Review: The Foundlings, Peleg Chronicles, Book 1 by Matthew Christian Harding

The Foundlings, Peleg Chronicles, by Matthew Christian Harding

Genre: Pre-historical Fiction, Action/Adventure

My rating: 7 out of 10 stars

     I first ran across The Peleg Chronicles in the Vision Forum catalog, shortly before VF closed down. At the time I was extremely interested and coveted all three books. The descriptions were intriguing and I felt that they would satisfy my taste for rather fantastic fiction while still in a possible and realistic setting - i.e. they included elements like dragons, giants, dwarfs, and priests (who seemed an awful lot like magicians.) You may be wondering how dragons, giants, and dwarfs could possibly be combined in a realistic setting, but the answer is really quite simple: the time frame of the story is during the days of Peleg, who lived approximately 101 years after the flood. There are strong indications from the Bible, ancient traditions, archaeology, and paleontology that there were still dinosaurs and giants on the earth. Dwarfs? Well, I haven't researched that point, yet.

     I have read only the first book: The Foundlings, and the free Kindle sample of the second book, but I decided not to purchase the second and third books, though possibly I may do so in the future.

Summary:

    Lord McDougal and his faithful servant, Fergus, travel across ancient Scotland toward the fabulous city and fortress of Hradcanny. Along the way they fall in with various adventures (which include dragons/ dinosaurs and giants.) Thiery, a young boy with a natural talent for woodsmanship and working with animals, finds his life suddenly turned upside down when he is targeted by the evil Dragon Priests, and he is thrown upon his own resources - and the gracious protection of Noah's God. Suzie, whose childlike faith and overflowing love and joy in the worst of circumstances make her a light to everyone around her, is separated from her adopted older brother, Thiery, only to find new friends raised up for her just when she needs them most.

     A troubled count, a ruthless and wily priest, and a stubborn and confused, but grateful, pagan soldier play varied and important parts in the story. The Dragon Priests are determined to serve their false gods and stamp out the religion of Noah's God wherever they can, but help comes to Thiery and his friends in the most unexpected places and at the most necessary times.

Devotional: Adorning the Religion of Jesus

Adorning the Religion of Jesus

From Myra Sherwood’s Cross, by Lucy Ellen Guernsey

     “Oh, my Lord… let me not misrepresent Thee and Thine, keep me stedfast, make me act from principle, let me adorn Thy religion so that they shall learn to love it and Thee… Help me to be consistent, patient, forbearing, the same all day long, as I desire to be when before Thee.” This was Myra Sherwood’s prayer, prayed just when she took on the responsibility of five children. She had her answer, and later, her reward. “The religion of Jesus,” as she explained it to her young half-siblings and their siblings, was adorned by her life of love toward them and others. Though somewhat skeptical at first, they were won over by her consistent love, shown by her self-sacrificial life.

     The world hears words every day. Words are cheap. Politicians pour them out, advertisers shout them, friends and acquaintances chat them, and family members speak, giggle, or grumble them. But actions are more rare. It is far easier to say, “I love Jesus and I love you,” than to actually show a person love on a consistent basis, regardless of whether they are lovable and kind to us. As Myra explained it, the religion of Jesus is love and faith: our faith in God’s love, demonstrated by the atoning work of Jesus Christ, brings forth love in us. “But whoso keepeth His word, in Him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” (1 John 2:5 and 6.) Real Christians are to live the way Jesus lived - walking in love toward the world around us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the way we are salt and light in the earth, attracting others to our Savior. As the old saying has it, actions speak louder than words.

     It is amazing that the Lord would grant us opportunities and power to adorn His Gospel. We are not deserving of His mercy, but He not only offers us His grace, He makes us workers together with Him and ambassadors for Him. He gives us the priveledge and responsibility to display Him to the world: let us see that we do it well, seeking Him humbly for wisdom and power.

     This devotional was written for the Lamplighter Summer Reading Challenge. For more information about the challenge, please visit lamplighter.net.

New Mexico Adventure Week Two

     Our second week with the Coopers began with a trip to the White Sands National Monument. It was amazing!

New Mexico Adventure - Week 1

     For several months, Savana, LilyAnn, and I have been eagerly anticipating a trip out west with Mamaw to visit the Coopers (Aunt GieGie, Uncle Mark, and cousins.) Finally, the much-awaited day came and we loaded up in the van for the first leg of the trip - from our house to Mamaw's. Michael and Hanna drove us over there, stayed the night with all of us, and took us to Tallahassee the next morning (Monday) to pick up the rental van.

The travelers.

Spring Morning

     Yesterday morning I was blessed to just enjoy the moment and my two youngest siblings. Frank and Anna Frances went out with me to do the chores and we had a great time. (Sorry for the poor phone picture quality.)

Frankie informed me when we first went out that he was "Frankie Farmer." I changed his name to Farmer Frank and in that role, he fed Buttercup...

On this Day: Fall of the Alamo

     The battle of the Alamo has always been one of those turning-point events which particularly captures my attention and admiration. Stories of sacrifice and courage are (I think) the very greatest of any that can be told and the thirteen-day defense of a sprawling mission by about 130 men against more than ten times their number is among the greatest of these stories.
     I am not an Alamo expert by any means and to date (March 6th, 2019) have never even been close to Texas, so I'll stick to the basic facts in this brief narrative.

"Little Things" - From The White Gypsy, by Annette Lyster

* This "devotional" is something I wrote during the Lamplighter Summer Reading Challenge last year. I have a lot of character sketches and other devotionals like this, some of which I will be posting. I hope it is an encouragement to someone - and go read the book!*

“Little Things”

From The White Gypsy, by Annette Lyster

    “Oh, it’s just a little thing!” Just a little pain, a little unkindness, a little selfishness, a little laziness - who cares about the little things? Gilbert Phayre, the only son left to his mother after a catastrophic train accident, did not care much about little things. He loved his mother and she idolized him; he was always ready to show her affection whenever any “big” problem arose - so why give up his own pleasure when she had some little request?

    The trouble is that “little” things lead to great things. Gilbert had no idea how he pained his poor mother on an almost daily basis by constantly following his own preferences rather than hers. Of course, she was happy to yield to him, but how much happier would she have been if he had showed the loving deference of a son, and yielded to her? He helped keep her in a state of mournful, nervous misery, largely because she could not trust him in the “little things.” He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much - and the reverse is quite as true: He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. (Luke 16:10)

    We all have great power for good when we pay attention to little things. As Keith said when parting from George and Willie at school: “Catch your foxes while they’re little… and kill them before they eat your grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2:15). It is the “little” things of life that make up the “big” things in the long run, and God pays attention to both, therefore we should too.

Available:

Free on Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=4BgCAAAAQAAJ&hl=en

Hard copy from Lamplighter:

https://store.lamplighter.net/white-gypsy-the-p382.aspx

The Top Eight Influential Books in My Life

     Have you ever considered which books have had the greatest impact on your life? Besides the Bible, which obviously is the most important Book, I have read hundreds, maybe thousands, of books and they all have more or less helped shape my thinking, but in considering which ones really impacted my thinking, only a handful stand out distinctly. Some are thoroughly Christian, such as The Pilgrim's Progress, and some are classics, like Ben Hur. A few are comparatively unknown, or like The Heir of Redclyffe, were once bestsellers, but now receive only a passing mention in some encyclopedia and are almost entirely out of print. Please note that I do not recommend all these books for all readers; this is simply a list of the books that rise above the crowd when I mentally review the literature I have read. They are not listed in order of importance, because I could not decide on which were the most important. Read them, and see for yourself.