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In This Moment by Karen Kingsbury Book Review | Is the US confused about God being illegal?

Estimated Reading Time: 8min

Division between church and state has seemed to be a very big divide in America. While I’m not American (and for some of you that instantly means I’m not qualified to make this post, but stay with me here), a lot of our media is very (very) American, and “In This Moment” by Karen Kingsbury looks not just at the amendment of the way the US governs, but also religious freedom and understanding on a human level. So, I’m going to do this post in two parts – Part One will be a review the book itself and how it was written, and Part Two will be how it handled this idea of people in the US seeming to think that God, and mentioning anything to do with Him or His Word, is illegal in the school system and beyond.

PART ONE – The Book

In brief, this books is about a high school principal who is in a school that has so many issues that it’s on the brink of being shut down. In order to save the kids, bring them back into the classrooms and give them hope, he starts a voluntary after school bible club. He knows he might get sued for it, but he does it anyway. He was right – the school starts doing better, but he does get sued.

Okay, so this is a book that comes after many (many, many, many) other books – congrats Karen! Unfortunately, as I did pick this one up with little to no knowledge of the complicated Baxter family, even though it is intended for anyone (read another book or not) to pick this up and follow it, it doesn’t make it super reader friendly. If you don’t know or understand the very complex Baxter family and another family that are friends of theirs, things feel a little chaotic. It led to a bunch of info dumping that was exhausting. This book was almost 75% info dumping. Not just about the backstories of all the various Baxters we get introduced to us, but also around a main character love interests (Wendell and Alicia) where we basically get info dumping of their life stories which actually could have been an entire book on its own without including Luke and Reagan’s story at all.

Alicia’s anxiety and panic attacks were well written in my opinion, but I wish we had seen a lot more of her story unfold in the present because it would have been really interesting. I don’t know if it’s explored in another book and that’s why we didn’t see it, but I had to let a lot of those things go in this book because I quickly realised that for some characters, that was exactly the case.

The case itself was one of the most interesting parts (the only reason I read this book in the first place) of the entire story. I liked the courtroom scenes (though there were some inconsistencies with real court procedure… I picked that up and I’m in Australia!), and it did hold my attention with how the case would unfold. Family and drama dynamics were pretty interesting and I would give this book a 3 star rating.

Trigger warnings: suicide, death, racism, religious bigotry, child abuse, anxiety and infidelity.

PART TWO – Religion Is Illegal in Schools?

Okay, I don’t know the real climate in American schools with God, the Bible and having freedom of religion collide with reality. If it’s as bleak as this book made it seem – that some people think it’s actually illegal to even have their own personal Bible in school – then I’m concerned for my friends across the world. I know there are people who hate God, and don’t want Him anywhere near anything, however, we have recently seen a divide in schools with ideologies that want to be included… so excluding God would be highly hypocritical… Nobody seems to notice that when it’s other religions that are allowed to express themselves in schools and it’s okay, but Christian’s aren’t, and THAT’S where they draw the line… What? But this happens all over the world. We shut out Christian liberties, and give them to pretty much everyone else.

There seems to be a line that people who hate God want to take, and it’s basically to try and eradicate Christians. Just so those people know (if they happen to read this), that’s impossible. God will never be eradicated… because He’s God. You can try all you like, but you won’t succeed – just ask all the underground churches in places like China. Having said that, slowly our society is eroding the rights of Christians and that’s just what we’re facing. However, I refuse to believe people are this ignorant, this bigoted, and this dictatorial in the “land of the FREE”??? Free, unless you’re a Christian (which is what the founding fathers were, I believe).

Anyway, this book did an okay job dealing with this topic, but it felt a little overblown to the reality. I’m hoping it is, at least, because if someone wants to bring a book to school that you don’t like (and it’s their personal book), or someone wants to start an after school club that changes the school for the better, or someone wants to share with other kids that ask about why they seem happy all the time instead of miserable… why are you stopping them? Are you that scared of a God that you don’t think is real? If people are not actively screaming at others that they’re a doomed and hated sinner, but they are treating them with kindness, love and compassion, why do you care where it comes from? You certainly don’t care when it comes from other religions or sources.

Grab the book Here

While I think this book could start some really interesting discussions, the book itself is an interesting read without the context of other stories. Still worth a pick up if the topic interests you, as this kind of thing happens in all countries – not just America.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
classic debates Life

Uniforms In Schools | Classic Debates

Estimated Reading Time: 5min

I suppose I should share this first and foremost… I went to a private school. I know what you’re thinking! My school was either Gossip Girl or Summer Heights High… well it wasn’t either. It was just school, but with a high focus on achieving greatness.

So, with that out of the way, as I was writing my recent post where I shared about the Gallagher Girls book series (check out that post >>here if you want to read more about teenage spies in training), I noticed the covers I was finding for each book had a school uniform. Not an interesting observation in general, but when I thought more about it, I recalled the debate that occurred every time in school when they would have free dress days.

It cost a cold coin donation to wear your own clothes instead of the uniform, but it led to an occasional disagreement on what was appropriate to wear to school, and what wasn’t. There was always a conversation about transitioning out the uniform and becoming like the shows we saw on television where kids didn’t have to wear a uniform! They got to come to school in whatever they liked, and we thought that sounded great… So why were the schools making these silly rules and restrictions in the first place? Well, let’s explore the debate on whether or not schools should have uniforms!

YES to Uniforms

One of the first reasons you tend to hear in favour of wearing uniforms, is that it brings unity. Everyone who sees kids wearing the same uniform, in the same manner knows exactly where they belong. What place they go to each day, and what school they represent. It unifies kids of all backgrounds, all year levels and all social groups into one bigger group – School A or School Z. Instead of a child who can’t afford the latest shoes or jacket, they can all blend together as one.

Another of the reasons, are concerning inappropriate clothing worn to school. This was a debate often held at my school, where even a shirt with WORDS of any kind on it, was deemed unacceptable. Images of anything (from a Disney princess, to a Simpson character) was not okay, and you had to change, go home or wear your shirt inside out if they saw you. Even though that sounds extreme, the idea was to stop offensive language and imaging to enter the school grounds. So I did understand – but a little Frozen wouldn’t be that big of a deal if you ask me!

The final one that I tended to hear a lot, was that standards of presentation are going to be different. Some people don’t care if their hair is long and unkempt, or if they have seventeen piercings all over their face as a twelve year old. When you’re forced to have you hair out of your face, or to wearing little or no makeup (saving the embarrassing “cake face” scenario) you learn how to look after yourself and present yourself professionally – an important tool when you start working.

NO to Uniforms

This was the side almost always held by students in school. Those of us who hated having to wear a tie, and have skirts at certain lengths every day. The moment I was out of school, I was glad to never be forced to wear a skirt unless I wanted to ever again! I hate skirts. So why is it that kids think wearing their own clothes are better?

A main reason, was similar to my complaint above – being more comfortable. When you’re sitting at desks all day, walking to classes and running around an oval at lunch, you want to be comfortable. To have movement to do what you gotta do, and then pick something else for the day after – coordinating with your activities on that day.

Another reason for the No Uniform side, is self expression. There is so much that kids and teenagers don’t have control over. How they dress, is something they can somewhat control. When parents are the ones paying for the clothes, sometimes it’s tricky but for the most part you can organise your wardrobe to make a statement about yourself. Maybe one day you’re feeling down and don’t want people to speak to you – you can wear a tracksuit to symbolise you’re giving up on life that day, or all black to scare them away. Maybe you’re feeling flirty and want to wear a skirt after all (I will never understand you people!) but the day after, you want to have the flexibility that comes with shorts…

Especially when you can only wear a dress/skirt or your PE clothes (but only on PE days, or that’s a no-no) it leaves very little room for comfort, self expression and actually connecting with other students when you find out that someone else likes to dress and express the way that you do.

Well, whatever you think about uniforms in schools, the reality is that it’s still very much alive. I suppose home schooling is on the rise, and I think we can all agree that making your kid wear a uniform to the kitchen table would be weird….

Are you For or Against wearing a uniform in schools? Maybe you just don’t care… pop a comment down below and let us know your POV!

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace

Categories
Life

Say “Cheese” Isn’t Enough

Remember back in school when it was picture day? You got dressed up real nice in your uniform, hair perfect, looking well groomed and called out of class (yay!) for the picture. Then it was time to take the snap, and the photographer said “Say CHEESE!”

Okay, so in Aussie we also had ‘Say TWISTIES!’ along with the classic, but things are changing. Not just because of huge world events (Like Covid-19), but also because kids are becoming harder and harder to impress.

With knowledge and entertainment so much easier at hand, it’s more difficult to grab attention (and hold it), and then ask a kid to smile on cue. Yeah, we’re used to taking selfies, but it’s different in a group or professional setting.

So, what do you say to get a kid to smile in 2021?

>>>Get a copy of my ebook KIDNAPPED Entanglement >>>here

Am I even qualified to talk about this? Yes, yes I am. My day job is in school photography, so I hear all about this type of stuff right from the front lines.

Apparently our school photographers are becoming VERY creative. They are requesting that kids say things like:

  • Say “Hefalumps”
  • Say “Squiggly”
  • Say “Undies”
  • Say “Selfies”

Okay, so some of those could just be what I’d imagine to say, but you get the gist. Let’s give a hip hip hooray to the photographers who are trying their best, to give us moments to look back on. Moments when the kids were young, and had that cute innocence. That you can look back on when they’re fifty, and your seventy five. Moments that last forever (as long as you don’t lose the pictures).

400,000+ Best Group Of People Photos · 100% Free Download · Pexels Stock Photos

If you want to read my book, head to the link >>>here for the KIDNAPPED Entanglement eBook, OR get the paperback direct from me for the cheapest price!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Life

No Prospects, No Money and No Idea

I left with no prospects, no money and no idea of what to do next.

Okay, so that may sound a little ‘Jane Austin-ish’ but I can assure you, that’s how it was when I left my full time job.

I decided to leave without any guarantee of work anywhere else, and no clue of what exactly I wanted to do. I applied for a few different creative fields, because THAT was the one thing I knew for certain; I wanted a creative job that I would enjoy!

Painter GIFs | Tenor

People say – just get a job that pays the bills, so you can do what you love on the side  – all the time. They are WRONG. Just. Plain. Wrong.
If you can find something for a job that pays AND you enjoy – that’s what makes you happy in life.

My grandfather spent his whole life in a horrid job, doing something he loathed – just the pay the bills. Grateful, is the only word I could come up with. Grateful that he did that to provide for his family, and that it lead to my Dad being who he is.

Fortunately in these times, we have more flexibility. Not only in WHAT job we do, but HOW we do it (and this could become even more flexible post Covid).
So, Why when I advise everyone NEVER to leave a job with no prospect of another on the horizon, did I make this decision?

The answer is simple, but it may sound strange – depending on your world view.
I just KNEW it was the right time. Things had been spoken to me and over my life (through trusted people in my sphere), and it was time! My job wasn’t challenging or interesting anymore, it was sucking my creativity and I was coming home tired because I wasn’t fulfilled – instead I was using my energy just to be present and do my work.

Tired GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

I knew that I was looking to publish my first book, so leaving was SCARY as heck! I pushed the book a few months until I could secure some income, and I searched!
What I found was an incredible blessing. Using some of my business skills, while also my creative eye – I ended up in School Photography.

Even though right now, schools are closed and my Day Job awaits for a more stable school community, the job was the greatest blessing I could have hoped for. Now, I have flexible hours to continue writing, enough income to pay bills, and I am happier than I’ve been in years.

Your answer; your dream; your YES; your silver lining; They are all out there. Don’t settle. Chase what makes you happy!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace