Amazing Opportunities

 

I've been a book and product reviewer for almost 5 years now. The reason I started it was because I needed a hobby in my husband's opinion. At the time, he was traveling about 75% of the time, and it was hard being separated from him for such long periods of time. Being a dedicated wife and mother, was a full-time job and aside from that, I didn't really have many outside interests. I loved that at the time, companies were just beginning to really expand on the idea of Christian themed novels in just about any genre you could imagine, including my favorite horror and suspense.

At first it was just the companies that were beginning to reach out to bloggers who were posting at least 5 times a week and they would offer you a book at a time. That was great for most people, but for me, I literally inhaled them the moment I got them, like a parched person in a desert, these books were life-giving water to my book lover's heart.

In fact, my dad still reminds me every time we get together of just how much time I used to spend isolated from my day, getting lost in the worlds of the books I read. Talking to my step mom, both avid book lovers at heart, we get that gleam in our eye when we think about how wonderful it is to step inside a book store, to feel the weight of the book in our hands as we flip pages, and why people don't understand our love of a paper book over an electronic download. There is something to be said for flipping pages instead of swiping them. There is that essence of the smell of ink on a page and nothing gives a book lover greater joy than adding to their collection. It is why we collect them and love nothing more in our minds than having a library filled with the books we have loved and adored reading.

Only book lovers can understand that! Everyone else simply shakes their heads until you put it in terms they can understand like shopping to some women, buying shoes and purses, watching sports, hunting or fishing or whatever your passion is.

Book Reading is that for me.

It provides a virtual escape to another place to interact with interesting characters we might never get to meet in a very safe place. I actually have had time leaving my characters hanging in some life or death situation when I have to step away for a time. But I do, even though it's painful.

I got the rare opportunity to be a part of an exclusive tele-conference yesterday for one of the companies I work with on promotions and get to listen to Kirk Cameron talk about his latest venture, Saving Christmas, coming to theaters starting November 14th and lasting only 2 short weeks.

His reason for making the movie was to simply restore the joy that seems to be missing in our homes because of guilt, commercialism or simply being too stressed out during the holidays. We forget what the real reason is supposed to be about, even though the Bible doesn't specifically call for the celebration of Jesus' birth, nor does December 25th appear as the actual date of Jesus' birth. It's all about the joy of celebrating with friends and family what Jesus is doing in our everyday lives. The love we share being with family and friends and the traditions that we hold on to and value.

I was immediately impressed and aware of his true passion for the project and how strong he is in his faith to God. His love of his family is apparent in everything he does. I applaud him for using his "celebrity status" for promoting God and His Word through a number of projects like Fireproof, Monumental and now Saving Christmas geared to get to the heart of what's important. From our marriages and families to our foundational beliefs as a country and now the importance of Christmas in a growing world that would hate us for even mentioning the words Merry Christmas!

I would encourage you all to take the time on November 14th or any time for the two weeks that the movie comes to theaters to see how we can get our Christmas joy back into our Christmas celebrations and how we can incorporate those into sharing our faith with family and friends. Sometimes the love of God we show to others through our actions by being a bitter Christian allows people to see that being a Christian isn't so fun after all. I mean looking at us and how we are, why would they want to jump on and join Jesus?

Let's stop being so judgmental about the things happening around us, and instead show the love of God a whole lot more. The most important part of this movie from Kirk's perspective is simply this, "What is he hoping people will take away from watching Saving Christmas? To get their joy back in celebrating Christmas instead of feeling bad for what they are or aren't doing. It's about rejoicing, pulling out all the stops, to celebrate God with Us!”

For those of you that haven't had an opportunity to visit my book/product reviewers blog, Reviews From The Heart yet, you might want to stop by. I am hosting a couple of giveaways that end this month and it's simple to enter. You never know if you just might be the lucky winner. The giveaways are listed in order on the right hand side of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Simply click on the picture and it will provide you details of what you need to do to enter that giveaway!

Monumental: In Search of America's Treasure

I had the rare opportunity to capture on my DVR, Kirk Cameron's new documentary, Monumental: In Search of America's Treasure and let me assure you, I can bet this will NOT be seen on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel or even debated on any of the major networks because it goes against everything happening in our government today including how we arrived at the current economic crisis we find ourselves faces with today. It's also one that liberals and those in the government would prohibit from being shown but if you truly value the truth that this country was founded on, I would seriously encourage you to watch this for yourself, do some of the research on the things sited and answer the question yourself, is there an answer to get ourselves out of the mess this country is in right now? Is the government the answer? Or is the answer to our world-wide dilemma much simpler than we ever thought possible?

I challenge you to watch this documentary and decide for yourself. The documentary itself opens with Kirk Cameron asking the question I think every person in this country is asking themselves and especially us as Christians, is this world going to hell in a handbasket? Why aren't we doing anything about it? Some merely sit back with an attitude that if the world is going into chaos, isn't it good because it simply means Jesus is coming back sooner than we had anticipated? If that is the case and as Christians, we sit back and actively do nothing to stop it, isn't this then becoming a self-fulfilled prophecy? This is perhaps the best line in the film for me as a Christian to sit up and take notice. We have the power to change it, despite what our current government may want to tell us, that this is a nation, the United States, that was founded on Christian (Biblical-based) principles, it always has been and it's been changed along the way.

The documentary begins where the birth of America began with the Pilgrims coming to this country and what their true purpose was in coming here. Kirk takes a trip back to England and talks with an English historian to learn about what their religious beliefs were and what was happening in their country during this time. I caution you, this is NOT the stuff I was taught in school and found it so interesting. It is in fact, what my daughter is learning in her home school/charter school class however, and thus provides the foundation for the drive for the Puritans to leave England under the power the Catholic church was demanding as the government for the King at that time. (Funny isn't it, how church and state at that time, were working as one, however not as God designed, as man had a need for power and greed).

Kirk than heads for Holland because due to the beliefs of the Puritans, they were considered outlaws since they were going against the beliefs of the church at the time, not against the beliefs of the Bible and they were wanted men. We then learn after 12 years of learning about God's word in the only place that they could find religious freedom, they went back to England, hired out two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, but when the later ship cracked they had to go back. Only half of the citizens were able to set sail on the Mayflower and arrived 8 weeks later in America.



I won't get into more of the movie at this point so you can enjoy your own discovery but I did love knowing about the National Monument to the Forefather in Plymouth, referred to in the documentary as the Matrix of Liberty, built 130 years ago as a way for America never to forget how this nation began and the principles that would work to help our country get back on track should it ever begin to fall apart. You can learn more about this incredible monument here. This the blue print to restore America and one I never heard about until today and am astounded that I never learned this as part of our American History.

This is such an powerful movie that I would encourage every single person to watch this and see for themselves just where we fell short and why we are in the mess we are in today. Why violence in the schools is running out of control; why our constitution and laws from our forefathers are being questioned and redefined; why our education system is failing and why what our kids are being taught is out of our hands; why our country that was once blessed and prosperous is rapidly falling apart at the seams. Isn't this worth a look at to judge for yourselves?



My review of this documentary is based on my honest opinion and I received no compensation for my review from any one in regards to this documentary but it is one I think every single Christian American should be watching. We still have it in our power to change things. We don't have to sit back on our hands while the government does nothing but steer us in the wrong direction. God gave us a plan and it's time to rise together and begin with our families. To educate them, to raise up a generation that will pick up the pieces before it all falls apart and we should be willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. I rate this film as a 10 out of 10 stars and look forward to hearing your thoughts on this documentary. I can only hope we learn from our history, and not repeat what happened in the Roman Empire for it we do, we already know what happened to that one.

For more information on Monumental: In Search of America's Treasure, Kirk Cameron or where to purchase this DVD today, please click on the links below:

Kirk Cameron Presents ~ Monumental: In Search of America's Treasure

You can also follow the movie page on Facebook and learn more interesting facts about this nations history by clicking here.