As Promised...finally

I promised over a month ago to tell more about the Living Proof Live Simulcast at our church Women's Retreat.
I always look forward greatly to Beth Moore events; she is a very gifted teacher who has a style I can relate to well. But I have to admit when I saw the Scripture passage she was going to talk on I was a little let down. Proverbs 31- "yeesh my self esteem is already low Beth, I don't need you to tell me I'm failing to be a "Proverbs 31 woman'!"
But then she said she was only going to talk about one verse- 26..
If you recall the video I posted it was related to this quote " WE as women are teachers and we are published authors; twitter, blogs, etc. and we need to let the Holy Spirit be our editor. We need to...
Eat if before we tweet it
Flog is before we blog it and
Face it before we Facebook it."
She then went on to give us 8 tastes of kindness; explaining what kindness is and in some cases what it is not. By the time it was over I was crying like a baby with repentance, relief and refreshment. The most heart wrenching for me was when she said kindness is a Savior and read Ephesians 2:4-10 and asked "Have you lost the wonder? "Oh yes I said oh yes I have". and though I had it back for a few hours, I say again, Oh yes, Lord I have lost the wonder. I have gone from that huddled form crying in a pew and feeling so refreshed a determined back to a burdened soul from whom kindness is very far away.

Happy Birthday To Me (yes I am still alive)

It actually was for once a very happy birthday. For the first time since I don't know when I didn't have a total meltdown about my birthday. At a time in my life when I feel like I am a total waste of space, I had the best birthday I can remember. The only thing that could have been better would have been to get a in person hug from my Sweetpea. But she did call and she and her brother went together on a present and got me season three of Frasier one of my favorite TV shows.
I am sorry for the absence. I have been very sick and coming back from it has been hard. I wound up in the hospital with pneumonia the week before Memorial Day and was in there a week. I still had very involved pneumonia when they released me and still have inflammation in my lungs now. Plus I developed a serious infection in my stomach called C- Dif caused by the large doses of strong antibiotics I was on for the pneumonia. As if I weren't weak enough from the pneumonia, I had diarrhea for almost a month!
I am still quite weak, so I am not getting anything done and it becomes a viscous cycle that easily leads to inertia if one is not careful and I really have not been careful. So pray for me; I have so much to tell but not the energy to put words to page.

Spring Has Sprung; At Least For Today

It is a gorgeous day today, we have a had a few over the last week. It is meteorologic summer according to our weatherman and the weather seems to backing his story. I finally got tired of my knee keeping me cooped up and got out and washed my car and threw a ball for the dogs for a while. I am sure I will pay later but it sure was nice.
I came and in and got online and found this post from The One Year Bible on Facebook; thought it was very interesting if you can stick with the length of it.

Ta ta for now :)

Stray Affections Blog Review

In Stray Affections, the last thing that Cassandra expects out of her Sunday is to be mesmerized at a collectors’ convention by a snowglobe. She’s enjoying some shopping time, with husband Ken at home tending their brood of four young boys, when she’s utterly charmed by the one-of-a kind globe containing figures of three dogs and a little girl with hair the color of her own. She can’t resist taking the unique globe home—even if means wrestling another shopper for it!

The beautiful snowglobe sparks long-dormant memories for Cassie, of her beloved Grandpa Wonky, the stray she rescued as a child, and the painful roots of her combative relationship with her mother, “Bad Betty” Kamrowski. Life in Wanonishaw, Minnesota is never dull, though, and Cassie keeps the recollections at bay, busy balancing her boys, her home daycare operation, and being a good friend to best pal Margret. But after a strange—flurrious, as Cassie deems it—moment happens with the remarkable snowglobe, Cassie and the people she loves are swirled into a tumultuous, yet grace-filled, and life-changing journey.

“As a believer, I know the power of forgiveness and new beginnings, and of a God, and family and friends, who love me the way I am,” Charlene Ann Baumbich says. “The heartbeat of change flows through those wonderful gifts.”

With the quirky, close-knit Midwestern small-town feel that made Charlene Ann Baumbich’s acclaimed Dearest Dorothy novels so popular, Stray Affections invites readers to experience the laughter and the healing of second chances.

Author Bio:Check out this video of Charlene talking about her book

Charlene Ann Baumbich is a popular author and speaker and an award-winning journalist. In addition to her Dearest Dorothy series of novels, she has written seven nonfiction books of humor and inspiration. A bungee-jumping, once motorcycle-owning grandma and unabashed dog lover, Charlene lives with her husband and rescued dog Kornflake in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She loves telling stories, laughing whenever possible, and considers herself a Wild Child of God
Please visit here to find out how to purchase a copy of this book. You can also leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy from me. Happy reading.

A Perfect Mess Blog Tour

God reminded me that I had A Perfect Mess by Lisa Harper right when I needed it. I was getting ready to read another book I am going to review when I looked at the date and realized there should be one before it. What it book it was! Once again God's timing is awesome and this book was just what I needed right now. .
A Perfect Mess's subtitle is Why You Don't Have to Worry About Being Good Enough for God and this is a big issue for me that I is always highlighted by my birthday. Many tears of gratitude grace the pages of my copy of this small yet powerful book.
Breaking down some of the chapter titles will give you a pretty good picture of the subject matter. Chapter One Walk This Way What Psalm I reveals about avoiding potholes in the path of life Chapter Two Leaping over Legalism What Psalm 62 says about wriggling out of the trap of wrong expectations Chapter Three Tumbling Toward Approval How Psalm 139 describes the way God sees the beauty behind our blemishes Chapter Four This Love Story Means Having To Say "I'm Sorry" What Psalm 51 reveals about deep cleaning our dirty cleaning our dirty hearts and much more, there are 12 chapters in all.
What I like most about this book was though the author has sense of humor and encourages us to look at things from a lighter side of things, she doesn't make light of God's Word. I love a book that has me getting my Bible along with it like this one does too. If you struggle at all with what you should be doing or know someone who is, this book needs to be on your list of must haves.
This is the summary the publisher sent:
Caught up in the self-imposed pressure to do and be all the things they think a Christian woman ought to do and be, countless women are working desperately to convince everyone, including God, that they have it all together. Few have any idea that the Creator of the universe looks at them with delight even when they yell at the dog, drive a minivan littered with French fries, or think bad words about that rude clerk at the store.
A Perfect Mess offers hope to every woman who yearns for a vibrant relationship with God but worries she isn’t good enough or doesn’t do enough to merit His affection. With characteristic authenticity, speaker and author Lisa Harper shares poignant stories from her own imperfect life to showcase the real-life relevancy of the Bible in the lives of modern women.
As she guides readers on a story-driven journey through selected Psalms, they will be inspired to experience for themselves how God’s incomparable love transforms the messiness of life into a gorgeous work of grace.
You can win a copy by commenting on this post or you can purchase one here here
Lisa Harper is a master storyteller whose lively approach connects the dots between the Bible era and modern life. She is a sought-after Bible teacher and speaker whose upcoming appearances include the national Women of Faith Conferences. A veteran of numerous radio and television programs and the author of several books, she also is a regular columnist for Today’s Christian Woman magazine. Lisa recently completed a master’s of theological studies from Covenant Theological Seminary. She makes her home outside Nashville.

Night Watchman Blog Tour

The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir is a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! In fact I have not enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed Night Watchman in quite some time. The author had me hooked on the first page and it just kept getting better from there on.
Quinn is the hero of the book, but I didn't like him at first. He is rude and mean and drowning himself in Jim Beam and self loathing. There were times I wanted to slap him for the way he treated people, but as the story progressed I couldn't help but begin to like him a little. After all, someone had loved him and died defending his life, so he must have something going for him.
From the gritty dialogue, to the apt descriptions and believable characters, Night Watchman sings with emotion. The tension and drama start on the first page and continue through to the last.
I have never read this author before, but will be looking for more from him and really hope he continues the exploits of Detective Quinn and the lovable Crevis into another book or two at least.
Kudos to Mark Mynheir for a fantastic escape into the story of Ray Quinn. Keep them coming!

Author Bio:
A detective with the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Palm Bay Police Department, Mark Mynheir investigates violent crimes and writes riveting Christian fiction. A U.S. Marine with a passion for martial arts and firearms training, Mark has worked on narcotics units, SWAT teams, and myriad high-risk situations. His four novels offer a realistic glimpse into the gritty world of law enforcement and the rarely seen raw emotions behind the badge. Mark lives in Florida with his wife and three children.

OK folks, if you want to read this book you can purchase it here or you can leave a comment on this post for a chance at winning a copy. Happy reading!

They Call Him Taishi

Bet you can't guess where I am right now? I am roughly 500 miles from home is a place called Suwanee,Georgia. Now you may be asking why am I so far from home? Well it is a very long story but I will begin to tell you here, but you must promise that you won't judge until you have read the whole story which may take a few posts. Just be patient, OK?

Sigh,it all started roughly 5 years ago. My daughter had started an online journal to keep up with her, then, best friend that she had met in 5th grade and and had to leave when we moved at the end of 6th grade.
I made sure she was careful about it; at the time we didn't have a home computer so she had to go to the library to update. When she was 19 she got an apartment of her own with her new best friend and had moved her journal over to a section for Christians. Not long after this guy from Georgia left a comment on one of her posts and they began to talk back and forth through email. He called himself Taishi, but his name is Joshua, and within a few weeks they exchanged phone numbers.
Things went on like this for a few months and then things began to change. They started to argue a lot; he was getting away from Christ and questioning his beliefs and starting to party and do drugs and stuff. Eventually she and him stopped talking at all because he said some really hurtful things to her and she was grieved by that and his unwillingness to give up his lifestyle.
I think it was over a year that they didn't talk then somehow the lines of communication were opened back up. I am not sure who initiated it but she had grown a lot in her faith and maturity and was now able to handle things better and he was learning that he didn't have all the answers as well. At this point we are probably over 3 years into the relationship.
Things went along kind of up and down for about a year of more, her trying to gently nudge him away from his lifestyle, arguments ensuing and apologies and so on.Then her got arrested. Not only was he caught with drugs, but with enough to get charged with posession with intent to distribute, a felony. Waiting for his court day was a nightmare for him and I believe this is what turned him back to Christ. He was really scared he would have to go to prison and very well could have. On his court date he pleaded no contest and got probation, I am not sure how long in total but he got over 6 months of extremely strict probation, he has to be in his house by 7pm!
More later. Remember, don't judge.

Happy Mother’s Day Blog Tour Book 3

Enduring Justiceby Amy Wallace When an FBI agent is pressed into action by a loved one’s childhood secret and a racial killer, he learns the difference between vengeance and justice is the choice to heal. (Publisher promo)

Enduring Justice us a compelling drama that I really wanted to like. The main themes running through the book have the potential to be powerfully emotional yet somehow, the author lets them fall flat.
I was pretty sure I knew Hannah's dark secret and I was right, but I was disappointed in the shallowness this powerful subject matter was dealt with.
The other main character, Micheal's conflicted emotions and bitterness were again rife with potential which was left, for the most part, unrealized.
Instead of seeing people deal with problems with prayer and God's Word; we see people whose issues and problems are all wrapped neatly in a trite happy ending.
Also, the dialogue in this book, especially the internal dialogue of the main characters, does not only not right true, but lends a choppy disjointedness to the tale.
I am not, like some, one to quibble over proper sentence structure and grammar to the point of banality. I don't demand excellent writing in order to enjoy a good story. But I do demand good writing , which in my opinion, this book sorely lacks. I was actually surprised to find this was not the authors first book.
It frustrates me that so many poorly written books get published when I know good writers who want to get published and can't.
As I said earlier, I really wanted to like this book. I hope you will like it more than I did, and if you would like to challenge my opinion, please leave a comment for a chance to read it yourself and let me know what you think.
You can also purchase it here .
Happy reading and get to commenting please!

Happy Mother’s Day Blog Tour Book 2

Encouraging and practical, Dear Mom looks at the heart, instead of just outward behaviors, to help you communicate without the angst, know what your teen daughter’s really thinking—and reconnect.

Though I have not read this book because I have no need of it; from the summary below I think it bears looking into for those of you who have teen daughters or will have soon. 4 turns to 14 in the blink of an eye ladies, be prepared! Post a comment for a chance to win a copy or check out this link to purchase a copy. Once again, happy reading.

Every mom knows how communicating with a teenage girl can be difficult, even impossible at times. One-word answers. Defensive conversations. Daily arguments. How typical for teens to put up such barriers. All the while, moms truly long to know what their daughters really think.

Best-selling author Melody Carlson, whose books for women, teens, and children have sold more than three million copies, bridges this chasm with trusted insight. She speaks frankly in the voice of the teen daughters she’s written for and she tells it like it is: struggles with identity, guys, friendship, and even parents—it’s all here. The straight-talk to moms covers such things as “I need you, but you can’t make me admit it,” “I’m not as confident as I appear,” and “I have friends. I need a mother.”

Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom looks at a young woman’s heart and reveals to moms:

· how to talk to teens so they hear,

· how to connect despite the differences of perspective or years and experiences,

· and how strengthen the bond every mom and daughter ultimately wants.

The lively chapters in Dear Mom can be dipped into topically or used as a read-through tool by moms and daughters alike to understand what motivates or deflates, troubles or inspires—and just in time for Mother’s Day and all the Mother’s Days ahead.

Author Bio:

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of more than one hundred books for adults, children, and teens, with sales totaling more than three million copies. Beloved for her Diary of a Teenage Girl and Notes from a Spinning Planet series, she’s also the author of the women’s novels Finding Alice (in production now for a Lifetime-TV movie), Crystal Lies, On This Day, These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking, and A Mile in My Flip-Flops. A mother of two grown sons, Melody lives in central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. She’s a full-time writer and an avid gardener, biker, skier, and hiker.

Mama’s Got A Fake I.D Blog Tour

Happy Mother’s Day
from WaterBrook Press/Multnomah Books!

Mama’s Got A Fake I.D. shows women that being a mom doesn’t mean losing yourself. If you’re wondering what happened to the talents and abilities you made use of before kids came along, get ready to find yourself again.

I haven't read this, so here is the summary from the publisher. I am sure there are many of you who will enjoy this book. Look for more books for Moms this week, and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of each one or go here to purchase. Happy reading!

Formula for identity loss:

1. Take one multifaceted, intriguing human being.

2. Bless her with a child.

3. Mix with today’s cultural assumptions.

4. Add the demands of motherhood.

5. Presto! All identity except Mom disappears.

For every woman wondering what happened to the unique combination of gifts and abilities she was known for before kids came along, Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira has good news: in Mama’s Got a Fake I.D., Rivedeneira helps moms reclaim their full identity as creative beings, gifted professionals and volunteers, loving friends, children of God—and mothers.

This inspiring and practical guide shows women how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express who they really are, and follow God’s lead in sharing their true self with others. After all, motherhood doesn’t have to mean losing one’s identity. Instead, being a mom makes it possible for a woman to discover a more complete identity as the person God made her to be.


Author Bio

The former managing editor of Marriage Partnership and Christian Parenting Today, Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira has been a trusted voice writing and speaking to women for more than a decade. Today she is the managing editor of GiftedForLeadership.com, an online community for Christian women in leadership. Rivadeneira works from home in the Chicago suburbs, where she lives with her husband and their three children.

A Jane Kirkpatrick Duet Blog Tour

Check out these books, I haven't had time to read lately but here are the summaries from the publisher.

The perfect pairing of a heart retrenching tale and a real life view of a Utopian community, both set in the1800s, any fan of Jane will be sure to love! Even if you are new to Kirkpatrick’s work, you can certainly expect to be captivated and longing for more while discovering new fascinations you never knew you had. Her extraordinary experiences mixed with her rich history have given her the ability to draw you in and make you feel like you are experiencing her unique stories as they happen. This rare gift has helped her to become one of today’s best selling authors. Be prepared to be blown away by her words as you get a glimpse into an entirely new world.


Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother’s photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman’s pursuit of her dreams.

She took exquisite photographs,

but her heart was the true image exposed.


Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality.

With the infamous hazards of the explosive powder used for lighting and the toxic darkroom chemicals, photography is considered a man’s profession. Yet Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction to the very married Mr. Bauer.

This luminous coming-of-age tale deftly exposes the intricate shadows that play across every dream worth pursuing—and the irresistible light that beckons the dreamer on.




Wrap yourself in a fantastic journey,
a remarkable commitment, and a spare and splendid story

Master storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick extols the beautiful treasures, unknown to a wider public, rediscovered in the Old Aurora Colony of Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley. The people and legacy of Aurora, a utopian community founded in the mid-1800s, will stir your imagination, hopes, and dreams; and remind you that every life matters—that our lives are the stories other people read first.

~Featuring~

Unique and treasured quilt pattern variations

More than 100 photographs, many never-before published, from 1850 to today

Cherished stories from Aurora descendants

Rich images of fine crafts from the Aurora Colony and private collections

An introduction by renowned American artist John Houser

Aurora is about the difference every ordinary life can make—and a beautiful celebration of a time and place in which people expressed their most cherished beliefs through the work of their imagination and hands.

Author Bio:
Jane Kirkpatrick is a best-selling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.

Clutter- Free Christianity Blog Tour

Clutter-Free Christianity
by Dr. Robert Jeffress

This book was different than I was expecting it to be; which turns out to be good. I was expecting a book that talked about the busyness of today's average Christian. What I got was just what I needed at this time in my life.
This book is a call to get back to the basic tenants of Christianity. It is a call to stop theorizing, speculating, and ministering for sake of ministry, and get ask ourselves if we are prepared for eternity.
Mr Jeffress opens up with the analagy of preparing for international travel and reckons that if we take such extreme care to prepare for a trip such as thisl how much more so should we take care to prepare for the most important destination of all. While a trip overseas may be subject to rescheduling or cancellation, the time we will leave for eternity is fixed in God's calendar and if we don't prepare now, we won't get another chance when it is time to go.
Realizing his own mortality was slipping by quickly, Mr Jeffress asked himself

What must I do to please God?

While understanding we are saved by grace and grace alone, we must also realize, says Jeffress, that the Bible is clear that God is interested in more just our justification,,we must also have a changed heart as suggested in Luke 10 . Our hearts must be transformed, and this is what the book goes on to address; broken down into 10 chapters that cover Connecting your heart to God's power on through to Prayer, communicating with God and ending with Creating a plan to change your life.
I have found Mr. Jeffress book refreshing, timely, and challenging. It is one of the few books of it's kind I have seen that delivers what it implies to promise, which is spiritual and personal growth.
If you think there is nothing you can do or must do to please God beyond accepting His gift of Salvation, I challenge you to read this book and find renewed focus and purpose for your life. Even knowing that I must do more, this book helped me, is helping me, to sort through the clutter of day to day struggles and frustrations and failures, and get to heart of what pleasing God really means. If you lead a small group, I would encourage you to consider this book for discussion, it has a study guide included.

Author Bio:
Dr. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, one of the most historic churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The author of sixteen books, he is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition, live broadcasts of Dr. Jeffress’ weekly messages reach millions of listeners and viewers each week, while his daily sermon series airs on 1,100 television stations and cable systems nationwide. Dr. Jeffress and his wife, Amy, are the parents of two adult daughters.
I am grateful to God for leading me to this book, for Mr Jeffress for writing it and to the publisher for making it available to all of us.
I hope you will check here to get a copy of your own and make your Christianity Clutter Free

Yikes, update indeed!

My last update was the 14th?! No wonder I got a request for an update. Tsk tsk tsk, shame on me!

Sigh, I really don't know what to say for myself except that I have been laboring under the side effects of new medication. Some my recall a post a while back about an embarrassing incident in the Health Food Store. Well the incidents became more and more frequent until I was forced to start wearing a protection almost all of the time and certainly if I were planning on being out of the house. I finally decided it was time to talk to my MD about it. I had been hoping it would get better as I lost weight but such was not the case, in fact I think it was getting worse with the weight loss. Of course he wanted me to try a medication, the main reason I had waited so long not to say anything was that I did not want to add another medicine unless absolutely necessary; but he said it was, especially to rule out other causes of the problem. But ever since I started the medicine I have become increasingly tired and sluggish. It has been long enough that it is obvious by now it is not going to go away, so I contacted my MD. I go back on Wednesday afternoon. He was going to just change my prescription but all the medicines in the class carry the same side effect, so now we need to come up with another approach. So this is why I have not posted, and have not done a whole lot of anything for the last couple of weeks. I just can't get enough sleep and when I am not sleeping I feel like I moving through half dried cement so I don't got a lot done. Seems like this is one the things that goes by the wayside when I am not up to par.
I will try to get on the ball and get back on here and get caught up with what is going on in my life.
Like getting a new puppy and my latest attempt at becoming independent.
I will also be doing more blog tours for some interesting books so stay tuned and please don't hesitate to poke me.

Dinner With A Perfect Stranger Blog Tour

Dinner With A Perfect Stranger by David Gregory is a large blessing in a small package.
Only 100 pages long, this little book does a great job of presenting Jesus and His Father to would be critics and detractors.
A man receives an invitation to dinner with none other than, Jesus of Nazareth and goes simply to play along with what he feels is an obvious joke on him by one of his colleagues. What he finds when he gets there is only the first surprise of the evening as he converses with a man who knows a lot about him and has some very interesting answers to his questions.
Well told, historically and Biblically accurate; this story will warm the hearts of the devout to the skeptic. It is a well written, interesting and perfectly paced while also being informative and even fun. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the companion, A Day with A Perfect Stranger.

What if a fascinating stranger knew you better than you know yourself?

When her husband comes home with a farfetched story about eating dinner with someone he believes to be Jesus, Mattie Cominsky thinks this may signal the end of her shaky marriage. Convinced that Nick is, at best, turning into a religious nut, the self-described agnostic hopes that a quick business trip will give her time to think things through.

On board the plane, Mattie strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger. When she discovers their shared scorn for religion, she confides her frustration over her husband’s recent conversion. The stranger suggests that perhaps her husband isn’t seeking religion but true spiritual connection, an idea that prompts her to reflect on her own search for fulfillment.

As their conversation turns to issues of spiritual longing and deeper questions about the nature of God, Mattie finds herself increasingly drawn to this insightful stranger. But when the discussion unexpectedly turns personal, touching on things she’s never told anyone, Mattie is startled and disturbed. Who is this man who seems to peer straight into her soul?

David Gregory is the author of the best-selling books Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, and coauthor of two nonfiction books. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning graduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary. A native Texan, David now devotes himself to writing full time.


You can learn more about and purchase these books here or here

Happy Valentines Day

There is nothing I can say that would be better that
this
so read and contemplate. If you aren't a single girl, oh well. It still applies to you.

And the winner is

The only person who left a comment wins Churched. Congratulations angelleslament.

Churched Book Review

Matthew Paul Turner is a blogger, speaker and author of The Coffeehouse Gospel, Provocative Faith, Beatitude: Relearning Jesus, the What You Didn’t Learn from Your Parents About… series, and several other popular books. He has written for Relevant, HomeLife, Christian Single magazines and was the former editor of CCM magazine. Matthew and his wife, Jessica, live in Nashville, Tennessee.


Matthew Paul Turner's Churched was what I expected it to be and so much more. Matthew Paul Turner's memories struck an almost painfully familiar chord, yet treated the matter with a grace I am only beginning to find for my own memories.

I too was thrust into the midst of fundamentalism in childhood, though my journey began much later, when I was 12. I recognized myself in so much of this book, along with many of the people I knew in those days. From the larger than life, brimstone breathing pastor Nolan, to the milder Mr Shenmeister, I saw the people from my teen years paraded before me.

One of my favorite parts of the book was early in the book when he is looking for God in the new church and not finding Him anywhere. When he told the Sunday School teacher and she told him she saw God in faces of the children, I almost dropped the book laughing at 4-5 year old Matthew's assesment, after scanning the room and seeing the faces of this classmates with stained lips and crumbs around thier mouths that "if God was there, He was up to no" good. Yet, this was only the tip of the iceberg. There are manifold funny and touching stories within the pages of this little book.


Matthew's journey from toddler to teen in a fundamentalist church gave me a emotional ride that left me with a warmed heart and a smile on my face. I think I will read this book again and again.

When one reads Churched he will laugh, and at some points want to cry. One may either be shocked by Matthew's memories or comforted by their familiarity, but she will not be unmoved.

I highly recommend Churched for your reading lists. For those who have been there as a balm and for those who have not, an education.
Thank you, Matthew Paul Turner for blessing us with this memoir. Thank You God that Matthew was able to hang on to You through it all.
You can purchase the book here or here .
Happy reading and remember, comments on this post and the previous post about talking about the blog tour will be numbered. At the end of October the numbering will cease and I will use a random number generator to choose one who will receive his or her very own copy of Churched. So lets see some comments folks, short and sweet, long and neat; just post something! :)

Good News and Bad News

Or maybe that is bad news, good news, good news, bad news and bad news.
I haven't posted in a while cause my mind is kind of fogged with pain the last week. Last Sunday evening I fell, and when one is weighs what I weigh, and has Fibromyalgia falling is a big thing, no pun intended. The good news is I didn't break anything and I didn't hit my head. I really should have hit my head, but the coffee table was not where it was supposed to be, so I didn't; Thank You GOD! I went to the doctor a few days after, I held out until Wed cause I already had an appointment for followup from my brochettes and sinusitis. Save the eye rolling, I've already got it from several people, and my doc was not to pleased with me either. Doc sent me for x-rays but no call back so unless things don't get better, that will be that. I have bruises all over, most serious were my right knee and left shoulder and foot. I am a little better, but doc says it will be weeks before I am healed up.
So there that is, now for the other good news, I no longer have to do all the breathing junk on a daily basis, YEA!
I don't know how to segue into the other bad news from there so I won't even try. I am sad to report the economy had claimed another victim, one very near and dear to me has had job hours cut almost in half. This represents a serious problem since ends were barely meeting before. I am sad and frustrated beyond words.
The next bad news is I have only had one comment related to my giveaway. I sure hope things turn around soon on that score!
Sorry for the lack of eloquence here folks, stay tuned.

Giveaway! I Am SO Excited About This!

I am going to have my very first giveaway! I have been given the honor of reviewing the new Matthew Paul Turner book Churched. I will be posting my review around the middle of October and in the mean time I want you readers to think of a brief summary of what you think of the book based on the reviews you have read thus far, publicity or perhaps from reading the book yourself. Leave your comments on my blog and I will use a random number generator to choose who will receive their very own copy of Churched. The deadline for leaving your comment will be the 17th of October.
I'm so excited!

No More Dead Puppies, Please

You will have to look at the comments section to understand the title. No worries, no real animals were hurt or killed for the non-posting on this blog.
OK, dear one, you have my attention, though you may wish you had not accomplished thus very soon.
My mind has turned to jelly lately, heck my spirit seems to have turned to jelly these past few weeks. I don't know if anyone can identify with what I am getting at here. Of course my depressive self says" of course you couldn't possibly" but reality and the Holy Spirit, are saying " you are not alone in anything". I just feel like I have been drifting like so much flotsam. I feel disconnected and isolated, so I have disconnected and isolated myself; makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
What is wrong with me?! Why can't I push past all these things that are bugging me? I know no one is perfect, I know no group is perfect, so why can't I "get over it" to quote Sari Dolence. But then, if I am honest; which I must be becasue I demand it of others, do I want to get over it? Therein, is the rub you see. I am not sure I want to. I want someone to admit they are wrong. OK, I want someone to tell me I am right, and have been all along and now we will do it my way. Crap! Honesty is so bloomin" hard!
So I think I have spewed enough of my guts for now. The upside is God has snapped me out of it in a big way. Just pray I keep up the momentum, OK?
I'll catch up with you later, hopefully not too much later.