With life in such turmoil during this pandemic I have found it more important to turn to God. Our church is only doing Zoom services so it has been hard to feel connected at times. I have turned to my devotionals and other books. Today I am sharing a book that helps the reader understand the book of Proverbs better. It is called In Search of Wisdom: Life-Changing Truths from the Book of Proverbs by Joyce Meyer.
As I thought about Women's History Month I knew I wanted to really touch on women in history that may be forgotten. Today women are members of the Armed Forces, but not that long ago they were not allowed. I decided I would focus on women who played important roles in wars. This month I will share about women in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and the two World Wars. Today I thought I would start with some women who fought wars before America was a country. I have focused on the legend of Mulan in the past. She is one of the women who reportedly disguised herself as a man to fight in a war. Then there was the Greek goddess, Athena, who was the goddess of war, as well as the Amazons, the race of women warriors in Greek mythology. Even the Aztecs had a warrior goddess, Itzpapalotl. Then we know of Joan of Arc and how she led the French army through battles. And we shared about Artemisia in the past. Today let's talk about some of the other women you may not have heard about that fought in real wars and battles. As I started researching women in wars I found The Book of Heroines: Tales of History's Gutsiest Gals by Stephanie Warren Drimmer. All of the women, goddesses and legends mentioned in this post are featured in this book. This book is one of the sources for my entire post. I will list others that I used to find out more about the women and share books for kids when possible. (Note: I have not checked out these books but found them searching my local library website and Amazon.)
Today I am going to share a new young adult book with you. This powerful book shines light on people with Down Syndrome. Before I share it I want to say there is a sticker in my copy warning about the content. It states: "Content Advisory Please be aware that this narrative contains depictions of alcohol and drug use, verbal and physical abuse, sex trafficking, and mentions of suicide." With that warning I have to say I had trouble putting this book down!! The book is Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon.
March is such a funny month. In New England it can be a long month without much to do. The weather is sometimes amazing and often awful. It can be snow or rain and it really depends. Spring begins in March which is always my favorite but it is early spring so it isn't the beautiful part of spring yet. And of course there is Pi Day! One of my favorite holidays!! Mathematicians don't get too many holidays. The other thing that excites me about March is that it is Women's History Month. It is a month for us to discover and learn about the amazing women throughout history that we probably haven't heard of. Most of our history was recorded by men (and around here it was white men) so it is very biased and often doesn't cover the amazing things women have done to support society. I have big plans for this month but to begin I thought I would share two new books that are perfect for Women's History Month. The first is a picture book that shares a favorite story of Dovey Johnson Roundtree liked to tell. Last month I shared a middle grade level book about Dovey but today's book is a perfect way to introduce younger kids to this amazing woman. The book is We Wait for the Sun by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe and illustrated by Raissa Figueroa.
I love puzzles. I tend to get a bit engrossed in them. Hazel realized at a young age to have Steve do puzzles with her because I get too obsessed with them. Today's puzzle challenged me quite a bit. I love the picture of the beautiful flowers on it, but the border was so hard!! This puzzle is Cultivated 1000 Piece Puzzle by Christin Geall.
