In Clothed with Thunder , the third book in the Sonrise Stables series, Author Vickie Watson does a fabulous job weaving family, evolution refutation and faith in this heart warming tale of forgiveness and restoration. She also seamlessly bridges the story of the previous books into this one so even the youngest reader can follow along.
At the beginning of the story, homeschooled sisters Rosie and Carrie decide to give a presentation on horses from a creationist perspective to a largely unbelieving crowd. The girls are encouraged by their family to research and present the facts.
Being a Young Earth Believer myself, I love the extra care and explanation given to Creation throughout this book.
...."And the irreducible complexity part?" Rosie reminded her.
"There's a lot more to it. I'm certainly no expert. I know there are red and white blood cells, proteins, and enzymes. You could ask your Aunt Lisa. She studied all that in nursing school. But yes, the irreducible complexity part - all these things work together. If any part of the system doesn't work, the blood doesn't clot. And if the blood doesn't clot, the person or animal will bleed to death from even a small scratch."
"I get it," Carrie said. "So everyone would have bled to death while they were waiting for all the parts of the blood clotting process to evolve."
And further on in the book.....
"Just like in the skit we acted out, archaeologists find bits of skeletons in different locations, sometimes on totally different continents, and claim they are connected. There's no place in the world that shows fossils in rock layers that match the pictures shown in books about horse evolution. In fact, some of the different animals have been found buried in the same layer of rock. If they evolved from one another over millions of years, how could two different kinds be found in the same layer?"
Rosie picked up a large piece of paper and handed it to Carrie who gave it to the girl at the beginning of the first row.
"You can pass that around. There was a big storm at our house the other day, and I saw my pencils blowing around over the top of that piece of paper. When the storm was over I looked and saw that picture of Scamper. It was amazing." Rosie paused and looked at the audience.
"Yeah, right. You expect us to believe that?" one of the kids said.
Rosie smiled. "If you don't believe that something as simple as a pencil sketch could happen by accident, how can you believe that things that are much more complicated - like people or horses, could evolve by chance?"
These are great examples of presenting the facts of Creation and living out your faith among unbelievers!
During this time Rosie and Carrie's Grandma is recuperating from an accident when a well desired horse farm comes up for auction. Winning this property would open up new doors for this family!!
Through patience and prayer the reader sees God working all things to His good and glory - Especially in the area of forgiving a long-held hurt and learning first hand how to pray for those who persecute you lived out through the youth in the story.
These books convey a strong, positive message. My daughter loves following "the horse stories" and learning more about these wonderful God-created creatures.
If you are looking for wholesome literature with a Biblical Worldview for your 9-14 year olds, please check out these books!
Disclosure: I received the above product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew This post written and property of Homeschool Circus and can be found at: www.upatdawnreadytowork.com.
