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BOOK REVIEW: A Spectacle of Glory A Spectacle of Glory God’s Light Shining through Me Every Day By Joni Eareckson Tada with Larry Libby

Posted on by Mary

 A Spectacle of Glory

A Spectacle of Glory
God’s Light Shining through Me Every Day
By Joni Eareckson Tada with Larry Libby
Published by Zondervan

Joni Eareckson Tada is well known for her testimony as a quadriplegic and her many talents including her skillful writing ability and A Spectacle of Glory is no different.  Joni artfully communicates God’s truths through this small little devotional book that packs quite the truth punch.    Even though each day is a relatively short devotional, it is jam packed full of  meet you right where you are   truths that are applicable to our each and every day lives.  Whether you are a person in the midst of struggles or you are a busy mom running errands this tiny book fits right into your purse backpack or briefcase and can be read in your free moments.   it also gives you scripture reading that you can read all or portions depending on your schedule and can be easily continued throughout your day.

I really enjoyed the encouragement this book brought as I laid in bed battling illnesses for 3 weeks and I had a personal struggle that kept me awake at nights.  it brought light into a dark spot and encouraged me to keep moving forward.  I love the ability to tuck it into almost any bag and have it with me wherever I went.  however with that comes one major downfall….FONT SIZE! .  This is huge for me since I am visually impaired however  that seems like such a very small detail in light of the fact that this book brought such encouragement.    I would like t encourage you that no matter the season you are in whether it be  crazy busy, stressful or just plain dark, this book will shed light to the darkest of times.  I give this book a  5 out 5 stars.  You can find this book and others by Joni on Amazon by clicking HERE

Id like to give a big Thank You to BookLook Bloggers for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.  In no way  is there compensation for a positive review. and this post contains NO affiliate links!

Book Review: Angel In My Room by BettyCollier

Posted on by Mary

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Angel in my room

Angel In My Room by BettyCollier is the Biography of Lillie Hopkins who lost the baby who had become her everything.  When the baby dies, she becomes inconsolable.  She feels as though her life is over and struggles with deep depression.  she talks about seeing her baby and having a conversation with God, in which she cannot decide to live or die.  Upon returning home she  is helped by a few people including her brother and another dear friend.  as she grows out of this horrible experience she then passes the grace and love shared with her during her hard times to those who then need it..  It is an encouraging book of hope and how you can rise out of the valley of despair and still touch and impact lives with love and truth.

I enjoyedAngel In in my Room.  It is a fast read and keeps you engaged.  I found it to be encouraging.  Though some of the circumstances are far fetched at times, we must remember that the Bible is specific, that Angels existed before man was created so therefore humans cannot become angels.  Does that then mean that she didn’t experience some sort of miracle NO.   This is one woman testimony, we have truth in scripture, So I can only say that one piece.  outside of that it was a gripping touching story and she is able to take the pain she endured and turned it into something absolutely beautiful as she encouraged others through their struggles as well.  It was powerfully written and the author did a fantastic job telling this woman life story.   I give it a 3 1/2 stars.

DISCLAIMER: I RECIEVED A COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF PEACE FOR TODAY BY SHIELA WALSH FROM BOOKLOOK BLOGGERS FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. I DO NOT RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR POSITIVE REVIEWS .

Happy Homemaker Monday 2/29/2016

Posted on by Mary

Let’s start off with a Big Ole’ HAPPY LEAP DAY!!!

What are you doing with you “extra”  24 Hours  today?

Me I’m Blogging…YAY!!!!!

It’s been a while…a rather long. Hard while, and while we are still feeling the effects of exhaustion stemming from a very traumatic event we are in a whole new normal and a very exciting time in our lives.

I know I have mentioned it briefly over the last year, but our story really is coming…I PROMISE!

So on with my Happy Homemaker post!!

On the weather front:   Rainy, wet, and very SPRING like…That’s saying a lot since we live in upstate NY (and  it’s FEBRUARY  29th)

On my bedside table: nothing really

On my TV: Fuller House (more  on my take on this later)

On the menu for tonight:Million Doller  Spaghetti Casserole found on this site here 

On the menu for this week:

Monday: Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole & Salad

Tuesday: Chili and Biscuits

Wednesday: Chicken Broccoli Rice Bake and Veggies

Thursday: Taco Salad

Friday: Meatball Subs

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday: For the fellowship dinner cookies, for evening meal we will have something simple perhaps leftovers…if there are any !!

On my To Do List:

  • Cancel Netflix
  • Deep clean Kitchen cabinets
  • deep clean and re-organize the school room (did you catch that a hint of a new adventure)
  • craft room organized
  • kids clothes sorted and organized
  • Linen closet sorted organized and decluttered

There is a bunch more BUT this is plenty for the week!

New Recipe I tried last week:I didn’t.  last week was TOO crazy for new!

In the craft basket:  Home organization items, a bathrobe and a baby gift for a certain very anticipated niece and cousin!

Looking forward to:: Wednesday date night with my dear Husband !!

Homemaking Tip for this week: enjoy your space, make it  what you love.  OWN IT!

Favorite photo from last week:

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Lesson learned the past few days:  from yesterday actually I planned  a meal for 8 adults and 6 kids.  What I got was 8 adults and 9 kids….can you say 5 loaves and two fishes….everyone ate until they were filled! THEN THERE were leftovers!!

On my Prayer List:

  • 5 little girls
  • unsaved friends and family
  • a teen growing leaps and bounds in her faith with Jesus
  • a sick little boy in our house
  • my children
  • my husband

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses

Ephesian :4:1-6  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV

For More Happy Homemaker Posts Check out: http://familycorner.blogspot.com

BOOK REVIEW: Stress and Peace by Stanley V. Johnson MBA

Posted on by Mary

imageStress and Peace by Stanley V. Johnson MBA

Stress and Peace by Stanley Johnson is is a book based on how to deal with everyday stress and how to take those stresses and to achieve peace through them. The first three chapters of the book Mr. Johnson takes the time in each of those three chapters to:

  1. to define the purpose of Life
  2. Define Stress
  3. Define Peace

However this is a Christian book and Mr. Johnson quotes Hindu and Buddhist and Sikh writings along with Muslim and Jewish texts and a few other non-Christian writings. This is a problem because the Bible ris very clear about mixing faiths. If this is a Christian book it should be focused on what Bible says about stress and peace

The remaining of the chapters (and there’s a lot of them but they are relatively short) is based on life trials and the stresses that come into our lives along with the general parts of life as we grow and mature, Such as:

marriage

children

adolescence

end-of-life

growing older

financial

and various different areas of life

In all of these he talks about the Bible and he talks about an ideal. However we don’t live a life of ideals but that is what Mr. Johnson is communicating in his book. In this book the ongoing feeling is that this is a perfect world so you’re going to have stress. Stress isn’t in a perfect world but if you handle the way in which he tells you to your not going to have any stress. You could do all that he says, to make the stress easier or eliminate stress and still have some catastrophe that will create huge amounts of stress.

So then what do we do with this book? My review of this book is that I first of all didn’t Agree with the first three chapters. I think that if it’s a Christian book then those other religions have no part or weight in writing a Christ centered Bible based book. It’s like writinga Diet and exercise manual while citing a Paula Den CookBook for healthy eating ideas. It doesn’t affect me because I don’t read those books I don’t partake in those religions…they just plain and simple don’t apply to me and that’s fine. As I read the rest of the chapters I just quickly discovered that his ideas are good the principles are biblical. The things that he said are good but when you do the things that it says and things don’t turn out the way they “should” then what do we do when it doesn’t ?Mr. Johnson just doesn’t deal with that so I think that my review based on the first three chapters being 90% irrelevant to my walk as a follower of Jesus and the fact that his book talks about an ideal, I’m going to give it a two out of five stars and I can’t recommend this book only because I really didn’t Agree with it.

(WRITERS NOTE: I am NOT saying that the Bible is an ideal, the Bible never returns void and is good for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. What i am saying is that the author does not provide adequate help for those who might follow his advice and things still don’t work the way they “should”)

I want to take this moment to think BookLook Bloggers for letting me review this book for free and without expectation of a positive review

Introverted Mommy

Posted on by Mary

Introverted Mommy

Embracing Being an Introvert in the Land of Mommyhood isn’t Easy…NO NO NO! If you told me back when I was a teenager that I was an introvert I would have said “Say what” Ok so that wasn’t a saying per se BUT I would not have understood what that meant.

Fast forward to College and a lot of people told me I was an extrovert. I liked hanging out in large groups. We would play fun games such as “wWhose Line is it Anyway” (yes BIBLE college version) and Mafia (AHEM) yes you read that right….we spent many hours playing that game, matter of fact we still play that game with our youth group. We played other games too. I have always enjoyed games… of all sorts. Card games, board games, acting games, and games such as Sardines, Mission Impossible and Capture the Flag Basketball and some others. I even know how to play poker, black jack and a few other “questionable” games. It’s a good thing God didn’t say thou Shalt not play Cards because folks I’m here to tell you I have seen good kids play poker with UNO cards. It’s a sin to gamble NOT play a game…Ok so lets get back to the task at hand. In high school I was told I was great at public speaking and got a personal invitation from the coach to be a part of the team…think debate not dead bodies. That love of public speaking grew as I went to Bible College and took Chic-aletics ..The female (nicknamed) version of homiletics (preaching). The teacher didn’t know that the students had secretly been calling it that for years until my friend Amy and I stood talking in the lunch line and she overheard us…she was shocked and then giggled and said I LOVE IT! we just thought “WHEW” I knew then Mrs U. was a kindred Spirit.

What I didn’t realize was, that is actually an introvert quality. Liking large groups over small or one to one groups which coincidentally I find torturous!! It wasn’t until a few years ago that I began to understand who I really was.

Continue reading “Introverted Mommy” →