Rock Harbor Search and Rescue by Colleen Coble and Robin Carroll

(Review written by my 10-year old)

I enjoyed this book because while I’ve never been put in a circumstance like this, the main character is kinda like me.

Emily O’ Reilly dreams of becoming a a part of the Rock Harbor Search-and-Rescue team and her dad and step-mom are even willing to pay half of the cost of a dog–if she will pay the rest.  Emily is thrilled! But then when an expensive necklace goes missing at the Fall Festival, all the clues point to Emily.

She sets out to find the real culprit. But with the clock ticking it looks like her puppy and reputation are lost forever. And to top it all off her mother, who tried to kill her little brother, is up for parol in a month.

Will Emily find the real culprit before time runs out? You’ll have to read it for yourself and see!

My thoughts….

I have not actually read this book. Both of my children have however. I love that the moment it arrived in the mail my 10-year old was all over it. Not only was she excited to get it she had it read by the next afternoon!  She does love to read but is not one to sit down and read for long periods of time. She needs to get up and move around. I’m pretty sure she gets that from me.  

I also love that Tommy Nelson publishes books I don’t have to wonder if they are appropriate for my children. I love being able to hand them a book to read and review and know there is nothing objectionable in them.

We are giving away one free copy of this book! Yay!!! Please enter below using rafflecopter. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, May 8th right here on the blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And to increase your desire for the book, I’m including the book trailer!

 

Our adventure

I promised a post about our recent adventure and well here goes.

Our high on Monday was 83 degrees!! 83! Completely unheard of for my part of the world the end of April. I walked my 10-year old, “Beanie”, to an orthodontist appointment and managed to get a little sunburn. Yay!!

Yes I am celebrating a sunburn because I don’t normally tan or burn. I am pasty white all year. Strange I know because I most definitely do not stay inside during the day in the summer and I don’t always wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I would blame it on my incredibly fair skin, but I would think I’d burn more readily. But anyway….that really has nothing to do with our adventure.

Tuesday we were put under a “winter weather advisory“, not a warning but it didn’t go into effect until 6pm. So I had the brilliant(ly stupid in hindsight) idea for the 4 of us to travel to a neighboring state to shop at Whole Foods and on the way home stop at the state we have to drive through to get to Whole Foods and shop at Sams Club. Now in the city with Whole Foods there is a Sams Club but we don’t like that particular store.  We like the store we shop at normally, it’s bigger and just feels better and cleaner. And we know where everything is.

We hit rain in spots going there but soon drove out of it. Yay! Our venture to Whole Foods was not in vain. It was Mr. FullCup’s first time being in Whole Foods so of course we had to show him everything. I had not yet purchased anything from Whole Foods except a run through their salad bar and a few Naked Juices. (Have you had those? Oh my! If not, you really should.) This time we shopped. When we left I was absolutely giddy with delight.

On our way back out of that town and towards our favorite Sams Club, we again encountered rain. Then when we crossed one state line the rain changed to a rain/snow mix. When we reached the town with Sams Club it was white with snow and the snow continued to fall. I’m not at all a fan of driving in snow and really would rather not. But Mr. FullCup was there and he is a most excellent driver but it didn’t stop me from offering to return to Sams Club another day and just driving home. He would have none of that nonsense. He truly is the hunter when it comes to shopping. He left home for two reasons, Whole Foods and Sams Club. He was not going home until he had accomplished his mission. We did decide to divide and conquer though. He took Beanie to Barnes and Noble for shopping and the 12-year old and I knocked off Sams Club.

No, not that  kind of knocked off.

We left that town and headed for home. Home that was a mere 1.5 hours away. A home we should have been at by 9:30, 10 at the very latest. Do you have any kind of an idea how long it takes you to drive 30 miles (give or take) when you’re only driving an average of 30mph?

A very long time. Okay, it takes you an hour. An hour after heading for home we had made it about 30 miles, to the first stopping place available…a rest area. As we were approaching the rest area I squeaked out, “Could we stop?” Mr. FullCup was very obliging, apparently he isn’t to fond of driving when you can’t see the road or anything else except snow coming at you. We pulled into the rest area and all heaved a big sigh of relief.

We were pretty clueless as to our next step. The rest area truly is in the middle of nowhere. We were about 15 miles from the nearest town, and we had friends there. It was tempting to call them and see if they could come lead us to them but that would mean them getting out in the nastiness too.

Soon another car pulled into the rest area and I hopped out to go see which direction they had come from. (Mr. FullCup was talking to our friends in the nearby town) The people had come from the north, the direction we were going and said it was nasty.

Back in the van I hear Mr. FullCup say he is inclined to stay there all night. And I wasn’t at all upset. Soon that was our decision. I had been texting a friend and I told her our plan. We rearrange a few things in the van inform the girls that we’re sleeping in here, right here for the night and all attempt to get some sleep.  At one point I nudged Mr. FullCup and said, “So this is what it feels like to be homeless. …It feels like you’re very thirsty and have to use the restroom. ….Please don’t lock me out.”

My friend sends me a text that another friend of hers is also out on that road and they just passed the rest area, they told her it was better and if we were going to leave we should leave now. It was currently 32 degrees but it would be colder over night and everything would freeze and it might be noon before we got out. We decided to try the roads again and see.

The snow was better, the slush was still on the road at times making us slide. (There was no ice at all.) We were again averaging 30mph.

I sang and prayed all the way home. At times praying God would calm the storm and have it snow lightly just until we got home.  I know at times He did because the snow would be lighter but then it would pick up again. And He said, “Trust Me.”

All in all the trip home should have taken us 1.5 hours actually took us over 4. (not counting the stop at the rest area) But God is ever faithful. He guided us home and brought us here safely.

Did you know?

I learned something last night from my 12-year old. Something I had never heard before. I’m in a real quandary as to just how I could live this long on earth, over 4 decades long, without knowing this.

Let me preface this by saying we do not live in Texas. We have never lived in Texas and have not, in fact, even visited Texas. I’ve heard about Texas but it is one of those places I’ve never been and if I were to be completely honest, I’m not sure I’d want to visit.

Anyway, back to my “did you know…”

Did you know if it’s not in Texas it must be in Africa?

Apparently that is true. At least as far as my geographically challenged 12-year old understands life.

Let me explain…maybe. Yesterday we received a letter from a friend of ours who will be traveling to El Salvador this summer on a missions trip. My 10-year old wanted to know where El Salvador was and since I’ve decided to take all the teaching moments I can, I waxed eloquent on the subject.

In short I told her to go look it up.  As she was heading for the encylopedia her sister  told her it was in Texas. I told them both it was most definitely not in Texas and I was secretly very proud she had the proper direction right. The 12-year old quickly told me “well, I’ve learned if it’s not in Texas it must be in Africa.” Apparently  the world consists of Texas and Africa.

I told her to go look it up. She discovered El Salvador is indeed in Central America. This prompted a quick geography lesson on the American continent. We started with North America. I had her point north of us  to tell me what three countries comprised North America. She pointed north (okay with a little help from me) and said, “Canada.”

Next I had her point down, meaning where we are living. She promptly did so and said proudly, “Africa!”

Sigh. I have my work cut out for me.

Rescuing Hope by Susan Norris

Every day in our world people, mainly girls and women, are sold into slavery. Most of them are sold into sexual slavery. A slavery they will more than likely never be released from. This is a horrible fact and one that I wish were not true.  Many people are working tirelessly to eradicate this travesty.

In hopes of adding to the growing publicity with the desire to stamp out modern-day slavery, Susan Norris has written a novel. Rescuing Hope is that novel.

Rescuing Hope is the story of Hope, a young girl who is raped by men hired by her mother to move them.  This sends her spiraling downward in despair. Despair makes her vulnerable to men who prey on women who are weak and not thinking clearly.  She is almost unknowingly sold into prostitution.  This is her story.

I hate that women are treated this way. I hate it. Hate doesn’t even seem to be a strong enough word.  I believe we do need to raise awareness that this happens even in our country. This is not an issue for developing countries only. It happens right here in America. I have heard the Super Bowl is on the biggest venues for sex trafficking.

I am not sure this book, however, is the way it should be done. It reads very much like the old John Benton novels about runaway girls who turn to prostitution.  Only more graphic. It’s not *that* graphic, but it is definitely more graphic than I want my girls, who are the ages this book is geared towards, to read.

I can not recommend this book.

 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. The opinions are mine alone.

gods at War by Kyle Idleman

Do idols still exist today? In Western culture? We all know about the idols in India and Japan but what about right here in America? Do they exist in Christian circles? Do believers worship idols?

from kobobooks.com

Kyle Idleman maintains that we do. And I’d have to agree. We don’t have large gold buddhas in our living rooms that we bow down to every day at 3pm. But we do bow down to idols. We worship money, sex, fame, romance, love, family, achievement and the list goes on.

He soft-shoes on our toes in his attempt to get us to recognize our own idols. He speaks with grace. A pastor friend of mine says, “Truth without love is harsh, love without truth is wishy-washy.” This book is neither harsh nor wishy-washy. He speaks the truth with grace, love and humor.

It isn’t an easy book to read. Not that it’s a hard book to read, in fact it’s a very easy read except for the subject matter. It’s not easy at all to read about the idols in our lives. It’s not easy to read that we all worship something other than Jesus.

As he says in the book it’s easy to see someone else’s idols and not so much our own. It’s easy to see a businessman and conclude he worships the gods of money, fame, and achievement. While it’s not quite that easy to see that we worship the same gods. Or maybe our gods are different.

Kyle saves one god for last. The last chapter is devoted to the god of “me”. He says our worship of other gods all boils down to our worship of me. Not me the blog writer, but the me that lives in each one of us. He says: “The foundation of reality is there is one God and you are not Him.” We’ve all heard it before but I wonder how much we actually believe it. I say that because every time we set something else up as god in our life, we are saying in essence, “I am god” and we worship a god we create which equates to a worship of self.

This book is a must read for every Christian today. You will be challenged. You will be challenged to be better, to worship God more.  You will be challenged to find out who God is so you can worship Him as He demands.  When we do this we will find He is God enough. We will find peace, joy but more importantly the life we’ve always wanted, abundant and full. We will see all other gods as nothing more than slave masters, joy stealers, life takers not givers.

Check out this link to be graced with a Matt Bayless song used in the book. http://www.godsatwar.com/index.php/be-still

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

Get Off Your Donkey by Reggie McNeal

We all know we need to help others. We know that there are those less fortunate than us that need our help. We also know it doesn’t matter where we are economically speaking, there are those who are in need of our help. We know that.

We know we need to get up and help them. We know that. And for many of us we are doing that. But for others, we just don’t. Maybe we expect someone else to do. We claim we don’t have time. We “gave at the office”. We don’t know what to do. So we do nothing.

Get Off Your Donkey by Reggie McNeal addresses this issue. If you’re thinking this is play on words, substituting “donkey” for the King James version of “donkey”, you’d be right.

This book is a hard-hitting, pull-no-punches book. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing. You might want to read it for yourself to know which you think it is.

I had a few problems with this book. First, it seemed to be written with the mindset that no one is doing anything. Which is completely false and I’m sure is not at all what Reggie McNeal intended.  Second, it came across to me as very harsh. He mentioned in the book that he has learned a few things about himself. One being the very way he talks often drives people away. He said he has learned to add “sensitivity (on occasion)”. This book was not one of those occasions. Third, he states at the end of the book the “reason” we are to help those less fortunate, so they will have a better life. Not so they will have eternal life, or the abundant life Jesus promises, but a good life. So America will be turned around. So there will be no more “gloom and doom” forecasted for this country. In my opinion if we are only helping others so they will have a better life, we’re missing the boat entirely.  If we’re helping those less fortunate by saying in essence, “I’m okay, you’re okay”. We’re helping Jesus right out of the equation. And fourthly (or lastly), I did not like the title. I know it seems petty. But honestly, I don’t think it’s funny. I find it rather offensive. Why do we think it’s okay to talk like this world’s culture by changing a few words, and giggling like school girls because “we’re saying something bad? If the author intended to say “Get off your ass” then he should have said that and not used a “more acceptable” word. But that is my opinion and yours might be different.

 

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

The Whole Gospel

I just finished Richard Stearns‘ book, The Hole In Our Gospel. Richard is the president of World Vision.  His background is in business and to say he wasn’t thrilled with the possibility of leaving a well-paying job to go to work for World Vision would be an understatement. But he listened to the call of God and did just that. Even though he, like so many of us, argued a bit with God by arguing with His people first.

I have had the book for a few years and just felt the time was right for reading it. I think really it was just God‘s timing. I don’t normally keep books for 4 years before reading them. I tend to devour books as soon as they are in my hot, grubby little hands.  I don’t yet know the reason I waited 4 years to read the book and it really doesn’t matter.

I can’t say I loved the book; I liked it but love might be a bit too strong. At times I found myself saying “YES! Exactly!” and other times I was wanting to throw it against a wall. I found myself at times agreeing and other times disagreeing. I found myself liking the book and hating the book.

Early on in my reading I told Mr. FullCup the hardest thing for me was I could not relate to the man at all. He was talking about driving a Jaguar to work, making a 6-figure salary and questioning becoming the president of a mission organization a position he did not seek out for himself. I can’t relate to that…from a financial viewpoint anyway. We have done some things for God that the world, and our fellow believers said was crazy. So I can relate that way.

Richard Stearns is very passionate about the poor of the world, especially those in developing

from http://thinkloud65.wordpress.com

countries. His passion comes through loud and clear in the book.

I think though his focus might be a bit narrow. I got the impression from the book that if one is not working to eradicate hunger, poverty, disease from developing countries, one just isn’t using the whole gospel, instead one has a “hole in the gospel”.

I live in a small, rural area of America. And in my town of a little under 20,000 we have abject poverty. We have the poor living sometimes a block from the wealthy similar to how it is described in developing countries of the world. Right here in my town, that hasn’t been hit yet with the huge economic crisis of the rest of the nation, we have abject poverty, we have homeless, we have AIDS/HIV positive(or infected) people. We don’t have the diseases other places in the world do, but we have everything else.

We also have groups of believers reaching across denominational lines to meet these needs. On any day of the week, there are those who are sacrificially making food for the hungry. Every day. Every week. Every month. All year. One group hosts a “Diaper Depot” every month. The “poor” can come and get packages of diapers for free. A group of pastors have banded together and operate a mobile food pantry the last Friday of the month. People from their congregations donate non-perishable food and also help serve those in need.  A group of knitters and crocheters have come together, both believers and non-believers, to knit for charity. They have made chemo caps for cancer victims, hats, scarves, mittens for those affected by wildfires in our area, Linus  blankets for children in need. They are contemplating making sweaters for World Vision.

from http://www.untaintedliving.com

I think it is horrific that all the “state-run” aid places in my town make you prove your need before being helped. If you don’t qualify for their help, you don’t receive anything. Even if you do qualify you often have to wait weeks if not a month to receive anything. With the people/places I mentioned above, there is no “prove your need first”. There is just “you have a need, we have a way to meet it.” Isn’t that what the church should be doing?

While reading I had a thought I had to mull over a bit, really I mauled it over in my mind; if Americans reached out to end poverty in America, our reach would stretch around the world. I might work to stamp out poverty in my town, the person I help might work to stamp out poverty in the county, the person they help might work to stamp out poverty in our state, that person might work to stamp out poverty in our country, that person might work to stamp out poverty in our world. It’s the old “if each one, reach one” mentality. It’s making a difference for one person, who makes a difference for one more and on and on it goes.

If we only focus on meeting the needs of the poor living on the continent of Africa and ignore the poor in our own neighborhoods, we have a hole in our gospel.  We cannot meet the needs of one group while ignoring the same needs in someone else. It shouldn’t matter your geographical location.  I think it is very short-sighted and wrong to say if one is not working to eradicate poverty and hunger in developing countries, one isn’t doing anything.

This book left me inspired to do more. I am sure that was Richard’s desire, to move, to motive those who can do do more, to give more. To be Jesus hands and feet wherever they are geographically.

 

(This is a book review of sorts. I purchased the book however and did not receive a free copy from the publisher for this purpose.)

Git a’long, little doggie

I was born with a healthy dose of wanderlust. I’m not sure where I got it, probably my parents but I’m sure not. Maybe it’s because I read the Little House on the Prairie books so much as a young child.  After spending a few years in one place, I’m ready to move to another. Just for something different.

Growing up I really didn’t move that often.  I moved the most before the age of 7. We moved from Omaha to Loveland to western Nebraska. I lived at the same address from spring 1976 to December 1988.  Post 1988 I moved around a bit. I loved every move.

I married a man my opposite. Which is a good thing. But sometimes it can be a frustrating thing. Mr. FullCup does not at all like to move. Not a bit. He has no great love of new places and the endless places to explore. He’d rather stay put,  thankyouverymuch.

We have lived at our current address since August 2001. That is a loooonnngg time. Not in terms of a whole life unless you’re my 10 year old who has only lived here but in terms of someone with a large dose of wanderlust it’s an eternity.

Which is why I’m leaving. Yup. I’m done. I’m outta here. I’m gone like yesterday.  Today I shall point the nose of my get-away car (or err my getaway van) north and we’ll drive until I say we stop.

Altar Ego by Craig Groeschel

Do you ever look in the mirror and think, “there should be more to life than this. I hate my life. My inside does not match my outside. Somewhere there is a huge disconnect.” I know I have and I know Craig Groeschel has because he wrote about it in his newest book, Altar Ego.

Craig grew up attending church yet didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus until he was in college and he woke up one morning thinking the very thoughts I mention above. Later that day he fell to his knees on a baseball field and confessed he wasn’t able to do his life on his own.  He is the lead pastor of lifechurch.tv, the largest church in America today with over 15 campuses across the nation. People from all over the world tune in via the internet to listen to him preach.

In case you are wondering if I misspelled the word “altar” or if they misspelled it, the answer is “not on your life.” We are to lay our ego down on God‘s altar and pick up the person He created us to be. But before we can pick up that person, we have to lay down our own desires and learn who God says we are.

We also have to believe it. We have to say, “I am God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works!” and live like we believe it. We have to deny, turn off and ignore the inner self saying who we aren’t. Before we can do that though, we have to know who we are in God’s eyes. Just how does He see us, really. We all know He sees us as perfect and holy because that has been preached for decades. Yet we still don’t seem to really know, deep down know, who we are in Him.

Craig takes us through the steps he used in his own journey.  He tells us we are God’s masterpiece, an overcomer and God’s ambassador. Lest you think you’re “just ___________________(fill in the blank), he is quick to point out, “you are an undercover agent for God Most High in ____________________ (fill in the blank).

He says often in the book, “When you know who you are, you will know what to do.”   We are to “sacrifice cultural relativity for eternal values.” How? By Living with patience, integrity, honor, and gratitude. We are to sacrifice self-justification for passionate obedience. How? By praying bold prayers, using bold behavior, using bold words and being bold in our obedience.

If you want to know how all this is done, you’re going to have to get the book and read it for yourself. If while you wait, you want to hear a few messages on this subject click here and you can watch Craig preach on these very things.

This book held my attention from the first word. It’s an excellent book for anyone. I would highly recommend it to youth leaders, Sunday school teachers and small group/Bible study leaders.  If you’re serious about wanting to know what God says about you, what He says you are, read this book. Underline, make notes in the margins. You’ll be glad you did. And the world will be changed.

 

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

 

Forks Over Knives

Has anyone watched that? It’s a documentary about the food we eat and the obesity epidemic currently facing our nation, but not only our nation it is infiltrating the world. 

I watched it last night and found it very informative and a little eye-opening. I was right with them until I realized one thing; according to them animal products (meat, milk, cheese, etc) are to blame for our problems with weight. If everyone just ate a plant-based diet we could eradicate obesity, heart disease and cancer. According to the researchers, switching from a animal-product rich diet to a plant-based diet reverses heart disease and cancer.

Fascinating! I was prepared to once again do a huge makeover of our diet. Until I remembered one thing. After the Great Flood of Noah‘s time, God gave man meat to eat. Yes, before that we were eating a plant-based diet but now with God’s blessing we were given meat from animals to eat.

So I have a hard time believing meat is evil. I am not a big meat eater. But I do enjoy a good juicy hamburger, steak, meatloaf, roast etc. At times I think I could do away with meat entirely and be perfectly happy but then I get a craving for a hamburger and all bets are off.

I think our problem is not that we are meat eaters; I think our problem is we don’t know the meaning of the word “moderation”.  Our country has been extremely blessed by God and we give a lot of aid in the form of food and money to other less fortunate countries, but we also tend to indulge ourselves in what we are blessed with. We seem to have forgotten the meaning of the word, self-discipline. We have forgotten how to tell ourselves “no” and mean it.

It is my opinion if we ate less meat than we currently do and added more fresh fruits and vegetables to our diet our obesity problem could shrink drastically if not be completely erased. If we stopped seeing fake fast food as convenient and saw it for what it really is, fake and fast, we would see a reduction in not only our waistline but a lot of our health issues.

Now, I’m not at all a health professional. I’m not a nutritionist or dietitian but I think I have read and studied enough on this topic to offer an informed opinion.

One other thing that I noted; according to the researchers, global warming is because of animals and our consumption of them. If we just ate plants global warming would be a non-issue. I already think global warming is a non-issue as I think it’s a bunch of bunk. But to blame it on animals is crazy. (If we have to place blame somewhere, let’s place it securely on the shoulders of Al Gore. After all, he claimed it to be his responsibility.)

It was funny though that this segment came directly after a segment about who drives our governments food regulations and rulings. Big money. Obviously they claim it is farmers with an invested interest in selling their beef, pork, chicken, eggs and milk. Could it be the global warming people greatly funded this documentary?

I’m not saying they are, but think about it for a minute. How could animals and our consumption of them cause global warming? How can something God made, called good and gave to us to enjoy be bad? It can’t UNLESS we go to extremes. And we take our meat consumption to an extreme.