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A year or so ago I won two copies of the Voice bible from Thomas Nelson’s Blog Bunch. I won a digital copy for my Kindle and I won a hard copy as ell. I enjoyed the Voice. It is truly an interesting translation but have you ever wondered how someone or in this case a group of someones toes about deciding to go about developing a translation of the Bible? I did. I was curious and this Bible is slightly different. So when I saw that Thomas Nelson was offering The Story of the Voice to be reviewed by booksneezers i jumped at the chance.

This book marks the journey of the crew who translated the Voice Bible. I must say that the timeline of this “adventure” along with God’s working is nothing short of Amazing!

There is a quote from the Sound of Music that was brought to mind throughout this book,

“When God closes a door somewhere He opens a window”

What’s more the book inserts throughout it blog posts that were written about the translation as the embarked on their journey. It gives insight on the struggles, blessings and the processes involved in such a great undertaking.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I read it and was blessed in seeing how God worked and encouraged the team of writers and collaborators. It was also a great idea to include the blog posts that happened “real time”. It captured the emotions and thoughts while in the trenches of this process.
My questions and curiosities were answered on the process and how one decides to go about adding a new translation into the mix.

The one downfall I guess would be that despite the fact it is a small book at times it felt repetitious( as in the blog post inserts would repeat what the author had already stated in the chapter). This didn’t happen all the time but it did happen a few.

On a whole I would recommend you read this book if you are in the slightest bit curious about The Voice Bible and/or why it was written.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars

(Disclaimer: i was provided a free copy from Booksneeze for review purposes and in no way am I required to give a favorable review, nor am i compensated for such.)

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Hi all! Have you ever been told, “you look like death warmed over?”

Well last week i FELT like death warmed over! We spent last Saturday out and about shopping and so on. We had stopped somewhere for a quick bite to eat. We got home and I was tired a laid down for only a few minutes, did some laundry and finished the cushions for our wicker furniture. Hubby made an incredible dinner which I scarfed down and went back to hand stitching the cushions closed after I stuffed the full of fluff! Then we moved upstairs to bed.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling absolutely horrible. My stomach was a mess. Was it the fast food? I remembered telling hubby it tasted a little off. I hopped into the shower to get ready for church (it was mothers day after all.). By the end of my shower i had gotten soooo overheated I got sick. I took my temp…normal. My stomach still hurt…and i mean hurt……so now the big question…church or no church.

Church…..i had to teach Sunday School! The reasons to not miss church far outweighed staying home. After all it was just something I had eaten …..right?

Well i was miserable all through church, i missed my husbands sermon, and i tried to focus on things at hand but I most definitely fell short! So after everyone had left hubby and I headed home and I was sent directly to bed….passing up the pizza spread hubby had promised and prepared for the young’ins….

I stayed in bed all day Sunday, Monday rolled around and felt still worse. Hubby was up at 6 sending two munchkins off to school. I could barely get up to go to the bathroom which was growing far too frequent. I couldn’t keep anything down for more than a few minutes….this went on for three whole days.

Monday night early Tuesday morning he awoke to our almost 8 year old son standing my our bed. “I’m sick”, were his only words. Pretty much the rest of the week is one large hazy blur as my head vibrated with sounds of daily life downstairs going on without me and Tornado. Thankfully tornado never got as bad as i had. And neither did weasel when he joined us on Thursday morning early.

People called to check on me but phone calls were short as my head just shook under its dehydrated state and I found myself in a quandary. I found myself with a head spinning due to the inability to keep food or drink down, and i would sit up to drink and my head would spin as i drank , i would get sea sick and then try to lay down quick enough before i got sick from the room moving. I couldn’t win.

Thankfully there is this magic stuff called gatorade and by Thursday i was able to drink enough to allow me to stay upright for short stints. By Friday I was eating Pizza and i was able to celebrate hubby’s birthday with our family on Saturday.

Yeah my mothers day may not have been the ideal and no neither was the entire week after that but in all of the sickness my house didn’t fall apart, everyone was taken care of and fed well, i was taken care of, i was able to rest as much as i needed, and i was encouraged to do so. Those in and of the,selves made last week the best mothers day a mom could ask for. I am so blessed to have such a competent caring hubby and such caring children!

I look forward to being back this week with you call!

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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My dearest R—–
Today marks a truly special milestone. From right now 6 am I woke a very happy young lady, matter of fact I hardly slept the night before in such anticipation. This day 10 years ago I was blessed beyond measure! I had two amazing milestones. We graduated college together and then what seemed like an eternity later i walked down the aisle in a white gown and become your bride.

Oh how blessed I am dear to call you my husband. The trials that are thrown our way have done nothing but make us stronger. Thank you for encouraging me to step out and try new things and to push myself above and beyond what I one thought possible.

Thank you for embracing who I am and loving both for it and in spite of it!

I am so proud of you as you have grown into an even stronger man of God. I marvel at your abilities and you strength. I love watching you interact with our children and I love spying on you as you work, whether in your office or in the yard or in the playroom cuddling with our children.

You make me smile like no other person has ever made me do so before.

There have been some very rough times but my dear you can always know I will fight for us. We will fight together as the team God has created in us. It is with you alone I wish to grow old with and share my joys and my sufferings.

You complete me.

Thank you for being confident in me and trusting me. Thank you for your gentleness and kindness, your sweetness and your playfulness, thank you for being faithful.

I love you more each and everyday and I count it such a blessing to have been your wife for the last 10 years…..a decade devoted to you and our children. I wouldn’t change it for the world and I hope to have many more decades to come.

I love you so much,
Happy Anniversary my dear husband
Love always,
Mary

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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…….a month we celebrate the birth of our youngest child.
……..is a time of growing warmth and sunshine (at least here in NY).
….. Is a month we generally remember the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
AND…
…….BEGINNING this year we want to share and make the world more aware of the growing number of children with …..

1 in 88 children have autism.
1 in 54 boys have autism.
And only 4% of children with autism will be able to function and hold down a job as an adult.

(Stats taken from the Autism Speaks website)

Those statistics are mind blowing! And as a parent of a son in this group….i don’t like it. It was hard to come to the realization that We may have to provide care for him through his adult life. Let’s be honest all of us want our children to grow and succeed.

I’m not saying our son won’t grow up to be amazing but as parents we had to come to terms with this sooner or later! We are grateful that he talks (he didn’t until age 3). We are also thankful that he is potty trained. It’s the simple things in life that I at times have taken for granted.

So. Thank You to all of the doctors, researchers, and not for profit organizations that helps families like ours! You really do make a difference in our kids lives and in our family’s lives!

Next year we will join the thousands of others in the light it up Blue campaign through the month of April. Will you consider joining us as well?
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Have you ever had to sit out in the “vestibule” with a cranky child? Maybe for some other reason? Has it happened frequently? How do you feel? Do you feel left out? Frustrated that everyone else gets to participate? Maybe you feel alone, but yet when someone volunteers to help out you kindly say no?

Well i have a confession to make…I’ve been there! It was a frustration that I couldn’t be a part of worship. But this past Sunday as I started to enter the auditorium with my 5 year old son, and he put on his brakes and said “please mommy no”. My heart sank! I didn’t even make it in this time. We took our place on the pew under the coat rack and I said to him…”can’t you please try? Daddy said if you tried you could put the offering in the plate”. To which he replied” but mommy there’s too many people and it’s too loud”. “All i could muster was an “ok we will sit here.” I gave him a little squeeze and listened to the music playing in the next room. As I sat there watching him finger his little tiny toys he would interject his observations on life…..he would make me giggle and then all of sudden he chimed in “i like this song”.

In that very moment I realized something…..i was worshipping along with everyone else. I may not have been sitting in the same room, i was not even singing the songs with my mouth. I was listening though. I listened to the music, the prayers, and in those quite moments with my son I praised the Lord. I praised Him for two things…..
1. My son is learning to communicate what overwhelms him. It wasn’t all that long ago that my son would have screamed whined, made awful noises, hide his face, fidget, and try to run away.
2. That in those moments when my son seems most distant, and that he is absorbed in examining life’s little oddities, like bubbles in a glass of water. He is listening to the faith based surroundings…like a simple song being played and sung in the next room.

My heart leapt for joy. I knew that at that moment I will not live the “normal life”. But it is the life God has for me. Will it ever change it may or it may not but for now, I will worship with my little boy in the Narthex!

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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