Win at CSAHM

Christian Stay at Home Moms has a great book giveaway right now.  The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Happy Organized Home - By Kathy Peel.  Read the review and enter the contest!  I know I NEED THIS BOOK!

Death By Suburb- Book Review

Death by Suburb by Dave L. Goetz has been a buzz book in Christian circles for awhile now. It has long been sitting on my stack waiting to be read. Often, I feel let down by the “buzz book” in Christian circles so I suppose I was 1/2 curious and 1/2 jaded toward reading it.

What a pleasant surprise. I found it hard to put down! I absolutely love that Dave has spent much time reading some of the older Christian classic texts… the ones that most suburbanites (or anyone) will go near. He took those books that are full or rich morsels of wisdom and translated them into modern day speak in a way many could relate too.

The readability of Death by Suburb in no way waters it down or shallows it out. It maintains depth while still holding it’s relevance. It could be considered the entertaining version of cliff notes for the classics of the Christian faith.

What I thought would be a major Christian guilt trip on living amongst suburbia was nothing of the sort. Instead Dave comes against the idea that you can not live a deeply spiritual life in the midst of the suburbs, but rather that the “thicker” life needs to be pursued in spite of that. It can be found in the suburbs! What an encouragement!

If you, like me, are a Christian, drive a minivan, know what it means to be off sides in soccer, have fretted over your child’s costume for an activity…. If your life whatsoever resembles suburbia… read this book.

Twice Tagged for a Book List

I was tagged by both Layguy and Full of Boys!!

01. One book that changed your life- No book has changed my life more than the Bible. I could actually put the Bible down for several of these, but will try not to.

02. One book that you have read more than once

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for his Highest. I read this year after year after year as a meditation.

03. One book you would want on a deserted Island

Aside from the Bible? Hard not to say the bible when they say ONE. So I have to say Bible. Sorry.

04. One book that made you laugh

David Sedaris (don’t throw stones) Me Talk Pretty One Day.

05. One book that made you cry

HA! SO MANY MAKE ME CRY! For this thought I will say Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hunard. This is such an easy to read allegory but is full of profound meaning and I would recommend it to anyone.

06. One book that you wish had been written

hm.07. One book that you wish had never been written

Wow hard to attack someones work publicly like that. Those are strong words. But one that I wish hadn’t simply because the Title makes my skin crawl… I will not link to it or show a picture of it.
god is not Great- by someone who ought to be shaking in his boots right now.

08. One book you are currently reading

Death by Suburb- David L Goetz

09. One book you have been meaning to read

Lies Women Believe

10. Now I am supposed to tag 5 people

Yeah the hard part! One of the reasons I avoid Memes.

ALL OF YOU!

Owen’s First Real Performance.

 

 

Last Thursday Owen had what they call at his preschool, a “book parade”. His book was on Noah’s Ark so his whole class had to dress up like animals. They paraded around in a circle and up on to the stage and sang their song. His was that one we learned in Sunday School when we were little, you know…

The Lord…. Told Noah…. To build him and arky arky…

I absolutely could not wait for that precious frog to get on stage so I could revel in his first ever school song performance! He walked up with his class, lined up… and then slight pushing battles began. He and a few of the other boys were all rallying for a front row spot. In the end the assistant had to pull one of the boys (a cow) backward back into line and this pushed Owen behind the line.

Yes, folks…. My little guy… the one I adored… I could not see. I’m told he was just looking around anyway. But I MISSED IT! A first. To make it worse. This week I am missing the first field trip. This also does not seem to be a big deal to the other mothers… but it is killing me. I guess I will have other opportunities to be a “room mom”. Right?

Book Review: Love is a Decision- Gary Smally

More than a month ago, Jeff had just left town on another work trip. We had just gotten off one of those “rough weeks”. Married readers, I know you are familiar with these. Effective communication seemed impossible. We bickered. We frustrated each other. I felt as if my head were banging a brick wall. I kept getting in the Bible and praying. I felt so discouraged…“God will it always be like this?”.

I remembered that I went through a big phase of buying marriage and parenting books, that I had never found the time to read. I decided to look through the book shelf and see if there was something that stuck out and would encourage me. Something that would help us figure out how to get out of this plateau we found ourselves on.

The book that stuck out was this one, Love is a Decision. It was old enough to have yellowed pages! I even discovered a few old highlights and underlining that I had obviously done at one point. Of course, I couldn’t recall them.

With all I am reading it took a few weeks to get through the book. However, I can honestly say this should be REQUIRED reading for any married couple. Almost every chapter in the book lit up a light-bulb type revelation in my head. Some of the advise were things I knew at one point but was not longer putting into practice (amazing how we slip into that!). Other advise plainly explained why we were hitting these walls and what to do about it.

Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t suddenly a perfect marriage because of this book. We adore each other, but we are just under 5 years married and have so much left to learn. I will be asking (not nagging!) my husband to read it and I recommend to any of you.

Below are the Chapter titles:

1. Planning on a Great Marriage?
2. Honor: The Foundation for All Healthy Relationships.
3. Love Is a Decision.
4. The Incredible Worth of a Woman.
5. Energizing Your Mate in Sixty Seconds.
6. A Closed Spirit: Overcoming a Major Destroyer of Relationships.
7. The Tremendous Value of a Man.
8. The First Aspect of Nurtureing.
9. Meaningful Conversation.
10. Keeping Courtship Alive in Marriage.
11. Sex Is Much More Than Sexual Intimacy.
12. Discovering the Secret to a Close-Knit Family.
13. Finding Fulfillment.
14. The Source of Lasting Love.

If you are interested buy it here, check it out at your local library, or buy at your local bookstore.

Help! Mom! Hollywood’s In My Hamper.

Help! Mom! Hollywood’s In My Hamper failed to meet my expectations. The other two books in the 3 part series left me excited to read this one, but it lacked the minimal ability to retain my attention span. Granted, I’m not known for an incredible ability to stay focused for long periods of time, but a childrens’ book based on political satire shouldn’t have a problem.

Overall, the message rang true. In fact, had I not read Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed, and Help! Mom! The 9th Circuit Court Nabbed the Nativity, beforehand I would probably place more value on the message than the lack of creativity I perceived in the writing. The plot felt contrived. As the follow-up to Help! Mom There are Liberals Under My Bed, perhaps they rushed to create the same level of story?

The moral of the story centered on the danger of the spend-when-you-have-it view of money prevalent in our culture. Two young girls, excited to save money from babysitting to buy new bikes, find themselves wasting money every time they earn it. Their desire to follow outlandish Hollywood trends and look cool cause their spending goals to remain unachieved. While this message should be taught to our children, this book just didn’t hit it home to me in the fun way I wanted it to. The satire actually annoyed me rather than making me laugh. It seemed over-the-top in contrast to the effortless humor in the other two books.

Help! Mom! The 9th Circuit Nabbed the Nativity!

Last week I reviewed the first in a series of three books from the Help! Mom! collection by Katherine DeBrecht and Kid’s Ahead Publishing, Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!.

The second in this children’s series, Help! Mom! The 9th Circuit Nabbed the Nativity festively tells the story a Politically Correct Christmas Winter Holiday!

Don’t be fooled by this book’s less offensive title. It possesses the same sting of reality, only this time the activist judges, the ACLU, and all other agendas dedicated to banishing God from society are the target. Through the story of two boys who lose their Christmas program at the hand of these organizations, your children will learn that the constitution grants us freedom of religion, not from religion.

Caricatures of “Al Snore” and “Hillary Clunkton” will have you laughing your right-wing off. Katherine DeBrecht nails it! She reduces important issues down to a simple yet entertaining way that your child will grasp. This should be a must-read during the holiday CHRISTMAS season.

To find our more about Help! Mom! The 9th Circuit Nabbed the Nativity! Go Here. “

China News Links July 17, 2007

Chinese Government is at it again (no surprise here) and is set on destroying 3 home churches.

You may want to look on your tee shirt tags to see where your shirts came from. Just take a look at these photos of a contaminated cotton factory and the slave labor going on therein.

A book on China human rights lawyer Gao Zheshing just came out. I will be ordering it shortly and adding it to my booklist. Here is a teaser:

Yet no words, however strong, can possibly describe the darkness and terrible barbarity of today’s dictators in China, nor the tragic annihilation of Chinese culture that they have perpetrated. Though I have strived to convey these qualities through my writing, having attempted to unveil merely one corner of China’s darkness, I cannot help but feel the futility and frailty of language.

In today’s China, where the forces of incivility run rampant, it is common practice to mock what is beautiful and to beautify what is vile. A pathological China is not ready for what I write. But I hope such a China will soon emerge.

I will add that Gao is also a Christian.

Read a full book review on A China More Just.
Read previous news items on Gao Zheshing.
Read my previous posts on China.

Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!

Thanks to Noah Tutak I have been given the opportunity to review some books by Kids Ahead Publishing! Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed, Help! Mom! The 9th Circuit Nabbed the Nativity!, and Help! Mom! Hollywood’s in My Hamper, from the Help! Mom! Series, by Katharine DeBrecht, portray the ideas of liberalism and conservatism. You will find yourself laughing as you read to your children ideas they can grasp. I will be reviewing one each of the three books written by Katharine DeBrecht each week.

(Warning to my left-leaning friends… you may not be to pleased with these posts.)

This first week I read, Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!
Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! had me shouting “AMEN!” with the turn of every page. Katharine DeBrecht uses the illustration of children building a lemonade stand to break down important issues of our nation to a level children will understand. The issues touched on in simple terms are:

• Building a business from the ground up.
• Charity vs. taxes.
• Religious rights vs. being politically correct.
• The concept of “it takes a village” vs. Parental rights.
• And government ultimately taking over the private sector.

You will find yourself laughing the whole way through while your children simultaneously learn the value of limited government. Even the illustrations teach a lesson using satire. In a world where politicizing confuses motives and makes wrong sound right and compassionate, it may even be a good idea to pick up a few copies for your friends baffled by the issues. Its quick colorful read should be un-intimidating for anyone. Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! belongs out of the bookshelf and on your coffee table. I know my copy will remain out in the open in the hopes anyone that walks in my home will pick them up for a quick lesson in basic economics and personal freedoms.

Edit: It was just pointed out to me by t.y. that these were printed in China. For some reason I thought I had checked that. Just be aware if you are planning on buying but are boycotting M.I.C. products. Did you know my Bible was printed in China. Been meaning to talk to some people at Zondervan!

Book List and Facebook Photos

The shop has disappeared but for good reason! Being that it was beta, I learned some valuable things from it!

1. Shops are fun to have.
2. I would rather have a shop where I’m more confident about the product offerings.
3. Finding out several of the products were made in China I realized I want to be able to verify the place of manufacturing before I offer a product.
4. When the shop comes back someday every item will be carefully selected to be stylish, useful, not MIC and Mommy Zabs approved

Also, I now have a developing book list. When I finish a book I will strike it out and write a review for you. If you are interested in reading more about a book click the link on the list and you will be able to read and even purchase if you would like to.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all the feedback on Am I Thinking Straight about whether or not parent bloggers, (specifically myself,) should post pictures of our children. I have come to some conclusions for now.

I say for now because I know that over time ideas evolve and mine have been known to do just that! The internet world is relatively new in the realm of history and as we learn more about internet safety opinions may continue to change.

I do think I have many appropriate safe guards in place to make it difficult to track our family. On top of that I have listed my domain as private so that it is not even possible to see who the domain belongs too. However, for the sake of extreme caution and not wanting any freaks to develop crushes on my children (even if they will never find them), I have a new plan.

I hate the idea of not posting pictures of them on my blog because for so long now I have enjoyed sharing them with you! Children are the most interesting photography subjects. The expressions on their faces, innocence in their eyes, and wonder at the world captivates me. BUT it will now be something only approved friends will see.

I have thought of several ways to do this and arrived on FACEBOOK. These are my reasons for choosing facebook:

1. Many people are already members- so it is one less user name and password to remember if you want to see my pictures.
2. It is easy to become a member and is user friendly.
3. It is a secure site that you can make as much or as little information about yourself available to different ‘friends’ in your network.
4. The advertising on it is minimal.
5. If someone is my friend I have information about them and this increases the chances of the person not being a random freak. After all if you are giving me access to see your families photos, you probably won’t be hurting mine? right?
6. iPhoto has a simple facebook exporter feature!

Of course, I will only approve friends that I either know IRL (in real life), or those of you I have developed friendships with online. If I don’t know you well enough yet, I won’t approve you. But that does not mean I can not get to know you and eventually we can be facebook pals. Gosh- that sounds so exclusive, but because of my family I suppose I need to sound snooty.

3 disclaimers:

1. I will continue to post pictures that do not involve my children.
2. I will not be taking down pictures I have already posted, with the exception of my ‘about’ page. Luckily children grow and change, so that won’t look that way long anyway!
3. I have ZERO judgment on parents that elect to post pictures of their children. For me, I am simply following the “when in doubt, don’t” theory

When I post a new photo album to facebook I will write a post with it to the link much like I used to do with my mac photo album (that was unfortunately not private and I therefore no longer have it.)
IF you are one of my friends that would like to continue seeing pictures of the boys please go ahead and add me on Facebook.

If you are not yet a member of facebook and would like to become one JOIN HERE.

PS- I have really grown an affection for lists Can you tell?

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the remainder of our Savannah pictures our now up on my Facebook.

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