The Life Book

The Life book is the coolest movement I have seen to reach students in a very long time. The entire project was founded by The Gideons as a way to reach high school students with God's Word. The Life book project is saturating public schools with a unique copy of God's Word, with the goal of putting them into every student's hands. The books are being distributed by students who are targeting their schools in a week long mission trip to their local high school. I believe public high schools are our greatest mission field - and can often feel as accessible as a closed country. It's all done free of charge to the local church - and perfectly legal. Life book even provides some instruction about how to go about it. The movement plans to reach 18 million high school students.

All these good intentions would be for nothing without a book that was truly going to reach them, something they would actually read. This is not your typical Gideon Bible! The Life Book is just an awesome book! It is very well done; cool, contemporary, youth -oriented. It presents an overview of the Old Testament, the story of salvation, and the book of John. The back has a help section with answers to questions about relationships, peer pressure, depression, and other practical issues. The book features 4 people's hand-written comments and real-life questions in the margins -kind of drawing you into a faith-seeking story that is really engaging.

I really love this little book! It is small, 5 inches by 5 inches, so it fits in your palm. It is just extremely well done. You can't pick it up without being drawn into it. What a fabulous project! I think youth groups ought to really get behind this program and get this book into schools!

For more information and to find out how to reach your school, see their website www.lifebook.com - you can actually see the whole Life Book on the website here's that specific link HERE.

The Life Book was provided by B&B Media and Life Book for the purposes of review only.

20 reasons I've loved my husband over 1/2 my life

Tuesday is my 19th Anniversary. It certainly seems I have loved this man my whole life - and I mean that in a good way. Here are just a few of the MANY reasons why:

1. He is an AMAZING dad. I mean I thought my dad was amazing and he is right there with him. I always prayed my husband would speak to situations in faith and prayer like my dad did - and he does. He has so much patience with our kids.
2. He makes me laugh. alot. Big, uncontrollable belly laughs. Hardly a day goes by that he doesn't have me laughing like crazy at something.

3. I can not stay mad at him. ever. not for even like two minutes. and believe me - I have tried. Anytime he wants to he can make me smile.

4. He loves God. And he is passionate about his faith. That's a pretty big one - and the reason for all the other reasons he's so great. Probably shoulda put that as reason #1.

5. He has this crazy, random sense of humor. He loves dumb commercials.

6. No one knows me better. As he reminds me often - I have been married to him OVER half my life. It's hard to believe was only 14 when I fell in love with him - and he's been my best friend ever since. It's neat to be in all each other's yearbook pictures, prom pictures.

7. He can read my thoughts. See #6. This is really helpful because half the time I don't know what I am thinking.

8. He works hard! He's not at all lazy. As a matter of fact sitting around is REALLY hard for him.

9. He can do anything. He's borderline genius. Seriously, I think he can fix or build anything.

10. He completes me. That was corny, I know, but his strengths are truly my weaknesses in so many ways.

11. He is always concerned with my safety.

12. He always handles the puking children. He has great sympathy for physical injuries. He rises to emergency assistance when our children are hurt - even though the sight of his own blood makes him kind of woozy. I kind of tend to be less sympathetic. He really jumps into action in those really overwhelming messes and I just tend to stand there, kind of overwhelmed about what to do first.

13. He has this solid understanding of things that my creative brain can't quite get around. Things mechanical, financial, mathematical... those ..."-cial" kinda complicated things.

14. He's my best friend and I really just like hanging out with him. We used to go to movies when were dating, so after kids, in the early years we would get a date and go to the movies. Now, I just want to go somewhere were we can talk and spend time together - be uninterrupted.

15. He is sensitive to the needs of others (he gets that from his mama). He always understands what one child is needing, makes an effort to relate to the love language of another one, he does things out of his comfort zone to meet the needs of his family.

16. He truly is all the things I hoped for in a husband, and then some.

17. He comes from a great family - and my family loves him maybe even more than me. There's no emotional baggage from a yucky past. And other than his family -I'm pretty much his past.

18. We agree on most major issues, we have similar standards in most areas. Granted I don't care near as much as he does how the toilet paper comes off the roll or how the towels are folded, but we agree on most things. We don't like cats. We love to hike. We have very similar styles and tastes. I understand his strange sense of humor, well most of the time.

19. He honors me - and makes sure the kids do to. He praises me in front of the children; even when it is about my cooking and probably not true. On the 31st of any month he calls me blessed.

20. He's almost 40 and he is still totally gorgeous. He has these dreamy dark brown eyes and when I look into them I just go weak in the knees just like I did when he was 16. He had more hair then, but then again I had BIG hair enough for the both of us then.

The Mend Mark Review & Giveaway!

I love the Mend Mark. It is a really neat bracelet and a great reminder of our savior and his sacrifice. Since I started wearing it, I have had several people comment on it, ask me about it. I'd love to stock up on a bunch of them so that I can give them away. What a cool way to share your faith with others!

The Mend Mark is designed to resemble one of the redemptive scars that Jesus endured for his people. The purpose of bearing this mark is to emphasize the importance of His sacrifice and prompt us to never forget the role that it plays in our lives. A portion of the proceeds from every sale go directly to Living Water International. For more information about LWI, and what they are doing to combat the world water crisis visit http://www.water.cc/.

The Mend Mark would make a great gift for anyone -especially a teenager on your Christmas list. The packaging is really cool too - The box pops open in kind of a unique way, very classy, and includes information about the vision and meaning of the bracelet. Ally and I both wanted the bracelet - the younger kids wanted the box.

The Mend Mark sells for $9.99 HERE with FREE SHIPPING. You can visit this site for more information about the Mend Mark and the vision behind it.

And BEST OF ALL - I get to give one away! Yae! Just leave me a comment letting me know that you follow this blog & leave your email address. I will randomly choose 1 lucky reader on Saturday, December 4th & mail you a Mend Mark bracelet of your own!

The Mend Mark was provided by www.mendmark.com & B&B Media for the purposes of review only.

thanksgiving challenge

Our pastor really encouraged everyone to commit to becoming more thankful over the next six weeks in one very specific way:

Set your watch or cell phone to beep every hour. When you hear the beep, take time to:

1. A - Acknowledge God’s love and presence. John 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love."

2. T - Thank God for whatever is happening in that moment. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

3. L – Listen to God. John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me"

This simple exercise of abiding in the Lord and being thankful will not only build you up day by day, but it will lay the groundwork for a lifestyle of thankfulness.

LOVE IT! Happy a very blessed Thanksgiving!

craftiness

As a right-brained-artsy person I get these waves of inspiration and crafty attacks about this time of year. It is probably a disorder that can be treated with some sort of medication, but I just like to harness it for good if possible.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that my kids are getting older. I LOVE LOVE that my oldest will be a teenager shortly! I LOVE teenagers! I am not a baby person! Changing diapers and not being alone in the bathroom is the worst! BUT I do miss when my kids were younger and I would pull out some tissue paper and brillant craftiness and they would sit around me in awe and amazement. And we would create gluey goodness together!

So, here I sit today alone in the schoolroom glueing tissue paper onto toilet paper rolls. Is that ridiculous? I do have other things to do. The kids weren't the least bit impressed with my Indian corn napkin rings. They didn't think they were cool! I'm not sure, but some eyes might have been rolled. They did one with me and left for more important matters. Sigh.

Oh well. We already have the tree up and everything mostly decorated for Christmas. I know. I usually wait till AFTER Thanksgiving, but why not?

Come to find out, my pre-lit tree is mostly UN-lit this year. And I can't find any replacement bulbs to fit. So, I had to buy new lights. It just looks like a tree but it really is a massive spiderweb of green wires.

We've been doing some painting. We found this great box on clearance at Michael's for $1. (I think it might've been a mistake.) I generally stop by Michaels alot to use a 50% off coupon on 1 item. Speaking of Christmas deals go HERE to get a Walgreens 8x10 collage print with coupon code BFCOLLAGE - I love those free collage prints!

I am planning some projects with these red ball ornaments and these great keys I found at Walmart for $1 each. I'm not sure about my plans for the keys, but they were too great to pass up. I'm thinking I'll attach a verse or something. The keys to Christmas? Love, Joy, Peace? Matt 16:19? "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Still thinkin' - we'll see - any ideas?

A Visit To Dad's Work

Daniel & I took Daddy some lunch today at work today and Daniel got to take a quick tour. He even got to see a big crane in action.

He had a great time! The girls are gone for a couple days with cousins and so Daniel is officially done with HIS Christmas shopping! I only wish I could say the same!

History Fair

We had our yearly homeschool History Fair this month. Ally and Anna Joy did their project on Auschwitz and other Nazi Concentration Camps. They ended up in 4th place. For their display they had the typical daily ration for each prisoner and a coat with a red X like prisoners wore. They really enjoyed reading The Hiding Place and I think that sparked their interest on the topic. They read Number the Stars and Someone Named Eva. They weren't too crazy about The Diary of Anne Frank - I think Anne wrote too much about liking boys and it got on their nerves.
I actually told all the kids at the beginning of the year that I wanted them to do some Texas History topics since that is the history we are studying this year. 'Course you can see how well that went over.

Daniel did his project on Presidential Pets. I'm not sure where that idea came from. It was actually pretty interesting to learn about. Last year he wanted to be Daniel Boone cause he could dress up in a cool outfit and wear a coonskin cap and carry a gun. With the younger kids it is all about the cool props or the costume.
Gracie kind of struggled. She wanted to do Hobos of the Great Depression, but her obsession with horses won out. She has read some neat things about Traveller, Robert E. Lee's horse and she chose another horse, John Key. Her project was titled, Two Famous Horses from History.
I'm not quite sure how I didn't end up with a picture of her project board, but it was really mostly about passing out the cookies anyway. Adults, kids, and grandparents kinda mill around talking to kids about their research and she likes drawin' them in with food. She did it last year with her johnny cakes for a pioneer project.

She knows that the way to make a great project is not to spend more time or effort on the project itself, but to put out some cookies to make it really special. So, she made some horseshoe shaped and boot shaped cookies to go with it. I'm not sure but I think the cookies were actually a last minute effort to improve a project she actually spent very little time on. She sure did make a mess cooking them too! :)

All the kids got some neat food coupons for prizes.

Review: Follow

I'd love anything written by Floyd McClung. He's a way cool guy! I read his book Living on the Devil's Doorstep about his missionary adventures in Amsterdam. So, I requested Follow to review and I was so blown away to see my own pastor did the Foreward! How cool is that?! I actually think I recognized some thoughts contained in a couple of his recent sermons in the book as well.


Follow is a book about Living Like Jesus and it is really a great book just for spiritual growth in general, but it has a strong element for leaders, pastors, church planters, and missionaries. I loved the first section best - just some great analysis of what practical life like Jesus looks like.


This book would be an AMAZING choice for a small group study. There are questions for reflecting and responding at the end of the chapters to help facilitate discussion. The book has three parts; Loving Jesus, Loving Those Who Don't Know Jesus, and Loving One Another. The last two parts have some really great insights about leading others to Christ and making disciples. I think God must be showing me something because all these books I've been reading have these killer convicting chapters on Pride!

I think Follow has become one of the required books for our church's missionary training school. If you'd like some more information about this amazing author, here's a link to Floyd's Blog.

I highly recommend Follow! You can purchase it for $14.99 HERE

Follow was provided by David C. Cook and The B & B Media Group for the purposes of review only.

Texas A&M Football

I am not an A&M Fan. I graduated from a University of Texas school, my husband went to A&M. The kids are Aggies like their daddy. It's that whole "As goes the father, so goes the family thing." I'm fine with all that - I am not the best fan anyway.

The boys ordered great tickets to the A&M /Baylor game. I was told to get some hats and t-shirts, we had to find a foam finger, some face paint (the boy suggested they paint their chests and go shirtless...but fortunately Daddy shot down that fan favorite), then when the weather turned cold we needed hoodies for this game too. But isn't some quality father-son bonding time screaming at refs and Baylor fans until they are hoarse priceless?

Costly Grace

My oldest is taking a Church History class at our homeschool co-op and I have been reading along myself, learning for the first time about a lot of the great martyrs of the faith. So, when the opportunity to review Costly Grace came along, I was interested.

Costly Grace by Jon Walker is a re-write of the 1937 book, The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer fits in well with our study of the Holocaust this semester also. He opposed Hitler, was sent to prison for his beliefs & anti-Hitler activities and eventually was beheaded by the Nazis for his part in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

The Cost of Discipleship is a very difficult book to understand -hence Jon Walker's rewrite Costly Grace. Costly Grace is not just a "modern rewrite," it goes a bit deeper to explain and analyze parts of Bonhoeffer's book in depth, which is very helpful.

All in all, I wouldn't say Costly Grace is a "fun read." It remains pretty deep. I had to read sections several times to truly grasp the point, but the message is strong and clear. Bonhoeffer wrote his book as a reaction to the complacent German Christians of his day who were accepting and justifying some radical political views into their religious beliefs. I couldn't help but think as I read through this book how relevant his cautions are to us today in our society.

Here's a quote from Bonhoeffer, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."

This wasn't an easy book, but it is some good, tough Biblical theology and an admonition to wake up, quit playing church, and live out your faith in a radical way. One more quick quote that kind of struck me. Walker kind of speaks out against the "What Would Jesus Do" way of looking at things. His complaint is that we are not independent of Jesus, like we have to wonder what he would do, He is here, we can just ask Him. "So shouldn't the question be, "Jesus, what do you want me to do? How else would you speak to a living person?" Neat insight!

You can buy Costly Grace for $15.99 and a great 90 Day Devotional Bible study that goes with it for $13.99 - click HERE for a link to the Leafwood Publishers site.

Costly Grace was provided by B & B Media Group and Leafwood Publishers for the purposes of review only.

Non-Traditional Christmas Celebrations

My family often attempts to defy convention with out-of-the ordinary Christmas events. Not that we don't love a good turkey and dressing, green bean casserole thing as much as anyone else. We've done finger foods and Mexican foods and a few other food things. We've never been much for gifts - a few years we filled each other's stockings with mini-gifts, drawn names, we've done the whole White Elephant thing, and last year we had the kids write a whole Christmas program and perform it.

They were kinda hem-hawing about Christmas this year. I didn't want to do same-ol' same ol' gifts and food. Why are family get-togethers all about food? If it was up to me we'd have sandwiches or pizza on paper plates! No clean up, no mess, no trouble! The grandkids are getting older 8+20 years and we need some active excitement. My parents have about 3 simple conditions they insist upon:

• They want everybody around for a while - no eat and go affair.
• They want GOOD food (not sandwiches), and in order to have that, well; they cook it.
• They want to be able to buy something for all the grandkids.

Other than that they don't really care what we do- so, I kind of took over. So, here's the plan. Each sibling/family (there are 3 of us) will provide a game for all of us to play. Something active and fun that we can all do.

• My sister will plan a scavenger hunt - with some GPS geocache-type elements.
  
• I will plan a big Amazing Race event with some challenges, stuff you have to eat really fast, a few gross things, places you have go, and matching team colors.
  
• My sister-in-law will be creating a family Trivial Pursuit challenge with questions from the Family's past. I'm pretty sure my brother won't be much help to her.
  

In addition to some marshmallow roasting and some cousin tent-sleeping (if the weather allows) - it should be an interesting, but fun holiday.

It's No Secret

Rachel Olsen’s book It’s No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know offers some incredible spiritual insight and understanding about women and all the issues we face. It was so cool to enjoy this book - and then flip over to the author's bio and find out she lives in Willmington, North Carolina! That's were we moved from! This was a great, well written book! Olsen reveals twelve truths in It’s No Secret that will cultivate more meaningful relationships with others and a richer connection with God.

Here's some of the topics Rachel tackles in this book:
· Find the key to the hidden truths of the Kingdom of God—His sublime secrets.
· Experience the satisfaction of growing spiritually despite life’s setbacks.
· Push aside the tyranny of perfectionism to experience the relief of God’s grace.
· View rest not as a “have-to” but as a “get-to.”
· Learn to handle conflicts and criticisms with grace.
· Discover how to make what you give away ultimately come back to you.
· Dig into the Bible and understand what’s found there.

Olsen boldly states that the secrets she reveals run counter to what our culture tells us about successful living. She assures, however, that even though our abandon to God is costly, selling out to God truly pays divinely.

“God receives us as we are, washes us in Christ’s blood, fills us with living water, places a secret-decoder ring on our finger, promises us a future marriage to His own Son, and begins fashioning us into divine bling. Why? Because He created us to reflect His beautiful image,” Olsen contends. “We know where to find forgiveness, deliverance, sound counsel, comfort, security, and restoration.” As Christ-followers, we get to be His secret-keepers and His secret-revealers to those around us still striving and still wondering, What am I missing?

The cover to this book is perfect because it felt like having a cup of coffee with a cool friend! I really loved this book! It is a great read to really encourage you spiritually. You can order It's No Secret HERE for $14.99

Visit Rachel's blog at http://www.rachelolsen.com/

Disclosure: This book was provided by David C. Cook and B&B Media Group for the purposes of review only.

Randomness

We celebrated Daniel's Spiritual Birthday yesterday! We gave him the new Action Bible and he has been pouring over it constantly. What a neat Bible! I had to tell him over and over, "Son, put up the Bible and do some schoolwork." Is that wrong? My husbands says its wrong.

I love some homemade goodness as much as the next person, but I REALLY have a thing for Little Debbie's. Okay, ALL Little Debbie's - but the Christmas tree kind are my ABSOLUTE favorite. Maybe it is the green sprinkles, but there is just something about them that is pure wonderful. No, I know what you are thinking. They are not just the same as Zebra Cakes - some kind of Christmas magic - they are much better.

I made an attempt to be "Cool Mom" and teach geography with Silly Banz, but what in the world kinda mutated countries or continents are these? I recognize a couple of them, but I think this kind of teaching would do more harm than good. I told Daniel he could have them. The 2nd grade kids at co-op still like to trade them, but Daniel doesn't think anyone would want to trade for THESE strange shapes.

So it is in the Ayers household this morning. Some minor mom failures and some major laundry to do. Facing another day of school, sports practices, and messy dog and kid prints brought in onto the carpet. We are bracing for a very busy weekend too! I pray that your family seeks God for this day and that you are blessed beyond measure with His Love for you this morning!

Adventures in Odyssey

Alright, if you have read much of my blog you may know that we LOVE Adventures in Odyssey around here! We have regular chore days - laundry folding especially -where Adventures in Odyssey stories are a huge part. Chores are so much more fun with Odyssey! We were given a large collection of Odyssey cassette tapes a couple of years ago which we have loved - but have you tried to find something that will play cassettes lately? They've about gone the way of the 8 track!

So, needless to say -the kids were crazy excited to get their very own CD of Adventures in Odyssey Cause and Effect to review this week! Cause and Effect contains over 5 hours of adventures and the thing I love is that we ALL love them! The stories are great for kids (and even adults) of all ages!

Our favorites on this CD were Mystery at the Clock Tower, Fast as I Can, and The Accidental Nanny. But, we love them all and you can be sure we will be listening to them again and again and again! I'd rather the kids listen to CD's like these instead of DVD's in the car while we travel-at least they are looking around and noticing the world around them to some extent AND there is so much more imagination involved - more brain usage! The spiritual message behind the stories is always awesome too! Can I just move to Whit's End?

You can listen to some Odyssey stories online on Whitsend.org - we even download them to an MP3!

GO HERE to order this great CD set! The price is $24.99 and this set would make a great Christmas present!

This is a Mama Buzz review. The product for this review was provided to me free of charge by the Tyndale Blog Network and Mama Buzz.

Best Homemade Gift Award

My brillant sister-in-law and her husband made a great Christmas gift last year which is really one to remember! It is their own homemade version of the game Sequence. Check out information, rules and how to play about sequence here. It is a great game and it can be played by lots of people of all ages at once! It has been our most used Christmas gift ever. Since we got it -we have played literally 3 times a week before bedtime with the whole family. Even the 7 year old has become pretty good at it!

This is what the board they made looks like. It took some simple woodworking to make the board. They are pretty crafty, but what a great idea! They covered the board with plexiglass and made a frame to fit around it. In addition to the board, you will need some poker chips and 2 decks of cards, actually a Texas Hold'em set has everything you need.

The City of Tranquil Light

I get all kinds of books for review, but I have not had a book affect me quite as much as this one in a long time. This book is the best I've read in years, and I've been reading some really great books lately. I have a stack of reviews piled on my desk to write this month and I just got this book in the mail a few days ago. I felt guilty reading it with so much else to do, I got some rude looks when I couldn't put it down during my daughter's softball game, but it was so totally worth it -and I know that this is one that I will read again just to savor it. And I rarely read a book twice.

The City of Tranquil Light is based on the true story of the author, Bo Caldwell's grandparents, who were missionaries to China during the early 20's. It is such a powerful story! It made me cry and it made me think. I don't want to tell you too much about it because you have to read it for yourself. This book is an amazing testimony of God's grace and a testimony of a couple who where so strong and faithful, but yet struggled, worried and questioned Him. The characters are so real and their faith is so well captured. This was an amazingly beautiful book!

At the end of the book they leave China and the people they love and the heartache and the pain is so real. It was so like what we experienced when God called us away from the places we served. It is so unbelievably hard and yet in the pain there is peace -you know God is leading, but you question why. Bo Caldwell captured that experience in such a real way.

This is the kind of Christian novel I love. The faith is shown, not told, or preached, or forced, just a life observed. It makes you think deeply of your faith, remeasure your scale of success, and feel a real peace that our God is in control of all things. Awesomeness! Just trust me and read it.

You can purchase The City of Tranquil Light HERE for $25.00 hardback. The e-book is only $11.99. If you click on that link there are lots of neat extras on the site: an audio clip of Bo Caldwell explaining how her faith in God was affected by writing this novel, some family photos of her Grandparents who inspired the novel, and an interview with the author.

The City of Tranquil Light was provided by B & B Media Group for the purposes of review only.

Eco Store USA

I was sent some GREAT products from Eco Store USA for review! I really love this company and what they stand for. They have a great line of plant based, natural products that are really effective. I got really freaked out once at a 20/20 show about the harmful chemicals we use in our home and how they are transfered into our food.

Eco Store sent me a bar of their Manuka Honey and Kelp soap. It had a great smell and it is a mild exfoliating soap and the whole family loved it. It lasted a long time and it made our skin feel great. It sells for $2.80 HERE.

But, this was my favorite by far! The Eco Store All Purpose Cleaner. I'm an all-purpose cleaner girl and I probably wipe down my countertops at least 3 times a day. I love that I can spray this on a countertop and not worry about the peanut butter sandwich my son will make directly on the counter 5 minutes later. It's too much trouble to get a plate, you know. Best of all, I don't mind wiping down the inside of my refrigerator with it! I haven't exactly done that very often. In the past I feel like to clean the frig I have to take the shelves out and wash them in dish soap, which is way too much trouble. I feel okay wiping down the shelves with this stuff. This product is $5.19 HERE - and well worth it in my opinion, especially if you have little ones. It has a great, mild citrus smell and it really cleans great.

To find out more about Eco Store and their products - go HERE - They have some great specials right now too! Free shipping for orders over $25 and buy any two household products and get pure oxygen laundry whitener free ($12.00 value).

These products were provided by Eco Store for the purposes of review only.