As we journey together “let us think of ways to motivate one another in acts of love and good works”(Hebrews 10:24 NLT)

There are those amazing moments in life when friends reach out to you to do the a favor and it is oh so flattering! Noelle and I have been friends since Bible College. Here is something I don’t admit to often…we were on the cheerleading squad together….yep I finally aired that dirty little secret!

Ok are you done laughing now…no…I will give you a minute longer……

Ok I’m declaring the laugh fest over! This book is meant for teen girls. It takes you on a journey to find purpose in this crazy emotional time that each one of us girls must face growing up. Noelle vividly depicts the struggles and the joys of being a teen. How do I know I see it every week in my teen Sunday School class and our youth group. The struggles are the same, the relationships are the same, and the choices are the same. Noelle is able to take her life experiences and communicates them in a clear understanding way. This study does not lack for scripture references and does NOT play hermeneutical gymnastics with the texts!

This book is incredibly solid and poitedly written to show Biblical truths are still relevant today. Matter fact as i read this book, i was impacted by the heart of Noelle as she shared a specific story talking about an unsaved friend. It brings joy to me to see God using the trials Noelle faced in college in such an amazing way. Noelle and I really became friends during that time mentioned in Chapter 7 Forgiven Girl.

I think that in all of the book reviews I have ever done, this one book has the ability to change the most lives. Her candid approach to sensitive topics astounds me! I give this book 6 stars out of 5. And most of all I cannot wait to use this book with the teen girls at our church!

Disclaimer: i in no way shape or form am obligated to give a positive review of this book nor did I receive any compensation for either reviewing the book or giving a positive review. I received a complimentary copy for reviewing via the author.

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(NOTE: this blog post was started the Monday before Mothers day and has been a slow work until today)
Oh where to begin! This past week has been a very hard week! In every way…..the funny thing is, I never told anyone I was struggling! Not even my husband! My husband has been working hard both here at home and for church, and I was doing my very best to help him in every way!

This is my first blog post in over a week. I wanted to blog but yet i didn’t know what to write! Something I rarely if ever struggle with. I wanted to read but didn’t know what to read, wanted to work but had no ambition. All of my strength both mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually were going to keep my four kids in line! And one of those kids had his worst week in like four months!

I had been to a ladies luncheon on Saturday then church yesterday. I felt kinda blank, that’s the best word I have to describe what I felt! But as the day progressed a few people said somethings that were curious to me.

One lady asked me how my week was…my response was something along the lines of…..it was a tough week…….her remark…I thought so!
(Wow!)

About 45 minutes later another lady going through the greeting line at church encouraged me that her husband and her pray for us two to three times a day. (Double wow…but it doesn’t stop there)

We had a couple of ladies over for lunch and then I take a nap, when I woke up there was a note from a college friend I hadn’t spoken with in a few months, and her note again was encouraging. (But wait …still not done)

Just before bed last night I grabbed my ipad and was scrolling though FB and again up popped a private message from a college friend i haven’t spoken with in a while. She shared a blog with a poem about mothers day. Again hit right at home. I don’t even know if she knows about our son who we have come to discover has autism, so when the poem mentioned moms who face the loss of dreams for their children it acknowledged something most people can’t begin to understand. Something that is a very big reality for us.

I’m not a cup half empty sort of girl, but i have to realize that the fact of the matter is he might just need care for life. He might not be independent. Does that mean my faith is small no not a chance! If anything my faith has been forced to be realistic. I am absolutely sure God can do anything. He is capable and a Very VERY BIG GOD! But that doesn’t mean that things are going to work out the way I want them to.

This lesson was one I learned at 16. I had something taken away that at the time i took for granted. Today i don’t take it for granted…each day is a huge blessing when i can see my smiling children and my husbands red hair 🙂 and the amazing view of God’s creation out my back window! That’s right, i’m legally blind and have been so for over half of my life.

One of the biggest struggles I had when I first came to terms with my disability was not that I would never be healed but because i was okay with that I was told by other believers that I had given up and that I didn’t have faith that God could or would heal me. I wrestled with that many times but in the end God had placed the perfect example in the Bible for me and that is His servant Paul. He wrestled with his thorn in the flesh, was at peace with it, served despite it, and did not obsess over the fact God hadn’t healed him yet. This thorn in his flesh was to be used to the glory of God, as is mine, as is my sons. No i do not know what the future holds for weasel, but I know that whatever it is I have come to grips with it. I have made peace with it. I have embraced it. And it was through all of those people that God encouraged me through that. At the time I had no idea this was what He was bringing me to but He did and I am grateful!

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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!

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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

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