• Home
  • About
    • Our Family
    • Our Purpose
    • Our Beliefs
    • Our Christmas Letters
    • Other FAQ’s
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Shop
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Flanders Family Homelife

Living, Loving, & Learning Together

  • Home
  • Love
    • Respect your Husband
    • Love your Wife
    • Get Along with In-laws
    • Find Time for Intimacy
    • More on Marriage
  • Learn
    • Why Homeschool? Our Family’s Reasons
    • Occupying Toddlers
    • Kindergarten Plan
    • Choosing Curriculum: Cultivate Your Child’s Love for Learning
    • Report Cards
    • High School Transcripts
    • CLEP/ Dual Credit
    • High School Diplomas
  • Parent
    • Tips on Potty Training
    • Stop Sibling Squabbles
    • Chore Assignments
    • Computer TIme
    • Adult Children at Home
  • Eat
    • Breakfasts
    • Breads
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Sides
    • Main DIshes
    • Desserts
  • Celebrate
    • New Year’s
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Summer Vacation
    • Independence Day
    • Back to School
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Save
    • Kids Eat Free
    • Budgeting Tips
    • Earn Cash Back w/Ebates
  • Read
    • Recent Reads
    • Books We’ve Authored
    • Reading Rewards
    • Free Books!!
  • Travel
    • Vacation Planning
    • We Flew FREE to Europe
    • Sample Itineraries
  • Organize
    • General Tips
    • Goal Setting
    • Mom’s Notebook
    • Kitchen
    • Bedrooms
    • Garage
  • Print
    • Calendars
    • Chore Charts
    • Coloring Pages
    • Math Drills
    • Prayer Guides
    • View All >
  • Subscribe
You are here: Home / Books / The Struggle Bus (& More Oct. Reads)

in Books

The Struggle Bus (& More Oct. Reads)

The Struggle Bus and Other October Reads

October brought us some gorgeous weather this year. Our family spent a full week tent camping, much of which time I spent lounging by the campfire with a book in my lap. I finished both The Struggle Bus and Coronavirus and Christ that week, then completed three more books before the month was out. Read on for my impressions of each.

  • The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children by Stormie Omartian

    Praying for Your Adult ChildrenAnybody who has known me long knows I’m a firm believer in the power of prayer. And anyone who’s ever downloaded one of my free printable prayer guides knows I love lifting my prayers straight from the pages of Scripture.

    Imagine, then, how pleased I was to find The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children so infused with the Word of God. Stormie Omartian is a woman after my own heart. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thoughtfully written and thorough book. And, since I am myself the mother of many grown children, immediately put it into practice.

  • Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper

    Coronavirus and ChristPiper reminds us that God’s ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And His purposes encompass far more than meets the eye.

    Such is undoubtedly the case with COVID 19. This coronavirus did not take our God by surprise. Nor is it beyond His power to use it for good.

    Piper details several positive developments that have come as a result of the unexpected hardships 2020 ushered in. Not the least of which is realigning our hearts with the incomparable worth and all-sufficiency of Christ and providing opportunities for us to serve as His hands and feet to a hurting world

    The Coronavirus and Christ is a reassuring and Biblical apologetic for God’s sovereignty over all — including global pandemics.

  • The Struggle Bus by Josh Wood

    The Struggle BusI spotted an e-blast ad for this book in a mailing I received from one of the homeschool support group’s I belong to. And did they ever target the right demographic for that bit of marketing!

    As a homeschooling mother of many who’s been driving a van full of children around for several decades now– and as one who’s owned her fair share of clunkers during the days my husband and I were both students — I found Joh Wood’s The Struggle Bus supremely relatable.

    The book is based on a hilariously candid Craig’s List ad that went when the Woods family tried to sell their van a few years back. In this clever expansion, the author uses his van as a metaphor for life, milking that concept for all its worth. He also shares a ton of interesting family anecdotes along the way. The results are laugh-out-loud funny.

  • From Sea to Shining Sea by Peter Marshall and David Manuel

    The Struggle Bus From Sea to Shining SeaThe children’s versions of Marshall and Manuel’s books offer the perfect scope and scale for teaching younger children about important events in American history. This volume covers the first fifty year’s of US independence.

    From Sea to Shining Sea tracks the young nation’s expansion west and recounts God’s hand of providence in America’s growth.

    But it simultaneously examines how the blight of slavery threatened to destroy our country, setting the stage for the bloodiest war the US has ever known.

    Our family has read these books aloud together multiple times over the years. But this is the first time my grandchildren have listened in, as well. With this title now under our belt, I’ve already begun reading grandkids the next title in the series.

  • The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

    The Bronze BowThis book was assigned reading for two of my boys’ literature class and co-op. So we ended up reading it all together. That way, by 10-year old daughter could enjoy it, too.

    Set in the first century AD, the book centers on an orphan named Daniel. Daniel lives for a single purpose: to avenge the death of his parents by driving the Romans out of his homeland. To that end, he has joined a band of zealots who live in the mountains, preying on unsuspecting travelers that happen their way.

    But when Daniel’s grandmother dies, he alone is left to care for a sister Leah. Leah, who has been tormented by demons for years. Leah, who will not survive without his help. But when he moves back to town, his perspective shifts. He hears the teaching of a carpenter who shows him the only way to conquer hate is with love. It is a powerful story and well-worth the read.

That finishes my reading list for October. To read my other book reviews, follow this link: Recent Flanders Family Reads In the meantime, if you’ve read a good book lately, I’d love for you to tell me about it in the comment section below.

The Struggle Bus and Other October Reads

Related

Leave a Comment

« Sleep in Peace Coloring Page
Our Soul Has Escaped Coloring Page »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




meet the parents

Doug & Jennifer Flanders - www.flandersfamily.info

We love Jesus, love each other, love our 12 children, and love the life God's given us. We started this blog as a way to share resources with others who want strong marriages, happy families, & healthy homes.

Read more

connect with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

freebies in your inbox

Join over 19K other subscribers and get sunshine delivered weekly to your inbox.

Unsure? Browse my newsletter archives to see what you're missing

get your family talking

Table Talk Book

cook gourmet meals at home

HelloFresh delivers great recipes and fresh ingredients to your home each week.

start your day right

make over your mornings

If your mornings don't run as smoothly as you'd like, this course can help. Good for night owls & early birds alike!

join the conversation

  • Jennifer Flanders on Summit Student Conferences: Our Family’s Experience
  • Jennifer Flanders on 10 Commandments Award Certificate and Memory Aid
  • Jennifer Flanders on Flanders Family Favorite Recipes
  • Suzan on Flanders Family Favorite Recipes
  • Donna Mcdannold on 10 Commandments Award Certificate and Memory Aid
  • Caroline on Summit Student Conferences: Our Family’s Experience
  • Jennifer Flanders on 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • Patricia C Knight on 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning

Readers' Favorites

Name that Line - Christmas Movie Game

Name that Line Christmas Quiz

Shares: 39510

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols?

Shares: 28689

Age-Appropriate Children's Chore Chart - IG

Age-Appropriate Chores for Children

Shares: 92699

Make Every Month More Meaningful

Make Every Month More Memorable

Shares: 53690

most popular posts this week

  • Springtime Word Scramble (Free Printable)
  • 50 Fun Ideas for Spring (Free Printable)
  • Room-by-Room Spring Cleaning Checklist
  • Free Editable High School Transcript Template
  • Birds of the Air Coloring Page
  • Springtime Conversation Starters
  • A Fragrant Aroma Coloring Page
  • 2023 Calendars for Advanced Planning
  • 5 Things to Make Spring Better
  • Jelly Bean Gospel (Free Printable)

earn free books and bibles

Tyndale Rewards Club

This is a great program, and it's FREE! Bonus: when you sign up through this link, you get 25 points (& I get 10 -- so, thanks!).

free starter set

Free Starter Set from Grove Collaborativefree starter set from Grove

unleash your child’s creativity

agathon web hoting
Christian Family Blogs
  • Home
  • Faith
  • Family
  • Food
  • Fun
  • Freebies

visit jennifer’s blog

Jennifer Flanders' Blog: Loving Life At Home Loving Life at Home

visit doug’s blog

Doug Flanders' Blog: All Truth Is God's Truth All Truth is God's Truth

privacy policy | disclosure statement

shop our books

25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife
Sit Down & Eat Get Up & Go

thanks for dropping by

Thank you for visiting our website Let's Get Social
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

looking for something?

recommended resources

as seen on:

America Tonight ABC Australia BBC Tyler Morning Telegraph

Every spring, I pull out my little Easter journal, Every spring, I pull out my little Easter journal, read through it again, and complete a few more pages.  Packed with scripture, word studies, writing prompts, and gorgeous vintage artwork to color, it’s a great way to focus my heart and mind on the unfathomable love and unmerited grace that compelled Jesus to conquer sin, death, and the grave on behalf of all who put their trust in Him (including ME🙋‍♀️)!  If you enjoy coloring, journaling, and/or reflecting on Christ’s love, you can find BECAUSE HE LIVES — along with all of my other devotional journals — on Amazon. (Link in profile)  #flandersfamilyreads #bookstagram #devotionaljournal #becausehelives
I love leaving all our windows open to let the lig I love leaving all our windows open to let the light shine through, but the glare off this white wall blinds me whenever I’m washing dishes at our kitchen sink. So I decided to paint a mural to help absorb some of the reflected light!  Also, I figured it would be easier to keep painted shrubs and flowers alive than the real thing since we don’t have a sprinkler system and I sometimes forget to water the real stuff until it is limp and wilted — or worse!  #flandersfamilyhome #wallart #outdoorproject
I finished listening to David Epstein’s RANGE ye I finished listening to David Epstein’s RANGE yesterday. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  What an inspiring book! I told my husband, who’d read it years before, that this book really made me grateful we had chosen to homeschool.  “That’s exactly what I thought when I finished reading it!” he responded.  It’s not that one CAN’T learn to think broadly in a traditional classroom — Doug and I both attended public schools as children, earned specialized degrees in college and graduate/medical school, yet still managed to retain a healthy curiosity about a wide range of topics.  It is just that our modern educational system favors benchmarked learning and early specialization, often at the expense of making interdisciplinary connections or pursuing tangential topics.  Each teacher piles on homework in a given subject, seldom pausing to point out how the material being presented in one course relates to anything the student is learning in other classes.  Modern classrooms stress outcomes, grades, results. They have little time or patience for the kind of “mental meandering” and experimentation that is vital to innovation.  Happily for us, that hasn’t been the case with homeschooling. We teach our kids the basics, expose them to a broad range of books, people, places, and ideas, let them delve deeply into investigating topics or developing skills that interest them, and discuss with genuine enthusiasm and appreciation all the things each of us are learning — collectively and individually — and how it all fits into the framework of our Christian worldview.  As parents, I don’t think Doug and I deliberately set out to create that kind of environment for our kids when we first started teaching them at home, but by God’s grace, that is what our homeschooling experiment evolved into. And books like Range make me extra thankful that is the case. ❤️  #flandersfamilyreads #bookstagram #homeschooling #lifestyleoflearning #recommendedreading
Today was “Disney Day” at our homeschool co-op Today was “Disney Day” at our homeschool co-op.  Abby dressed as my all-time favorite Disney character, Belle. She was smart, loyal, compassionate, and loved to read. 📕  Gabriel dressed as Pongo. This tenacious Dalmatian was courageous, resourceful, and made an excellent father. 🐶  And I dressed as a Public Service Announcement: Parents, make sure you watch your children around Disney as vigilantly as you’d guard your puppies around Cruella de Vil!🚧  #homeschoolcoopthemedays
I was privileged to get a sneak peak at Hard Is No I was privileged to get a sneak peak at Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad, chapter by chapter, as it was being written And I absolutely loved it!  Now (at last!) it’s officially available for preorder. I ordered mine yesterday and can hardly wait to read the print copy, complete with gorgeous artwork from @paintandprose and the unique perspective Dad shares the end of each chapter!  I’m overjoyed to think how incredibly blessed families across the globe are going to be when they read the timely, encouraging, biblically-grounded message presented in this beautifully written book. ❤️  #flandersfamilyreads #bookstagram #hardisnotthesamethingasbad
On this date in 1987, my husband officially asked On this date in 1987, my husband officially asked me to marry him before slipping onto my finger an antique diamond ring his grandmother had taken off her own hand two days earlier and hand sized to fit mine.  He proposed on bended knee in the living room of his grandparents’ house in Corpus Christi, with Nanny and Poppie looking on, offering constructive criticism, and making him back up and re-do all the parts that THEY found unsatisfactory the first time. 😂😂🤣  The truth is, Doug and I had already been planning our wedding — and, even more importantly, discussing our hopes, dreams, and expectations for the life we’d share together after the ceremony — for months before his grandparents insisted he formalize things with an official proposal of marriage and a gorgeous ring I’ve worn proudly ever since. 💍  Either way — with or without a ring or a formal proposal — my answer to the question was a resounding “YES!” Agreeing to marry Doug remains one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. ❤️❤️❤️  #officiallyengaged #happilyeverafter
I recently finished Jinger Duggar Vuolo’s Becomi I recently finished Jinger Duggar Vuolo’s Becoming Free Indeed.  As relieved as I was to hear Jinger reaffirm her strong faith in God — as well as her love and respect for her parents— I still had a LOT of thoughts regarding the “disentangling” journey she shares.  You can swipe left to read a few of those thoughts. Or visit my Loving Life at Home blog (link in bio) for the unabridged version! 😂  #flandersfamilyreads #becomingfreeindeed #bookstagram #biblebeliever
Pics from our all-green-cuisine leprechaun lunch — a long standing tradition in the Flanders family!  #flandersfamilyfun #familytraditions #greenfood #leprechaunlunch
Another family tradition: Racing to see who can fi Another family tradition: Racing to see who can finish this year’s game the quickest.  You can download either of the ones pictured or one from past years for FREE on our family website (link in profile).  #saintpatricksday #freeprintable #triviagames #wordscramble
One thing the kids and I enjoy doing on vacation i One thing the kids and I enjoy doing on vacation is working puzzles. We start a 1000-piece jigsaw as soon as we arrive at our destination and race the clock to finish before time to leave.  Abby especially enjoys puzzles and is usually the one pushing for us to continue this tradition, although she abandoned me most of our evenings this trip to play pool with her brother.  Gabriel is an early riser though and made up for it by working on the puzzle with me in the mornings.  Dad and Nana aren’t huge fans of jigsaws, but we saved the last two pieces for them to put in, so they could say they helped, too. 😂

Copyright © 2023 · Market theme by Restored 316