"Diary of a Jackwagon" By Tim Hawkins

When you hear Tim Hawkins name you typically think Christian Comedian, and how funny he is. You wouldn't think writer. From the moment I started reading until the last page I laughed out loud, sometimes waking my poor husband who had to be at work before the rooster crowed. It is clean, funny comedy in text form. He picks on himself, his family, homeschooling (which his family does), married life. He's serious about his faith in Jesus, and how important it is to have a relationship with Christ.

Do I recommended this book? 1000x yes. You will laugh until you cry, and possibly other things too ;) 

If you have never heard of Tim Hawkins, shame on you j/k, but now go type in his name and listen to some of the favorites like, "Things you don't say to your wife" "Yoga pants" and many more. Also go out and get your copy of "Diary of a Jackwagon" 

"12 Days in Africa, A Mother's Love" By Lisa Sanders

In the book "12 Days in Africa" Lisa travels to Uganda, Africa with her youngest son Blake, on a mission trip. She wants to make the most of the time she has with her son Blake before he goes off to college. During their 12 days in Africa, Lisa and Blake experienced some highs and lows. One of the stories that Lisa shared has stuck with me. She tells of when they traveled to one of the orphanages and the leader of their group said to look for the kids who were avoiding the attention or off alone. Lisa stepped off the bus and she immediately sees a little boy, shivering, barely clothes, and his eyes yellow. Lisa sits down and comforts the sweet boy, and he has his head in her lap. After a while she goes to check on Blake and when she comes back the boy is gone. She starts asking around and finally speaks with the doctor who tells her the sweet boy has passed away from Malaria. My heart broke as I read this. I wonder how many times we complain when we wait more than 15 minutes at the doctor, I know I do, but at least we are able to get the medicine that we need, and the care that we need. How many times do I complain because of what I have to eat or don't want to drive to get what I want, but fail to see the blessing of having the food I have or the ability to get in the car and drive and get whatever I want.  

Disclosure: 

I received this book from the publisher through the Book look bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

"The Good, The Bad, and the Grace of God" By Jep and Jessica Robertson

Wow! This was a  book that caught my attention within the first page and kept it until the last page, and left me wanting more. The transparency of Jep and Jessica Robertson was refreshing, and their faith in God firm. Although they had both been through so much they learned to rely and trust in God. You laugh a little and cry a lot. You want to go through the pages and into their home, and hug them both. This is a MUST read! You learn, from two people who have been through so much, what true grace and forgiveness looks like.

Disclaimer:

I received this book free from the publisher through book look bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.  

"The Grand Paradox" By Ken Wystma

I just finished reading Ken Wystma’s book The Grand Paradox, The Messiness of Life, the Mystery of God and the Necessity of Faith. This book is about Faith and what that looks like in the messiness of life that we live in today.

I believe, depending on where you are with your walk with Christ and whatever season you are in, this book will speak to you in different ways. One of my favorite chapters was chapter 4 Wisdom’s Folly this chapter was mainly focused on Prayer and its importance in our walk with Christ. One of my favorite quotes from the this chapter comes from page 37 and he says, “The fruit of prayer is dependent on deep roots, and the more we cultivate and nurture our prayer life, the more we can expect to experience the blessed fruit of clear communication with God.”

Disclosure:

I received this book free from the publisher through book look bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.  

When you feel as though you're not enough

Have you ever looked at yourself and thought I’m not pretty enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m not skinny enough?

When I look in the mirror all I see is FAT, by the way thanks thyroid for not doing your job, YOU SUCK!

I’m constantly comparing myself to others. Oh look at her, her dress fits perfectly and there are no bulges, no flab hanging from those arms, her nails are perfect, her hair is perfect, her makeup is perfect. Why Can’t I be perfect?

STOP IT!!! I may not be perfect in the eyes of the world or whatever latest fashion magazine, I will never be on the front page of gosh I don’t even know the name of that magazine, but I am perfect in the sight of God.

Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

I am made in God’s image, and God is perfect and beautiful (Can you call God beautiful?) ;)

I need to stop comparing myself to the world and start comparing myself to how God sees me.               

Pray for your marriage

With the sanctity of marriage under attack now a days it is so important that we fight for our marriages. It is important that God is head of our marriages, and that we are constantly seeking Him in our marriages. We need to also be praying for our spouses; against temptations, our outside relationships, for joy, for each other and the list goes on.

Darlene Schacht’s new book 100 Prayers for your marriage is a great source to use in those prayers. She has put together 100 prayers to pray over your marriage, husband or wife can use this wonderful tool.

Prayer is essential to our walk with Christ, and in our everyday relationships.

You can purchase this handy, dandy ebook right now on Amazon for 2.99. 2.99 can change the way you pray for your marriage, it’s worth it!

 

You can purchase your copy here

Undone... Book review

"But sometimes messy is the necessary beginning to the making of extraordinary." -Michele Cushatt

Growing up you have this thought of how life will be. You look at your parents life and think, "I'll never make those mistakes," "My life will be different" "I won't yell at my kids" and then life happens.

You make mistakes, you fail, you yell, life isn't at all what you planned out. "It's an undone life. But I (you) don't have to be undone by it." -Michele Cushatt

In Michele's new book, Undone, she takes you through a life of marriage, newborn, divorce, remarriage, blended family, teenagers, cancer, life's unexpected turn of getting three littles to raise, cancer again, surgeries, and life didn't stop for any of it. You will laugh, you will cry. Some of you may know exactly where she is coming from. We can all relate in one way or another. Through Michele's story you get transparency, and honesty, and when you finish reading the last word, on the last page of the book, you are sad that it's over, you hope/want more because you feel as though she has sat and told you her story over a cup of coffee, not that you read it in a book.


Add this to your list of books to read for 2015, I promise you won't regret it. You can get it here  at Amazon or here at Barnes and Noble.

Importance of prayer

How important is prayer? What does your prayer life look like? Do you pray in the morning, middle of the day, or as your falling asleep at night?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We should always be in communication with our heavenly father. Just as you speak to your spouse, children, friends so that you have a healthy relationship with them, so we should do with our heavenly father. We want to maintain, grow that relationship.

Jesus even knew how important it was to pray, He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified. (Matthew 26:36-56)

Not long ago I did a post on marriage and included some scripture you can pray over your husband. You can see those here.

Here are 5 scripture that you can pray over your child(children)
Psalm 4:3 Your child is set apart
Colossians 2:2 For God to be in all of their friendships
Luke 2:52 Your child to walk in favor with God and man
1 Peter 2:17 To be respectful
Proverbs 3:24-26 To be protected

You can also see more Marriage Prayers over at my friend Darlene Schacht's blog (click on blog)

Prayer for our churches

James MacDonald says “There are astounding statistics that six thousand churches close their doors every year, thirty-five hundred Americans leave the church every day and only fifteen percent of churches are growing annually,” says MacDonald.

How scary!!

I told you in yesterday's post about a little church I came upon while I was out and about taking pictures. Today it hit me that little church is abandoned. No one goes in on Sunday morning and opens it doors, turns up the heat, turns on all the lights and gets ready for the worshipers to show up. The choir doesn't sing, the offering is not taken, and the pastor doesn't stand in the pulpit and bring the message. This is one church of the six thousand churches that close their doors every year.

In our Bible Study Made for Community with Love God Greatly, you can check it out here, we are talking about being in Community with God, and with others and in one of ours weeks we are talking about being in Community with our local church. We are called to be in Community. My heart is burdened for this church and the thousands of churches around the world that are closing their doors.

Please join me in prayer for these churches. Please pray for the pastors that lead these churches, and pray for those that go to these churches. Pray that their/our hearts will be on fire and want to be worshiping with other believers.

Be Still....

When God says Be still... 

I am a list person. I like to check things off of my list. I am someone who likes to know all the details of what is going to happen. If  we are invited to an event, I want to know what time to be there, what (if any) type of food will be served, I want to know how to dress and what others will be wearing. I am a control freak.  

We are at a time where God is saying "Be still" (Psalm 46:10) and it is hard for me. I trust God completely, I'm not worried about what will happen, but I want to know what is going to happen. I want to know the next 5 steps and when we have completed those 5 steps what the next 5 will be. 

I went out on a drive today to take pictures of the snow and I came upon this little church that was rundown and what I saw at the time as a great photo op I now see as God telling me slow down, rest in me, allow me to work out all the details. God says in his word, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 Everything works for our good and God's Glory!! 

I only need to be still. I need to pray, I need to be in his word, and I need to be listening to what he is telling me. 

The modern day marriage

"Wives, submit to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Ephesians 23-25

My girls like this particular show on T.V. about an animal that has a blog. I've actually had to stop them from watching it because of the message that it portrays. The show itself is not bad. It's about an animal that talks and only the children can hear, and then he writes a blog telling about his families adventures. The problem I have with the show is the fact that the husband, who on the show is a child psychologist, is made out to be a complete idiot. He doesn't have the respect of his wife, his children, or sometimes even his patients.

 I want to show my children what a biblical marriage looks like. Biblically I am called to submit to my husband, not make him look like a baboon in front of our children, or our friends. 

One of the things I see all too often is a wife belittling or talking about her husband negatively to him in front of people, or to her girlfriends. Ladies, this can ruin a marriage! If your husband feels disrespected then you're going to not feel loved. If you haven't read Love and Respect I suggest you do. 

I have been guilty of this. I have been guilty of correcting my husband in front of others, I have been guilty of saying, "You are being stupid," now let me tell you I was joking at the time, but I could see the look on my husband's face when I said it, and it broke me. Words are so strong, the old saying "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is WRONG! Words do hurt, and we are called to be Christ-like, we are called in   Philippians 2 v5 We our told "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus" Do you think Christ would belittle someone or talk bad about someone? Absolutely not! Neither should we! 

Do something for your husband this week, Just Because! Something you know that he will like. 

Scripture to pray over your husband:

Ephesians 4:1-2

Ephesians 5: 25-29

Proverbs 22:29

Psalm 46:1

Proverbs 11:3

1 Corinthians 10:13

Proverbs 28:27

Luke 16:13

Jeremiah 29:11

Choosing Him All Over Again: Book Review

Choosing Him All Over Again
                A Story of Romance and Redemption

I wonder how many of us, if we were being honest, would say I dreamed about what it would be like to be married to someone else. What if I would have married Mr. tall, dark, and handsome, not short, chubby and balding? What if I would have married a lawyer instead of a pastor?

Juana Mikels seemed to have it all, a handsome hubby, a fantastic job, a dream home they built together, but Juana felt something was missing from her marriage and that her husband was not who she was supposed to be married to.

One October night leaving her husband, Juana set out on an adventure that she thought would take her to finding her "Mr. Right" and it did but not the "Mr. Right" you might think. She found Jesus.

Her road back to redemption in her marriage was not an easy one, there was rejection from her husband, and heartache but Juana did not give up on God, and what he could do in her marriage, and because of that there was restoration in her marriage and her husband would later come to the Lord, and they have raised 4 beautiful children in a Christian home.

I don't want to give all of the book away, but I tell you that you need to add this book to your 2015 reading list!!

You can purchase the book here

Enjoy!!

Measuring Up

One of my goals for 2015 is remembering Who's I am and Who I am in Christ. I tend to measure my worth by what other people think/say, how many likes or comments on facebook, instagram etc. 

Gods says that I am...

* I am a Child of God
John 1:12 (ESV) But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

* I am a branch of the true vine, and a conduit of Christ's life. 
John 15:1,5 (ESV) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser." 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

* I am a friend of Jesus
John 15:15  (ESV) No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

*As a Child of God, I am a fellow heir with Christ
Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

To live an effective Christian life you need to know and believe who you are in Christ. 
Understanding your identity in Christ is crucial to your success. 
I choose to believe what God says about me! 


Be blessed!