My 5 Favorite Fall / Halloween Children's Books From My Childhood

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I love doing these posts to help introduce a new generation to some of my childhood favorites.  I hope you find something you and your child enjoy here.

The one Halloween book that stands out to me most is Grandpa's Ghosts Stories.  I'm not the only one who would put this at the top of the list -- it FINALLY came back into print after the ones from the late 70s and early 80s were going for huge prices on eBay and Amazon.  (I have to confess, I sold mine once when I desperately needed the $60 it was going for.)  Now that it is back in print, I plan to get another copy!  But enough about the high prices this one could fetch, let's get to what I remember about the book.   It was fun, and I think you would enjoy love it.  There's a scary thunderstorm out, and Grandpa starts telling stories of things that are a lot scarier -- like a witch that turns little boys into spiders.  I got it from Weekly Reader book club about 1979, and it's the first book I think of when I think of Halloween.  (Although this isn't exactly a Halloween book, the content is appropriate for the season.)

The KJV Know the Word Study Bible & Kindle Fire Giveaway

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Diving deeper into God's Word can be easy and rewarding if you break it down book by book, verse by verse, or topic by topic with the new KJV Know The Word Study Bible by Thomas Nelson. The book-by-book series of notes leads you through the main points of each book of the Bible. The verse-by-verse notes help you to dig deeper into God’s Word. The topic-by-topic articles, which cover 21 theological topics, guide you through a series of insightful notes and give you a thorough biblical understanding of each topic. With the beautiful and timeless text of the KJV translation, the KJV Know the Word Study Bible offers you choices of how to study Scripture and grow in your relationship with Christ.




This fall, become a regular student of the Bible and enter to win the Kindle Fire giveaway!







 

One grand prize winner will receive:



Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on October 31. The winner will be announced November 1 on the Litfuse blog.

• A copy of the KJV Know The Word Study Bible


• A Kindle Fire 7


• A Kindle Fire case (winner's choice)

Matthew West's All In Album -- Power! Love! Sound Mind!

I have always loved Matthew West's albums.  They deal with real life.  They give hope, and they have always met or exceeded my expectations.  So when I was given the opportunity to review this album, I immediately was excited about it.

The Album is called All In, but I'm torn between what songs are my favorite.  I believe I have a new "anthem" for my life at the present.  But I'm thinking it's going to be three songs right in a row on this CD.

Track 10:  Power Love Sound Mind
Track 11:  Never Ever Give Up
Track 12:  Dream Again

While I have to admit that one thing that makes these three tracks especially stand out to me is my state is mentioned in Never Ever Give Up.

Use Your Talents for a Christmas Without Debt!

FTC disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links.

Do you ever get to the holiday season and panic?  Wonder where the money is going to come from to buy gifts, decorations, cards, and all the foods and candies that in our mind seem to make our December the most costly month of the year?  Do you wonder how you can cut down on the stress of the holiday and do more than just survive but actually do something you haven't done since you were a child -- ENJOY Christmas to the fullest?

The goal of this series is to arrive at Christmas without debt and to be better prepared.  Christmas isn't an emergency, and it's something we can plan for, and planning takes preparation and time.  This month I'm going to focus on homemade gifts.

The Money Challenge by Art Rainer

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The Money Challenge:  30 Days of Discovering God's Design for You and Your Money by Art Rainer is a short book, but stuffed with content.   At only 148 pages (and in a smaller sized hardcover book, at that!), this book is an easy read to get anyone started on their financial plan.

Being a savings and finance blogger, there was nothing new to me here, but I like to review books like this to let my readers see what is out there as resources.  This book is one that I would highly recommend.

Even though I am good with money, I am not where I would like to be in life with my bank account.  Part of that is because I took care of my sick mother for so long, meaning I couldn't get a job outside the house.  So, I feel like I'm starting again when it comes to money.  I'm sure I'm not the only one in mid-life like this.

College Then and College Now

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School is in full swing at the university town near me.  I'm in the city about once a week and I always see college students with their backpacks full of books, hearts full of dreams and a mobile phone in hand.

As I look at the new generation of students at my Alma Mater, I have to think back to my days of school in a non-tech world.  I not only had to go to a computer lab to check e-mail as no one had computers at that time, but we also had to take a floppy disk with us to be able to access our e-mail.  We were unreachable unless we were in our dorm room, and the only way we could watch a movie was to go out and rent something on VHS.

So how has technology changed how one goes to school?  Many different ways.  I remember taking an off campus class when I was in college.  The lectures were on TV on the public TV station in the early morning hours.  I had to set my VCR to tape them.  (And I waited until near the end of the semester and my VHS tape broke, so I wasn't able to access any lectures!  I still made a C in the class even though I basically didn't go all semester.)

Gift Ideas for Missionaries. Overseas Workers, And Other ExPatriots

FTC disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links where I earn a small percentage of a sale at no additional cost to you.

Because of shipping times, if you want to send your favorite (or a random!) missionary who is overseas a package for Christmas, you better get the package ready soon.  Don't know what to send? This is an adapted list of things friends of mine who are missionaries would LOVE to receive in a package from home.  Some things are inexpensive and can't be bought overseas, but might be heavy and cost more to ship.  But there are some things that are smaller and light weight that would be less expensive to mail.

Electronic Gifts:
Amazon Gift cards -- most missionaries have a Kindle.  Or they could download a new album.  You can send a gift card in as little as $1, so don't think you have to spend a lot.  If several people sent a small amount, they could get a new book.

Paypal or Money -- send them some cash -- they may live in a place that sounds exotic to us, but they don't always have the resources to do something fun in their host country.  You could even say "Take the kids to McDonalds for dinner" or "treat yourselves to a date night" or just tell them to do something fun.