Posted by Cindy on December 21, 2006
Wow! That’s the best word I can think of to describe this book. Since baby is on his way any day now, we didn’t read through Jotham’s Journey the way you’re “supposed” to. We began the first of December and read one, two or three chapters a day until we finished. I have to admit that it would have been hard for even *me* to read one chapter a day because they are so exciting and leave you wanting more. We also didn’t do the Advent candles with the book, simply because we weren’t following the daily reading schedule.
I highly recommend this book! One caution, though, it is intense at times and some little ones may find it to be too scary. My 6 1/2 year old listened intently and loved the book, but would ask many questions about the story throughout the day if we ended our daily reading time with an especially serious cliff-hanger.
The author is a master storyteller and weaved such an interesting story line that it often left me with my mouth open in awe of his creativity in tying together the story of our Savior’s birth with the story of the main character. He also did a wonderful job of allowing the main character to grow in wisdom and stature as we watched. I especially loved the “main message” of how our disobedience has consequences, and I was glad to see that Jotham recognized this and tried harder each time to be more obedient.
Sadly, this book, as well as the other two in the series – Tabitha’s Travels and Bartholemew’s Passage (I think I have those titles right) are no longer in print. From what I understand, the author is trying to find a new publisher. Maybe we can all bombard Purple House Press with a request to reprint these?? Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on the other two books in the series!
Posted by Cindy on December 8, 2006
I’d like to give myself credit here….Considering the fact that our new little guy (no name yet!!) and Christmas are in a race with each other for which will arrive first, I’ve been very calm. 
Well, maybe my children and husband wouldn’t quite agree that calm is the right word to use since we have a rather dreaded time of “Let’s get the house picked up, the laundry done, the dishes put away, the schoolroom picked up……You know today could be the day. We don’t want to come home from the hospital to a messy house!”
They cringe when the 37 week pregnant cleaning mommy comes out. But, hey, a clean and tidy house is important whether a new baby is coming or not, right? Sadly, children and husbands just have NO IDEA what it’s like to HAVE to clean. I try to explain this nesting urge, but they really don’t seem to believe the importance of it to a pregnant lady.
As for Christmas – I’m almost ready. All the gifts, except one, are bought. Guess who’s in charge of buying that one? Not me. About half the gifts are wrapped and I hope to finish the other half today. Christmas cards I think will wait this year and we’ll send out Merry Christmas/Happy New Year/Birth Announcements instead. Cookies and candy are made and the packages are just about ready to hand out to Sunday School, piano and co-op teachers. I think I’ll do that this coming week. No one ever really minds an early present!
Sad thing is, once I get these ”last few really important things done before the baby arrives”, the nesting syndrome will only continue. I’m afraid there will always be another closet to organize, bathroom to deep clean, cobweb to find and destroy…..Praise the Lord for the work that’s getting done around here is all I have to say! This nesting thing isn’t so bad – I only wish it occured more often than the last month or so of my pregnancies! 
