Free Reading - Ready or Not

As my children get older, they desire more time for 'free reading.'  They have always loved to read, and like getting time to read anything that is not necessarily required for school.  I love the fact that we can have an hour in the afternoon for quiet time, where we can just lie in our beds to read.

I subscribe to a blog called The Frugal Girls.  Every day I receive an email with freebies, diy ideas, recipes, and more.  I love reading on my Kindle and will download nearly any book to my Kindle, hubbys, or one of the children's when I see a good one for free.  They are easy enough to delete if we do not like it or find it inappropriate (which we have not seen with the Frugal Girls list).

I have never enjoyed sci fi or fantasy, but love romance novels.  I have recently discovered Christian romance and Amish series.  I thoroughly enjoy reading something that not only keeps my mind on God and is enjoyable for my imagination.  Unfortunately, I get so involved in some of these books that I loose sleep on a regular basis.  I am not a person who can fall asleep reading, unlike my mom.  I get so involved in a story that I find myself wide awake at 1 am at least once a week.

Most recently I have started reading a book called "Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance)".   Author: Chautona Havig.

This is the book description on Amazon:

Fresh out of college, Aggie Milliken thinks she's prepared for anything life can throw her way.
After the abrupt loss of her sister and brother-in-law, Aggie is stunned to find herself the sole guardian of her sister's eight children. If learning basic parenting skills wasn't complicated enough, she must also battle the children's half-crazed grandmother, survive a massive remodeling project, and navigate the waters of new friendships-alone.

She has little experience with children and none with housekeeping, and it shows. What she has going for her is grit, a double dose of determination, and the confidence that this is exactly where the Lord wants her to be. With an unlimited P-mail account and enough hymns to keep her spirits bolstered, she tackles one catastrophe after another.
It seems like nothing Aggie does is right, but ready or not, here she comes!

Not only does our main character have 8 children at the age of 22, she has never been on a date, her parents don't live close enough to help her out much.  Aggie must rely on new friends and God to bring her through the teen years and infancy all at once.

There are 2 other books in this series - For Keeps, and Here We Come.  I can't wait to read them both and see who is prepared to move in and help her out.

I'm that crazy lady who likes to mark all over every book I read.  If I find a quote or something that is encouraging, I will highlight it and dog ear the page.  I don't make 4,700 marks in the book - just the
REALLY good ones.  On page 125 there is  a prayer that Aggie prays that is applicable to all of us:

                   "Lord, remind me Who is the Potter and who is the clay.  I tend to try to model
                     myself and hope that You'll just kind of keep me from cracking the the fire
                     of life.  Please, Lord, teach me to simply be a lump of clay."

I read this during a particularly hard week and was able to share it and encourage a few friends.