Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians serving around the world
So I have been a bit of a slacker on getting this blog done. I believe I selected this book in December or January from the Thomas Nelson list of available free books to blog on for BookSneeze. Voices of the Faithful—Book 2 is another year of powerful devotions from a series created by Kim Davis and Beth Moore. It is no secret to anyone that I will read, buy, enjoy just about anything that Beth Moore puts her name on. This devotional did not fail to live up to my expectations!
The book provides a one page devotional for each day of the year. The devotion includes a verse, story of courage from a missionary around the world, and a suggested prayer. It is a great way to focus your day on things outside your normal day to day view.
For me, the devotional spurs me to focus my vision outside my small town or 6X6 cubicle, to the people on the other side of the world. While God cares immensely about my individual situation, He also pushes us to have a broader world view like he does. He loves the whole world and calls us to as well!
I really liked how this devotional was set up. The verse engaged my mind in God’s living truth. The story provide a tangible way for me to connect with real people with real needs from 1000s of miles away, and while the prayer provided specific items to pray about for the missionaries, it also gave a suggested prayer for how my heart needs to change to be more like God’s. The book is set up to walk you through a year of devotions, but I don’t think it has to be a once and done. It is a devotional that could be used year after year, one thought that came to my mind was to mark each page with the year in which I prayed for the people. If I make it back through the book again, I will see that I have prayed for these needs more than once and see how my life has changed.
One of my struggles with this type of devotional is that I start to focus too much on the rigidity that I missed June 4, 5, 6, etc. and not on the discipline of just spending time in the Word and in prayer. That struggle, however, is not the book’s fault; it has more to do with my own OCD…
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Women of Faith Conference
Nothing can separate us from God… (Sheila Walsh)
Happy people are givers, connected, and have goals that both challenge them and leverage their abilities… (Henry Cloud)
Naked and Unashamed with our community of monkeys… (Henry Cloud)
Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ… (Sheila Walsh)
Live Now, Love Now, Give Now, Enjoy Now…. (Luci Swindoll)
By enjoying the world, we improve the world! People want to be where the fun is… (Luci Swindoll)
As I was trying to come up with words to describe my weekend at the Women of Faith conference in Indianapolis, I decided to head back to my quickly jotted notes from the sessions. These quotes above are only a brief synopsis of the weekend, but capture my main takeaways. The women and man (Henry Cloud) had oodles of amazing words of wisdom to share over the course of the two day session. In addition to the amazing speakers, Natalie Grant and Mary Mary both put on wonderful concerts.
I went into the weekend with very little knowledge of the list of speakers when I received the two free tickets to the conference. I knew Henry Cloud as the author of Boundaries, which my college roomie sweared by but I had never read, Sheila Walsh was once on the 700 Club, but that was when I was 6 and under, and Luci Swindoll had a name which was familiar to me. Following their amazing sessions, I feel like I know these people in a very personal and intimate way. They all shared their hearts and the things that God had taught them over the years. Not an easy task in a stadium of 10,000 women and a spattering of men, they must have been the bus drivers :) !
While all of the speakers I mentioned were awesome, my favorite was Angie Smith. I had heard Angie’s story before the conference, but seeing her on stage sharing the very personal details of losing her daughter after only 2 and half hours was very inspiring. I learned a lot from her about depending on the Lord, our Savior, in the good and even more importantly in the very hard times. Angie was full of wit and her smile warms my heart. It is her realness and ordinary-ness that draws me to her, and I thank her for sharing. I highly recommend checking out her blog at http://angiesmithonline.com/
The weekend was great and I would definitely go back again. So family, friends, random strangers who have stumbled upon my online musings, save the date and come with me to the Women of Faith conference in 2012. The session in Indy is August 24-25th!
Happy people are givers, connected, and have goals that both challenge them and leverage their abilities… (Henry Cloud)
Naked and Unashamed with our community of monkeys… (Henry Cloud)
Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ… (Sheila Walsh)
Live Now, Love Now, Give Now, Enjoy Now…. (Luci Swindoll)
By enjoying the world, we improve the world! People want to be where the fun is… (Luci Swindoll)
As I was trying to come up with words to describe my weekend at the Women of Faith conference in Indianapolis, I decided to head back to my quickly jotted notes from the sessions. These quotes above are only a brief synopsis of the weekend, but capture my main takeaways. The women and man (Henry Cloud) had oodles of amazing words of wisdom to share over the course of the two day session. In addition to the amazing speakers, Natalie Grant and Mary Mary both put on wonderful concerts.
I went into the weekend with very little knowledge of the list of speakers when I received the two free tickets to the conference. I knew Henry Cloud as the author of Boundaries, which my college roomie sweared by but I had never read, Sheila Walsh was once on the 700 Club, but that was when I was 6 and under, and Luci Swindoll had a name which was familiar to me. Following their amazing sessions, I feel like I know these people in a very personal and intimate way. They all shared their hearts and the things that God had taught them over the years. Not an easy task in a stadium of 10,000 women and a spattering of men, they must have been the bus drivers :) !
While all of the speakers I mentioned were awesome, my favorite was Angie Smith. I had heard Angie’s story before the conference, but seeing her on stage sharing the very personal details of losing her daughter after only 2 and half hours was very inspiring. I learned a lot from her about depending on the Lord, our Savior, in the good and even more importantly in the very hard times. Angie was full of wit and her smile warms my heart. It is her realness and ordinary-ness that draws me to her, and I thank her for sharing. I highly recommend checking out her blog at http://angiesmithonline.com/
The weekend was great and I would definitely go back again. So family, friends, random strangers who have stumbled upon my online musings, save the date and come with me to the Women of Faith conference in 2012. The session in Indy is August 24-25th!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Women of Faith Tickets
Yippee, I received an email this morning letting me know that I was selected to blog for the Women of Faith conference in Indianapolis, IN in August. If I commit to writing two blogs about the conference, in return, I receive two free registrations. What a great deal! So now I am on the hunt for someone interested in attending with me. I have sent out the emails asking who wants to go and now can't wait to attend. Here is a video that previews the event.
Let me know if you are interested in coming with me. I am sure it will be an awesome time of refreshment and learning.
Let me know if you are interested in coming with me. I am sure it will be an awesome time of refreshment and learning.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Great Resource for Parents and Children’s Ministry workers
“If I Could Ask God Anything—awesome Bible answers for curious kids” is a helpful look at some of the toughest theological questions. Kathryn Slattery has taken questions like how do I get to know Jesus?, how does the Holy Spirit help me? , and why do people have to die? and provides understandable, biblically sound answers for children. In addition to the deep theological questions, she also hits on the typical child’s questions like Why do some people spell Christmas “X-mas”?, Is it okay to pray over the phone?, or is it okay to write in my Bible?. The book is targeted to children’s questions but I found it to be a great resource for the questions I have as well.
I work with children regularly at church and I think this book will be a great resource for those unique questions posed by inquisitive children. Each question in the book has a brief explanation of the answer, references to where these answers can be found in the Bible and encouragement from the author.
I really enjoyed this book selection from BookSneeze. I would definitely recommend it to parents and children’s ministry workers as a resource for all of those tough questions.
I work with children regularly at church and I think this book will be a great resource for those unique questions posed by inquisitive children. Each question in the book has a brief explanation of the answer, references to where these answers can be found in the Bible and encouragement from the author.
I really enjoyed this book selection from BookSneeze. I would definitely recommend it to parents and children’s ministry workers as a resource for all of those tough questions.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
"A Century Turns" by William J Bennett
I really enjoyed this book " A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears." Bill Bennett takes a look at the political and social events in the United States from 1988 to 2008. While Mr. Bennett definitely has personal convictions leaning towards the Conservative and Republican political side, he does a good job of leaving his views and opinions out of the mix and just focusing on the facts. Something I enjoyed were all of his footnotes, it was in these footnotes that you got to really read Mr. Bennett's feelings and opinions. Mr. Bennett served within President Reagan and Bush's administrations and is a political contributor to print and television media.
Mr. Bennett takes a look at the high and low events from the 1988 Presidential Election of the first George Bush through the 2008 Presidential Election of Barack Obama. As the story weaved in and out, I couldn't help but reflect on how each of the events had an impact on my life. I was four years old when this book kicks off and I remember going up town in our stroller decorated with red, white, and blue streamers to see George Bush when he stopped in my hometown during his campaign. The story rolls on throughout the end of the Soviet Union, Gulf War, the Clinton administration and scandals, Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, the revolution of the Internet, the drama of the OJ Simpson arrest and trial, the 2nd George Bush election, the horrible events of 9/11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and finally the campaign and election of Barack Obama. At the end of the book's events, I was 24 and working a full time. My unit was holding a conference for our zone partners on the day of Obama's inaguration and the conference was put on hold as the whole group watched his speech. While I don't agree with most of this President's views, it was evident that the world had changed over the past 20 years and this was a big day.
Another insightful part of this book was how Mr. Bennett shows the rising tensions between the United States and terrorists around the world during the 1990s. It was interesting to me how many times the United States should have maybe took more interest in the threats of Osama bin Laden during the 1990s. It may be just my ignorance, but I had never even heard of him until 9/11/2001. I remember my friend Chad telling me all about him in 2nd period Calculus on 9/11 (I still question why Chad knew all about him...)
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in how the events of the past 20 years have impacted our lives.
Mr. Bennett takes a look at the high and low events from the 1988 Presidential Election of the first George Bush through the 2008 Presidential Election of Barack Obama. As the story weaved in and out, I couldn't help but reflect on how each of the events had an impact on my life. I was four years old when this book kicks off and I remember going up town in our stroller decorated with red, white, and blue streamers to see George Bush when he stopped in my hometown during his campaign. The story rolls on throughout the end of the Soviet Union, Gulf War, the Clinton administration and scandals, Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, the revolution of the Internet, the drama of the OJ Simpson arrest and trial, the 2nd George Bush election, the horrible events of 9/11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and finally the campaign and election of Barack Obama. At the end of the book's events, I was 24 and working a full time. My unit was holding a conference for our zone partners on the day of Obama's inaguration and the conference was put on hold as the whole group watched his speech. While I don't agree with most of this President's views, it was evident that the world had changed over the past 20 years and this was a big day.
Another insightful part of this book was how Mr. Bennett shows the rising tensions between the United States and terrorists around the world during the 1990s. It was interesting to me how many times the United States should have maybe took more interest in the threats of Osama bin Laden during the 1990s. It may be just my ignorance, but I had never even heard of him until 9/11/2001. I remember my friend Chad telling me all about him in 2nd period Calculus on 9/11 (I still question why Chad knew all about him...)
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in how the events of the past 20 years have impacted our lives.
Friday, January 29, 2010
"The Gospel According to Lost" by Chris Seay
I just finished reading this book a few minutes ago and I find myself contemplating deep thoughts. Why do we make the decisions we do in life, what makes the world go round in such a perfect fashion, and what makes some people choose murder and others tears? One of the most intriguing things about the show "Lost" is that the writers make you stop and think deep powerful thoughts all while sucking you into an unbelievable storyline where no one can predict what is going to happen next. Isn't that true about the Bible too? Who would have thought that God could rain bread down from the sky? Or turn water into wine? But He could and did! We can't explain why or how but it happened.
I think that is why I was so drawn to reading this book. I, like any other "Lost" fan, am looking for answers. I hoped this book would answer some of those hanging unanswered questions. While Seay does not explain the smoke monster or who Jacob really is, he does bring good perspective to what the Lost writers are trying to portray.
I liked the connections Seay makes between the one true gospel found woven beautifully through the pages of the Bible and the craziness that ensues on the island. The book takes each of the main characters in Lost and dissects the true storyline behind each of those characters. The themes of redemption, human's struggle to understand God, and blurred lines between right and wrong are at the heart of every Lostie (Seay's term for the stranded) and for that matter every person in real life.
This book will not answer all of your burning questions about Lost, but I don't think that is what Seay wanted. He wanted you to stop and think about the plot and how the themes played out in Lost tie back to the wonderful truths found in the Bible.
I would definitely recommend this book to any Lost fan, however if you are not a fan of the show the book will not make much sense.
To all you Lost fans out there, hopefully this final season will answer some of those burning questions that I was unable to get answered with this book or the past 5 seasons :)
I think that is why I was so drawn to reading this book. I, like any other "Lost" fan, am looking for answers. I hoped this book would answer some of those hanging unanswered questions. While Seay does not explain the smoke monster or who Jacob really is, he does bring good perspective to what the Lost writers are trying to portray.
I liked the connections Seay makes between the one true gospel found woven beautifully through the pages of the Bible and the craziness that ensues on the island. The book takes each of the main characters in Lost and dissects the true storyline behind each of those characters. The themes of redemption, human's struggle to understand God, and blurred lines between right and wrong are at the heart of every Lostie (Seay's term for the stranded) and for that matter every person in real life.
This book will not answer all of your burning questions about Lost, but I don't think that is what Seay wanted. He wanted you to stop and think about the plot and how the themes played out in Lost tie back to the wonderful truths found in the Bible.
I would definitely recommend this book to any Lost fan, however if you are not a fan of the show the book will not make much sense.
To all you Lost fans out there, hopefully this final season will answer some of those burning questions that I was unable to get answered with this book or the past 5 seasons :)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Book reviewer
I recently stumbled upon a blog that had a bunch of book reviews on it. The writer had posted a blog about being part of the "Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger" program. The idea intrigued me and so I looked into it further.
By participating in the program, you get free books as long as you agree to write a blog about the book after you are finished and post a review on a consumer retail website like Amazon.com.
I am going to give it a try for a while and I will let you know what I think. Sounds like a fun idea for now.
By participating in the program, you get free books as long as you agree to write a blog about the book after you are finished and post a review on a consumer retail website like Amazon.com.
I am going to give it a try for a while and I will let you know what I think. Sounds like a fun idea for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)