Living Life

While going through the blogs I follow this morning, I read this on Mellissa's (Breath of Life):

"I find myself too busy living my life to write about it.  And that is a blessing that cannot be measured."

I could have written those very words myself.  We've had a busy, but good weekend.  The fun started on Thursday night.  While I was leading Bible study with a group of ladies at our church, Mike was at "pirate tryouts" with Bentley and JennaBeth!

The event was Readers of the Carribean, a family literacy workshop, and was held at the school where Bentley and Cecily attend school.

That's our principal, Dr. Santini.  I love how the administration and teachers at my kids' school work together to make learning so much fun.  They get involved with the kids and parents and seem happy to do so.

Bentley's teacher, Ms Weigman, even got into the pirate scene!

And don't think for one minute that JennaBeth was going to miss out on any of the action!  She was so excited to be on the big stage with the big kids.  After all, she can do anything they can do.

On Saturday, the kids were invited to a birthday party.  We had a new family move into our neighborhood a few weeks ago and their little boy Ilan was turning five.  His mom and dad had a bounce house set up for the kids, which was a big hit with all the kids.

As you can see, the slide was the most fun!

That's Ilan, the birthday boy!  Don't you just love that big smile???

The only thing better than an Oreo Ice Cream cake is a SpongeBob pinata!!!

The only thing even better than cake and candy is...

sweet friends!  That's JennaBeth with her best friend from next door Morgan.

Sunday we had homecoming at our church in North Fort Myers.  Northside Babtist Church was established the first Sunday in February 30 years ago.  Each year we celebrate as a church family with a picnic after our morning worship service.

That's Cecily (on the left) our oldest with a friend from church, Grace.

The kids usually get together and play some form of ball; this year it was soccer.  And true to herself, JennaBeth joined right in!

And when she wasn't playing soccer, she was climbing up and down the bleachers...yes that would be JennaBeth about halfway on the bleachers on her way down!

Bentley enjoyed playing Nerf guns with his buddy Seth.

What do you and your family like to do for fun weekends?

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.

Spend time with those you love.  One of these days you will say either, "I wish I had" or "I'm glad I did".  Zig Ziglar

Blessings,
Jennifer

 

 

Not In The Heart

A condemned man.

A dying son.

An imperfect father.

How far will one man go to save the life of his son?

Time is running out.

I'm so excited to let you know about a book that is releasing TODAY by Tyndale House Publishers.  The book is Not In The Heart by Chris Fabry.

 Biography  (taken from Fabry's website found at www.chrisfabry.com )

Chris Fabry is an award-winning author and radio personality who hosts the daily program Chris Fabry Live! on Moody Radio. He is also heard on Love Worth Finding, Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, and other radio programs.
A 1982 graduate of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University and a native of West Virginia, Chris and his wife, Andrea, now live in Arizona and are the parents of nine children.
Chris' novels, which include Dogwood, June Bug, Almost Heaven, and Not in the Heart, have won two Christy Awards and an ECPA Christian Book Award, but it's his lyrical prose and tales of redemption that keep readers returning for more.
He has also published more than 65 other books, including nonfiction and novels for children and young adults. He coauthored the Left Behind: The Kids series with Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, as well as the Red Rock Mysteries and The Wormling series with Jerry B. Jenkins. RPM is his latest series for kids and explores the exciting world of NASCAR.

You can connect with Fabry on Facebook and through his blog The Flog - The Fabry Log. 

In my experience of reading lots of books, I have found that very few fiction writers are able to write in such a way as to make their characters jump off the page and into your mind and heart.  And very few are able to paint a picture with their words that shows the true condition of the human heart and the gamut of emotion that is often found there and tell a story that leaves you breathless in the end.

Chris Fabry has accomplished that in his story of Truman Wiley in Not In The Heart.

Truman absolutely had me puzzled until the very last page.  In the first few pages of the book, I didn't like him very much.  A little further along into the story, I felt sorry for him.  Then I was really on his side pulling for him.  Then I didn't like him again.  Then I loved him.  At times I didn't know what in the world to think about this man and his extreme selfishness but heart wrenching love for his family.

If that sounds confusing, well it is.  Truman will have you wondering about him until the last page of his story and when you get to the end of Not In The Heart you will realize that we are all just like Truman at different points in our own lives.  Chris Fabry has offered up something really special in this story.  I encourage you to consider it for your next book club (questions for a reading group are included in the back of the book).  But don't count on just one night to discuss this story!  You'll need more than one.

Read chapter one HERE.

You can order Not In The Heart from Amazon.com by going HERE. 

You can order directly from the publisher by going HERE.

*Audra Jennings of the B&B Media Group sent me a copy of this book for the purpose of review.

Happy Reading,

Jennifer

Finding Delight

My friend Leslie Wiggins is hosting

over at her blog Alabamenagerie.  Her Finding Delight posts are all about how you've found delight in God's Word during the previous week.  Now, she is reading God's Word this year with an eye and heart toward looking for each use of the actual word delight in Scripture.  You can read her post introducing this by going HERE.

Recently I read this passage in Psalm 5:11-12

"But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy.  Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in you.  For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield."

It seemed to me, as I read these words, that the phrase "those who love Your name" was the key.  We take refuge and are able to sing for joy and are surrounded with God's favor as with a shield as we love His name.  So, I looked a little further into this Hebrew word for love using the resource of my Key Word Study Bible.

The Hebrew word for "love" in this passage is Ahab and means:

to love, desire, delight, like, be fond of, covet, be beloved, amiable, be a passionate lover.  It implies an ardent and vehement inclination of the mind and a tenderness of affection at the same time.

The question that has been embedded in my mind and heart is this:

"Am I delighting in God's character?  Do I passionately love and desire God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?

Visit Leslie and see how she and others are delighting in God's Word.

How have you been delighting in God's Word lately?

Blessings,
Jennifer

Secure Daughters, Confident Sons

If you are a parent, you can quickly get overwhelmed with the plethora of parenting books on the market.  Few are anything more than your typical guide in how to have well-behaved, nice, neat little children.  It was refreshing to read Glenn T. Stanton's Secure Daughters, Confident Sons:  How Parents Guide Their Children Into Authentic Masculinity And Femininity.  

Glenn T. Stanton is the director for Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs and a research fellow at the Institute of Marriage and Family in Ottawa. He debates and lectures extensively on the issues of gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He served the George W. Bush administration for many years as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program.
Stanton is the author of five books and a contributor to nine others, including Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in Postmodern Society (1997), My Crazy, Imperfect Christian Family (NavPress, 2004) and Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting (InterVarsity Press, 2004), which was featured on C-SPAN BookTV.
His latest book, The Ring Makes All the Difference (Moody Publishers, September 2011), explains the latest research findings, as well as biblical wisdom, on why cohabitation is not a smart idea for couples and their children. Stanton and his wife have five endlessly growing and amazing children, and they live in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Stanton's response to some opinions that his definition of gender in the book is too narrow can be found HERE at her.meneutics the Christianity Today blog for women.

"My desire is to help you teach your child to navigate between the two extreme views of gender identity that are present in our culture today.  One group firmly believes that the way you nurture or socialize a child trumps the work of nature; the other demands that no amount of nurture should change the inborn wild-at-heart or captivating nature of boys and girls.  Our definition of gender has to involve both nature and nurture to truly explain the essential difference and how we authentically live in our humanity throughout distinct cultures of the world.  Our natures are real, but so are our nurturing environments.  If not, parenting would simply be about providing food, clothing, and shelter."  (Stanton from the introduction - The Importance of Difference)

The book is divided into two parts:

1. A Clear Vision for Authentic Manhood and Womanhood
2. Why Boys and Girls Need Mothers and Fathers

The two parts cover the following:

1. What makes a good man?
2. What makes a good woman?
3. What a boy needs most.
4. What a girl needs most.
5. Making Healthy Men out of Healthy Boys
6. Making Healthy Women out of Healthy Girls
7. Why it's Good When Mom and Dad Disagree
8. The Serious Business of Play
9. How Moms and Dads Together Influence Language Development
10. Balancing Grace and Discipline
11. Preparation Versus Protection:  Why Both Dad and Mom Are Right
12. Your Child is a Sexual Being
13. How Mom and Dad Raise Kids Who Care
14. Gender Differences:  The Basis for a Healthy Family

Stanton's writing style is engaging and funny.  You'll be blessed and encouraged by his offering in Secure Daughters, Confident Sons.

A copy of the book was sent to me by WaterBrook Multnomah as part of their Blogging For Books program.  You can order the book from them by going HERE.  You can also read an excerpt from the book by going HERE.

If you will, please take a minute and rank this review in the box below.  You will be entered to win a copy of the book for yourself!


Blessings,
Jennifer

A Recipe of a Different Kind

Have you noticed how expensive everything is getting?  From gasoline to groceries to the things you need to keep your home clean, everything seems to be stretching family budgets to the max!  As a stay at home mom, I clip coupons and try to keep spending (even for necessities) at a minimum.  Out of all the "chores" around the house, laundry is one that NEVER gets completed.  I think my laundry baskets can be empty for only 2.5 seconds flat at any given time!  I do multiple loads everyday of the week except on Sundays.  So, I go through a lot of detergent and even with coupons, it can still be very pricey.  Plus, it seems I'm always running out at the most inconvenient times.

I had been hearing of some people making their own laundry soap and using things like vinegar in the place of fabric softener in order to save money.  To be honest, I was a little skeptical with questions like:  How clean does it really get your clothes?  Do your clothes smell like vinegar if you replace the softener with it?  And most important, how will if affect my Psoriasis?  The cleaning affect was the biggest thing for me, because I have three children who can get pretty messy, especially the littlest two, ages 6 and 2.  My 6 year old son loves to be outside and when he comes in in the evenings, well...he just stinks!  There's something pungent about little boy funk!!

With all of this in mind, I went to the greatest source of information on the web today...Facebook!  I posted some questions about homemade laundry soap and if anybody had ever tried it and so forth.  I was directed by one of my Facebook/Blogging friends to this website:  Being Creative To Keep My Sanity.  This lady is a genius!  She has a plethora of tips to help you live frugally.  Yesterday, I made her recipe for homemade laundry soap!  Here it is:

76 oz. box of Borax

4 lb. box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

55 oz. box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soap

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap

3.5 lbs. OxyClean

You mix all the boxes/containers of powder.  Grate the bar soap and add to the powder ingredients.  I found all these items at Wal-Mart.  Here's the cost of each:

• OxyClean (I used the SunOxygen brand, because it was much cheaper than than the OxyClean brand)  $1.96 X 2
• Fels-Naptha   .97 X 3
• Baking Soda  $2.12
• Super Washing Soda  $3.24
• Borax   $3.38
• I also bought a plastic latch container in which to store the detergent   $3.97
• TOTAL:  $19.54

The average 64 load size of laundry detergent costs anywhere from around $8 to $12 depending on the brand you are buying and sometimes more.  I go through 2 of those in ONE month.  And sometimes run out before the end of the month comes around!  That's say an average of $24.00 a month on laundry detergent alone.  The lady over at Being Creative To Keep My Sanity uses 1 to 2 tablespoons per load and this recipe lasted her NINE MONTHS! 

When I was mixing this up yesterday, the kids were really mesmerized by the process.

The grated Fels-Naphta looks exactly like grated cheese.  My two year old kept saying, "You washin' my clothes in cheese mama?"

I washed my first load using this detergent last night.  The clothes came out clean and very fresh smelling and they were soft.  This was a fun experiment.  I'll keep track of how long it lasts and let you know in a few months how much money I've saved by not having to buy laundry detergent every time I turn around!

What are some ways you are saving money and living frugally around your place?

Blessings,
Jennifer

Never The Same

"My greatest successes in life so far have been derived from my greatest tragedies.  My greatest sufferings have produced my greatest victories."

"What happens to you in life isn't nearly as important as what you choose to do with what happens to you in life.  Don't hide the scars."

Those are the words of B.C. Fleming otherwise known as the Blown Up Guy. 

He's known as the Blown Up Guy, because he was literally blown up not once, but twice while serving in Afghanistan as part of the 10th Mountain Division as a team leader in a reconnaissance platoon.  In April 2006, Fleming got his first taste of guerrilla warfare when his military vehicle ran across a double stack of mines buried in the road.   The 14,000-pound Humvee was lifted off the ground and hurled about ten feet to the side of the road.  Miraculously, Fleming escaped without a scratch.

The next time, he would not walk away.  On a sunny afternoon in late July of the same year, a convoy in which Fleming was traveling was attacked by a suicide bomber who exploded three feet away from the door of is vehicle.  Fleming woke up in a ditch, bloody and burned, with multiple life-threatening injuries.   After reconstructive surgery and fourteen months of agonizingly difficult rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX, he decided it was time to stop whining about it and get on with his life.

Never The Same:  The Untold Story of One Soldier's Personal Encounter with a Suicide Bomber is Flemings latest book.  The book began as his personal journal entries and evolved into the book.  He candidly shares "the real story" of the war in Afghanistan as he experienced it.  You can hear some of his testimony, which he shares in the book in this interview:

While Never The Same is not the most well written book I've ever read and there are some editing issues in the book, I'm not sure I've ever read a more inspiring story in quite a while.  The book includes pictures as well as a chapter written by Fleming's wife Jamie and a letter Fleming wrote to the suicide bomber responsible for the injuries that nearly ended Fleming's life.  This letter would be one of the avenues God used to bring healing to Fleming:

"I wrote my thoughts on a piece of paper one day.  It turned into a letter to the suicide bomber (which he will obviously never read).  I began writing about the horrific pain of burning and realizing, though mine was temporary, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to end up in a place where I believe he is now.  That terrorist would have ultimately won the war over me, even in death, if I would have carried the burden of hate with me for the remainder of my lifetime.  There was no way I was going to let that happen.  He failed in life and he failed in death.  He's dead and I'm alive. It was time to move on.  I've never lived a better life since almost losing it."

Never The Same is an inspiring and God exalting story of a soldier's survival physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually because of the grace poured out on his life by the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.

*Audra Jennings, media specialist with B&B Media Group, sent me a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of review.

You can connect with Fleming online by visiting his website blownupguy.com and his facebook page located at www.facebook.com/blownupguy. 

Blessings,
Jennifer

The Gospel Story Bible

Can a bed-time story actually change your life?

My two younger children (ages 6 and 2) love to have books read to them.  They especially enjoy bedtime reading with their daddy.  Our 14 year old, although she has now outgrown being read to, loved books when she was little as well.  Both my husband and I are big readers and I am so glad my children have developed a love for books and hearing a good story.

What better story for them to hear than the gospel.  As a parent/grandparent you may feel overwhelmed at where to even start sharing the gospel with the little ones in your life.  Marty Machowski, a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, has written an amazing resource to help us share the greatest story ever told - the story of Jesus - with our children and grandchildren. 

Written by Machowski and illustrated by A.E. Macha,  The Gospel Story Bible is Machowski's beckon to families to take time out from the daily grind to be transformed by the message of the Good News.  Sometimes it's easy to forget Jesus in the midst of frantic schedules, family squabbles and conflicting priorities.  God often becomes a little more than an afterthought after days absorbed and depleted by the busyness of life.  But the truth is that Jesus is the Hero of every story - including the mundane, ordinary ones we experience on a regular basis.

This book is unlike any other "Bible Story book" you have encountered!  It is uniquely illustrated and uses 158 stories to present God's plan of salvation in Christ from its opening narrative in Genesis to its finale in Revelation.  Based on the ESV Bible, this easy-to-read storybook is written for children from preschool to high school and skillfully connects the individual stories to the overall gospel narrative of Jesus and His gospel of grace.

I was just in conversation with someone the other day who said she didn't read the Old Testament, because she didn't understand much of it and she felt that Jesus was in the New Testament.  That broke my heart.  With the use of The Gospel Story Bible, you will be equipped with a resource to help you see Jesus from Genesis to Revelation.

Machowski says,

"The gospel is deep enough to keep the oldest and wisest parents learning and growing all their lives, yet simple enough to change the heart of the first grader who has just begun to read.  That's what makes The Gospel Story Bible ideal as a storybook for a preschooler, a devotional for a grade school student, a refresher for the adult believer or an introduction for the new one.  Parents and children will learn together to read the whole Bible as one story, with one Hero - Jesus Christ."

Each story is found on a two-page spread.  The scripture passage from the Bible is given, the "story"and then "Let's Talk About It!", where questions are provided to help engage the readers further with the story.  Machowski masterfully points to Jesus and the redemption He came to give to lost sinners in every story.  Here's the last paragraph of the story about Rahab from "Rahab's Help" on pages 86-87:

"Did you know that God had special plans for Rahab?  She became King David's far-off grandmother.  That means she also became the great, far-off grandmother of Jesus!  Just as the blood on the doorposts kept the Israelites safe during Passover, the scarlet cord in Rahab's window protected her and her family from the judgement of God brought to Jericho.  One day her far-off grandson Jesus would die on the cross.  His scarlet blood covers our sins so that we too can be saved from the judgement of God."

I encourage you to visit www.newgrowthpress.com and order The Gospel Story Bible.  Or you can find it at Amazon.com by going HERE. 

*A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me by Audra Jennings, media specialist with B&B Media Group for the purpose of review.  

In a world where our kids will hear every kind of story, make sure you share the greatest story ever told with them - the story of Jesus.

Blessings,
Jennifer