My Morning Devotion

My step-daughter got me a devotional for Christmas called Grace for the Moment Volume 1 by Max Lucado.  This morning my devotion was very good and I wanted to share it.  I know a lot of people that tend to a greenhouse full of weeds and thorns.

THE GREENHOUSE OF THE HEART

People harvest only what they plant. Galations 6:7

Think for a moment of your heart as a greenhouse....And your heart, like a greenhouse, has to be managed.

Consider for a moment your thoughts as seed.  Some thoughts become flowers.  Others become weeds.  Sow seeds of hope and enjoy optimism.  Sow seeds of doubt and expect insecurity....

The proof is everywhere you look.  Ever wonder why some people have the Teflon capacity to resist negativism and remain patient, optimistic, and forgiving?  Could it be that they have diligently sown seeds of goodness and are enjoying the harvest?

Ever wonder why others have such a sour outlook?  Such a gloomy attitude?  You would, too, if your heart were a greenhouse of weeds and thorns.

Just Like Jesus

Each day of devotions is a excerpt taken from one of Max Lucado's books.  

Sabbath by Dan B. Allender Book Review

The current book that I am reviewing is Sabbath by Dan B. Allender published by Thomas Nelson.  This book is part of The Ancient Practice Series that is "for every Christian seeker who wants more" (quoted from back cover of book).  I chose this book to review because I wanted to get the history of this day and how it was and should be celebrated each week.

I was sorely disappointed when I was reading this book.  Even though the series is the Ancient Practice Series, Allender never touches on anything ancient that is practiced on the Sabbath.  He didn’t actually pinpoint much of anything down.

Allender talks about Sabbath Play and in those three chapters, I had a hard time remembering that we were talking about the Sabbath.  I have the feeling that Allender celebrates the Sabbath any way that he wants, and then wrote a book about it to make it seem right.  But he confuses me several times.  

One certain point that he kept bringing up was Exodus 5:12-15, which is the fourth commandment explaining the Sabbath.  But then he goes on to say that we don’t need to be resting on the Sabbath.  Well, doesn’t the commandment say we are not to work?  How can this be?  Well, Allender goes ahead and explains it for us.  It is because work is different than labor.  

This is not a book that I would recommend to other readers unless they wanted to be more confused than when they started.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers 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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

New Online Store Discovered By Me!

How many of my readers enjoy shopping?  How many of you enjoy shopping online?  I know that I love both!  But shopping online gives you a little more freedom.  How you may ask?  Well, it allows you to sit on your fanny and shop!  You don't have to get dressed, have gas money, or get the kids ready!  It's totally convenient and fun!  I have been thinking lately about looking into some outside fun for the kids and decided to check out swingsets because we don't have one here.  We have lots of room for one though! 

So lately I have come across a new site.  For some of you it may not be new, but it is to me.  I found CSN Stores.  They have so many products and stores to shop!  It's almost overwhelming!  Anyhow, I checked out the swingsets on this site and I can't believe the choices!  If my kids saw all of the toys and stuff on there, they'd go nuts! 

With so many products to choose from, how can you decide?  The list includes the swingsets that I mentioned above and so much more!  The prices are great prices and not out of this world.  I was also intrigued by the free shipping and 70% off swingsets from Flexible Flyer. 

Check it out friends!  You may find something there that you've been looking for and haven't found!  Follow my link above to check out the swingsets and some other awesome outside fun for this upcoming Spring and Summer!

Bloggerview - 1st Reviewee Chosen!

As I was shopping yesterday morning with my daughter, I was thinking how neat it would be to do some interviews of my friends and fellow bloggers on my blog!  I know that I don't have a huge reader volume, but that's ok, every little bit counts.  I appreciate each one of my readers so much, because without you, I'd be typing to myself.  I don't need a huge number, just true readers.

Anyhow, I digress, like I said, every little bit counts.  Therefore, each and every reader I have that reads the interviews, is that many more than would have read them from their own blog.  Get it?  lol  I think I lost myself in that explanation.  You'll catch on...

I have already have my first guinea pig volunteer for the interview and that is my wonderful friend Casey Ray.  I had the most delightful time teaching AWANA and Vacation Bible School with Casey.  She is a terrific friend and she has a tremendous amount of love for children and Jesus.  I am so glad that I got to know her and be her friend in the short amount of time that we worked together.  Thank goodness for Facebook though!  We can still stay in touch even though she has moved away.

So look for her to make an appearance on my blog this week along with her blog, Phreckle Face Blog.  Check her blog out!  She is such a creative woman and photographer! 

I am so excited for this!!!

 If you are one of my readers, and you would like to be an interview-ee for Bloggerview, please leave your blog ling and name in the comments and I will get back to you!

Kids Say the Cutest Things

Today Stinky said something that just made my heart melt.

We were driving in the car and listening to Third Day's new song, Children of God.  After the song was over and we both stopped singing, I was thinking about what the song says and was thankful for Jesus dying for me.  Us.  The love that He felt and the sacrifice He made. 

I had goosebumps.

Then comes this beautiful, sing-song voice in the back.

"Mom, I bet God was smiling and singing along with that song."

Oh the joy of hearing my children worship and praise the Lord.

My Prayer Journal & More

So last night I put together my prayer journal in my household mommy notebook.  I am still trying to come up with my own name for mine.  Ever since I made mine the first time, I have had pages printed out for each day of the week.  But, I never went back in and put what I do for each day of the week. 

Last night I decided that I was going to use those pages for my prayer journal.  I wanted to separate my prayer topics into different days of the week.  Instead of making a separate page for each day, I just used the ones that I had.  I divided my topics up and assigned them a day.  This will make it so much easier for me to keep up on my prayers and focus my mind on certain issues or people that I forget.

I also cleaned my desk up yesterday so this morning when I wanted to see my prayers, I had enough room to open up my binder and read my prayer requests.  I also wrote my requests in this morning.  That is something I still need to do is fill it in.  So far, the only parts I've filled in besides the requests I got this morning, is my daily reminder to pray for my Secret Prayer Sister at church.

Stinky and I got up this morning and went on a shopping adventure searching for a diary with a lock and keys.  First stop was borders and they had 2.  Just 2.  Next store was the Dollar Store and they didn't have any either.  Into the van and across the intersection to the mall and we hit Office Max and they don't have any.  From there we walked to Claire's Boutique and finally!  Eureka!  First diary we see, Justin Beiber, who Stinky is not head-over-heels-in-love-with (thankfully!) and both are missing lock and key.  We kept searching and searching.  We finally found a couple, but almost all of them were missing the locks and keys!  How crazy!  Why just steal that part?  Must be that many girls out there who lose their lock and key......

Lucky for me, it didn't take Stinky long to choose the one that she wanted, and both lock and keys were there.  She chose a bright pink on that says "Private Property".  It also has a puppy on it and markings that look like they were made with a permanent marker saying "i'm cute...but i BITE!"  It's cute.  Now on this whole search, I was also looking for one for Bubba.  He had to stay home, lying on the couch with a fever and a head cold.  So I was on the lookout for him with his money in my pocket.  I had 3 things to go by:

1. Race cars
2. Orange
3. Locks

So far, I hadn't seen any locking diaries that were suitable for a boy.  The only boy diaries, were actually just journal notepads.  After we left the mall, I still needed to get dinner so we decided to stop at Walmart and check there while we pick up groceries.  There we found a diary for Kyle that we though he'd be happy with and it met 1 out of 3 of his requests.  We found a Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It_Yourself Book by Jeff Kinney.  That's the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books...duh....This certain book is.....orange!!!
This book is neat!

The front half is filled with different sections that are asking him questions, allowing him to draw his own comic strips, and things like that.  Lots of things.  The middle has a few pages of colored comic strips written by Greg, the character in the books.  The last half is blank pages for him to write whatever he wants.  Since he didn't get a lock with it, I gave him an orange rubber band to put around it.  He's happy.

While I was at Borders, I was perusing through the calendar sections.  The big sign says "Calendars $4.99!" so they could hurry up and sell them.  I saw a planner called family_time.mine and I picked it up and checked it out.  The months have big boxes to write in and when it breaks it down into weeks the boxes are big there too.  That is something I always like in a calendar.  The ends of each page are labeled "lists • more lists • crises notes • groceries" and it has perforated edges so you can rip off your list and take it with you if you have to.  There are also big cards included for each season to write your schedule on.  And it goes by every half hour.  Then, of course, they always win me when they include stickers!

The best part was that this planner was included in the clearance sale and it was regularly priced at $17.99!!

This evening, my FIL came over with gifts for Greg and I.  He had ordered us iRenew bracelets.  I have seen the commercials for this and they look like a rip off to me.  But he got it for a gift.  So I will wear it. 

When he is here.

I did a google search on it to see what it does.  Well I find it really strange that the website for these bracelets don't say anything about it at all.  And you know they didn't come with any type of instructions.  Although my FIL did pay an extra $10 for some recharge stickers.  It came with a sheet of holographic stickers, one for each bracelet, but no idea what to do with them.  lol  Then the other things that came up about iRenew were all bad reviews.  They all said it was a scam.  I haven't told my FIL. 

So I've probably blabbed enough.  I want to blog about one more thing this evening but it deserves it's very own post because it's so cute and sweet.

Friday's Fave Five #124

First I want to start with a prayer request for Susanne @ Living to tell the Story.  I don't know what the problem is, but she is at the hospital all night and is going back this morning.  She hosts Friday's Fave Five every Friday and is not able to play along this week. 

This was a great week.  I have my family and my church family.  My friends are growing all of the time and I just love my life!  So here are my favorite five things from this past week.

1. I got my computer back, which gave me my internet back.  I am thankful for that.  A friend at church that I went to school with fixed it for me.  It was soooo nice!  Definitely a blessing from God.

2.  All of the blessings from God.  There are so many to mention and I could never go into detail.  But here's a few names of people or things that were blessings this week to me: Jackie, Amanda, Kyle, Greg, Jim, books, Bible, Kristy, Kristy, April, Solomon, Tom, Feisty, the wild young bald eagle we saw upclose, Graclyn, my Secret Prayer Sister, Kalli, Tracy, no rain! an so much more!!

3.  AWANA.  Going to AWANA every Wednesday night during the school year is a refreshing way to feed your Spiritual life during the week.  Those kids are so much fun and cute!  Watching them memorize those verses with their fresh young minds is amazing and encouraging.  I love doing this each week.

4.  Visiting a new friend.  The kids and I went to visit an AWANA mom and child yesterday.  She homeschools her little boy and his age is in between Stinky and Bubba.  They played outside for hours!  It was nice to be able to visit with someone too.  We are going to plan more activities and field trips together.  I'm excited about this adventure!

5.  Books.  What would I do with out my books?  I just love them!  They provide so much entertainment and relaxation.  Oh and don't forget the information!  Books are the best!  The current ones that I am reading is The Faith by Brian Moynahan and I'll be reading this one for a while still.  It's a big one!  The other book that I am reading is for a book review to do on my blog called Sabbath by Dan B. Allender.

I hope that all of you have found blessings from this past week that you can thank God for.  If you would like to share them, add your links or blessings in my comments this week while Susanne is not able to post a linky.  I'd love to hear from all of you!