Lineage of Grace & Sons of Encouragement

For the past month, I have been reading the book series Lineage of Grace and Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers. I have been affected by these books in such a way that it is necessary to blog about the wisdom and the faith I’ve learned along the way.

For my next series of posts, I’ll be sharing my thoughts about each book as an answer to the Seek and Find portion. I hope that you’ll bear with me and be encouraged eventually.

To start, I’ll give you a background as to why I’ve chosen the series. As a Christmas present, a friend gave Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. I enjoyed reading the book as it allowed me to immerse into the author’s unconscious and conscious mind about the protagonist’s coming of age while in the university. It talked about love, death, depression, sex and how these can affect the person mentally and emotionally. However, the after-effect of the book made me go back to the reason why I veered away from books dealing with such things:

Depression is just lurking any time of the day, and my mind is a battleground I need to defend from the enemies. Whatever I put into my mind will affect me spiritually, emotionally, physically and intellectually. Books and music are my weapons to keep defending my battleground against the enemy.

I have been depressed for a few days, so when I chanced upon Francine Rivers (my fave author) and her book series in Kindle Store, I bought the books and was not disappointed so far. Here’s a quick description of each series:

Lineage of Grace is a book compilation about the stories of five women in the Bible who have become part of the lineage of Abraham to Jesus Christ. These women — Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary — have been mentioned in the Bible for their faith in God, and their stories tell about the risks they have to take to show their faith and fulfill their calling. This book has been 2009 Retailer’s Choice Award winner, and no wonder why. I have finished 3 of the 5 books and I felt compelled to write my own realizations to share to you.
Books included: Unveiled, Unashamed, Unshaken, Unspoken, Unafraid

Sons of Encouragement tells us about the stories of five men in the Bible who supported and stood behind the heroes of the faith in their journey to lead the people of God. These men — Aaron, Caleb, Jonathan, Amos and Silas had their hearts turned towards God. As each man responded to God’s call to support His chosen leaders, each became a man with courage and purpose, and eventually changed the course of history for the Israelites, and for anyone who believes in God.
Books included: The Priest, The Warrior, The Prince, The Prophet, The Scribe

So there. A short description apt for the series of posts I’ll be writing in the next days or weeks. Though these series have been only a work of fiction; these, however, definitely gave me an idea on what could have transpired during the old testament times. It arouse in me faith like no other, especially when reading the miracles God made through Moses and Joshua. I admit, I have a hard time reading through the old testament, but these work of fiction gave me a reason to look forward to reading those stories in the Bible again.

For anyone interested in reading the books in the series, I highly recommend it! You can even refer to the Old Testament stories in the Bible if you wanted to have a peek at what will happen at the end. Hehe.

Lastly, the books are good for group discussion with its Seek and Find portion. Definitely, if you’re up to learning more and applying it to your daily life, you can answer those and have a conversation with your trusted friends. These will be a good introspection practice on your end. 🙂

Book Review: Every Soul A Star

This book has been recommended by a close friend and I do, too, for reasons below. 🙂

every_soul_a_star_book_cover

Every Soul a Star is a young adult fiction that shows the point of view of three teenagers who unlikely met each other at a campground to watch a total solar eclipse, and developed genuine friendship along the way. It is a story set in approximately about two week-time frame how three three kids, with very different personalities and under normal circumstances would never meet, learned from each other and grow individually.

The author, Wendy Mass, did a great job describing the characters in detail given a first-person point of view. It was like looking at one character in three perspective, which made me appreciate each character, with all their strengths and flaws. The main characters Ally, Bree and Jack are just normal kids, at varying life situations, who are able to share their passion for science, fashion, books and drawing. Additional characters Melanie, Kenny and Ryan are also described in a way that showed how their friendship developed as a whole. I’ve seen in this book a very innocent characterization, with raw definition of how life is treating them, in their own perspective. Puppy love can also be interpreted, but again, in a very innocent depiction. Also, I thought the parents of these kids were depicted as killjoy overall, but their actions were given justice eventually and how the kids resolved family issues on their own highlighted a normal family circumstance — that kids have to accept things whether or not they like it, and just learn to make the best out of it.

The pacing of the book is just so, so, but since there are so many mentions about astronomy, stars, sun and the love of characters for this subject, I came to love it as well. I have been fascinated with heavenly bodies, but not to the extent to really do research and run after it. After reading this book, I felt like I want to experience a total solar eclipse, and made me want to see it on my own. With this book, my close friend was inspired to watch and experience for himself the total solar eclipse last August 21, 2017. It is also the same for me. After reading this book, I want to catch the next total solar eclipse and experience the magic, mystery and life-changing effect this miracle of the universe can do to people.

So, overall, if you want a good read with a bit about science, astronomy, and a story of how a genuine friendship can develop from very unexpected places, this one is for you. 🙂

Travel Bangladesh

One Asian country that is continually on the rise is Bangladesh. Situated on South Asia, specifically on the northwest side of Myanmar, eastern side of India and northern bays of Bengal, Bangladesh takes pride on its agricultural landform to provide mostly the needs of its people. Aside from exporting jutes and tea, Bangladesh is also known for its famous nature escapades like the Mangrove forest Sundarbans and the picturesque beach of Kuakata found in the capital of the country: Dhaka.

Why go to Dhaka?

One of the famous tourist attractions in Bangladesh is Dhaka. As the capital of Bangladesh, it attracts travelers of different ages from all over the world. With an estimated number of eighteen million residents, Dhaka is the considered a major hub for political, cultural, industrial and commercial activities in the country.

With a tropical monsoon climate, you can plan your travel to the country during the months of January to March. With temperature averaging from 26 degree Celsius to 33 degree Celsius, this is the best time to tour the country for its flourishing landmarks and attractions.

In addition, the capital offers different modes of transportation for travelers. May it be a bus, train, taxi, or boat, you will be sure to go about and reach your destination. You can also ride a rickshaw, the local means of transport similar to a tricycle, and cover short distances around the city in cheaper fares. You must be warned, however, that whether you are riding a ricksaw or a taxi, you will have to use your negotiation skills to get the best bargain for a ride.

Photo by joiseyshowaa

Bangladesh: Learn the culture

As part of the travel itinerary, one goes to a place to learn its culture. To know the culture of the Bangladesh, one must learn the country’s national language – Bengali. Considered as one of the most spoken languages in the world, Bengali evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. With almost 230 million speakers in and out of the country, Bengali is counted as the bridge for communication between locals and tourists who wanted to enhance their knowledge of the region’s culture.

So how do you enjoy your stay at Bangladesh? You can check out these tips:

1. Before you travel, check out the hotels around town. There are many hotels in the country that offer cheap accommodations in line with its comfort. With the boom of information, over the internet, it wouldn’t be hard to find these hotels beforehand.

2. Take a camera with you. In any travel experience that you’ll have, you will want your camera to take the most of the memories down the lane. As Bangladesh offers lush sceneries in this side of the continent, cameras are an important tool to document your stay at the country. Whether you’re using professional digital SLR or just the point and shoot cameras, it will eventually lead you to satisfaction once you have collected tangible memories of your travel.

3. Know the currency. Bangladesh uses Taka as its main currency. One US Dollar is equivalent to 81. 73 BDT (Bangladesh Taka) as of this was published. Knowing the main currency in the country could spare you from spending hundreds of bucks as you can budget what is needed for the trip.

4. Be sure to bring your hotel card with you. If you are a newbie, you might want to always bring your hotel card with you along with their contact number wherever you go just in case. As a bustling city, you might not want to get lost around in a city as big as Dhaka.

5. Eat local delicacies. Each country has its own dish worth bragging. One taste of the local dish in the city and it would make an experience truly enjoyable as it leaves a mark not only in the minds but also in the taste buds. As a famous quote says, “you learn best when you use all your senses,” it’s definitely a plus once you get your senses rolling.

Challenge yourself to go around the country, be prepared and learn that Bangladesh is one country worth traveling for. #

Note: This is an application article that I’ve submitted to essays.ph. 🙂