Blog Love

Screenshot_20171209-174119Little girls (and boys) grow up with heroes. There are people in their lives who are bigger than life, who inspire them to dream big dreams. Sometimes they get to meet their heroes in unconventional ways.

And I’m all about doing things in unconventional ways. I’ve been privileged to meet one of two heroes I had a teenager. We haven’t met in person, but we have met in print. And he has been kind enough to refer readers of his blog to this blog. So if you’re looking for my reviews of An Accidental Cowboy, welcome! You can find them here and here. 

You can find my review of Dancing With the Dead here.

 

1 Amazing Contest, Including a Perfect Giveaway for You

There are a few great loves in every life. Things we cling to as if our life depended on it and sometimes we’re sure they do.

Some of mine are, Jesus. He is not only a great love of and in my life He IS my life. Apart from Him I can do nothing good, nothing of value, nothing that will endure. I’ve known about Him for a long, long time, but I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of knowing Him.

Coffee. If you’re at all familiar to my blog you are very aware of my love of all things coffee. I love the word coffee. I love the smell of coffee. I love, especially love, the taste of coffee.

Words. I love everything about words. I love to think of words. I love to see words, say words, write words, study words.

Books. Oh yeah. This one. I have rarely met a book I haven’t at least liked. Books. They fall open and I effortlessly fall in. I love sharing books with my friends.

In light of all this, I need your help! I’m starting a new blog focusing on ALL THINGS BOOKS! My book reviews will show up there first. I’ll share recommendations.

I need you to help with the name of the blog. I want you to comment here (or on this blogs facebook page. You can find that here.) your ideas for the name. I’ll pick the best one and the winner will receive a FREE copy of Lee Strobel’s newest book, The Case for Miracles.

case for miraclesThe Case for Miracles is Lee’s newest book to hit the store shelves and one I’m just digging into myself. But I know you’re going to love it! If you’ve ever wondered if miracles are real, or ever happen, or if they do happen. You will want to read this book.

Contest is open now and closes at midnight (mountain daylight time) on Monday, April 23rd and the winner will be announced here (and here and here) at noon on Wednesday, April 25th.

You can share this contest with anyone, wherever you desire.

Scripture Doodle by April Knight {A Review}

About the books:

ScriptureDoodle: A Six-Week Devotional Experience (David C. Cook, October 2016)

With inspiring exercises and prompts, this unique interactive guide introduces readers to a creative connection between Bible study, artistic expression, and worship.

Often, in the busyness of life, Christians forget that God created them to enjoy creativity. With guided instruction and completed examples, this beautiful book invites readers to draw closer to God through their own art.

More than a coloring book, ScriptureDoodle is a combination of Bible study, creative expression, and artistic community with artwork shared online at #scripturedoodle.
Exploring topics such as being generous, finding rest, and facing grief, ScriptureDoodlegives the heart the creative space it needs. This book stimulates the reader’s imagination and helps integrate God’s Word into everyday life.
Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2gUdlHF
ScriptureDoodle God’s Promises: A Six-Week Devotional Experience (David C. Cook, December 2016)
Some of the most incredible stories in the Bible are of God’s promises and faithfulness to His children.

ScriptureDoodle God’s Promises refreshes believers who are feeling burned out or stuck in a rut in their relationship with God. Each of the creative worship prompts in this interactive guide includes biblical encouragement and ideas for worship through art. Artist April Knight includes creative lettering tips, color ideas, and completed examples to inspire readers to respond to promises in Scripture related to trust, faith, and the power of God’s Word in all circumstances.

This unique blend of Bible study and creative expression provides the opportunity to connect with God as Creator in a new, life-changing way.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2gUhyLR

About the author:
 
April Knight is a worship artist based in Asheville, North Carolina. Knight’s work includes live worship painting and leading ScriptureDoodle workshops online and at conferences and retreats around the country and internationally. Her family of four is her greatest joy, along with serving alongside her husband at their local church.
My Thoughts:
I love to doodle. I’m not any good at it but I love to do it. I pretty much stick to flowers, squiggly lines, and boxes.
I loved all her instructions and tips!  Every page has a Scripture, devotional, and instructions for doodling. The facing page has space for you to try it out.
I haven’t gotten brave enough yet to really venture into much Scripture doodling, but I hope to soon! I know my 16-year old loves the lettering techniques in the books.
This would be a great gift for the doodle-er in your life!
I received a copy of these books from Litfuse.

My “Plenty of Money” House Project

20141108_104407I might have mentioned a time or fifty that we’re deep in the pondering process of putting our current house on the market and moving to this monstrosity. I’ve driven past it a few times. I’ve peeked in all the windows I could, which equalled precisely one. I’ve been inside it with my girls and our realtor friend, Jihadist. (No, that’s not his real name. It is though what my not-so-smart phone changes his name to every time. And it’s a great fake name for him.

I received an email from him the Monday of Christmas week. It seems the seller might be interested in working a deal with us that would negate the need to list my house for sale.

No, he doesn’t want us to go jump in the lake.

Our realtor was leaving town that day for two weeks, so we’ve had two weeks to sit and ponder the ramifications. We’ve been both elated and terrified at the prospect.

And by “we”, we all know I mean me.

Because Mr. FullCup isn’t quite so all over the place emotionally.

It hasn’t worked out for us to see the house again, which was my requirement and this time Mr. FullCup had to come too, before now. We will look at it tomorrow afternoon and then decide whether or not to proceed. So you could all pray that it would be made abundantly clear to the profoundly stupid.

Now, I’ve been saying that for a few weeks…well since we found this house…and I understand some people don’t like it. They think “Why are you always so negative about yourself?”

I’m not. Really. I just know there is a very good reason Jesus calls us sheep. Sheep are stupid. They go way past the dumb animal. When it comes to following Jesus, I want to do it. I want to do what He says, to follow His lead.

And I don’t want my own wants and desires to get in the way and mask His voice. And I know my own propensity for doing just that.

I find it somewhat ironic that I have a book to review at this time, the time when I’m working to get my house ready to sell. The book is Clutter Free and it’s by my friend, Kathi Lipp.

I love her.

The book hasn’t launched yet and I am privileged to be in the group to launch this book to the general populace. You are going to LOVE it. In a group on Facebook for those of us working to launch the book, people are posting pictures of their clutter and finding great satisfaction in ridding their homes of all things clutter.

I’ve been doing this. I can honestly say that for the most part, I don’t struggle with clutter. I do have my “piles”, but they are things I use if not daily at least every other day.

20150105_091503This is one pile. I use this every day. This pile sits on my bookshelf, no, not the right way. Every day I read a little from 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  The blue book is my quote book. When I’m reading and I come across something I really like, and want to mark, I copy it into this book.  The notebook is where I record my gifts. The top two books are ones I’m currently reading. And the pink pouch on the top holds all my pens.

So there you have it. My clutter. Or at least one pile. I have learned over my life I don’t handle clutter well. When life gets cluttered I tend to get crazy and throw things away willy-nilly.

We’re not even going to talk about the basement. That’s the stuff nightmares are made from.