God's Promises for Girls

God's Promises When...

You Need Help

Searching for help? Nowhere to turn?
You've looked both high and low?
There's just one thing to remember:
Prayer is the best place to go.

People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems.
God is our protection.
Psalm 62:8

Trust the Lord with all your heart.
Don't depend on your own understanding.
Remember the Lord in everything you do.
And he will give you success.
Proverbs 3:5-6

So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
Psalm 33:20

God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
So we will not be afraid if the earth shakes,
or if the mountains fall into the sea.
Psalm 46:1-2

In the book, God's Promises for Girls by Jack Countryman & Amy Parker, this beautifully illustrated book offers Bible verses to provide comfort and encouragement when young girls need reassurance of God's love, protection, and forgiveness. As children see again and again that Scripture has the answers they need, they will learn to rely on God and His promises. The promise verses have been selected from the best-selling International Children's Bible.

In reviewing this complimentary book from Thomas Nelson Publishers, I feel in love with the beautiful artwork that accompanies each topic and the simple scriptures that accompany each much like the example above. There are 60 topics covered for little girls to understand.

The best part of reviewing this book was having my 11 year old daughter read it and having her come back and share what she has learned. It literally brought tears to my eyes when she shared with me what it means to her to be a princess of God. You can't get any more value from a book than this. She keeps it by her bed and read one topic each night before heading to bed and I can already see how much it's blessing her.

For more information on this book including on where to purchase a copy, click on the link below:
http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1400315913&title=God%27s_Promises_for_Girls

Guess Who is Driving?

Yup it's official after her first attempt didn't go so well due to nerve, second guesses and erasing answers, our oldest, Cait has her permit. Yikes, when did she grow up?

Cait's First Modeling Shoot!

I remember her in Brownies selling Girl Scout cookies and being a top seller. Yet that is her, over achiever and hard worker. She has a heart of gold and will give you anything you ask, yet doing stuff around the house, ha, later!

Cait with her BFF Jordan!

It truly has been a reward in seeing how much she has grown. After losing her for 5 years after my first divorce and her dad moving to Rhode Island, I left the decision of where she wanted to go up to her. It must be the most difficult decision a child has to make to live 3000 miles away from any parent. So for 5 years she moved to Rhode Island and gained the father she lost for so many years due to work and not being home so much. Who could blame her decision?

Cait with her BFF Mikey, cousin Josh and Samm! ~ Super Heroes to the End~

So in the 8th grade she was home for good! Thanks Wayde, you have restored a mother's heart that day when you said Yes!

Prom with her BFF Katie!

Now we've been raising her in our home and she goes home during the summers when she can. This is her first year that she won't because she got a summer internship which will pay her. In this economy, summer jobs are a fantasy for most.

So she officially has graduated even though we are turning in some final projects she has finished her Junior year and now is officially a Senior. Are we ready for that this year?

Cait made it to the Pepsi Youth Finals for her Bowling Team, she was the only one from her school! Go Cait!

This means, graduation, parties, grad nights, and so much more. Thankfully she has all A's and her current GPA is almost 4.0 its really like 3.91 so go figure. She wants the honor sash and cord upon graduation and wants only A's on her report card. That's her motivation, not her parents.

Cait with Corinne!

So congratulations Caitlyn on being a Senior and now officially driving with Steve and I! By Christmas you'll have your license. Yikes!

Cait in Dolphin Training!

If you would like to visit Caitlyn and personally congratulate her, click on her picture on the side bar. It will take you directly to her blog. I have challenged her to blog for her entire Senior Year so we can have it published into a book for a graduation gift. It will be a nice reminder of how she spent her last year so I would be so encouraged if you could join her blog and encourage her all year.

Cait with all her Christian Friends! Yup You're Surrounded by Great Friends!

Here is her link, just click here

What Did Jesus Say?

Ever wonder if Jesus talked about issues that matter the most to you as a young teen? Ever wonder where you'd begin to read about these issues in the Bible? Finally, there's a book that meet you where you are and shares Jesus' words on issues you deal with today.

What Did Jesus Say? from Carolyn Larson and Tyndale House Publishers looks at 62 topics that are fresh on your mind and point you directly to what Jesus had to say about them. This book makes Bible reading easy and relevant to you!

Find out what Jesus said about:

• anger

• faith

• fear

• grief

• heaven

• hypocrisy

• jealousy

• prayer

• worry

• and more...

What Did Jesus Say? is a great way to read the Bible in a language you can understand. All Scripture is quoted from the easy-to-understand NLT version of the Bible.

I received this book compliments of Tyndale House Publishers to review. I must say I jumped on the opportunity to review this product because with so many teens coming in and out of my home, we become the resource that they come to with questions regarding so many of the topics listed about. We always want to make sure that we are speaking the words that God would want us to share, and this book makes them all simple and easy to find in an alphabetized list.

Not only does it provide scripture references on each topics but stories that help drive that topic in a way that Jesus would share a word of advice to our teens.

If you would like to know more about this book including where to purchase a copy, click on the link below:
http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/1_products/details.asp?isbn=978-1-4143-3180-5

How Men Choose Greeting Cards - Friday Funnies

I had to share this for all of you ladies that wonder just how men pick out the cards that they give us. Enjoy!

Happily Ever Laughter

What I Want In A Man As The Years Go By
By Ken Davis

Sometimes it's good to have realistic expectations. For example, here's something my wife, Diane, wrote:

Here's the list of things I wanted in a man before I got married:

• Handsome, charming, stylish dresser, thoughtful, in great physical condition, and romantic

Here's how I revised the list at age thirty:

• Nice looking; opens car doors; is a good listener; works out some and is in decent shape; remembers anniversaries, birthdays, and other important events in our lives; and is romantic at least once a week

Here's is what I wanted in a man at forty-one:

• Not too ugly; waits until I'm in the are before driving away, acts as if he's listening, holds stomach in, remembers to put the toilet seat down, and often shaves on the weekends.

And the revised list at fifty-two:

• Usually combs hair that's left, asks if I'd like a ride, stays awake when I am talking, wears a shirt that covers his stomach, rarely forgets my name, and sometimes shaves on the weekends.

The new list for sixty-three:

• Keeps nose and ear hair trimmed, can still drive, doesn't make bodily noises or scratch in public, usually wears fresh underwear and matching socks, remembers why he went into a room, and usually shaves.

Here's what I will want at seventy-four:

• Looks don't scare small children, can still find the bathroom, usually wears some clothes, likes soft foods, knows where he left his teeth, and can remember that this is the weekend.

Finally, what I want at age eighty-five:

• Is breathing and can hit the toilet.

The older you are, the easier to meet the expectations!...(Excerpt from pg 5-6)



This is just one classic story shared by couples who have found how humor can make marriages not only better but stronger. In the book, Happily Ever Laughter, Discovering the Lighter Side of Marriage, Ken Davis through Focus on the Family, and more, share those wonderful and lighter sides to making marriages work.

I found this book funny and at times, tapping my husband on the shoulder and saying, "Oh Steve, you just got to hear this one, it's so funny." and then sharing story after story with him. Even my teenager picked it up and was completely laughing out loud with some of the humor between men and women. Finally a book to make you both smile and one I have to highly recommend.

I received this book compliments of Tyndale House Publishers for my review and trust me, this is one you will want to have. We all need a laugh!

For more information on this book, the authors and even have to purchase your own copy, click on the link below:

http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/1_products/details.asp?isbn=978-1-58997-580-4

Torn and Needing Help

Good afternoon blogging friends!

I have a dilemma and I am hoping you can help me. I am not a stats or comment watcher but lately since publishing my book reviews as summer is approaching, I've been asked by several publishing companies to review some must read summer books and thus the reason for so many recent book reviews.

Yet the one thing I have noticed is that my comments and stat numbers have been falling weekly since I started this. Yet I have received some great comments from those of you that stop by and participate in my book reviews and even giveaways. In addition, I even posted a poll to ask if you all think I should create a separate blog just for product reviews which would include household items, book reviews, food reviews, well you get the picture.

But those of you that participated asked me to keep my book reviews on my blog. So can you help offer a solution that would work out for why you come here and offer it to me in my comment window.

Be as bold as you need to, trust me my feelings won't be hurt at all. I am even considering changing the format like so many other blogs I have seen that do multiple blog postings and yet have different headers that they fall under like reviews, and perhaps incorporate my ARK blog, Heart to Heart blog and Book Review blog. My other choice is leave things like they are and just complete multiple postings. However, some publishers want their authors to have the whole day dedicated to them. Please help me! Since without readers, I wouldn't be asking.

I feel led to continue to do this because I have been blessed with a gift since I was a child for love of books. Literally I can inhale them in a day. Most days if I am not blogging, I can read 3 a day depending on the subject. Self help books are slower to read when you need to understand the concept so I can get through about 1 a day.

So many of you have asked how I do it, it's a gift God's blessed me with. I can't get enough and I am not neglecting my family. This is my down time hobby. When I was a child, during school instead of TV, I read. In fact I read so much during the summer I emptied our Book Mobile of so many titles.

Here's where the dilemma lies, the publishers love to see so many readers and thus the reason for allowing you to review the books as well as the product reviews that I have been asked to join as well. So what should I do? Leave me a comment and tell me what your recommendations are.

Looking forward to hearing all your comments and do you think I should offer a rating system for my books? I want to be 100% honest with you all and think if there are things that are inappropriate in a book, you should know whats in there and you can make the choice yourself.

Again, I can't wait to get your input as it really means the world to me. Comment away!

Broken Giveaway!

So this is how it ends.

Staring at a stranger, blood on your hands, silence coating the house.

Everything has led up to this. This, here and now. This empty waste. This utter disappointment. This predictable conclusion.

You taste blood on your tongue from the cut on your lip. Crimson smears the pale satin.

Amazing how your hands remain calm. Unshaking, unwavering, even after what they've done.

Somewhere not far away is a gun that fired two bullets, the second doing its job. Somewhere a voice gently, quietly tells you what needs to happen.

You need to find the gun, Laila.

Those eyes staring at you. You've seen them before, somewhere else, many times before.

You need to clean up and find the gun.

For a moment, the water underneath your hands pours out. So steady, so seamless.

And then it gently caresses.

You wince.

Hard as you try, tears don't come.

You stare at the stranger in the mirror, wondering where childhood disappeared to, wondering where those hopeful eyes wandered off.

Clean up and get in there, then get out.

The faucet flows, and the slight stains of blood that are not yours drip over the ceramic.

For a moment you glance into the bedroom. A room you've never been in before today.

A dead body crumpled on the floor. Seconds counting before the silence ends and more men come.

You look at this stranger and know.

This is where it ends.

This is where it all stops.

Turning off the water, you step out and start your life all over again...(excerpt from pg 1-2)

In the book, Broken by Travis Thrasher, you meet Laila, a girl that had it all - love, family, wealth and faith. But when her faith crumbles, her world falls apart and Laila finds herself living in an empty, dangerous life as a call girl in Chicago.

Yet when she is threatened, Laila shoots and kills a client in self defense sending her on the run and haunted by her past. When she is approached by a stranger who says he knows what she did, she has no choice but to keep on running.

Scared and wandering, will Laila regain her trust in God to protect her from these demons? Or will her plea for salvation come too late?

I was provided with these amazing Christians suspense thriller compliments of Hachette Book Groups, Faith Words division to review. Again, along the lines of Stephen King, you find yourself transported by to New Orleans with Laila as she outruns the past and the voodoo that surrounds the town itself. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery thrillers based in Christian faith, then this is a must read for you.

For more information on this book, the author and where you can purchase a copy, please click on the link below:

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780446505550.htm

For those of you interested in another book giveaway, I am going to give away three copies of this book. To enter you must be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment of what interests you most about this book! The giveaway ends on May 27th.