had to be stained. Then I had to go back and clean off excess mortar that had splattered on it from installing the rock, and touch up the stain! I was working around these guys every day when I got home from work because I wanted a base layer on the inner trim before the mortar splattered on it, so the stain would help keep so much from soaking into the wood. The layer of cedar just below the roof already had the base coat to protect from the sun and rain. Adding the second coat was hard because I had to avoid getting it on the beautiful Austin Stone! It stains more than just wood!

I took this to show all their tools and materials before the rock was put on the back wall.

Here you can see the french doors to the Master bedroom...

And the doors to the dining room.

The view from the back yard

And the front! I love love love our new mailbox! And the front door! The old mailbox and door had this horrible ugly old orange paint. I'm pretty sure we hadn't stained the front door yet in this picture, and even without garage doors in yet I think the house looks SO much better from the outside!

Since the stone was added, most of the work we have done is inside. It is all stuff that has to be done before the walls are put in, so to most it doesn't look much, but it's very time consuming. Some of those things are: electrical, plumbing, duct work, vents, pony walls and vents for the kitchen, and raising the ceiling in the kitchen!

More on all that next time!

The House Project: The Roof

OK, so it's been a little while since I posted about the house. Maybe it's because subconsciously I know that soon it'll be time to go out to the house and take more pictures and try to remember everything we've done since we dried in the house. Theoretically that would be the fun part, but what I look forward to is when I have "caught up" on blogging about it and can start photographing the process and posting as we work on it! That's when I hope this blog will develop a more DIY flavor!

So I left off with the framing. At that point we took a break for about a month before putting the roof on. My job during that break was to stain the cedar trim so that it would be weather proof. We had been warned that rain and sun would cause the cedar to bow or shrink, causing the seams to be more apparent. Staining was tedious, particularly because I had to stand on a stool and was still working at or above eye level. I got it finished in a few separate sessions. It took probably eight hours for the initial coat, and I had to allow it to dry for several hours before it rained. It did rain halfway through, so after we got the roof on I went back over it, as well as staining the inner row of trim and garage door/porch trim at a later date (all that took even longer... Lets just say I am now a pro at staining wood!)

We managed to save some money on the roof by ordering it from the family member of a friend. We saved on installation cost by having family and friends out to help us put it on ourselves over Labor Day weekend 2012! It's a metal (galvalume) roof so it was trickier to put on than a normal shingle roof. The pieces all had to be measured and cut just right, and to get all the pieces to fit we had to have a pretty good plan ahead of time as to who did what and which sections had to be done first.

The bulk of the work took about three days. We had friends out to help on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The "small stuff" like ridge caps, sealing the vents, and other finishing touches took Bruce about a week to do with some help from one other person (my Dad came over several more times). Below are some pictures taken throughout the process!

A nice crowd of "workers" here! 

Taking a little break

Although still hard at work down below!

This is around back, looking at the kitchen and garage from the backyard

 Here is the back door to the dining room!

This is the long stretch along the East side of the house.

Yeah, it got really hot up there! It's a great way to tan (or burn) your underside!

All done!

Actually I'm not sure if all the finishing touches were complete in this picture, but in my next "house" entry I'll show pictures with the rock on the exterior walls and I know the roof was finished by then!

We love our roof, and due to its reflective properties combined with the foam insulation it does a wonderful job keeping the house cool in the summer! Even without all the walls insulated and no AC running it stays significantly cooler in the house than outside! Living in Texas, an efficient house is a necessity to get through the hot summers without a huge electric bill!

Book Review: The Other Side of the River by Robert D Halpert MD

History has recorded Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson as a talented general who fought for the Confederate States of America in the War between the States. This book tells the story of several years of the war from various perspectives, focusing on Jackson’s spiritual life and how it affects his outlook and approach to leadership and combat.

The Other Side of the River is historical fiction - the author filled in details surrounding known historical events.  As a fan of Stonewall Jackson and a bit of a history buff when it comes to wars, I was excited to pick up this book. I can definitely say I was not disappointed! The author does not take anything away from Jackson’s reputation as a daring and courageous general and strategist, but he adds so much in the way of describing his faith! By the time I was halfway through the book I couldn’t set it down until I finished. The outcome of each battle was not a surprise, as history tells us the facts, but it was still written in a way as to somehow keep me in suspense. It was also refreshing to read a book that doesn’t criticize either side and exposes the patriotism Southern soldiers as well as the horrors both sides must have felt at being at war with their own countrymen and brothers. I loved the insight into this great man’s character and outlook, and the last few chapters had me in tears! This book is a must-read for fans of wartime novels.

I received this book for free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255