Book Review: Dangerous Surrender

Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God by Kay Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Although Dangerous Surrender was published in 2007, I just read it this year.  Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren charts her own course away from his fame into her her own calling from God in this book.

As it starts, she feels as many American women must.  Me?  Why me?  My life is about my husband and children!  What can I do?  But slowly, this takes shape into a direction that while her husband supports her, it’s her own calling, her own mission, her own destiny.

She was reading and saw something about AIDS in Africa.  At first she didn’t care a whole lot because, after all, she lives in California and Africa is a world away.  She couldn’t quit thinking about that article she read, and she eventually found herself under a tree a dying African lady called home because she was kicked out of her home and her village because she was infected with AIDS.  Like the article Kay Warren wrote and couldn’t get out of her mind, this is an image that has stuck with me since I have read the book.  Joanna.  That was the lady’s name.  I read the book weeks ago, and the picture was painted so vividly of this lady I can recall the lady’s name.

Back in California, Mrs. Warren worked with Saddleback Church to start an AIDS outreach.  The story she tells of the man who said his desire was he wouldn’t be alone when he dies.  Isn’t that a desire of every one of us?  We want someone to care about us. 

This is an amazing book, one of the best I’ve read this year.  While your destiny may not be AIDS advocacy, there’s something deep inside you, some way for you to help others, and it’s ready to come alive, and I think reading this book will encourage you in your journey, whatever it may be.

You can purchase it from Amazon here:  Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God

5x7 Folded Card

Does anyone recognize this bearded man?  That's my dad!

Picture In Portrait 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly's exclusive line of graduation announcements and invitations.

View the entire collection of cards.

And she's published. . .

Has anyone read Chicken Soup for the Soul: Answered Prayers: 101 Stories of Hope, Miracles, Faith, Divine Intervention, and the Power of Prayer?

Did you notice story #85?  On page 300?

Did you know it was written by my mother?

Book Review: I Wonder What I Can Give God

I Wonder What I Can Give God by Mona Gansberg Hodgson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a cute children's book about a boy named Jared who wants to give God a gift.  Well, that sounds do-able, right?  Not as easy as Jared first thinks because after all, does God need a hammer or a goldfish?  He keeps thinking "I wonder" about what he can give God.  But then he remembers what Papa Ray said last night at Bible study, and Jared knows what it is that God wants, and it's something Jared can give Him. 

I liked this book because it was a cute story that very much incorporates the Christian faith without being corny or too cutesy.  It is almost like a child could have thought this through, but of course, the author is an adult.  It's a charming book.

The only thing I disliked about the book was there was a connect-the-dot in the back.  If it was an activity book, I wouldn't have minded, but considering it is a hardcover book, to me it's not something that should be written in, even if there is a connect the dot in it.  This is a lovely book and I look forward to reading it to my "niece" and "nephews" when I visit them.

I received a copy of this book from the author from a giveaway on her facebook page:  Mona Hodgson Author Page .  The opinions are mine.

You can visit the author's website and purchase her books here:  http://www.monahodgson.com/

Book Review: Threads of Faith

Threads of Faith: A Christmas Miracle by Shauna V. Brown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am not a Mormon. Yet, that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good story that is written from their faith perspective. This story didn’t disappoint. In fact, I would have enjoyed it to have been a tad longer, as it was a mere 121 pages.

Shauna V. Brown tells a charming tale set in the 1830s in England. Hillary Whitman grew up as a Methodist pastor’s daughter, but when Mormon missionaries come to her town, she sneaks to a meeting to find out what all the fuss is about. She decides to leave her Methodist faith and become a Mormon, but her father threatens to kick her out if she doesn’t change her mind and stay Methodist.

I’ll not share any more as I don’t want to spoil the story, but the characters were well developed. Almost instantly you felt you knew the characters, and the personalities were painted so well, you felt as if they were not just someone you knew, but old friends.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was, as stated before, it was a bit short. Maybe there will be a sequel? Also, once I got to the end, I felt the ending was a bit too predictable. (Although can it be too predictable when I didn’t know what was going to happen?)

Overall, this is a great book, and being so short, makes for a good afternoon read.

FTC disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads program in exchange for a review. The opinions are my own.

Wish to purchase it?  You can do so at Amazon through this link: Threads of Faith: A Christmas Miracle

Tiny Prints Review and Giveaway!

I recently wrote about how I love Tiny Prints cards.  I have ordered different products from them over the years, and have never been disappointed!  For my post, they sent me 50 Christmas cards.  Here's what our friends and family are receiving this year! I loved this card because it could highlight the top moments for my mother, myself, and my guinea pig with having three photos on it. 

Another thing I greatly appreciated with Tiny Prints, is if you find a card design you like but you want a different amount of pictures, or the same style but a folded card or ornament card, you can often get the same design in a different style!  Not only that, but they offer matching return address labels! 

They have a great selection of holiday cards.  So if you're looking for Christmas, Hanukkah, or a more generic "Happy 2012" card, you will find something you will love there!

And if you are reading this on November 9, be sure and check out the Tiny Prints Facebook page  to find out how to get a FREE card for your little one!  You will be able to chose one of these designs:  Checking it Twice or Santa's Scroll.  Personally I love the Checking It Twice card.  What a great way to let your little one know that Santa knows what s/he wants as well as giving positive reinforcement for good behavior.

The generous people at Tiny Prints have offered to give one of my readers 50 holiday cards of their choice.

Rules for the giveaway: 

• Open to the USA only.
• Ends 11/20 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
• Please leave a separate comment for each way you enter as I use Random.org to pick my winners.
• Winner has 48 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be chosen.
• Please leave contact information in your comment if it's not in your blogger profile so I will have a way of contacting you if you win.
• You MUST do the mandatory entry for your other entries to be considered.

Ways to enter:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Head over to Tiny Prints and look around their Holiday cards and come back here and tell me which is your favorite.  (Or if you like several tell me which ones! I know it's hard to choose!)

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

• Go to Tiny Prints Facebook Page and order your free card (valid November 9 only.  If for any reason you can't  or didn't order on this day, tell me how you would have personalized your free card for your entry, cards are linked above) 
• Like Tiny Prints on Facebook 
• Follow Tiny Prints on Twitter (leave your twitter username) 
• Follow me on twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/jenndiggy 
• Follow me Google Friend connect. 
• Tweet the following:  (can be done once daily)

Blog giveaway at @jenndiggy to #win 50 @tinyprints Christmas cards.  Ends 11/20 http://bit.ly/rULAwP

Good luck!

 FTC disclaimer: I am receiving 20 address labels for this post.

 

Book Review: 40 Days Without Food

I have a friend who has done a 40 day fast.  I also have a friend who has done a 39 day fast.  The former accepted a call to prayer and fasting Bill Bright gave years ago.  The latter prayed for her son who wasn't a Christian at the time. 

So, when I saw the book "40 Days Without Food", I was intrigued.  I knew it wasn't a guide to fasting but while I enjoyed the book, it still wasn't quite what I expected.  I expected more nitty-gritty details than the book seemed to give.  I wanted to know more how it felt to be tempted by the aroma of delicious food.  How did this change his outlook?  What did he learn from this?  What were the postivies?  I learned more that he was extremely tired, slept a lot, didn't feel up to having sex, more like his life became blah.  I'm not really sure that I learned what the positives were.

Yet, for some reason this book highly entertained me.  It was well written, the people he introduced us to seemed like people we would love to know.  (I think I may have had that same Sunday School teacher years back as he described.  I know that's an impossibility, but he sure does sound like one who taught me when I was younger.)  And Mac?  I'd love to read a book Mac wrote, but I figure he's too busy reading classics in a Super 8 to bother writing a book!  (But Mac, if you see this, PLEASE think of writing a book!) 

If you're looking for a fun, enjoyable read, this is it, which is NOT what I expected from a book about fasting.

Five Minute Friday: "Relevant"

Relevant.  What is relevant?  "Is THIS relevant?" is a question I always asked myself in college when I was writing a paper and needing to add extra information to get the word count high enough for the requirements.

Now that I'm no longer in college the word "Relevant" is often used in church.  We want to be relevant to the world.  Be in the world but not of it, be relevant and not cheesy.  I'm sure everyone remembers some of the 1970s Christian movies and TV shows that are just laughable.  The church tried to be hip, but in the end got laughed at.

Do we really need to model the world to draw people to Christ?  I don't think so.  The love of Christ is relevant to all generations, and we don't need to make it popular because it's just not going to be.  Who is going to think that sacrificing your life for the will of God is going to be the cool thing to do?  The Bible says many are called but few are chosen, so I'm not sure that trying to make the Gospel cool, popular, and the 'latest thing' is really honest because when we strip away all the fun, what is left is still the Gospel truth that whoever wants to find his life will lose it.

Being relevant is all about showing love and compassion, not about being cute-sy or fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is part of "Five Minute Friday" where we write for five minutes on a topic.  It is unscripted and unedited.  Then we link back to http://thegypsymama.com/2011/10/five-minute-friday-relevant/ to encourage others to join in with the writing fun!

Book Review: {W}hole

This is a book with more than just a cute title making a play on the words whole and hole, it is a book about giving God your pain to fill.

The author, Lisa Whittle, writes from experience.  She grew up in the role of a pastor's daughter.  She found comfort in this role and knew how to work it so she would be admired.  That is, until someone saw through her facade at church camp and called her on it.  She was upset, but realized that man was right, she wasn't what she appeared to be.  Later, her father lost his church because he transported a deer head across state lines without a $2 licence.  Sounds harmless enough but the fish and game commission and later the IRS investigated him, and he could have landed in prison.  No church wants a pastor who may be facing a prison sentence, so he resigned, and the role of pastor's daughter -- the role that defined her -- was left gaping.  And the people at church she had grown to love?  The people who swarmed around her popular father?  They were no where to be seen.  Her role became a hole.  What now?  She still adored her father, but life was so changed.  Later when she was in seminary, a speaker at chapel didn't know she was a student and used the story of her father as a sermon illustration, and didn't even have all facts correct. 

Everyone has pain.  Everyone has issues.  No two lives are identical, but Lisa Whittle tells her story while weaving together a plan on how we can rid ourselves of our pain by allowing God to make our holes into wholes. 

I would expect a book with this cute-sy of a theme to be fluff, but this is not.  It's a deep book.  This is not easy reading, it will challenge you in many ways.  After all, are you living for your role or are you living for all that God has destined you to be?

I highly recommend this book, and I am looking forward to reading more from this author!  Also be sure and chck out her website as there is a free ebook guide on sharing your story with others! 

You can watch the book traier  here

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own.

Thrift shopping! $17 of treasures

I love vintage Christmas items.  I was thrilled to find they were out at one of my favorite thrift shops today.  I got this egg nog set for $3.

I also bought the following:

brand new skirt with a $60 retail price tag on it
FIFTY FIVE hotel bottles of shampoo of my favorite shampoo ever that has been discontinued
2 packages of several sheets of vintage gift wrap
Trivial Pursuit Book Lover's Edition
What Is the Gospel? book
The Broken Image: Restoring Personal Wholeness Through Healing Prayer
The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Creative Glass Techniques: Fusing, Painting, Lampwork
Origami Holidays
Floorcloth Magic: How to Paint Canvas Rugs for Decorative Home Use
Betty Crocker's Cookbook (5-Ring Binder)
Christmas ornament craft kit
Ziploc bag full of stickers from the 1980s
current magazine a friend has an article in it