Primal by Mark Batterson

This is a potentially life changing book.

I suppose that you could go on as normal and not change anything, but why would you want to?

In Primal Mark Batterson encourages us to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength and goes on to explain how that is possible. Heart is tied to compassion; soul is a sense of wonder; mind is insatiable curiosity; and strength is sweat.

I had already decided to do the 90 day challenge, his chapters on wonder confirmed that I made the right decision. There are tips and encouragements to make the challenge easier.

There is also encouragement to keep learning - about anything. If entomology interests you - then learn about it and learn about how the Creator of the world wanted such a vast variety. If immunology interests you then learn about the way the creator designed our bodies to fight off disease. God is there in microbiology and in the macro. The more astronomy you learn, the more His creation is amazing.

This is a must read for anyone who is tired of stale Christianity. I admit, I was less than enthusiastic (because of other books) before I started to read but before many pages were read, I loved it.

I was given this book by WaterBrook Multnomah to read so that I could provide a review - but I was not told what to say.

If you want to purchase this book you can click here. I receive no compensation for you doing so.

40 Loaves by C. D. Baker

40 Loaves - Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day is a devotional book that tackles the tough questions that a christian may ask. Why are some Christians so hard for me to like? Why do I avoid sharing my faith? why don't I feel safe at church?

Each loaf is one of the tough questions and C. David Baker attempts to answer the questions.

Honestly, I didn't like this book. It wasn't that I disagreed with the theology, but the idea that a question like "why do I feel like a hypocrite?" could be answered in 3 pages is ridiculous.

Some chapters did make me angry, like the chapter "why do I resent authority?" which blamed a woman for resenting authority because she didn't trust Jesus enough when she listened to her church that told her to stay with her abusive husband.

All in all, I couldn't recommend this book to anyone. While the answers weren't quite platitudes, they were pretty close to it.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

If you wish to purchase this book for your own, here is a link:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307444905

I get no payment or reward from you purchasing it through this link.

God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Christmas

God Gave Us Love is a sweet little book with beautiful pictures. Little Cub and her grandfather are fishing when the otters interupt the trip. Little Cub's Grandfather tells her how God gives us love, there are different kinds of love and how acting loving even when we don't want to is the right thing to do.

I read this book not only to my children but also to a group of 4 and 5 year olds. The kids were entranced and engaged by the beautiful story. Little Cub learns that love helps us see the good in others, even when they make us grumpy and one little girl mentioned how her teenage sister makes people grumpy.

I really enjoyed reading this book to the kids (and also for myself).

God Gave Us Christmas begins with Little Cub asking if Santa 'vented Christmas.
She learns that it was God who "invented" Christmas because he loves us. Little Cub and her mama go on a journey to find God, which they can do because God is all around. They see God in the Northern Lights (they are polar bears after all), in powerful events like chunks of ice breaking off cliffs, and in the stars that He put in the sky.

I read this also to the kids and this was their favorite. One of the girls thought it was funny that anybody would think Santa invented Christmas - but she is a pastor's daughter. A boy was really annoyed that we don't have anything like the Northern Lights in Texas and didn't seem appeased that there are no alligators in the polar regions. The pictures in this book are also beautiful.

Author Biography:

Lisa Tawn Bergren is the award-winning author of nearly thirty titles, totaling more than 1.5 million books in print. She writes in a broad range of genres, from adult fiction to devotional. God Gave Us Love follows in Lisa’s classic tradition of the best-selling God Gave Us You. She lives in Colorado , with her husband, Tim, and their children, Olivia, Emma, and Jack.

To purchase this book directly from Randomhouse you can go here for God Gave Us Love and here for God Gave Us Christmas. (I get no proceeds from you going this way)



I received this book free from the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I received no other compensation, nor do I get any other profit. These thoughts and words are my own (except for the bio, I copied that).

Treasured by Leigh McLeroy

Treasured by Leigh McLeroy is a beautiful and thought provoking book. Inspired by a treasure box from her grandfather where she found things like a key ring with 2 keys, a coin purse with a little over a dollar in chance, cuff links and a tie tack and a shaving brush, Leigh McLeroy looks at what God might have in his treasure box.

Each of the items has ties back to their Biblical past but also illuminate our lives now; the fig leaf that clothed Adam and Eve points to the shame we feel now over various things. I had never thought about how God removed their fig leaf covering and dressed them in animal skins just like our efforts at removing sin don't work and so God had His son remove our sins.

It is a wonderful book and can help us to see how the Old Testament connects to modern day life, how these events of old can illuminate our modern hearts.

Author Biography:
Leigh McLeroy is the author of The Beautiful Ache and The Sacred Ordinary. An avid collector and recorder of everyday moments, words, and wonders, Leigh’s keen eye for God’s presence in ordinary life infuses her writing and living with a deep, insistent joy. A frequent conference and event speaker, the author makes her home in Houston , Texas , and posts often on www.leighmcleroy.com and www.wednesdaywords.com.

To purchase this book directly from Randomhouse you can go here. (I get no proceeds from you going this way)

I received this book free from the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I received no other compensation, nor do I get any other profit. These thoughts and words are my own (except for the bio, I copied that).

Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie Montana

Sometimes you are able to find a book that instantly captures your interest and from the first page Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie Montana by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss had my interest.

The story is of Julia Cavanaugh, a young orphaned woman who travels west to Montana on an orphan train with her young charges. At the final stop, she finds out to her horror that the matron of the orphanage thought an arranged marriage to a prospector would be romantic. Stranded in Montana, Julia finds out where home really is.

I loved this book from first page to last and would highly recommend it to anyone. In fact, I am letting my mother read my copy (and I hope I get it back - hint, hint.)

About the Authors

Tricia Goyer is the author of several books, including Night Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights, both past winners of the ACFW's Book of the Year Award for Long Historical Romance. Goyer lives with her family in Montana. To find out more visit her website: www.triciagoyer.com





Ocieanna Fleiss is a published writer and has edited six of Tricia Goyer's historical novels. She lives with her husband and their four children in the Seattle area. Connect with Ocieanna on Facebook!








CONTEST ALERT

The authors, Tricia and Ocieanna, have put together one humdinger of a contest for this blog tour! Enter the Fall in Love With Lonesome Prairie Contest and WIN a perty Montana Gift Basket!  

To enter, simply fill out the entry form (http://www.triciagoyer.com/contest.html ), (then tell 5 or more friends about the contest)! The winner will be announced December 14th, just in time for an old-fashioned Montana Christmas. Giddy-up!

The Winner of our ‘Fall in Love with Lonesome Prairie’ giveaway will receive a fantastic Montana Gift Basket, including:

*Winter fleece throw

*Huckleberry chocolate bar

*Paula Dean candle

*Burt’s Bees gift set

*Wild Huckleberry taffy

*Montana stationary notebook

*Montana greeting card set

*Montana ball cap

*Montana apron

*Montana refrigerator magnet

*Charlie Russell 2010 Montana Calendar

This book was provided for review by the Litfuse Publicity Group. These thoughts and opinions are mine. If I hated the book, I would have said so, and certainly not lent it to my mother.

Pots for Snot

Since I have been going through a vicious cold, I thought I would let you know about neti pots.

Never heard of them?

Not surprising, they are a well kept secret. Of course most people don't want to talk about snot and "nasal irrigation" because . . . EWWWWWW.

But that is what I am going to do because it has made me feel so much better.

I have 2 neti pots, both of them purchased by me at Walgreens (just cause I knew they had them). My first neti-pot was made by SinuCleanse and looks kind-of like the ones on their website but mine seems to be an earlier model - mine is a few years old. We call it the gravy boat. Yep, I know that is incredibly gross but it does look like a plastic gravy boat. It came with a little plastic spoon to stir the salt mixture with, but I promptly lost it.

You know the feeling of getting water up your nose as a kid? It is somewhat like that, not quite as bad UNLESS you try to forgo the salt mixture. If you try and skip the salt mixture, the pain will be incredible. With the salt mix, it is somewhat uncomfortable but it does really help.

So why did I get another one? I got the NasaFlo Neti Pot because it said it wouldn't hurt. And it doesn't. Not at all. This one looks more like a little blue teapot but it functions in pretty much the same way and the other one. The part that goes in the nose is also a little more comfortable because it isn't inserted like the SinuCleanse. It does have to be dried open, you can't clean it and then close it up so there is a potential to lose the lid.

I think the difference in solutions is that the NasaFlo uses isotonic instead of hypertonic solutions - basically (if I understand this right) the hypertonic is stronger, saltier while the isotonic is balanced to be painless.

If you are wanting to do the hypertonic solution, I would suggest the SinuCleanse neti pot. Otherwise I would suggest the NasaFlo - which does have a hypertonic salt mixture avalable (or you can use 2 regular packets).

I have read that daily "nasal irrigation" can help prevent the cold and flu - it washes the virus away before it has a chance to get bad - so it is something you may really want to try.

I was not paid for my opinion nor was my opinion requested by either company, I just wanted to give a comparison that I did on my own. I purchased all the items and received no form of compensation.

Brandi Carlile - Giving up the Ghost

One2One Network gave me the opportunity to listen to the new Brandi Carlile Album - Giving Up the Ghost. If you are not familiar with this artist, this is her third album and her music has been categorized as pop, rock, indie, folk, and alternative country (which I have never heard of). Her music has been featured on Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

As for this album, I have really been enjoying it. There is a wide variety of songs but they do fit nicely together. Brandi Carlile's voice has an amazing range and the music does seem to showcase it nicely.

The song Caroline features Elton John and seems to have some of his piano playing whimsy. Another song, That Year talks about the suicide of a friend while they were in high school - but isn't maudlin or overly depressing.

The albums tracklist:
Looking Out
Dying Day
Pride And Joy
Dreams
That Year
Caroline
Before It Breaks
I Will
If There Was No You
Touching The Ground
Oh Dear


Brandi Carlile is an artist you will want to check out.

I received a download of the album free for review but have received no other form of compensation or gain from this review. I receive no compensation for any purchase or download of the album or any songs. These are all my own opinions and thoughts of the album.