Thursday, December 22, 2011

8th day of Christmas Give-away

Well, I meant to get this giveaway up earlier (like Black Friday Weekend), but as many things go....
So, since our family celebrates the 12 Days of Christmas, I thought it would be fitting to hold this give-away in the middle of our celebration.

I would like to offer up for one blessed reader 2 items:
photo-8
  • a copy of Chris Tomlin's Christmas Worship Music CD, Glory In The Highest*
  • a children's book~ An Amish Christmas by Richard Ammon, beautifully illustrated  by Pamela Patrick

Books Under the Christmas Tree part 4(young adult)

At my Eldest's urging, I am writing this post to include a set of books that she thinks any "reader" would enjoy finding under the Christmas tree~ Viking Quest Series * by Lois Walfrid Johnson has been her favorite set of books since she received the first one Christmas 2007. The rest of the set was acquired slowly, for birthdays and Christmas gifts. They are her "most lent" set of books.

The stories follow an Irish girl,  Bree,  who is captured by a young Viking Raider. Each well written, descriptive story follows her travels and travails as she deals with Mikkel, her captor,  and her maturing faith in God. The set of five books follow her life for 4 years from her capture at 13 years old till she is about 17 years old. The Viking Quest Series would make good read-along/ read-alouds for those studying the era of Leif Erikson. ;)

   
You can click on the book covers above* to read more about each book. Each paperback retails for $7.99 to $8.99~ They would make a marvelous gift for the history-loving young reader in your life.

Blessings~
 
*This review was at my daughter's behest, and the only compensation I *might* receive would be a few cents if you purchase any of the books through my Amazon Affiliate links above. Thank you in advance if you choose to do so. :)

Books under the Christmas Tree ~ Part 3 (Middle-schoolish)

The Great Mogul DIamondNow that I've mentioned a couple of books for the youngest among us, here's one for the middlest among us~ I reviewed The Secret of Indigo Moon this past spring~  the second in a series of 3 by G.P. Taylor. It was good enough that Eldest decided that she wanted to read the 1st book in the series, The First Escape. She wasn't quite as enthralled with it, but was still interested when we were offered the opportunity to read/review the third book in the series, The Great Mogul Diamond (List price $19.99).

The Great Mogul Diamond Follows the adventures of the Dopple Twins and their friend Erik Ganger as they race through Europe via trains and speedy automobile~ Hoping to save someone they love, and possibly the great Mogul Diamond as well.

Given how frequently sequels don't live up to the original story, I found it very interesting in this instance that the stories kept getting better! Eldest was delighted by the final story in the series. The mystery was filled with action, and the graphic design I mentioned in my first review definitely showcases dark vs. light. This might be a great gift for your mystery-loving pre-teen/ early teenager (Hey, *I* even enjoyed reading this one, so there you go. :) ).
You can get a feel for the story by downloading the first chapter and decide for yourself.

I hope this helps if you are still scrambling to find a book for your mystery-loving tween/teenling. :)
Amazon* currently has it selling for $13.59

Blessings~

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free  from Tyndale House in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the  Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
*The Amazon link is an affiliate link. Thank you for supporting my blogging

Books under the Christmas Tree Part 2

We received another sweet book from Zondervan Publishing to review, just in time for Christmas. Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones is a lovely hardcover picture book for the 4-7 year-old crowd.

Click to see a larger image of Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-JonesThe resounding chorus of "It's Time! It's Time!" beats throughout the book as God's Creation thrills to the birth of their Creator. Fanciful, yes~ Sweet, yes (But no calories! :) ), Delightful folk-art-ish illustrations~ Yes!

 I am sure this will become a favorite book in our home over the years~ I love it already!  One wonders in the clamor of today's world if we would even notice~ as Sally Lloyd-Jones tells of Heaven and Nature singing~ The skies shouted it to the seas that thundered it to the waves that roared it to the great white whales that sang it to the starfish in the deep. And tiny sandpipers danced it on shining sands... "It's time! It's time!"

Song of the Stars is also available as an e-book ($9.99), but we received the hardcover version, which retails for $15.99. You can browse inside Song of the Stars at this link, as well as locate a store near you where it is carried.


Again, I hope this helps your last-minute shopping for the dear little ones in your life
Blessings~

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the  Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Books under the Tree? Part 1

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to gift books, specifically to my children, but others as well. In light of that, I will be presenting a quick series of last-minute book ideas for gift-giving.

First up is a sweet little lift-the-flap book by those favorite authors Jan and Mike Berenstain. I had no idea that they authored faith-based stories starring the Berenstain Bears! What a nice little surprise for your 2-5 year old.
Click to see a larger image of The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas by Jan & Mike BerenstainThe book is The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas. The bear family is decorating for Christmas and they have to find all of the pieces of the nativity, which are scattered throughout the house (under flaps). It appears that Mama Bear has set up a fun scavenger hunt for her cubs. :)

If you visit the link above you can search for the store near you that carries this book, which retails for $6.99.


My little bear cub (The youngest, at 4 years old) enjoys snuggling on the couch and reading this book with anyone who will take the few minutes to do so. I liked that there were clues in the text that helped him choose which flaps to open at the appropriate time (Either brother or sister typically found the next item). That made it much more fun to read, vs some of the random flap-opening books that we own.

I hope that this may have been helpful to you in your last-minute gift-giving~ :)

Blessings~
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the  Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Barber Who Wanted to Pray

I received a new Children's book from Crossway.org for review, The Barber Who Wanted to Pray (Retail $17.99)
Based on a true story, it tells of a visit to a barber by a famous outlawed monk (Martin Luther). The book is beautifully, if a little darkly, illustrated.

I'm not sure what age this is intended for, but I refrained from using it with my 4 year old. I was disturbed  in the beginning, by the recounting of the story, and the emphasis on the power of life and death, that barbers used to hold in their hands. Pages 12-14 held just a little too much information, a little too graphic, for a children's picture book, in my opinion. I feel the story would have been better served by focusing only on Martin Luther's conversation with the Barber.

There are some good points to be gained from reading this book~ that prayer can be simple, but kept from being "rote." That the Ten commandments, The Lord's Prayer, and the Apostle's Creed can help to create a structure for personal prayer. You can preview the book below, and determine if perhaps this book would be a good fit for your family (I realize that every family's filter is a little different, and what bothers me, may not be an issue for you. ;) ).





Blessings~





Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the  Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

What Do You Think of Me?Why Do I Care? by Edward T. Welch

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:

New Growth Press (October 1, 2011)
***Special thanks to Audra Jennings – The B&B Media Group – for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Edward T. Welch, M.Div., Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). He has counseled for over twenty-five years and is the best-selling author of many books, including When People Are Big and God Is Small; Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave; Blame It on the Brain?; Depression: A Stubborn Darkness; Crossroads: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Addiction; Running Scared: Fear, Worry and the God of Rest; and When I Am Afraid: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Fear and Anxiety. He and his wife Sheri have two daughters, two sons-in-law and four grandchildren.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In his latest release, author Edward T. Welch offers a way

of escape for young adults held captive by the opinions of others
In an increasingly unstable culture, being obsessed with what others think is an escalating struggle among teens and young adults, leading to more serious consequences than ever before. Although everyone—whether they’re sixteen or sixty—works hard to win someone’s approval or ward off someone’s rejection, these issues plague teenagers and young adults with particular intensity. And how teens and young adults answer the big questions of their lives now will affect the direction of their adult lives for better or worse. In his new book, What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?: Answers to the Big Questions of Life (New Growth Press, October 2011), Edward T. Welch extends hope to those weary of hiding behind a mask of performance in order to gain love and acceptance.

Peer pressure, codependency, shame, low self-esteem—these are just some of the words used to identify how young people can be controlled by the perceived opinions of others. Stand out in the right way to the right people, and you’re on top of the world. But experience failure in front of those same people and prepare for a sinking sensation in your stomach and a night of tossing and turning.

Why do you care? Why do we all care? These are questions that can’t be answered without listening to God, the One who made us and knows us better than we know ourselves. In What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care? Welch takes the big questions of life and shows that freedom from what people think of us comes as we learn who God is and who we are in relationship to Him. Only then will we be able to let go of our masks, stop trying to fill our leaky love cups and begin to live for something bigger than ourselves.

An interactive book, What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care? includes questions throughout the text for individual or group study and is especially aimed at teenagers and young adults. A corresponding website rich with controversy and dialogue, My-Big-Life-Question.com, will also offer readers a place to discuss personal needs as well as to find other resources for life’s journey and places to go for help.

“I want to draw people to the path of becoming truly human, where you are controlled by God more than other people and where you love others more than you need them to love you,” says Welch. “The result? Genuine loving relationships and the ability to make a lasting impact on the world around us. It’s a hard process, but it’s wonderful and the results are worth it.”





Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: New Growth Press (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935273868
ISBN-13: 978-1935273868

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Somebody is Watching

“Lord, please let me be normal.”

Okay, maybe you never actually prayed that, but you do want it. You want to fit in. Who doesn’t? Imagine you are invited to a formal dinner, but you didn’t read the entire invitation and you go in shorts and flip-flops. (Yes, it wasn’t pretty. I was also wearing a Killer Dana T-shirt—it’s the name of a surf shop, but the other dinner guests thought I was going gangsta.)

We all have these stories. We spend a lot of time concerned about fitting in, which means that we spend a lot of time thinking about our hair, our body, our intelligence, and our clothes so we can be part of the larger group. None of us want to be stared at if it means that the people looking at us don’t like what they see. When they look at us that way we want to run and hide.

Oh, and there is another prayer too. “Lord, please don’t let me be normal.” “If I can’t fit in, then I’ll be a vampire,” and she did just that. She figured that both fitting in and standing out were impossible, so she made a choice. Her parents would have preferred a more traditional route such as starting on the basketball team or high SAT scores. They are hoping it is a phase, which it is—there are not many fifty-year-old vampires. But, unless she discovers something else to run her life, she will always be looking for ways to stand out, and she will be depressed.

We want to stand out from the crowd. We want to be seen, which means that we want people to notice us and be impressed with something. We want them to respect us, to like us, and to love us. Not too many people dream of being average. Take a look at your fantasies, and you will probably find a quest to be noticed.

• Have you ever imagined that you scored the winning basket in the NBA finals?
• Do you enjoy superhero movies because you like to imagine what it would be like to have such powers?
• Do you identify with a celebrity because you would like to live her life, at least for a year or two?
• Have you ever fantasized that you were famous or great?
• Or maybe you have already given up on greatness and will settle for a B+.

It’s complicated, isn’t it? If only we could be less controlled by the opinions of others. Maybe a deserted island could be the answer. That would be a pricey way to avoid the judgments of others, but it might work. Apart from that option, you have a creepy sense that people are watching, judging, evaluating, accepting, or rejecting you. Sometimes the eyes belong to no one in particular. Other times you know exactly who or what group you are trying to please. Either way, you are controlled by other people more than you think, and other people, of course, are controlled by how you see them.

The problem is a common one, but we don’t talk about it too often. As a way to get it out into the open, keep trying to locate this in your own life.

• Do you buy clothes because of what other people will think? Have you ever not gone somewhere because you didn’t have the right clothes or didn’t like the way you looked?
• Do you spend a lot of time in front of the mirror?
• Do you avoid people, either because you are angry with them or because you would be embarrassed if they saw you?
• Do you ever get embarrassed to be seen with your parents?
• Have you ever been embarrassed at the thought of other people knowing that you go to church?
• Have you ever been embarrassed to say you believe in God?
• Have you ever been embarrassed to say you believe in Jesus?
• Do you ever exaggerate to make yourself look better?
• Do you feel like a failure sometimes? Do you hate school because from the moment you walk in you feel like a failure?
• Are you afraid to ask questions in class because you might look stupid?
• Do you wish you were thinner, stronger, taller, shorter, smarter, faster, or better looking?
• Have you ever been jealous of someone thinner, stronger, taller, shorter, smarter, faster, or better looking?
• Have you ever wished you could shrivel up and disappear?

Agreed, these questions are too easy. You might hesitate on one or two of them, but basically the answer is yes across the board, and they are that way for everyone. They all point to how we can be too controlled by the opinions of others. Why do you think everyone struggles with it? Where does it come from?

One of the riskiest things in life is to like someone—really like someone. It all starts innocently. You find yourself attracted to another person. Happens all the time. No big deal. But then the attraction grows, and amid the glow of romantic feelings lurks a monster: what if you like the other person more than the other person likes you? What will he or she think about me? you wonder.

You send some friends out on a reconnaissance mission. Their job is to find out if the other person likes you without that person knowing your intentions. If word comes back yes, you can move toward that person safely. If the answer is no, you lick your wounds, thankful for the heads-up that saved you from total embarrassment. In your every- day life, the potential for rejection is enormous. It’s amazing that so many people actually get out of bed in the morning. Sound familiar?

Success can’t protect you. Steven King, the ridiculously prolific and famous horror writer, was told by Miss Hisler, his school principal, “What I don’t understand, Stevie, is why you write junk like this in the first place.” At the time, he was already writing scary stories that other students were willing to pay to read. “I was ashamed,” he says of the incident. “I have spent a good many years since—too many, I think—being ashamed about what I write.”* You too have probably heard words like Miss Hisler’s, and they are still etched inside your soul. Can you think of some?

Look around a little more and you will see it—it goes by many names: a desire for acceptance, the fear of rejection, painful self- consciousness, or peer pressure. You can see it when you or any of your friends take muscle-enhancing steroids or illegal drugs. You see it in anorexia, bulimia, and depression. You find it in people who are sexually active before or outside of marriage.

• What will they think of me?
• What might they think about me?
• How can I be accepted?
• How can I be loved?

The evidence is everywhere. If you can’t relate to any of this, here is a sure way to find it.

• Do you think you’re especially attractive?
• Are you supercompetitive? Do you hate to lose? (And do you usually win?)
• Would you say you are self-confident?

There it is again: a life that is always judged by others. The only difference is that, at least for the moment, the judges score you highly. Yet it is even more complicated. Deep down those who are super self-confident don’t believe the judges’ high scores. They feel like failures— frauds who are barely fooling other people. Do you think beautiful celebrities struggle with feeling judged and unaccepted by others? Count on it.

Some people seem more self-confident or at least less self-conscious than others. It’s hard to know exactly why, but everyone can easily recall times when they withered under the rejection (or possible rejection) of other people.

I know, I know. You were trying to manage this perfectly common experience by ignoring it, and somebody (me) comes along and makes an issue out of it. But my purpose is not to make you miserable. Stick with it, because this particular problem is actually a window into the mysteries of the universe. It takes you directly to three questions that every human being must answer: Who am I? Who is God? and Who are you? And there is no way I would invite you down this road unless the road was very good.


Thank you, First Wild Card Tours for my copy of this book. 
Blessings~

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Christmas Gift Idea~ Build it up, build it out

Hey, friends~

I am receiving a super fun item for review from the TOS Crew. I'm planning to save it for Christmas for the boys~ BUT, I wanted to let you in on it before Christmas! I also have some exciting news, so be sure to read all the way to the bottom of the post!

Toydle Forts~
Made in the USA
Open-ended, Creative fun

All Toydle Forts are constructed with
  • Hand made wooden blocks 3” sq. made with high quality, laminated poplar.
  • High Quality PVC tubes 29” long & 1/2in wide.
All Toydle Forts include an industrial strength storage bag.
All Toydle Forts include clips to help secure your sheets and blankets.

Two sizes~
The Toydle Fort~ $149 Build to 45 square feet! (pictured above)
The BIG Toydle Fort~ $229 Build to 90 square feet!


You can visit TOYDLE on Facebook, and Twitter, as well as exploring their website.

Now for the exciting news!  The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is giving away THREE of the BIG forts~ Check it out! What a great Christmas Present!
NOTE: This contest is open to residents of the United States ONLY.  TOS Staff and TOS Crew Members (and their families) are not eligible to enter this contest.

Be sure to check back here AFTER Christmas for my review!

Blessings~
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this/these item(s)/service for free as part of the TOS Crew Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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