Related by Chance Review

The book I just finished by Deb DeArmond is called "Related by Chance, Family by Choice: Transforming Mother-in-Law & Daughter-in-Law Relationships".

I'll be honest, as I read this book I was just reminded of how blessed I am in the relationship I actually have with my mother-in-law. I definitely see her as a close friend and another mother, although no one could replace my biological mother. This book, even though it didn't personally help me with an issue in my life, was still a great read and made great points.

Throughout the book, DeArmond includes survey results and quotes from mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law from around the country. Some stories are heartbreaking and some made me feel disbelief in the anger that is sometimes held in these relationships. If your relationship with your MIL or DIL is like that, I strongly encourage you to read this book.

Each chapter will touch on things such as love, cleaving to your spouse, communication, and other important things that can disrupt the relationship between MIL and DIL. Each chapter also has a lot of scripture to back up what DeArmond is saying, self-assessments to fill out, a plan of action for each category she touches on, and a prayer. I can absolutely see how I would utilize this book to help my relationship with my MIL if I needed it. I think this book will help a lot of ladies, so please recommend it to those you know who are struggling in this area.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity Group and Kregel Publications for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Mighty League Storybook App Review

I am not going to lie. I was incredibly excited to be able to test a new interactive app for my Kindle from Blackfish.

Description of the book: The adorkable JMan and his plucky hedgehog sidekick, Mr. Redge are the unstoppable, secret superhero team who save a classmate from the poking pranks of Dr. Evil Touch! Join this quirky duo on their quest to stop a bully, make the school playground a peaceful place, and more importantly, make a new friend who likes crime fighting, capes and karate, too. Discover JMan's hidden notebook on each page about what it's like to be an Aspie.


About the app: This INTERACTIVE storybook app is based on the real JMan, Jonathan Murphy, and his REAL LIFE adventures growing up with ASPERGER'S SYNDROME. Written by his sister, Molly Murphy, and narrated by Jonathan, the story is told by someone who sees his world from a very unique perspective. It promotes SELF-ACCEPTANCE, AWARENESS, and an UNDERSTANDING for others who are different.

The description states that this is for ages 5-11, but I will say my kids younger than five really enjoyed it as well. There are tons of special features in this app, such as changing the superhero, interacting with the hedgehog, different types of narration, tons of interactive sounds and animations, and there's even something you can download to go along with it that aligns with Common Core!

I think this is a really fun, cool app. Adults will realize fairly quickly the JMan has Asperger's Syndrome. Younger kids won't catch on right away but they'll get the point - he is different, and that's okay. I like the discussions that can come from something like this. I do highly recommend this for all parents, no matter the age of your children, really.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for providing me with this free app in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Mr. Knightley Review

Well, I love finding new fiction books that I enjoy and I love finding new fiction authors that I enjoy. So I definitely appreciated this book, "Dear Mr. Knightley" by Katherine Reay.

Samantha Moore is an extreme introvert who is offered a college scholarship with one strange requirement - she must write regular updates on her school progress to the director of the scholarship. The letter-writing begins to feel like a journal to her, and she relates things to this mysterious "Mr. Knightley" that she could never tell anyone else.

The character of Samantha is probably either going to intrigue you or irritate you. At first she irritated me, but as the plot grew, I began to understand her. Samantha hides behind quotes of books. She is extremely introverted and doesn't know how to properly interact with people. In the beginning I felt like this was completely unrealistic but as I learned about her background of emotional turmoil and foster homes, I realized I don't have experience with anyone with that background, so I don't know what "typical" is for them.

Yes, there's a mushy, happy ending, so don't fret. Also, God's love is more embedded, I guess, in the book, rather than pointed out a lot. God is shown a lot in people's actions in this book. I liked it.

I would recommend this book to people, and particularly if you enjoy Jane Austen!

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Thomas Nelson for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Snow on the Tulips Review

I have to admit, I don't normally like books that are set in other countries or other time periods. I feel like I have to stretch my brain to understand them, when I just want a light read. But I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed "Snow on the Tulips" by Liz Tolsma. It's a fictional story set in the Netherlands, and has every topic you could ask for, from war to romance to courage and faith to suspense. The author does a great job of adding drama to the story, and it seems very realistic. I really enjoyed the characters and I really enjoyed the story.

I would definitely recommend this book, even if you don't usually enjoy historical fiction. Like I said, I was surprised at my enjoyment of this book, even though I put off reading it for a couple of weeks. Once I started reading it, I finished it really quickly because it was very good.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity Group and Thomas Nelson for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

My Hope is Found Review

I got "My Hope is Found" by Joanne Bischof to review mainly because I have read a couple of her other books that I enjoyed. I didn't realize this was the third book in the Cadence of Grace series. Fortunately, it took an extremely short time for me to realize the relationships between characters and figure out what had happened between these characters in the other books. Bischof did a great job of updating in a way that I could easily come in on book three and feel like I knew everything about these characters.

This is a romance set in the early 1900's, so if you enjoy that genre of books you will definitely enjoy this one. Lonnie is a lady who is loved by two men, and she really can't decide between them either. Funny thing is, one of them is her ex-husband, who she still hasn't forgiven for some things, and the other man is a preacher, and a really great man. This is the story of her decision between the two of them, and the struggles in faith they all go through.

I do recommend you read this book, although I would suggest we all go read the rest of the books in the series, if they are as good as this one.

Thank you to Waterbrook Multonah Publishers for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Why Christ Came Review

I loved using Joel Beeke and William Boekestein's book "Why Christ Came: 31 Meditations on the Incarnation" with my regular devotions.

I do think these could easily be read just one at a time, throughout the month, over and over again as the months pass. I did not read this book like that for two reasons - I wanted to finish the book in time to review it, of course, but also because it was just really good.

The 31 reasons why Christ came may or may not be all-encompassing. I haven't done enough research on my own to know. But the 31 reasons presented in this book are fantastic and will make you so grateful for what Christ has done for you. God's plan is amazing and it is laid out in this book. The reasons range from revealing God's love for sinners to bringing peace to calling sinners to repentance. It's a really beautiful book and will help you see the magnitude of God's love. It's an easy read, easy to understand, backed up by scripture and I highly recommend it to all.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and Reformation Heritage Books for a book in exchange for an honest review.

Awakening Faith Review

I'm not usually into supplementing along with my devotions, mainly because I tend to get distracted by books enough as it is, so I try to focus only on the Bible. But this past week I incorporated a book, "Awakening Faith" by James Stuart Bell, into my devotional time. I just read a couple or a few (depending on my time frame) each day. I have to say, I really enjoyed these devotions. The back copy states, "In the age of social media, where glib sayings abound, one yearns to read some deeper wisdom about life and faith on a regular basis. - Mark Galli". That is certainly true about this book.

You will run across familiar names of faith in this book, such as Augustine, but I didn't know many of the men referred to throughout this book. Fortunately, the author includes a short snippet about each writer at the back of the book. It was so interesting to read about these men of great faith.

I definitely recommend this devotional. The devotions are short but contain a lot of wisdom. They are easy to understand but they make you think. Very well written.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and Zondervan for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

The Value of Time

This is an excerpt from a book called "Seasons of the Heart", a compilation of devotions.

"But this I say, brethren, the time is short..." - 1 Corinthians 7:29

To the Christian, how valuable is time! God has given it to us only minute by minute, to show us how precious a thing it is that He grants in these small drops. How soon is time over! How short is the longest life! And yet time is given to prepare for eternity. As we spend our time, so shall we spend eternity. The question "Where shall I spend eternity?" must be decided in time. When eternity begins, it will be too late.

Time is given us to serve the Lord in. Time is given us to repent in and to believe the gospel. Time is given us to do our duty in our station. Time is given us to do good to others. How much time is wasted! Idle gossip from house to house, too much attention to dress rather than neatness, foolish reading - so many things to waste precious time!

But there is one idea I should like you to have, one thought that I
trust the Spirit may write in all our hearts, and I pray He may keep in them, too, for Satan and the world would wish us to think far otherwise. This is it: time is given us to prepare for eternity. I am answerable to God for my use or abuse of time.

Let us pray to God to give us grace to spend our time in His service, in doing our duty in our day and generation, and in preparing for the life to come. Then, when time shall be over, we shall enter upon a glorious eternity through Christ our Lord. The ungodly and the careless will then wish, when wishing will be vain, that they had in like manner devoted their time to God. What would sinners in like manner give at the last for one short day! Oh, then, be wise now. Be wise in time. Consider your ways, and prepare for a life that shall never end!

- Elizabeth Julia Hasell

Critical Reaction Review

Apparently "Critical Reaction" is Todd Johnson's debut novel. I never would have guessed that if the back cover didn't tell me that.

The novel involves an explosion that takes place at a nuclear plant. Two survivors of that night have their own thoughts of the events leading up the explosion and things that they saw during the chaos of the explosion. Anyone who could verify their accounts has gone missing. Others change their stories when confronted by higher-ranking people in the company. Kieran, one of the survivors, won't stop pushing and decides to sue the company. This book is his story.

I will say, this is not an "easy" book to read. It will make you think. But the story is so intriguing and keeps going deeper and deeper, that you will just have to keep reading out of curiosity. It's well-written and very detailed, but not to the point that you're rubbing your eyes and dozing off out of boredom.

I highly recommend this book, particularly if you like law-type fiction or suspense.

Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

January Pictures

 Slowly catching up! Here are pictures from our life in January 2013.

Kaleb hard at work!

A totally normal picture for my children:

 Rick Strickland doing special singing at church:

 Impact Service at church:

 "I don't need a nap!" 20 minutes later...

 Pretending to sleep on the comfortable hardwood floor:

Stephen's Christmas present from me - Zac Brown Band in concert: