Emily Romrell

Live The Vibrant Life

Making a Difference One Person at a Time

I woke up late this morning, rushed to get ready, and jumped in my car without waiting for the heater to banish the morning chill. As I waited at a stoplight, I could see my breath in the air and I was very grateful for the warm air beginning to come through my car’s heating vents. I casually looked out my window and saw a homeless man sitting on a bench. He had a small cart of belongings beside him, and he was much colder than I was. He was very striking with a long grey beard and a crinkled face. As I was watching him, a thirty something year old man hopped out of a car beside him. He walked up to the homeless man with a smile, shook his hand, and gave him a hot meal from a fast food place. The gratitude shining in the old man’s face is something that I won’t easily forget. The young man drove away feeling happy at the chance he had to help another human being. He’ll never know about the difference he made in the life of someone he didn’t even know was watching. I wanted to send a thank…

Somebody's Mother by Mary Dow Brine

Somebody’s Mother – Mary Dow Brine (1816-1913)     The woman was old and ragged and gray And bent with the chill of the Winter’s day.     The street was wet with a recent snow And the woman’s feet were aged and slow.     She stood at the crossing and waited long, Alone, uncared for, amid the throng     Of human beings who passed her by Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eyes.     Down the street, with laughter and shout, Glad in the freedom of “school let out,”     Came the boys like a flock of sheep, Hailing the snow piled white and deep.     Past the woman so old and gray Hastened the children on their way.     Nor offered a helping hand to her – So meek, so timid, afraid to stir     Lest the carriage wheels or the horses’ feet Should crowd her down in the slippery street.     At last came one of the merry troop, The gayest laddie of all the group;     He paused beside her and whispered low, “I’ll help you cross, if you wish to go.”     Her aged…

The Miracle of the Book of Mormon

What is the Book of Mormon . . . ? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-35gtKuWrD4&feature=player_embedded] Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon What do regular people have to say about it . . . ? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWM6tsC6Yj0] Eclectic Emily’s Take . . . ? I have very strong feelings about the Book of Mormon, and I’ve had multiple experiences that have helped me gain a testimony of its truthfulness. Each time I spend time in this book, I come away happier, more at peace, and a better person in general. I’ve found answers to specific and personal questions within it’s pages. It has strengthened my desire to help others  and do good in the world. I have felt the spirit testify to me personally that the events it describes are true. The people in this book really lived, worked, loved, cried, and died. Jesus Christ really did appear to them and manifested to them his role as the Savior of the world. I’ve studied the history contained in the Book of Mormon and found it corresponds perfectly with the timeline and events of the Bible. All of these things and more have helped me to know for myself that it is true. If…

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Tor Books (August 31, 2010)/ Hard Cover: 1008 pages / ISBN: 9780765326355 First sentence: Kalak rounded a rocky stone ridge and stumbled to a stop before the body of a dying thunderclast. Favorite Quote From the Book: “The finest defense of character is correct action. Acquaint yourself with virtue, and you can expect proper treatment from those around you.” Summary from Amazon: Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive. Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them. One such war rages…

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Rating: Genre: Historical Fiction Reading Level: Young Adults (There is quite a bit of language and events in this book that are unsuitable for young children.) First sentence: First the colors. Favorite Quote From the Book: “I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race – that rarely do I even simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant…I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS.” Publisher: Harper Collins (1994), Paperback, 221 pages / ISBN 0064471101 Summary from Amazon: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7B8ioiZz7M] Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes…

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis

Rating: Genre: Children’s Books/Fantasy/Classics First sentence: This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child. Favorite Quote From the Book: “But please, please – won’t you – can’t you give me something that will cure Mother?” Up till then he had been looking at the Lion’s great front feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion’s eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself. “My son, my son,” said Aslan. “I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another. Publisher: Harper Collins (1994), Paperback, 221 pages / ISBN 0064471101 Summary from Shelfari: You are about to enter one of the most wonderful places in all of literature: C.S. Lewis’s land of Narnia. This…

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Rating: Genre: Horror/Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery First sentence: Once upon a time — for that is how all stories should begin — there was a boy who lost his mother. Favorite Quote From the Book: Before she came ill, David’s mother would often tell him that stories were alive. They weren’t alive in the way that people were alive, or even dogs or cats. (…) Stories were different, though: they came alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by torch light beneath a blanket, they had no real existence in our world. (…) They lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read, David’s mother would whisper. They needed it. It was the reason they forced themselves from their world into ours. They wanted us to give them life. Suggested Audience: Adults (Some of the material in this book is questionable for young readers). Publisher: Washington Square Press (October 16, 2007), Paperback, 480 pages / ISBN 978-0743298902 Summary from Author’s Site: ‘Everything…

Jesus The Christ by James E Talmage

Rating: Genre: Religious/LDS First sentence: It is a matter of history that, at or near the beginning of what has since come to be known as the Christian era, the Man Jesus, surnamed the Christ, was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Favorite Quote From the Book: The spirit of his demands was that of a practical religion, the only religion of any possible worth – the religion of right living. Publisher: Deseret Book Company (first published 1915), Paperback, 747 pages / ISBN 9780875793269 Summary from Deseret Book: Since it was first published in September 1915, Jesus the Christ has been a classic text on the life and ministry of the Savior. Elder Marion G. Romney has said, “One who gets the understanding, the vision, and the spirit of the resurrected Lord through a careful study of the text Jesus the Christ by Elder James E. Talmage will find that he has greatly increased his moving faith in our glorified Redeemer.” In his preface to the first edition, Elder Talmage wrote: “The author has departed from the course usually followed by writers on the Life of Jesus Christ, which course, as a rule, begins with the birth of Mary’s Babe and…