40 Loaves

Mia came home from school a couple of weeks ago and announced that she had been given a solo in the first grade Christmas concert. Not to sound jaded, but that's nothing new in our house. Doogie had his first solo in third grade, and Molly in fifth. Both kids gained a reputation early on for their singing voice, and Jesse and I (as well as Doogie and Molly's dad and stepmom) love to sing, so Mia's always been surrounded by singing.

First grade songs tend to be a bit simplistic, so when Mia worried about the solo, I offered encouragement, but I didn't think it would be hard. Last week, she dropped the bomb on us that she had the only solo in the song, a few days later, the only solo in the entire concert. A couple of days ago, she offered to sing me the solo, and I was stunned. I've heard her sing often, but this was beautiful, and my normally shy little girl sounded like an angel. She was very worried about singing in front of the crowd, so I offered a couple of suggestions for the concert: focus on me and only me and pretend that you're holding Jesus' hand. As you can see in the video, she barely took her eyes off of me, but she said afterward that she didn't have to hold Jesus' hand, because He was standing behind her. The name of the song is Peaceful Night.

Every parent has that moment when they suddenly see their child as separate from him/her. This talent of Mia's is completely hers; it's nothing that Jesse or I can take credit for. All I can do is step back in awe and thank God. By the end of the concert, my face hurt from smiling so much. I hope you like her solo too. I apologize for the bumping around before and after her part.

40 Loaves by C.D. Baker is the perfect devotional for those who want to take their faith deeper but don't have a lot of time. Each of the 40 chapters is just two-three pages long and delves into issues that we all face: why do I complain so much? why am I so confused about finding God's will? why I am so desperate to be understood? Chapters begin with a short personal anecdote and end with a few questions to encourage the reader to look deeper followed by a prayer. The brevity doesn't mean Baker skips on depth, he gets right to the core of the issue giving readers understanding and hope. Baker takes away the excuse that readers' don't have enough time to spend each day deepening their relationship with the Lord.

Gail Brue was the lucky winner of this book! Congrats to Gail! There are still two more contests running this week. #1 Read my post from Dec. 13, answer one of my questions in the comments for the chance to win a copy of Lisa Harper's A Perfect mess. #2 Leave a comment on any of this week's posts for the chance to win a pearl necklace from Pearl Girls. Good luck!