Baby Valerie

I might be slightly biased, but my cousin Amanda gave birth to the most beautiful baby in the world on Friday. Amanda and I were thick as theives growing up and I can't believe she just had a baby. They live in Fort Collins, Colorado and I am flying out there October 14th. I can't wait! Amanda and her husband named the baby Valerie Patricia. Valerie for Amanda's mom who passed away from cancer when Amanda was 13 and Patricia after Amanda's paternal grandmother.

Warning! Lots of pictures to follow.

Amanda's brother Dan, with Valerie

Amanda and Valerie

Amanda and Valerie

The parents, Amanda and Ryan, with Valerie

Amanda's brothers, Matt and Dan with Valerie



Can you beleive she had a baby the day before this photo was taken?





Baby Valerie



Amanda is my hero! When she arrived at the hospital, she was already 9cm dilated. She pushed for an hour and forty five minutes and then Valerie was born. She did it without drugs! I find that absolutely amazing. I do vehemently believe that drugs or no drugs, every child is a gift from God and every birth is miraculous. 

Seeds of Turmoil

Bryant Wright has done an amazing job with Seeds of Turmoil: The Biblical Roots of the Inevitable Crisis in the Middle East. I found it absolutely fascinating. Obviously this book is written from a Christian perspective and I highly doubt that people of the Islamic faith would enjoy this book, but from the Christian point of view it is fabulous.

The author takes everything back to scripture and details the repercussions of the actions of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob. He includes maps and also explanations of where lands mentioned in the Bible are located today. I found it interesting that he also gives a history of the conflict from both the Islamic and Jewish perspectives. He admits that he probably doesn’t do the best job of covering these points of views, but he attempts it anyway, which I find humbling. I think this book would be of great aid to people trying to comprehend the book of Genesis and understand how the actions that occurred in the beginning effect our lives today.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Outlive Your Life

I just finished reading Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference by Max Lucado and I LOVED it. I have been a fan of his since I was in high school and while all of his books follow a similar format, this one is so no exception, but the content is refreshing.

Outlive Your Life is based on the book of Acts. I love his character portrayals of the early disciples. Max can paint a literary picture like no one else. He uses the actions of disciples like Paul and Stephen as examples of how we are to live our lives for others. At times it reminded me of the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, but where Crazy Love can often guilt you into actions, Outlive Your Life inspires us to action. The difference is amazing.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Butterfly Effect

 

I was recently given the opportunity to review The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews. This is a short gift book that weaves fascinating little-known history facts into a story about how our actions effect the lives of other people. The author does a great job with the “what if?” game and illustrates how our lives would be different if certain figures in history had done things differently or worse yet, not acted at all.

This book would be a fabulous gift for someone who is struggling with problems in life, or someone who is wondering if their life matters. Andy Andrews does a fabulous job illustrating the fact that who you are matters and God has created you to fulfill His divine purpose.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Boy Who Changed the World

I was given the opportunity to review the book The Boy Who Changed the World by Andy Andrews. This book is the children’s version of his amazing story The Butterfly Effect. I am an enormous fan of Andy’s and  have heard him tell the story in person and have also read the book, so I was very excited when given the opportunity to review the children’s book.

The illustrations in this story our amazing. The pages are filled with bright colors that delight the eye and capture the imagination. Of course there are beautiful butterflies adorning the pages and reinforcing the idea of human beings flapping their wings and having actions positively effect others.

As much as I love the adult version of this book, I found the children’s version to be a little disjointed and feel that perhaps this story might be a little hard for the average child to comprehend and grasp on their own. This book would be great for a parent to read to their child and follow up with discussion.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: “Captured by Grace”

 

I initially requested this book simply because I was captivated by the title. The idea of being captured by grace was intriguing. I knew very little about what the book was about. This book is FACSINATING. The author, Dr. David Jeremiah goes in depth into the lives of two men who have been captured by grace; the Apostle Paul and John Newton, the slave trader turned preacher who penned the classic hymn Amazing Grace.

This book is divided into three parts that individually cover grace for your past, grace for your present and grace for your future. The author weaves facts and stories about Paul and John Newton with lots of scripture to make for a transformative read. Dr. Jeremiah does a wonderful job of using descriptive metaphors to illustrate the concepts presented in this book.

I did notice several typographical errors in the book, but I was so entranced by what the author had to say that I was quickly able to set those aside. This book definitely ranks as a transformative read for me and I have already passed it on to someone else to read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias

Beyond Opinion, Living the Faith We Defend by Ravi Zacharias is an astoundingly deep book. I'm a college graduate and a speed reader and this is definitely a book that will take quite awhile to read and properly absorb. You can't read it in one sitting or even several sittings. I find this to be refreshing; I think that because it takes so long to read you have more time to think and absorb on what the author is saying.

The books is divided into three sections and is ultimately a collection of essays that deal with different facets of apologetics written by members of RZIM (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries).  Part One focuses on some of the major challenges Christians face in apologetics and the responses we can give to the challenges that we face. Part Two focuses on us ourselves looking inward at the questions and answers and Part Three focuses on living out our faith. At one point Ravi states that one of the main issues facing Christianity today is that we don't live our faith and we appear hypocritical to non-believers. Amen to that!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me about a month to read, but it was well worth the investment of time.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”