• 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 / My Tech-Wise Life (& Other February Reads)

in Books

My Tech-Wise Life (& Other February Reads)

This Changes Everything (and Other Feb. Reads)

I finished eight books in four weeks during the month of February. All but three were books I’d read before. Of the new titles, My Tech-Wise Life by Amy and Andy Crouch was my favorite.

You’ll find my impressions of all eight books below, listed in the order I read them.

February Reads

  • How Do I Love Thee? by Jennifer Flanders

    How Do I Love Thee?How Do I Love Thee? is a devotional journal for wives that I created several years ago. I pull my own copy out every February and August, so I can work on in the days leading up to Valentine’s and my wedding anniversary.

    I believe that happiness in marriage is not so much a matter of chance as it is a matter of choice. Choosing to be happy means choosing to think on things that are good and noble and right and lovely and pure. That includes thinking about your spouse’s most positive, admirable, and endearing qualities.

    Our marriages can’t help but benefit when we discipline ourselves to do this. And that, in a nutshell, is the whole reason I created this little journal to begin with. Verses on every page prompt you to meditate on God’s Word and allow it to shape your life and marriage.

    Whether you’re writing, drawing, pasting, or coloring in it, each page, prompt, and verse is designed to help you recall and record the things you love most about your husband, to reflect on your most cherished memories, and to recognize God’s hand at work in your relationship. I hope other readers will find these exercises to be as much much a blessing to their marriages as they’ve been to mind.

  • My Tech-Wise Life by Amy and Andy Crouch

    My Tech-Wise LifeI also read and thoroughly enjoyed My Tech-Wise Life by Amy and Andy Crouch last month.

    This book was written for teens by a teen, together with her dad. Amy penned the chapters, and Andy wrote a response at the end of each in the form of a letter to his daughter.

    I found it both timely and personally convicting — especially the chapter on how high-tech distractions tempt us to procrastinate on the more important work we should be doing. The book contains a lot of good food for thought. It might foster some great family discussions with teens (and parents) who are learning to balance their time online with the rest of life.

  • Sounding Forth the Trumpet by Pete Marshall

    Sounding Forth the Trumpet and My Tech-Wise Life
    I read Sounding Forth the Trumpet aloud years ago to my older children when they were young, and last month I finished re-reading it to the younger set.

    My children and I were struck by how many parallels we saw between nineteenth century America and the age in which we are living ourselves.

    It’s as if our daily history readings are describing the current events we see unfolding before our eyes, especially when it comes to deeply divided beliefs, problems with election integrity, and attempts to silence dissenting opinions.

    History is such an important study. As George Santayana observed, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”

  • Because He Lives by Jennifer Flanders

    Because He LivesOnce Valentine’s Day was behind me, I swapped my How Do I Love Thee? journal for another of my own titles, Because He Lives. I revisit this journal every year during the season of Lent.

    I’ll complete several pages a week in the days leading up to Easter, just as I’ve done every year since it was first published. I’ve finished about 14 (so far) this year, and still have two more weeks to go.

    I’ve been trying to keep Sundays screen-free this year, sunup to sundown. You might call that my attempt to live a tech-wise life. So Sunday is the day I do the bulk of my Bible journaling. I find that reading through the pages of my journal and meditating on the scriptures listed is a great way to focus my thoughts on Christ and on His finished work on the cross.

  • Teach Us to Pray by Gordon Smith

    Teach Us to Pray and My Tech Wise LifePrayer is such a vital part of the Christian life. One cannot over-stress our need to be in a constant attitude of prayer.

    It is impossible to abide in Christ without spending regular time reading and meditating upon His Word and communing with Him through prayer.

    In Teach Us to Pray, Gordon Smith discusses three aspects of prayer for Christian: Thanksgiving, Confession, and Discernment. A life characterized by such prayers are a mark of Christian maturity.

  • The Green Book by Jill Patton Walsh

    The Green BookWe spent several days last month without electricity and with only a trickle of water — courtesy of “Snowmegeddon.”

    So I picked those long, cold, unplugged days to read The Green Book aloud to my kids. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

    It’s a quick read, only 80 pages, but very satisfying. It tells the story of a young girl whose family had to start life over on a new planet.

    Reading about how they managed with so few comforts from home made us even more appreciative of our own running water and electric power once those services were restored.

    And it made the interim time seem more like a grand, new adventure than an unwelcome inconvenience.

  • Christmas Playlist by Alistair Begg

    Christmas Playlist I listened to Alistair Begg’s Christmas Playlist on audio last month.

    Why a Christmas book in February? Because Easter is right around the corner, and — as Begg notes — we must fully grasp the heart of Christmas before we can understand the meaning of Easter. And vice versa.

    This book covers four songs recorded in the New Testament related to Christmas. My favorite was the fourth, the song Simeon sang over the Messiah (Luke 2:25-35), which underscored the fact that Jesus was born to die.

  • Animal Farm by George Orwell

    Animal Farm and My Tech Wise LifeWe also re-read Animal Farm aloud as a family last month. The kids who are still at home were either not yet born or too young to remember it from the last time we read it.

    They were annoyed and upset by how the pigs repeatedly changed the rules to suit themselves and constantly rewrote history and misrepresented past events.

    But even more distressing was how many of the other farm animals accepted without question whatever the pigs told them — even when it contradicted their own clear memories of how things actually happened.

    As you might imagine, this political fable is every bit as relevant now as when George Orwell first penned it more than 75 years ago.

    And my children have continued to ponder its message, even at play. (See proof on Instagram.)

Related

Leave a Comment

« Djeco So Pop Review (Timberdoodle Craft Kit)
Lily of the Valley 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