Book Review :Peace For Today by Shiela Walsh

Posted on by Mary

image_140_245_Book.1838.cover

Peace for Today By Shiela Walsh is a gritty little book that packs a punch. 50 devotionals all based on Peace.    Peace for today offers short 5 minute devotionals that is geared towards a busy lifestyle but doesn’t lack truth!   Do you feel as though your life isn’t full of the peace only Jesus brings?  Do you have Peace stealers in your life?

look no further than Peace for Today.  No Matter what is going on in your life you can find peace, in Jesus! and that is exactly what Shiela Walsh brings to us.  This little book packs a punch when it comes to hitting us hard with truth but in the way only Shiela Walsh can.  This book speaks truth right where and When we need it~ from her own personal stories to accounts of those in the Bible you can truly rly on truth on peace being spoken into your heart!

I really Loved this book!  I must confess that I had my doubts!!  I enjoy Sheila Walsh and when Peace For Today Arrived on my doorstep I thought to myself “oh no, it’s a fluff book…not a whole lot of content”  but I should have known better.  You should not judge a book by it’s cover…OR ITS SIZE!  which by the way the cover is super cute and the feel is high quality, but it is SMALL.   But small doesn’t mean it’s lacking for content.  each morning as I read the devotionals I found it speaking to the deepest recesses of my heart and met me just where I was…and isn’t that just what Jesus does.  I think Ms. Walsh has skills above most to be able to meet you as a friend.  when you read this book just like her others you feel as though you have been friends forever!  to say the lease I was impressed!  I highly recommend this book no matter the place you are in life whether in the valley or on the mountain top.  I give it 5 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 .

It’s Been a Month…..

Posted on by Mary

It's Been A Montha Month…a whole month?   REALLY? Tomorrow marks a month since I last posted , and it’s not because of a lack of want.   it’s been a very crazy month and i wish I could say it was going to get better.   Actually it will…..once we leave on vacations, but until then the month coming will hold some fun!

 

It had been a pretty focused month …and then it happened last week….I got sick.   I have not been sick all winter…I would start down the cold road and then I would take extra vitamins and then Id be fine.My seeds That needed to be are all started…They aren’t really doing much BUT they are started at least!I had my laptop sitting next to last week, open all ready to write but my arms ached so BAD!  I just rolled over and went to sleep.

So here are some of th things we have accomplished over the last month

  1. Little Bean turned 6
  2. Picnics
  3. Weasels’s 3rd quarterly report was written and sent in.
  4. Homeschool curriculum for grade 3 has been purchased  and recieveed
  5. Letter of Intent to homeschool has been sent in
  6. Away has been completed
  7. we acquired a second set of college stdents (related to a class that they take in the special education degree)  they spend 25 hours with a family over the course of a semester.   For whatever reason the second set couldn’t finish out their hours with their assigned family so we were asked if we could fit in another set.  this was a fourth semester participating in this program…a lot of this college kids don’t…or can’t connect but the group we had this semester really connected wonderfully with weasel…..they were simply amazing!
  8. My stack of reading is GOING NO WHERE FAST!   I just had too many things going on at once, but soon I will have more time once homeschooling is done for the year.
  9. we (my Women’s Bible study group that I leadI) put on this AMZING Ladies Brunch….. And we are beginning to form the foundation of a a thriving women Ministry in our church.  this was really time consuming, BUT it’s what I am called to do and I love it!
  10. we are getting ready to kick off our next ladies Bible study  using Rest Assured By Vicki Courtney which I reviewed here a couple of months ago.  I have fallen in Love with the book and it is beginning a 4 level Bible study series spanning 4 books
    1. Rest Assured
    2. The Best Yes
    3. Thrive
    4. Fervent
  11. and even though I have been silent on the blog, I have been writing.   There is a blog series pending the release of Stacey Thacker’s book  Fresh Out of Amazing.   This series of blog posts has been shall we say….HARD!  that seems like such an understatement.
  12. There have been people in my life who need me…not just my hubby and kids.  I have some friends who are really going through some really hard things…unthinkable things.  sad things.  and I will be there for them.  I made a determination a year ago that I would be that friend that God uses to be a light….(I write this as Michael W. Smith’s song I will be Here for You come on)
  13. We also have another Bible study meeting here in our home.
  14. and there are somethings I just can’t share.   tThey quite possibly could require “new Normal’s”    But we are willing.  That’s really what God asks of us, is willingness.  Usually based around our “i’ll never…” statements..
  15. Little Bean accepted christ as his Savior,  then later that week, 3 young girls from our church followed suit!  what an amazing blessing…Did I mention Little Bean accepted Christ on MOTHER”S DAY    🙂
  16. Hubby and I celebrated 13 years of marriage..while I was sick 🙁
  17. Tomorrow is Hubby’s Birthday!

Well there is a look inside our last month.  You will be hearing more from me more often I have some really neat thing coming down the line including a weekly project Post, sharing my latest creations and  a snapshot into my planner….I have been using The Happy Planner for the last 7 months and boy am I loving it.    There will also be some  Why I do what I do posts, inspired by Rest Assured and The Best yes, So won’t you Stay tuned in the coming days weeks and months as we jump into writing again!  I promise It won’t be a month till you hear from me again !

Blessings

Mary

Newsboys Edition ~Weekend Re-Cap 4/18/2016

Posted on by Mary

NEWSBOYS EditionI know That blogging never really happens for me over the weekend and yet we find ourselves on some CRAZY adventures and this weekend is NO different.   And it culminated in one of the coolest concerts I have ever been to. THE NEWSBOYS !!!  It’s rare that our weekends are slow and are usually JAM packed with ministry stuff.  Well in all honesty this weekend was no different, but there were some crazy fun adventures as well.

A lot of times I get to Monday and say “Man I really wish I could recount everything!” Well I’m going to start doing just that!!!

Friday

Friday Night was our kids school concert.  We always enjoy school concerts.   They are very sweet moments as we see all the hard work our kids put in each semester!  It ends with an ice cream social and a late night but so worth it 🙂

 

image

image image

 

Saturday 

AM- Hubby has worship team practice.  It’s a couple hours long, so the kids and I were in full clean up mode,  getting ready for the babysitters that night .  I had food to make for their dinner and prep work for our Youth Rally Gym night!

That afternoon was a friend’s 15 YO son’s birthday party.  We were there for about an hour and then had to head back home.

Then it was back home to finish dinner prep and making sandwiches for the Youth Rally Gym Night.    We measure the amount of sandwiches we make by the loaf.  I made two loaves worth of sandwiches and took 6 bags of chips.  The babysitters arrived at 4:30 and we were on our way @5…

PM  Youth Rally Gym Night saw over 100 kids.   (WHICH WAS AMAZING)  a Local Christian Camp’s Assistant Director spoke, we played two Minute  To Win It Games, SANG some great worship songs and then the kids were released into  the local Middle school to play Basketball, swim, play volleyball, gaga ball, table games or to sumo wrestle  in these giant Bubble balls.   AND EAT!…cookies…..sandwiches….chips…..and they pretty much ate everything! (except the chips)

Home late again!   BUT AGAIN totally worth it!

SUNDAY

AM Church.  We can’t skip church because we were  out to late…My husband is the pastor after all..LOL   We (hubby and I)also teach the  4 &  5 year old Sunday school class.  At the last minute hubby found out he had to speak because our intern was SICK.

Sunday afternoon we as a family attended a local Autism Awareness event.  It is our second year at the event.  This year we had our college students who work with our son with Autism there with us.  They are amazing!  The local college football team was also there playing with the kids.   They were so huge BUT great with the kids.   Our youngest son said to us on the way home, “I must be famous because they kept picturing me”!  The football players wanted to take pictures with the kids  for school!

IMG_20160417_135016251

IMG_20160417_140423006

Sunday Night…and the Biggest surprise…. we have been holding a secret from our kids for a couple of weeks now, and how they didn’t Figure it out is well, quite frankly beyond me.  They got to go to their first big concert…and it was a HUGE concert.  The #Newsboys, with Audio Adrenaline OBB and Ryan Stevenson.   First, check that off this Mama’s bucket list.  I have been a huge fan of the Newsboys since I was in high school….which was *Cough* years ago….ahem. and it carried through to this day and I have trained up my children in the way they should go…..it was great to watch them rock out to Big House, by Audio Adrenaline and I Believe and God’s Not Dead…..OH AND LETS NOT FORGET  JESUS FREAKS.   Which BTW is crazy what they do with the drummer during this song, JUST SAYIN’

Photo courtesy of J. Spinner
Photo courtesy of J. Spinner

YES That is the drummer tipped on his side….and yes he was spinning 🙂
image image image

I think one of the most amazing things is hearing THOUSANDS of people whisper “God’s Not Dead He’s surely alive”  it’s no longer a whisper….and isn’t that how it really is?  iIf each once of us as believers stood next to each other, and whispered that truth….together, unified, it wouldn’t be a whisper….it’s a roar!     A GREAT GIANT ROAR!   But  instead we stay tucked away hidden, keeping our mouth closed tightly…..

Thanks Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, OBB and Ryan Stevenson for a great show.   It’s good to see my kids enjoying every single minute.  Our lives had been infused with some very hard unspeakable things, and it was so amazing to watch them have so very much fun..

To step outside the fears of this life, which has recently reared it’s ugly little head again as one of our sons said “mommy can we go back to ________ to the place where my friend is? You know the place _______ and I went every week” (he is referring to his counselor’s office)  to see them shout out truth, being sung into their little lives, to see the smiles, and to hear shouts, whoops and hollers praising their Savior……makes the fear melt away, at least for a few hours!

And this…This is what I am enjoying today….HOME and sunshine!! I LOVE SPRING 🙂

IMG_3676

 

Thankfulness Challenge 4/14/2016

Posted on by Mary

ThankfulnessChallengeWelcome to The Thankfulness Challenge!   A few years ago I participated in a weekly blog meet-up  called Thankful Thursday centered around thankfulness.  The host  later opted to no longer host it, and I  wrote for a short time about Thankfulness and what i am thankful for, but then I too let it fall by the wayside.  However this past year as I prayed through what was important to my blogs re-boot..THANKFULNESS became a HUGE  priority.

Thankfulness is easy when it’s the good stuff…Sunny days, rainbows, new pets, birthdays and  school concerts (just to name a few)  and somedays it is all we have…or at least that’s how we feel!  But the Bible tells us to be THANKFUL IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES (i Thessalonians  5:18)  In all honesty THAT IS SUPER HARD.

I once read a book that referred to what the author called “PollyAnna syndrome”, which is finding the good in all things.  The Christian author used it in a negative light however, Pollyanna Had the right idea.  It’s actually a Biblical principle.  So that is what this post is all about.   Or t least I’m going to try. Each week we will share our 5 things we are most thankful  for!.  Some might be simple things  but I want to encourage you to go deeper…look for the good in hard things too.  It will change how you view your world.

So let’s begin….

  1. I am thankful for sunshine…..and warmth.  Yep I know I started off with simple….but wait I will go deeper 🙂   As a person who lives in upstate NY, most of our months are cloudy,  and we spend half of the year FREEZING!   I also  have a touch of seasonal effect disorder so it compounds the problem of dreary- constantly. We are heading into a week long stretch of SUN and mostly sun.  It always makes me feel like I am being rejuvenated!!
  2. I am thankful for Dentists who know how to fix broken teeth…Yep you read that right.   A few weeks ago there was some playing around…FUN -GIGGLES- PLAYING…then BAM in one split second two teeth broken….I felt Horrible.   On Monday this week His teeth were fixed.   The look normal.  There was a day in time where they would have been pulled and forever be missing his two front teeth.  (BONUS: I am also thankful we live in 2016)
  3. I am thankful for NEW adventures.  Growing deeper in God’s word is taking me on some new adventures.  some of them are very hard.   I know though , that at the end of them as long as I have a willing and teachable spirit we will grow into what God has intended all along.
  4. I am thankful for the ability to write.  At college I learned my sophomore year that if I spent 30 minutes writing…not my thoughts, but creatively That I could then focus on my homework.  it began a practice of journaling that has since been my way to clear my head.  At that time it was a pen and a pencil….and looseleaf paper today it takes all shapes and forms.  I am by nature a pen and paper girl and I use LOADS of color, but it also looks a lot like my blog too…and the Pages  and Chapters s apps on my laptop and iPad….it also looks like ART!  growing my my drawing and painting right in my journal.
  5. Homeschooling- Im not gonna lie. It has been HARD . But I have grown and So has our son with Autism.   and it’s rewarding to watch and grow and thrive.  Especially after so many people said.  I couldn’t or that I shouldn’t.    And to hear my two older children say….”wow he’s in those books, we never made it that far. Those were for the kids who were ahead!”

And so there you have it….What are you thankful for? I’d love to hear!I

When Life Gets Overwhelming……

Posted on by Mary

When Life Gets Overwhelming.....TAKE A NAP! (I did that this afternoon–hubby and I chose a nap over date night–SERIOUSLY)  I know it’ s been a few weeks since I’ve written. In all reality I’ve been SWAMPED.  It’s been overwhelming to say the least. My kids are ready for spiring break and quite frankly SO AM I!

Since before Easter we have been moving at the speed of light!

I find myself in a really WEIRD place too.

I have all of this great and wonderful ministry stuff going on….

  1.  A super cool writing project I’m working on
  2. Mentoring clients at our local Pregnancy center
  3. 4 amazing kids who stretch me beyond  my abilities….
  4. A women’s ministry beyond anything I ever dreamed of  taking off…and I get a front row seat
  5. a Growing thriving drama ministry
  6. Bible studies
  7. Titus 2 being lived out in my life as I mentor a teen in our church.
  8. and for the first time in a long time I can actually step away from   the insanity that can be the life with an autistic child and find peace in Silence…silence with my hubby….OR  Silence  as I am hiding in my craft room typing this 🙂

God and I are taking a journey together this year like never before.  I have learned about myself far more in the last 4 months that I think I have in my whole life.

I am an introvert as I have shared before but I am an introvert-Relater.

I can be with people…I like to be with people.  I love to serve people.  and yet I hit moments where I literally can’t pour out another drop.    This last year held some pretty big AMAZING FIRSTS…and this coming year i know will hold the same.   But as I move forward, I have realized a few things……

  1. The enemy doesn’t eat me to move forward.
  2. the enemy wants me to fail.
  3. FEAR has crept backing my life…..more on that FEAR in a later post.
  4. I’m my own worst enemy sometimes
  5. I have a whole lot of questions for God…some that may never be answered. and I am okay with that.
  6. I have some to realize the need to breathe and step away…..I need to practice this…and own it.

In those moments of solitude and silence I learn about God…and myself.  and through these moments I have begun to relate to God in a whole new way.  As I strive to soak up what it means to ABIDE in Christ, I become less overwhelmed and more aware of what Christ wants to do, both in me and through me.  Is it easy?  No!  Can it be stressful?  YES  Bt I have to be willing to get off the merry-go -round before I dos my cookies! (LOL—Or lose my cool )

So  as i sit here tonight in solitude and silence I pray that God will grant peace in the midst of all the amazing things God has for us.   Peace that passes all understanding.   AsThe fiery darts fly our way I pray that God will protect us,  and  work in us., Changing our hearts to look more like his.   That we could  still shine as servants even in the stressful times and remember to take moments of solitude and silence as Christ did.  Because even the really neat things can be overwhelming.