In honor of our fallen and the families they leave behind...

We will never forget your sacrifice.

Book Review - Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ by Leonard Sweet & Frank Viola

Are you tired of surface spirituality?

Suffering from Jesus Deficit Disorder?

The authors of Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ will challenge you to shift your focus from the superficial to the Ultimate Question:

    “It is not, “Are you ready to accept leadership status in My church?”

     It is not, “Do you know how to build a movement?”

     It is not, “How many people did you lead to Me?”

     It is not, “Is leadership your passion?”

     It is not, “To whom will you be accountable?”

     It is not, “Are you doing better than the best you can do so God will be happy with you?”

    And it is not, “Will you surround yourself with people who have leadership potential and will make you look good?”
    The question is only this: “Do you love Me?”’

Filled with the words of Christ, quotes from theologians (old and new) and timeless hymns, this book is written in an ancient devotional style. With chapters such as “If God Wrote Your Biography” and “His Face or Your Face?”, you will be encouraged to draw closer to Christ.

I really enjoyed the easy to read, yet thought provoking chapters. It is a great way to refocus from all of the ‘happy’ talk to the deep, meaningful Gospel that we all crave.

“Who do you say that I am?”

How will you answer?


--------------------------------------------
Thomas Nelson provided me with an advanced reading copy of this book.
Order this book now at Amazon.comJesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ

We are going to Disney World!

I am in the midst of planning a trip for our family of eight to Walt Disney World in Florida. The thought excites me and scares me to death at the same time. I keep imagining all the fun we will have and then I have visions of a screaming two year old who needs a nap and my cranky teenagers having an attitude because they can't wander around alone.

I am actually very excited and because we are a military family, we are getting an awesome deal on tickets and hotel. If you are a military family, check out http://www.disneymilitarysales.com/ for all the details. 

I discovered a trick to getting the military tickets without paying tax. You need to buy them from your installation ITT office. Now we are at Malmstrom and it is too small to have anything, so I tried Minot & Fairchild with no success. The operator at Minot sent me to IT and that poor guy wasn't too happy with my Disney questions... However, the awesome staff at Beale AFB was more than happy to help me out and will ship my tickets overnight via Fed Ex. That way, we don't have to worry about making a trip to Shades of Green once we get there.

Because of the discount, we are staying at 'moderate' resort instead of a 'value'. It is themed like New Orleans and they have beignets in the food court. We spent 18 months in NOLA and our middle child was born there, so she is excited to stay at this resort. I am just excited about the beignets...

While at Disney, we will be doing is having professional pictures done. This has been on my list of things to do before deployment and I have been procrastinating. I have chosen the beach setting at the Polynesion resort and you can't beat the price either. It will be nice to have one more thing off the pre-deployment check list.

Since I am going to Orlando for MOPS Convention, Mark will be flying home with six kids. I will spend the next week with great friends, enjoying every kid free moment! I do have this fear that he will lose at least one during their three hour layover in MSP. Prayers appreciated!

P.S. I would really appreciate any tips/ideas/what not to do advice for WDW!

 

Free Amazon Downloads

It is a cold and rainy day here in Montana. The perfect weather to curl up with a cup of tea, your Kindle (or laptop - remember you don't need a Kindle to enjoy the free books!), and some great jazz music.

The following were free as of posting, but please verify before clicking buy as they change frequently.

Daughter of Joy (Brides of Culdee Creek, Book 1) by Kathleen Morgan

The Shadow and Night (The Lamb Among the Stars, Book 1) by Chris Walley

For any expecting mamas:

The Joy of Pregnancy: The Complete, Candid, and Reassuring Companion for Parents-to-Be by Tori Kropp

And as much as I love a good book, I can't resist great music:

X5 Free Sampler - Jazz Legends

Enjoy!

A Second Look...

As a mom of six, I will admit, some days are rough. Especially when you factor in a couple of teenagers and a toddler. It isn't always fun being a mom, but I am very thankful for the blessings that God has given me.

This week, our community lost a young girl. She was a fellow homeschooler and we had attended the same church for several years. My heart is breaking for this family and I can't even fathom the pain they are going through. I have lost loved ones, even a parent, but I pray that I will not outlive any of my children. 

I was rear ended by a 17 year old boy last week. As he talked to his father on his cell phone, I could hear both sides of the conversation and it broke my heart. Kids are kids and they will make mistakes. How we react as parents can make or break a relationship. I don't ever want to be that screaming parent on the other end of the phone.

These two events have made me take a second look at things and not be (or try not to be) as harsh and grumpy with my kids as I can be - especially with dad gone. They are kids and life is too short.

So will you excuse me? I am going to go hug on and cuddle with my kids for a while.

Free Kindle reads for this week. Enjoy!

I stole a few minutes after dinner while Mark is doing the dishes to play around on Amazon.com. I have a gift certificate from MyPoints that is burning a hole in my virtual pocket :)

As much as I want a new book, I will probably end up getting a John McDermott download. His voice is amazing and I need something soothing after this crazy weekend!

Mark is TDY for the next few months and only coming home for a couple of days when he can. It is nice to have him home, but emotionally draining and upsets the kids when he has to leave again. Since it was so nice out yesterday and today, he got the cars washed, the lawn mowed and the garden planted.

I had several friends ask about downloading these even if you don't have a Kindle. Yes you can! You can download them to your PC or iPhone. There is a banner ad down at the bottom of my blog that you can click through to take you to the applications page.

Note: These books were free downloads when I posted them, but they change frequently. Please double check before you click buy!

This week's free Kindle downloads:

Light of Eidon (Legends of the Guardian-King, Book 1) by Karen Hancock

A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher

Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry

Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart

Happy Reading!

Pressing My Luck

I hate to admit it, but I can't help but feel like we are pushing our luck with a second deployment. I mean, he came home alive and one piece the first time, so why do it again?

The old T.V. game show "Press Your Luck" keeps running through my head. (I admit it, I watched way too much television when I was a kid.) I am one of the contestants shouting "no whammies!" and pressing the button one more time. I never could figure out why they didn't just keep the trip to Hawaii or the car and they had to go one more round.

I know that God is not up there going, "I can't believe they didn't stop when they were ahead!" and we shouldn't worry about tomorrow when eternity is secured. I just can't help my moments of human weakness sometimes. Is it okay to pray "no whammies!"?

 

Free Books - Two of my favorite words together!

Ever since I found out that I could download Kindle books to my PC, I have been addicted. It got even better when I realized how many FREE books were available. While I love to read (it is a nice 'escape' for a little while), I can devour a book in a matter of hours and that adds up. So in order to make my husband happy and not spend any money, I have been trying to search weekly on Amazon for free Kindle books.

And just in case any family is reading this, I would really like a real Kindle and my birthday is coming up ;0)

Here are the FREE Kindle books I found this week:
(Please note that these change all the time, so  it may not be free by the time you download it.)

The First Drop of Rain by Leslie Parrott

Breach of Trust by DiAnn Mills
I did just finish this one and it was pretty good. I will probably download the next one in the series.

Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage by Dr. Kevin Leman
I have not read this book, but have heard him speak at MOPS Convention and really enjoyed it!

Proper Pursuit, A by Lynn Austin
Haven't read, but looking forward to it!

Prayer by Philip Yancy

Editing to add one more:

Snow Melts in Spring by Deborah Vogts

Enjoy!

The Sound of My Voice

There are days that I am convinced that no one but the dog can hear me. I can talk and talk and only poor Rex looks at me like I have lost my mind.

I wonder if they have kid whistles? Of course, you would think that they would have better hearing because they seem to have superior senses. All I have to do is open a bag of chips or package of cookies and they come running. And they can spot from across the kitchen if their piece of cake is 1/4 inch smaller than their siblings.

Well, at least the dog listens!

Starting Over

In order to keep up with my dear friend Christina, I decided that I needed to fix up my blog and actually start writing again.

Really though, as much as Christina will think this is about her, it isn't (so there Texas!). I need something to keep my mind (what there is left of it) busy over the next year and half. Deployments suck and I feel better thinking that someone else is reading and agreeing with me - even if they aren't.

So I cleaned up my blog, gave it a new look and deleted old posts. I hope you enjoy my ramblings and please, won't you say a prayer for our family and the many others who are sacrificing so much for our country.

Love,