Rules meant no decisions.

Most of my posts contain affiliate links where I get a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you when you purchase something through a link.  Thank you for starting your shopping here at Books, Bargains, Blessings.

I still feel very shaken by the phone call I had on Friday.  Years of my life trying to join a Church that I just feel doesn't want me -- but feeling a peace about it, too.  I'm not sure why life gave me that leg of my journey.  I just feel relief that it's over.  No more trying to jump through hoops.  No more obstacles put in my way.

I used to think faith was about rules and what I did and didn't do.  When I was in high school, I had a checklist of things to see how good of a Christian I was each week.  Choir practice?  check.  Memorize a Bible verse?  Check?  If I didn't write a missionary, deduct points.

Life was neat and orderly.  There was no gray.  Everything not done in faith was sin, and boy howdy, (as I used to say in high school) there was a lot of sin in those days.

My journey away from that isn't what I want to talk about right now, but sometimes how it would have seemed simpler to live in that, at least in some ways.  I remember friends who even acted dumber than they were so their husbands wouldn't feel like they were not as intelligent as their wife.  It was all part of being submissive to your husband (in the Biblical sense of the word, not as in Fifty Shades!)

I still get a magazine that is well known in some Fundamentalist circles.  I always read it, cover to cover.  Aside from being a voracious reader, there is something in me that feels like their lives are less complicated.  Denim skirts.  (I admit, I'm starting to buy some denim skirts these days but just because my fiance likes me wearing a skirt and I find them comfortable as well as much easier to shop for since I'm short.)  The women in this magazine generally have a lot of children, usually named Biblical names.  These photos look so clean, so polished, so perfect.

But being perfect nearly killed my spirit.  It's been a long journey from there, a lot of study, a lot of change.  I even learned some Ancient Hebrew so I could read parts of the Old Testament in its original language.  What that gave me was an understanding that I couldn't have received otherwise.  One verse that was always held up as a rally cry -- I have read it in the original language.  No one can ever again tell me that it means something it doesn't.  That is a liberating feeling.

I think of a Stephen Curtis Chapman song called "Remember Your Chains".   There's a line that says "No heart loves greater than one who is able to recall when all it knew was shame."   That's what all those rules did to me.  Shame.  I couldn't live up to what I had in my mind that was required from me.

But it was easier.  It was easier than having to weigh the pros and cons of each situation.  It was easier to say all movies in movie theaters were bad and avoiding even the Christian ones because of the "unsavory place" (and more for appearances because it wasn't avoiding every appearance of evil).  Now I have the difficult part of life where I have to make decisions and not all decisions are made for me by someone in "spiritual authority" over me. I have to own the responsibility of my choices and not avoid everything.

The amount of shame was profound.  I couldn't grasp grace.  Just that I was bad.  Not that I should become a Christian because God loved me but because I was bad and I would be punished otherwise.  That's not love.  That's manipulation.  And while I do believe it is true, that's not why we should love God.  I John says "We love because He first loved us."  Notice it doesn't say "We love because otherwise we would be punished."

I don't know if the true Gospel was truly never presented to me or if I was so enveloped in a "do good, don't do bad" world that I couldn't see the real message of faith.

I admit, sometimes it feels as if the days when I was following the rules to the letter were easier because I didn't have to make decisions.  But they certainly weren't as freeing and peaceful.

Do Over by Jon Acuff & $25 Family Christian Giveaway (Ends 3/16)

FTC disclaimer:   I received an advance reading copy of this book for review purposes and an appreciation certificate for hosting a giveaway.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for starting your shopping here at Books, Bargains, Blessings.


I work at home.  I haven't had  an outside the home job since I was in college.  So why did I read Do Over?  Simple, I have to constantly reinvent myself so I don't have to have a 9-5 job.  Some days, though, I feel like that would be a blessing.  My boyfriend works eight hours and he's done.  There are days I work from the moment I wake until I fall asleep.  I like taking overnight trips once every month or two so I have time where I don't feel like I should be doing anything except stuff I enjoy. Someone asked me about my job this week and added the demeaning word "just" in front of it. (Not the time to say that when I worked 14 hours straight one day recently.) When I started this journey soon after graduating college, a church secretary told me there was more to life than selling stuff online.  That's exactly why I chose this journey.  In the seventeen years since I graduated, I have been able to travel to over a dozen countries, take care of my mother when she was ill and needed someone.  Even being able to drop everything to move into a hotel for a week to be near her ICU room.  Yes, there are days that I envy my fiance, but I also realize that I am living what many women consider to be a dream.  So how did the book Do Over help me?   It showed me where I'm doing it right and where I need to improve.

When reading Do Over be prepared and have lots and lots of index cards on hand.  Yeah, he's one of "those" authors.

A rabbi, a magician and a cowboy are all invited to a wedding.   That may sound like a joke, but I'll let you know if there is a punchline after May.  I'm in the middle of addressing wedding invitations.  It has felt like a never ending process because there's a lot of people invited.  I have invested in relationships and the guest list shows that.  I know if I ever need something in Hebrew translated, I have someone who I can ask.  If I ever have a cowboying question, I have a resource.  (although I kind of doubt I ever will, because I didn't know there were real cowboys until I met my friend Jake.)  As I read the first part of Do Over I was patting myself on my back and thinking, "Yes!  I excel at this!" Who of us doesn't want to have an area where we think we rock?  So many of our opportunities in life are created from connections.  They are vital to a Do Over.  (A side note on making connections, Jon Acuff, if you are reading this, you are invited to the wedding as well!)

I once was talking to a friend and she commented on how she was looking forward to a job where she could use her skills.  I asked her, "What are your skills?"  She replied, "You know, Jenn, I'm not sure."  The second part of this book talks about skills.  Think you don't have skills? You do because you know that thing that everyone asks you to do?  That thing you do as a favor for someone and tell them "Don't tell anyone I did this for you because I don't want to have tons of people asking me".  That's one of your biggest skills.  But there are skills you need that you need to develop.  I remember over a dozen years ago a friend telling me I should start a blog.   I never had heard the term "blog" before.  Had I started when he suggested it, I might be one of the most well known bloggers on the Internet.  I'm still learning.  I've tried to surround myself with other bloggers.  I posted to someone in a group recently that I wanted to be like her when I grew up.  It's a cute way of saying, "I admire you and I know you're better at this than I am, but I'm going to develop my talents so I can be like you in my own way."  So there was the un-fun part of that section of this book.  I have to work on things I'm not good at.   I'm doing that.  Another pat on the back from myself.  Am I doing it as much as I should be?  Let's move along.

The third section is about character.  This, like the other sections, encompasses a lot.  Everything from generosity to empathy to when you use your cell phone.  In this book there is a story of how a boss lost a good employee because of a decision to try and make some money on some football tickets. It hurt him in the end to lose this employee, and being generous and selling them for the issue price instead of the going rate on the internet would have been more worth it to him in the long run.  I loved his advice about how it's not always known what you are doing on technology at a meeting, and if possible use paper.  You might SAY you are taking notes, but you could just as easily be on Facebook or watching a cute cat video.

The final section of this book is hustle.  This is where I'm usually lacking the most.  I might enjoy shopping for items to sell online, but actually getting those listed is something I don't like doing.  No job is ever all fun, you just have to do the unfun parts.  Hustle is putting your neck out there and trying for opportunities that may or may not open up for you.  It is realizing that your dream transforms differently the more you work at it.  When I was in 3rd grade, there was a big emphasis on what we wanted to be when we grew up and our teacher started exposing us to things that would help us in our career.  If I had said what I was going to be doing 30 years later, I would have been told to quit daydreaming.   Selling items internationally from the privacy of my home?  Working in pajamas if I want to?  Reviewing books on a website.  (Think to 1983.  What's a website?  You can't send anything to Russia.  How will you ever attract customers?  You're going to sell enough potato chips to pay for a week of fitness camp?  That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, especially when you are selling them to individuals across the country!)  Been there, done that, sold the snacks.

We can't see the future.  Even for those of us in work at home jobs, we need to be sure that we are keeping up with the times.  We may not need a complete overhaul, but I recommend the book Do Over to encourage you to keep up with your skills and use them to your advantage.  Plus this is an enjoyable read.  (I've never before laughed out loud while reading a career book.)  Of course, if you want to change careers, I believe this book is vital to that.)

For the giveaway, Family Christian has offered one of my readers a $25 Family Christian appreciation certificate.  Open to 18 and older, USA only.  Winner has 48 hours to respond to winning e-mail or another winner may be chosen.  You can use this to purchase Do Over or another book by Jon Acuff or anything else that Family Christian sells.

Entry-Form

God's Grace doesn't Require Groveling

Many of my posts contain affiliate links where I get a small percentage of your purchase price when you start your shopping here at no additional cost to you.  


I wrote an e-mail last night.  In it I said, "I don't think groveling becomes me."   I also said that if a church didn't want to open its arms to me, it was their loss not mine.  When my fiance got off work yesterday, I told him of a phone conversation I had.  We cried.  We cried for the time I invested in something that didn't work out.  We cried for how Jesus is represented inaccurately.  We cried because I felt hurt.

Yet, I felt a huge relief, too.   I e-mailed another person last night.  I tried to resist.  But I kept feeling like I should.  Her response just felt like salve to an open wound.  It was then, even before my fiance got home, I felt like everything was going to be okay.

What brought on my pain yesterday was a phone call.  But I have the wisdom to walk away from the situation.  During this phone call, many things were said that hurt, but right now the one that stuck out was, "Did you tithe on the inheritance you received?"   My mother died a little over a year ago.  I was only making a FOUR figure income in years prior because I lived with her to help take care of her.  Because of her many doctor appointments and dialysis treatments and limited mobility, I did what I could to make money at home.  But it was never quite enough.  I'm using that money now to remodel the house.  It's not out of vanity.  I want to be able to live in a house where there is no mold growing.  I can't imagine the 60 year old carpet is good for my allergies.  The people who lived here in the early 1980s had a cat that regularly used the carpet as a litter box.   On damp days you can still smell the ammonia.  Yet, I'm asked if I tithed.  If I did or if I didn't, that's something between God and me.  It is no one else's business, especially not someone who is not even my pastor!  I'm not even sure the money will last long enough to get all the mold and such out of the house.  Which is more important?  Padded pews for a church or making sure I have heat in the winter?  (My basement flooded this week and thankfully the motor on the furnace didn't go out.  Still it's over $1,000 to make sure it won't happen again.)  I'm not opposed to tithing and giving money.  I'm actually quite generous but what I give, where I give, how I give, and how much I give is not anyone else's business.

I am tired of manipulation in any sense of the word.  I don't have to jump through hoops to be loved by God.  Jesus isn't Santa Claus who is going to keep a list and check it twice.

Where did the grace go?  I remember being a student in college and our chapel resounding with the notes of the song "Wonderful Grace of Jesus"



All sufficient Grace for even me.  Wow.  Not because of what we've done, how much we've tithed, how much we've groveled or how many hoops we've jumped through.  It's all sufficient grace.  We don't need to add anything to be worthy.  It's done.

I had a dream last night where I was in a building that was underwater.  I only had so much oxygen yet I needed to get out of the water, and the only way to do that was through obstacles -- I needed to ascend to each floor.  Sometimes I had to do things to be allowed to pass to the next floor.  Only on the next to the last floor did I find a chance to rest.  I woke when I was able to burst out of this building and find freedom.

It seems so appropriate.  I've done so much striving hoping to be worthy for God.

Relationships shouldn't be made out of fear.  We should have the freedom to enjoy them.

Before I fell asleep last night, I picked up my copy of Runaway Radical I recently received to review.  I wanted to flip through it.  I related to the story.  I wanted to read through the last chapter once again.

I had no recollection the word groveling was used in the book as I finished reading it nearly a month ago.  I began reading the book as an outsider looking in, then as someone who felt compassion because of a similar -- but lesser experience.  But there it was.  Even the word "grovel":

Jonathan had finally received a response to his plea: "How long do I grovel at His feet?  He's not there."  And the response was, "I'm here, whether you are or not."  It wasn't too late; that Jesus was still around.  Had always been around.   (From Runaway Radical by Amy Hollingsworth and Jonathan Hollingsworth)

Jesus says in the book of Matthew "My yoke is easy and my burden light."   My desire is someday that all churches will ease up on the things they extra things require and allow Christians to enjoy God's grace, especially those of us who are intense about our faith and strive so hard.  Maybe, maybe it's time we just rest.   The beginning of that passage in Matthew says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."  True rest can't come in following man made rules, but grace gives rest.

Staying Healthy with your Smart Phone

FTC disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post from U.S. Cellular as I am part of their blogger brigade.  All opinions are my own.

U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them. 

Some of you may remember I attended a fitness week a few years ago where we learned about ways to be healthy and lose weight.  On one of our first sessions, we discussed apps where we could use our phone to help us keep healthy.  Usually you see a group of teenagers on their phones, but in that moment, a group of adults grabbed our smart phones and started downloading apps where we could scan items in the grocery store and see how they lined up health wise, count our calories, and track our fitness.  Do you know I even used those very apps to help me decide what was the healthier option when eating out?  I lost 18 pounds with the help of my Smart Phone.  I'm not alone, because 34% of Smart Phone users have utilized apps to help them lose weight, and 66% have used apps to help track fitness and exercise.

There are a myriad of ways that your smart phone can help you stay healthy.  Unfortunately I've had to call 911 way too often when my mother was so sick, and that's probably the number one way most people think of when it comes to health with a phone, but there's so many more ways one can help you.  One of the most amazing ways my smart phone helped us was during a blizzard, a utility line was down across our driveway.  The power company didn't care and wouldn't check it even though I said my mother needed her dialysis treatment.  They merely told me everyone was an emergency, even though dialysis is the matter between life and death.  I posted on Facebook.  Even without electric I was able to use my Smart Phone.  Friends with power really picked up the ball.  Someone even tweeted the governor.  A friend of mine who writes for a newspaper was able to pull a few strings, and we had the line checked and were able to get out of the house so my mother could have her dialysis treatment.  I was never so thankful for the U.S. Cellular 4G network as I was at that time.

photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Another way that your phone can help you stay healthy is through telemedicine.  The Pew Research has shown that 1 in 3 people have gone online to research a medical condition.  Cell phones have made it easier than ever to contact physicians.  While not meant to replace visiting the doctor, it can certainly be helpful for those who live in remote areas or have mobility problems.  I know one of the benefits my mother had with her insurance was the ability to call a trained nurse 24 hours a day.  How handy is that?  It was certainly helpful to know when something needed to be something we were seriously concerned with or if it was a side effect from new medicines.  Some doctors even provide telemedicine for things like colds which account for 25% of all doctor visits.  Be sure and ask your primary care physician and insurance company about any relationships they have with telemedicine providers. They may be part of the Vitals or NCQA which provide even more information on this new frontier of keeping you healthy using your smart phone.

One of my favorite ways to keep myself healthy using U.S. Cellular is with my pharmacy's app.  I can scan the label on my meds using my iPad Air 2, the app will ask what pharmacy I want to pick my prescription up from, and in an hour, I can go through the drive through and hopefully avoid germs from others as I get sick pretty easily.  Who knew that in addition to high resolution and nice screen size the iPad can help keep you from getting sick?

Crystal Wash 2.0 Giveaway Ends 3/14

I'm once again joining with some other bloggers to bring you this giveaway.  Good luck!

Crystal Wash 2.0 Giveaway - A Whole New Way To Clean Laundry! #crystalwash ~ 2 WINNERS!

Deliciously Savvy & Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains are teaming up to Host a Giveaway for 2 Lucky Winners to Receive Crystal Wash 2.0! ( $50 ARV each) This is an amazing product that I am already In love with after only 2 washes!

Check Out Crystal Wash HERE

Sponsored By: Crystal Wash 2.0

Hosted By:

Deliciously Savvy & Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains

Co-Hosted By:

Michigan Saving and More

Kaisy Daisy's Corner

Mami's 3 Little Monkeys

Your Strong Tower

&

Sweepstakes Fanatics

Giveaway Dates: 12 AM EST 2/28 until 12 AM EST 3/14

Open To Us Residents and must be 18+ to enter

This giveaway is in no way endorsed, affiliated or associated with Facebook,

Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. This giveaway is valid only

in the United States. Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter.

This giveaway will end at 12:00 AM (EST) on 3/14/15.

Good Luck!

Deliciously Savvy & Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains did not receive any form of compensation for this giveaway. Once winner is selected via the Rafflecopter process, the product will be shipped. Winner has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. No other blog associated with this giveaway is responsible for the product shipment. Crystal Wash 2.0 will be providing the prize to the winner. Thank You for stopping by! Any Questions or Concerns email me at mcushing7@hotmail.com

As Always, Thanks For Visiting Deliciously Savvy Today! Leave Some Comment Love While You Are Here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A debt Free Christmas -- February

This post may contain affiliate links where I earn a small amount when you start your purchase here.  Thank you for beginning your shopping here at Books, Bargains, Blessings.

Christmas is ten months away.   Why think about it in February?  Right?  WRONG!  If you want to have a debt free Christmas then the best way to do so is think about it every year.  This is the second in my series of having a debt free Christmas.

This month, let's make some lists.  Make a list of all the people you want to send Christmas cards to.   This next month, plan on getting the cards and stamps.  It's sometimes cheaper to buy your own Christmas cards and add a photo inside.  Check out the fantastic prices of these cards at Family Christian.   They even have some as low as 16 for $1.  So if you haven't purchased Christmas cards yet, figure out how many you need and purchase them now!  You certainly won't find deals like this in November or December.

Also, plan for stamps.  Did you know you can order holiday stamps at any time of the year through the usps.com site?  So order your Christmas cards and order your stamps.  That way you will have them come Christmas.

If you don't send cards, then just set the money you would have spent on cards back for expenses as they come up IN ADDITION to what you are already saving for gifts.  If you aren't sure how much that would be, just set back $50.  Put it in a "Christmas" envelope because you'll be spending it before a bank Christmas club account would come due.

A shopping trip that cost me nothing!

Yesterday, I stopped at a store a little out of my area.  I had won $45 in gift cards and had been waiting until I could stop at a store of this chain to use them.  I was disappointed at how many items I picked up off the shelf that were already past their best by date, and that prevented me from getting some stuff I was hoping to get, but here is how my shopping trip played out.

Using sales and coupons, I saved $13.  Using my gift cards I won that took my total to zero.  Then I made a point of purchasing items where I would receive $8 back in a mail in refund.  So, technically I made money on this shopping trip.

I have a Facebook friend who says I paid $44 for it all because I used gift cards, but since I got the gift cards for free, I don't consider that I paid for it.  It's a store I would not have gone to if I had not had the gift cards.

A nice shopping trip for certain.

Becoming a Spiritually Healthy Family by Michelle Anthony

FTC disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Have you ever read a book that parts just don't seem to apply to you?  Have you ever read a book that you feel like the author is speaking right to you?  This is one of those books.  In a very creative style of addressing parenting style, Michelle Anthony speaks to nearly every type of parent.  This book has a twist, though.  Instead of telling you to change, she gives suggestions on how to give yourself and your fears to the Lord so that you will eventually change as your trust in Him grows.

As a single (but soon to be married) person, this book interested me because if I can start working on my imperfections now, I won't be Super Mom someday, but I will hopefully have worked on some issues that will allow my children to be raised in a healthier spiritual environment.  (I say healthier because I'll never be perfect.)

Oh, but perfection is something that I always have strived for.  I remember when I was in high school I had a chart that I could check off and see how good of a Christian I was that week.  I thought of that as I was reading the chapter "Beyond Good Behavior and chore Charts".   I had the good behavior, but unfortunately those around me hadn't encouraged me in faith formation, but left me drowning in moral education.  There's a difference, and the approach could mean your child staying with your faith or abandoning it once they are on their own.

Book review of Fallen by Annie Lobert

FTC disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book for review purposes, all opinions are my own.  There are affiliate links in this post.  Thank you for starting your shopping here at Books, Bargains, Blessings.


Fallen is a difficult book to read, but one that was just as hard to put down.    It details how Annie Lobert became a sex worker, her life in the sex industry, and her escape from her pimp.  While this is a Christian book, it has some very adult situations in it but please don't let that stop you from reading it.   She handles them with as much class as possible, but it's hard to be classy when telling about how she was abused by multiple men.

This book makes it easy to see how girls and women become prostitutes.  As Ms. Lobert states, no one dreams of being a call girl when they grow up -- something happens.  Also, one thing I didn't realize was that if a prostitute has a pimp, she is considered sex trafficked because she is not able to leave on her own and the pimp will require her to give him all her money.

While the author made some bad choices, I felt so much compassion for her through the book.  She fell in love with her pimp and had to endure things she never thought possible.  Her escort service tried to keep her into bondage debt, saying she owed them $65,000 for when she couldn't work when she was getting treatment from cancer.

This is a glimpse inside the unthinkable.  Ms. Lobert was one of the lucky ones.  She was able to escape.  She fell deeply in love with Jesus.  She wanted to make use of her past, and she's back on the strip trying to help others who have been sex trafficked to escape.

This book was fascinating.  I can't say it was enjoyable because of the subject matter, but it's one I highly recommend.  It was an intense book and one I could not read straight through as I am sometimes apt to do.  I would read about what she endured and then have to put it down for a little while.  It was absolutely amazing how much pain and abuse she endured as well as how much she was able to tell in 208 pages.  Annie's life story is one that needs to be told so that hopefully her life can help prevent others from making the same mistakes she did, make others more aware of the sex industry so they can spot victims, and hopefully inspire people to help those who are escaping, be it by donating to the charity that Annie has started or volunteering.  

You can purchase Fallen at Family Christian.

You canfollow Annie on twitter at @HookersForJesus @destinyhouse and on Facebook HookersForJesus

Faith that Sticks Sticker review and #Giveaway ends 3/2

FTC disclaimer:  I received samples of the product for review and crafting purposes.  

I have always loved stickers.  I can remember in the 1970s, before sticker collecting became popular,  I stapled some paper together and wrote on the front sheet "My Sticker Book".  My grandmother was working at a Christian bookstore and brought me some stickers one day, and I said, "I need to get my sticker book."  She said stickers were not for books.  Well, we both are right.  It's fun to save stickers and look at them (I still have my sticker collection from the 1980s) but it's also fun to make some crafts with them and share them with others.

Recently Faith that Sticks sent me an amazing collection of stickers to review.  

There were so many fun packages of stickers.  What could I make with them?  

The package of stickers of children praying made me think how I have at times wished I would have kept more of a record of what I prayed for and then later be able to look back and see how God answered.  This would be a great and simple craft for a time of new beginnings -- spring, a new school year, January 1, a birthday.  Just write what you pray for on slips of paper and drop in there.  The next year open it and see how many were answered!

There was no doubt what I would do with the God's Armor stickers.  This would make a great Sunday School craft for when teaching on the armor of God.  An inexpensive photo frame and you'll have a great take home reminder to help the Sunday School lesson "stick".

I always loved scratch and sniff stickers when I was little.   Tyndale House doesn't make scratch and sniff, but they do have "Stick and Sniff" where the scent is infused into the sticker and you can smell it without scratching it.  They have three different types -- roses, flowers, and jellybeans.  I remember in first grade my teacher made a card for all of us to sign for a boy who had his tonsils out.  We loved to sniff stickers so much that she had to tell us to stop because there wouldn't be any scent left for him.  So, I decided to make a simple craft with these because of how well loved scented stickers are.  I used the verse about us being the aroma of Christ and children could write ways they can be that aroma to others.

The set of Mom and Me stickers seemed to lend themselves great to a Mother's Day card.  But folded card are just so conventional, so this would be a great keepsake card.  I know I sometimes look at tracings of my hand from when I was little and it amazes me I was that small.

I started memorizing Bible verses because of VBS.  Over the years I have memorized huge sections of Scripture.  One thing I wish would have been started with me when I was a child was any verse I memorized being written down on an index card so I could review it.  At first there wouldn't be many but after years there would have been hundreds, and with me possibly thousands.  I thought about a way to incorporate stickers into Scripture memory at least for a younger child.  I came up with the idea to have a box where a sticker would be place when the verse can be quoted.  An added bonus if you are homeschooling you could teach alphabetical order using Scripture memory cards.  Or you could ask the child to file them away in order they are in the Bible.

One thing that my church always did when I was growing up was all VBS offerings were for missions.  Also, there was always a competition.  Not to see how much money was brought in, but to see if the boys or the girls would win on how much the offering would weigh.  That meant pennies were the thing everyone wanted to bring in.  But every year, no one ever thought about saving pennies before that week.  So why not make a missions penny bank?  Even if your VBS doesn't weigh the offering, it is a great way to remember that what doesn't seem like a lot to us can mean so much to others.

There are so many fun stickers that are made by Faith that Sticks.  I noticed they have some that say "Happy Birthday, Jesus".  That is the theme of my church's VBS this summer, so I'll have to order some of those.  Remember those stickers I told you about my grandmother getting me in the 1970s?  Do you know how surprised I was to see they still utilize some of the same designs in their Inspirational Motto package.   

At an average retail price of $2.49 for usually either five or six sheets, these stickers are a bargain.  They are also acid free so you can use them in scrapbooking.

And now for the Giveaway.  Open to the USA 18 and older.  Winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning e-mail or another winner will be chosen.

Entry-Form