SisterChicks In Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn

Jenna and Sue are sisters-in-law and they are set and ready for adventure. Sue spends her days caring for her husband Jack after a debilitating accident. On the surface of things, she’s a happy girl but under her joyful exterior beats a heart in pain. She’s angry at God for allowing the accident when He could have stopped it.

Jenna is a divorced woman. She has gone through counseling and knows the tricks and rules to help her but still she struggles.  She was asked by an old friend, Sam, if she would come to Venice and serve as a cook for a retreat Sam was putting together.  Of course she says yes. She invites her sister-in-law to come too because well, Sue can actually cook.  They spend a week in Venice, cooking and touring the sights.

SisterChicks in Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn is more than a good story.  It’s more than the story of Jenna and Sue’s wild ride through Venice, complete with mattress surfing down three flights of stairs. It’s the story of God ruthlessly pursing His children.

I have read several other books in this series and each one is a blessing. Each one has a little  tidbit I need to know.  There is so much teaching about God in the pages, I almost think I need to start underlining.

This is not a new book, it was released in 2006, but it was new to me. If you’re looking to get lost in a good story, get lost in this one. If you’re looking to read a good book and learn, read this one.

 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of review.

Moods.

I don’t understand moods at all. How do they change? Why do they change?  Why can you have a perfectly lovely mood one day, go to bed, wake up and be in a completely foul mood?

Does someone poke you all night? Maybe they stick a sharp stick in your eye repeatedly.  I don’t know.  But in the words of Grumpy, “I’m a’gin ‘em.”

Maybe part of it has to do with the amount of rest one gets. The more tired you are, the grumpier you are. Maybe? Yes? No?

Have you also noticed that when you’re upbeat you feel so much more productive, and when you’re grumpy all your motivation and energy are gone?

Yeah me too.

Debt-Proof Your Christmas.

It’s that time between Thanksgiving and the new year. The time when everyone is zeroed in on the next BIG holiday. Of course, I’m talking about Christmas. We’re fully ensconced in the season of gift giving.

Which means we’re also fully ensconced in the season of spending money, lots and lots of money. Often we’re spending in a frenzy, trying frantically to remember what we gave great-Aunt Hilda last year and trying to remember what she gave us so we can be sure to top the monetary value this year. Often though we just can’t remember so we rush to the stores without a plan, nary a thought in our heads about what we have to spend. When our wallets are sadly bereft of cash, it’s no problem, we’ll just whip out Mr. Plastic and let him make our purchases for us.

The only problem with that? When the bill comes in January, Mr. Plastic is sadly quiet and suddenly not quite so nice.

Mary Hunt, financial guru most noted for her no-nonsense approach to digging your way out of a mountain of debt, has written a book on this subject, Debt Proof Your Christmas. As far as “how-to get out of debt” books go, this is really just another one. If’ you’ve read any other book about finances, you could pass this one by.

BUT! This book is worth it’s weight in gold because of the recipes in the back!!  Recipes for holiday gift giving, holiday spiced nuts, slow-cooker sugared nuts, recipes for “Gift in a Jar”, Mocha Mix, Friendship Tea Mix, Cappuccino Mix etc. Worth it’s weight in gold!

So if your finances are on track, but you’re looking for new inexpensive gift ideas, get this book! If you’re finances aren’t on track, but you’re desperately trying to get them there, get this book and make some Christmas gifts. Your house will smell divine and the recipient will get the weight gain. What could be better!!

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49966293#49966293

(I received a free copy of this book for the purpose of review.)

Which

Which one of these women do you think is more successful, popular, and positive?

Or

I have issues.

It’s true. I do. I have them in abundance. At times my issues prevent me from living life the way I desire and the way God intended.

I tend to hide my issues just as you hide your issues. I am adept at hiding myself behind a plastic smile, claiming my life is one big party while at the same time I’m dying for you to see the real mess and enter into it with me and hopefully help me make some sense out of the mess that is my life.

But…

Yeah you knew that was coming.

But…you’re too busy hiding the mess that is your life behind plastic smiles while desperately wanting me to see the real you, the you that you hide deep inside because if I only knew the real you and you knew the real me we would know we all have issues.  And when we realize that, deep inside realize that we find the hope and healing we crave.

When we stop hiding our issues, when we admit and realize we have them we can enter into the healing process God offers. We can find that it’s okay to be real, to let others see the us we try to hide. Maybe, just maybe, others will find that hiding doesn’t work and it doesn’t feel good.

Nicole Unice is a Christian counselor, ministry leader, Mom and wife (not necessarily in that order). Nicole is also the author of the book, She’s Got Issues. Don’t let the word “she” confuse you. The “she” in the title isn’t your best friend, your sister, your mother, your mother-in-law, your neighbor, your neighbor’s mother-in-law, it isn’t the waitress at Dennys, it isn’t the checker at the grocery store who can’t seem to stop popping her gum and chatting with other employees.

No. The “she” in the title is, drum roll please…….you. Yes, you are the she the book is written for. I am the she the book is written for.

Nicole talks about issues like: anger, fear, insecurity, control, and unforgiveness.  She spends two chapters on each issue and includes a check list/quiz for you to take to help you determine the role that issue plays in your life.

Chances are you don’t have all the issues to any great extent. But you will have at least one and parts of some of the other ones.  (If you take the quizzes and find you have no issues, take your pulse, you might just be dead.)

At the end of each chapter is a short devotional to help you dig deeper into what God has to say about the issue.

Tyndale House has done a remarkable job on the book and also producing a 6-8 week DVD driven Bible study as a companion to this book. Nicole leads the study and I have to tell you, it is excellent. The content is top-notch and the video is high quality.  This is not something you’d be ashamed to offer your ladies group or Sunday school class.

One of the best things about this book is the fact that Nicole constantly turns you to Jesus.  Scripture is peppered throughout the pages. Nicole does not give you a 3 or 5 step plan for getting past your issues, she points you, instead, to the Only One who can work with you through your issues. She points you to the only place to find true, peace, rest and healing for your troubled soul.

If you’re tired of being driven by your need for control, by your fear, insecurity or anger this book is definitely for you! If you want to experience the full life God offers and desires for each one of us. This book is really for you!

So grab a couple of girlfriends, because you know they also have issues, get the book, the dvd and study. See what God can do with your willing heart.

I received a free copy of this book and dvd from Tyndale House for the purpose of review.

This one here, this one be good!

I feel a bit like Bob Roll here. “Ohhhh I have the perfect route!!”  Only in my case it’s not a route, it’s a book.

I have long been a reader of all things Terri Blackstock. She is one of those writers I have to read when I see she has a new book out.  Except I just found out the book I thought was new, isn’t. It’s a repackaged book. Well it’s still new to me.

Paul Holbrooke is a billionaire many times over. His son, Jack, is a pilot and has asked to be left out of Paul’s will and instead to donate the estate and Jack’s inheritance to Christian charities.  Jack’s wife dies weeks after giving birth to their twin daughters, Lizzie and Kara. When the twins are three, Jack remarries Amanda. Within six months Paul, his wife (who I believe is unnamed) are being flown by Jack to a wedding. Only they never arrive. Their plane crashes killing all of them.

Paul’s will leaves everything to Jack and since Jack does not die until hours after his parents, he inherits it. He leaves everything to Amanda and has asked that she take care of his children. Of course she agrees.

Only the day of the funeral, Eloise and Deke, Jack’s first wife’s parents, show up expecting to take the girls home with them as their closest living blood relative. Amanda battles it out, the adoption has been put in motion but had not yet been completed. Ultimately she loses the girls who spend the next fifteen years living as poverty stricken, abused children when they are heiresses to a vast fortune.

The spiritual implications in this book are staggering. I couldn’t help but think over and over, “Man! I live just like they do! I have a vast inheritance and I’m choosing to live the lie.”

This book was for me a fresh smack between my eyes with a 2×4. The book smacks of God‘s forgiveness, grace, mercy and great love for all of us. Even when we refuse to believe Him, even when we say we want nothing to do with Him. Even when we willfully choose our own path. He is there when we come to our senses and come back to Him. He showers us with more goodness, more of Himself and everything that is ours by right.

Honestly, dear readers, you MUST read this book. It’s Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock. It is a novel but it will change your life. I guarantee you that.

(I received a free copy of this book from Book Sneeze for the purpose of review.)

 

 

The End.

Normal people don’t start with “The End” but who said I was normal people?

Today is the beginning of the final weekend with Catherine. She leaves for China on Monday. To say this has been an adventure would be the biggest understatement of the century. We have truly experienced every single emotion known to man and a few, I’m sure, that are unknown.  We have come full spectrum.

Before she arrived we were all very excited to have her. It is said you can’t love someone you don’t know and for the most part I would agree completely with that sentence. I find it hard enough to love those I do know so loving those I don’t at times seems a fruitless venture.

Which is why it was so foreign to me when I realized in early January that I loved this girl I had never seen and knew virtually nothing about.  Which is why this whole experience has been so incredibly hard for us. We loved what we hadn’t seen and the experiences we had hurt deeply.

It is much like the pain of your own children, biological or not. When they misbehave it hurts deeply. Not because you have any grand illusions of their perfection. You aren’t deluded into thinking they will  never misbehave. You know they are just as human as you are. But their actions go against everything you have poured into them.

We did not have the expectation of her embracing our Jesus. We did hope and pray she would, but we didn’t expect it. We know it goes against everything she has ever been told and taught. We knew it was our job to plant seeds, maybe water them a little and pray for sunshine on her soul. It is my deepest regret that maybe I didn’t do enough of that. She was prayed for. Seeds were planted. But was it enough? Did Catherine see too much of our own failings to want to embrace the God we love and serve?

The past two or three weeks have been a series of “oh my, why on earth is she doing that again? I thought we had gotten past that!” and extreme pleasantness on her part. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I’ve thought and really marveled, “If we had experienced this behavior early on, it would have been a completely different 4 months. A much more enjoyable 4 months.” 

We will experience another adjustment period when she leaves. It will seem strange to just have the four of us again.

So the end really isn’t the end. It’s the beginning.

Pearl Girls Post 6

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother’s Day blog series – a week long
celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of
today’s best writer’s (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St.
John, and more). I hope you’ll join us each day for another unique perspective on
Mother’s Day.

AND … do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted
pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK
THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the
winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we’re all about. In
short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in
the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering
Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT
Mother’s Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

He Will
Walk With You by Carey Bailey

As a little girl, I loved baby dolls. Loved them! I played school, adoption agency,
daycare operator and babysitter all day. I felt like I was born to be a mama.
Therefore, I was a bit anxious when the ages, 22, 25, 28 and 32 came and went and
there were no babies. Have you ever desired something so much and feared never
getting it? That was me.

My day finally came at the age of 34. I soon realized that God knew what He was
doing when He had me wait. To my shock, it wasn’t as easy as playing with dolls. I
was surprised that it wasn’t the dream world I imagined it would be! I felt like life
became a gigantic prayer.

“God, HELP me!”

“Please, God. Please, please, please make it all better. I can’t do this!”

“God, this feels impossible. Where are you?”

While I adore motherhood, it is harder and there are more adjustments than
I expected. (I am hoping there are some nodding of heads and Amen’s being
said out there in cyberworld.) Not only did I have a new life to care for, but my
identity suddenly felt all scrambled up. It took me until my son was one to finally
feel confident in my new role as a mother, confident that I could drop my child off
at preschool without crying, confident that I could go out with the girls’ and the
world wouldn’t fall apart, and confident that I could go on a date night and have
conversations that didn’t revolve just around our son.

I was feeling settled in my new world and then WHAM! I discovered I was pregnant

again. Can I be vulnerable with you? I actually cried when I found out. And they
were not tears of joy. I feel awful saying that out loud, and I hope you will give me a
moment to explain. It was not that I didn’t want another baby or feel like I couldn’t
love a new life, it was just that I got scared. Discovering a little person was on the
way sent a panic through me. Would my son still receive the love and attention
that he deserved? How was my husband going to feel about my body changing
again? Would I ever be able to pursue the vision I felt God had for me in writing and
publishing? I was truly wondering if I was going to be able to handle another intense
wave of identity crisis like the one I had just been through. I wasn’t sure.

God and I needed a serious talk. And in that conversation He carefully reminded me
of this:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

He reminded me in our time together that I, too, am His child and He has every
intention of loving me, caring for me, and giving me the future that He has planned
for me.

As mothers, we can get so caught up in parenting that we forget that we, too, have
a spiritual parent who loves us as His child. He loves you as much as He loves the
children He has given you. He will never forsake you.  And on those days
when motherhood seems too overwhelming and too impossible I step back and take
a deep breath. Then I remember that this journey I am on, right now, is the one He
has designed and create uniquely for me. I simply need to live in it, learn from it, and
allow His love to sweep over and through me.

He will walk with me! He will walk with you! Grab His hand.

###

Carey Bailey is a recovering perfectionist, wife, proud mama, and the
Family Life Director for her church in Arizona. She hosts an online community
for moms called Cravings: desiring God in the midst of motherhood where
she strives to make God time easier. Not less meaningful, just easier. She is

the author of Cravings {The Devotional} which is a set of forty devotional
flashcards for the mama on the go. Visit Carey online blog: www.cravingstheblog.blogspot.com Facebook: http:/
/www.facebook.com/CravingsOnline and Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/careycbailey/

Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies
and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook
Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!

Ever wonder?

Do you ever wonder what 45 pounds looks like?

 

That. That is what 45 pounds looks like. The picture on the right was taken March 12, 2010 and the one on the left was just taken this morning.  The blue button-down I’m wearing was on the snug side when I got it, now it is almost too big.

 

The Charlatan’s Boy

A few weeks ago the circus was in town and we really considered taking the girls. We pondered this for about 5 minutes before it dawned on us that taking our monkeys to the circus would not be the best idea. The last thing we need or want is for them to get any ideas on new behaviors to try out at home.

I really think the ringmaster should say, “Children, these animals are professionals, do NOT try this at home. The results will be disastrous and your parents will not think it funny or cute.” But they don’t.  It is one thing to see elephants stand on a box with other elephants feet on their back. It is yet another thing when you find your young children doing that very thing.

Call me weird.

Carnivals are better. I love a good carnival. Of course now that I am old, I can’t ride many of the rides. My favorite old stand-by, the merry-go-round is out. Since giving birth lo these many years ago I can’t watch or be on anything spinning without horrible things happening. And by horrible things, I really mean HORRIBLE things.

One year we went to a carnival and I stopped at a booth claiming to be able to look at you and tell you how much you weighed or your name. The poor barker was wrong on both counts.  We’ve all been taken in by some carnival man claiming to be able to do wondrous things, or one selling something that will cure all that ails you and if it doesn’t ail you yet, it will and then it will cure you.

In the book The Charlatan’s Boy, Jonathan Rogers spins a delightful tale about one such man. He is selling his lecture on Feechie folk. He claims to have a real, live he-feechie.

His he-feechie is named Grady and they travel around Corenwald taking in the kind people of the villages. Grady knows that Floyd is a fraud and liar and yet he still has questions about where he came from and how he happened to start traveling with Floyd.

When the good people of Corenwald stop believing in feechie folk, Floyd and Grady need to find a different way to make money. They start traveling again proving that Grady is the ugliest boy in the world. Until they stop in Greasy Cave and Grady loses the challenge to another boy.  Then they travel around as phrenologists. They feel people’s heads and tell them all about themselves from the bumps and crevices.  Until someone in a fit of rage smashes their wagon.

They decide then it is time to make people believe in feechie folk again. And set out to do just that.

The book is at times hysterically funny, incredibly sad and thought provoking. The plot grabs you at the first word and won’t let you go until the last word on the final page, and then you’re left wanting more.

On a scale of 1-5 I give this book 10 turning pages. Yes, it’s that good! If you’re looking for an all-around good story, you can’t go wrong with this book.

(I received a copy of this book free from Waterbrook Press for the purpose of review.)