Fun listen for the whole family.

Oliver Twist is a delightful and gripping story, well told in this Radio Theater presentation from Focus on the Family. Even our youngest turned off her movie to listen and our teenager took the music out of her ears to listen. Hearing the original story in this manner was so much more rewarding than movies and plays inspired by Mr. Dickens' book. The story has been told many times and many ways but the best rendition of it is the original. We listened to this as a family (3 generations) driving back and forth to church and appointments. It was sad when it ended because there was not another one to take its place. Here is hoping that Focus on the Family puts more classics on disc for families to enjoy. This is a great tool for homeschoolers but it is also just pure entertainment for anyone who will take the time to listen. If you would like to order a copy or hear a sample please visit Focus on the Family for this title and many more. 

Tyndale gave me this product free of charge to review.  I did not receive any compensation for such and all opinions are my own.

I Couldn’t Love You More

I Couldn’t Love You More

By Jason Ingram and Matt Hammitt

This is a beautiful illustrated hardback picture book for your little one or even just for you! The message is simple.  Jesus is always with you and Jesus loves you more than even your parents can. It expresses the complete love of the parent for the child. The illustrations in this book are just gorgeous.  I would like to purchase another copy of this book just so I can remove some of the pages and frame them for my wall.

This book was inspired by one of the author’s child’s diagnosis with a heart defect.  One of the pages especially touched my heart.  It says, ”You are mine for a moment but you are His Forever His.” I lost my middle daughter minutes after she was born to the birth defects caused by anencephaly. After carrying her for nine months and giving birth to her, she was literally only mine for a moment, but I was comforted by the belief that she went immediately from my arms into the arms of Jesus.

Also, being a foster parent who is hoping to adopt, it is always gut wrenching when a child that has been in my care is placed with a family member and leaves our home. It is comforting to know that no matter where that child goes, even though I can’t be with them anymore, Jesus is always with them.

This would be a lovely book to give to departing foster children, to your own child, or to a new grandchild. This book was provided to me by Tyndale publishers for my review. They have also given me a coupon for another copy so I can share this book with one of my blog followers. If you would like a chance to own a copy of this book Please leave a comment telling me who in your life you would like to ensure knows that Jesus loves them more than anyone on earth. I will randomly choose a comment on Monday morning July 2,2012. 

Quilt Block Fun

My first quilt in a magazine

I am finally getting settled in my new Quilting space. I have so much more room to spread out and sew. I am looking forward to all the fun things I will be creating in this space. I have big plans. My first big project to come out of my new sewing space is a Quilt for Quiltmakers 100 blocks volume 5. I have been testing blocks for Quiltmaker,for the last three issues. While I was working away testing blocks for issue 5. I was asked if I wanted to make a quilt using blocks from that issue. I was tickled! I got to work right away looking through the blocks to pick just the right ones for my quilt. I tried a few different ones out. When we test for the magazine we work on 12-15 blocks. For this project I had about 30 blocks to choose from. After playing around I finally settled on one. I then made a simpler version of that block to be my alternate block. I think the two make a great pair.

I am so proud to have a quilt pictured in a national magazine. My hope is that this is the first of many.
Her is a hodge podge of some of the blocks I have tested over the past 2 years.

Some of these are from previous issues but I wanted to share them. All these patterns can be found in Quiltmakers 100 blocks volumes 3,4 or 5 Please feel free to ask me if you want to know about a specific one.

A marriage book that will be of benefit to all.

 

I recently read Happily Ever After by Gary Chapman. The book is by an author that I have enjoyed many titles from. I read this book looking forward to more good advice. I was not disappointed. I feel this book is a culmination of all his other great books. It had highlights from his other books along with more great new advice to benefit anyone no matter what season of marriage he or she is in.
The book is broken up into chapters that each deal with a different area of marriage and family. One can skip to the section that would be of most benefit at the time or can read the whole book to get oodles of good advice. I like how each chapter has a review of the concepts shared and also has action steps that one can start applying right away. I have taught marriage classes to a military ladies groups for the last 10 years and this will be a great book to teach in the near future because of how all inclusive it is in dealing with situations that all married couples face.
This book is a must for anyone. I think it would even be great to give as a wedding gift to a newly married couple. I will be purchasing a few copies to share. I have already purchased the audio version so I can share it with my hubby when we are riding in the car. The audio version has a pdf file with it that contains all the additional tools and resources that make the book so wonderful.
I was given a copy of this book to review by Tyndale.

Kids in your own neighborhood are seeking adoption

Wait No More by Kelly and John Rosati

Please read this book if you are interested in adopting a child through your State’s Social Service Agency. It can be a rewarding experience. My family is a foster-adopt family in my state. I chose to review this book for Tyndale for that very reason – it is a subject I am very interested in.

The Rosati’s wanted a family but found that adoption was going to be their only option. Since they were stationed in Hawaii with the Air Force at the time they decided to pursue this option, they adopted there. The process is much the same in all 50 states. Eventually they adopted 2 boys and 2 girls, although that was not their original intention. The many twists and turns of the process and the various situations are what make this book interesting reading and strike a chord with others who have gone through or are going through this process.

The Rosati’s had several career changes and moves within the U.S. during the course of this book. The thing that shines out in this book is their love for and dedication to the rights of our country’s orphans. There are a lot of children right here in the U.S. waiting for a forever home and many of them will never have one because the need is great for people to choose adoption. Birth parents are not always able to be there for their kids for a variety of reasons, but the child is an innocent victim of the circumstances and deserves the love and stability of a family.

You will find as you read about the Rosatis’ experiences that the going gets really tough really fast and there are many hurdles to overcome with each child, but the rewards are great. If you are interested in adopting or have adopted, you will want to read this book. And maybe, if you weren’t even considering it, you will consider adoption after reading this book. In any case, you will enjoy reading it.

A DVD series you should watch with your teen.

This is a set of 2 DVDS containing 10 lectures on the reliability of the Bible. Dr. Stephen Meyer is conducting a college course of lectures and each section is one of the lectures. It covers from the Patriarchs through the New Testament account of Jesus’ trial.  There are 5 25-minute lectures on each DVD and also included in the set is a 96-page discussion guide.

These lectures are very much in the same format as Dr. Del Tackett’s Truth Project series and made by the same people. Although this is a college course, it is easily understandable by laymen. In fact, my pre-teen daughter found it very interesting. Dr. Meyer explains the minimalist view and talking points and then gives archaeological and historical evidence which backs up the Biblical Truth.

While I take the Word of the Bible on faith, it is still very satisfying to have some evidence and facts to back it up and give an answer to the naysayers. I will listen to this series multiple times to try to gain all the information that I can from it and will incorporate it into my daughters’ homeschool studies so that they too can gain this knowledge. This series was sent to me by Tyndale for review but I would have purchased it myself at some point anyway when I learned about it.