Tyndale Book Review-the iShine Bible for Tweens

Well, I got a new gig! Reviewing books from the publishers at Tyndale! I was surfing the web and reading blogs and book reviews and heard that I could get free books in the mail if I'd just write about them. Cool! I love to read. Plus, I am a Christian and my bookshelves are loaded with other Christian books. So, I signed up!

In the first shipment, I received two bibles for tweens. It is the iShine Bible NLT. They are small and are easy to put in a backpack to take to school or wherever the tween is going. One is blue and one is pink. I chose to review the iShine Bible, because after I review them, I can give them away. I have a niece that just turned 11 and my son, Josiah, is 12-years-old. I thought they would both like to check these out.

I like the look of them. Soft leather, with a cool picture on the front, engraved into the leather. I actually have been teaching the ideas of this Bible to the tweens and adults at my church...that they are valued by God, that their identity is in Jesus and what their purpose in life is, because of who they are in Jesus.

So many adults don't even know what their purpose in life is. I've heard people say, "My purpose is to live it up and have fun!" or "Just to have fun and then I die." This is really pitiful. So self-centered. Some of the adults that I teach don't even feel worthy to do anything for God. They feel worthless and rejected by various people. If they only knew what their value is to God. That is exactly what this Bible teaches.

I can't wait to give my niece her bible for her birthday and I will soon give my son his bible. He is 12, plays drums on Sundays mornings and Wednesday nights on the church's praise team. He knows his purpose. To praise the Lord and to evangelize the lost. The iShine Bible will be an opportunity to reemphasize and teach what he has learned already. Thanks, Tyndale!

Royal Wedding Weekend

The world is gearing up for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and I have to say, I have been somewhat of a royal watcher. I don't know why, I'm somewhat embarrassed by it.

I remember watching Prince Charles' and Princess Diana's wedding when I was a child and I was thrilled by it back then. She looked like Cinderella in the carriage headed to the Ball. I followed Diana's life through my teens and young adulthood, and was devastated when she died. Such a beautiful woman and such a tragic way to die. No one knew at the time, while watching that beautiful wedding, what kind of life she would live. Even she said, "I felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter." She was right.

If Charles would have just honored his wedding vows and loved his wife like he had promised, Diana would not have been in that car accident. She would have been at home, taking care of the Prince and her two boys, not looking for love elsewhere.

So, I have to say, I have mixed feelings about this wedding. I am interested in it and all the activity, but I don't want what happened to Diana to happen to Kate. The media needs to lay off a bit after the wedding. I mean, I'm interested in the wedding because whoever gets to have a wedding celebration like that, with an endless budget and all? To have heads of state, kings and queens and movie stars attend the ceremony. I mean, it is fascinating, don't you think? But, after the wedding, let them live their royal life. Don't follow them into the bush of Africa or to the outback of Australia. I think that is ridiculous.

However, I wish them the best of happiness and I pray that Prince William will not be like his father! Congratulations, Prince William and Kate!

I love my Kindle!

         It was Christmas morning and my husband gave me a small, wrapped gift. He asked me the week before Christmas, "Would you rather have a gift certificate to the spa, some new clothes or some expensive perfume?" I thought hard and said, "Well, any of those would be great. I'd be happy with any one of those." That was the only hint I got, so on Christmas morning when I received the small gift, I immediately thought, "He must've went with the perfume," trying to predict my one gift from him. However, when I tore the paper, a brown box appeared. Not what I was expecting, since most perfume boxes are bright pink, yellow or orange. Then I saw the words, Amazon and Kindle. I thought, "Cooool!" I had the same feeling that I had when I opened up the Barbie Dream Camper when I was 6-years-old!
       Since Christmas, I've had some time to use it and it is the neatest thing since I bought a French Press from Starbucks! The first thing I did was shop, on Christmas morning in my pajamas, for books using my Kindle. It's like browsing the bookstore and flipping through interesting-looking books, but not. Click on a book and you can read a sample and some reviews others have written. If you want to buy the book, click on it, and you can have it in your hands within 3 to 4 seconds. Yes, seconds! No more having to get dressed, go to the bookstore and hunt down a good book. Even though I still enjoy doing that, this is sooooo convenient. Plus, there are many, many FREE books. In fact, so many of the classics are free, now I have a good reason to make time to read War and Peace. I always saw that big, thick book in the library, and never wanted to haul it around. But, now, I have all some 1,300 pages in my Kindle!

       I don't know who invented it, but it is really a nifty gadget! I mean, I can put 3,000 books on it. I still have my beloved paperbacks and hardbacks, but this Kindle, I can really get used to. My husband even went and bought me a leather case with a light to go with it so I can read it in bed. There are so many more things I can read on it, I haven't figured it all out yet. I can subscribe to newspapers and blogs and receive monthly magazines. You can click to have a 14-day free trial of a subscription and then you cancel if you don't like it. If you accidently buy a book, you can click and say "Oops, I didn't mean to do that," and they will return your money back. I mean, you really can't go wrong with the Kindle.
       If you haven't looked at one, I suggest that you go and check it out. It is a good reading alternative to have....especially when you want to read War and Peace!

The hurting are all around us

      It seems wherever I am, I see hurting people. Either they've been hurt or they are hurting now. My heart hurts for them. I want to help them. Sometimes, I just don't know what to do, but I do want to give them an encouraging word.

      Whether it is the Japanese people enduring hardship after the earthquake or a woman right in my own neighborhood, my heart is compelled to help them, pray for them, encourage them and to give them hope.

       Do you know someone who is struggling with a crisis right now? Do you ignore it, hoping that the subject doesn't come up? Or do you tackle it right on and address it, and offer the person some hope and encouragement? There are people all around us struggling with addictions, rejection, loss of a job, a divorce, a rebellious child, health issues, living in an unhappy marriage and I could go on and on.

       I met a woman in the post office the other day. We said hello to one another and then she told me that her son had died a few months earlier. She was a stranger. But, I could tell she was hurting and she needed to tell someone....so I listened. I asked her about her son. Then, she told me how her husband wasn't taking it so good. He had lost his only son. I listened some more. My heart went out to her. She teared up. Yes, in the middle of the post office, as we waited to get stamps. I encouraged her. She said she went to church regularly and that she was involved. She felt the Lord giving her strength. She told me how she could see God bringing the good out of the situation and she was being used to help others who had experienced the same circumstances.

       Let's get out of our comfort zones and reach out to others who are around us. Don't just do it at church. What about those who we meet everyday who don't go to church? They need Him in their lives. Jesus is the only Answer!

It's been awhile......

Well, It's been awhile since we chatted. The holidays are over and it's back to business!! You know, those New Year resolutions. Mine are the same each year, get more organized, lose a few pounds, be a better mother and wife and write. I need to do all of the above. I've got a plan and now for the SELF-DISCIPLINE. That's what it really all comes down to, you know. Self-discipline. For each of my resolutions, the answer is self-discipline. Sorry, I'm repeating myself, I'm just trying to get it to sink into my head.
It is all about the action. Making the right choices. You can either do this or do that. What's your choice? It's about time I make the right choices in my life. I pray to the Lord, He will help me this year.

I met a woman....

I met a woman this week, named Debbie. She loves the Lord, however, she is confused, has severe anxiety attacks, calls herself “crazy” and is addicted to cigarettes. She was raised in the church and wants to serve God with all her heart. But, because Satan tries to steal, kill and destroy, her life has become a mess. She was raped twice, once as a child and then as a teenager, married and divorced twice and is now living with a man who is not her husband. She is full of hurt and pain. She has pushed these hurt feelings down so deep, that she doesn’t even remember certain periods in her lifetime.

Do we look down on her and tell her how worthless and wrong she is? NO! We show her the love of Christ and tell her about the forgiveness He offers us for the asking.  “Oh, wash me, cleanse me from this guilt. Let me be pure again. Sprinkle me with the cleansing blood and I shall be clean again. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51: 2,7

Sin and guilt are like deep penetrating pollution that soaks into every fiber of our soul. It is not as simple as having dirt on our hands that can easily be washed off. Rebellion toward God is a deep, embedded stain that takes a miraculous washing and cleansing that only God can do. God in His great power is able to reach down and completely purify layer after layer of our polluted lives and make us morally spotless.

Once we truly confess our sins to Him, God will refuse to look at our sins any more! God looks at us through the moral purity of Jesus Christ who now lives in us. Instead of looking at our sin, God concentrates on what Christ did for us at the cross. God judged our sins at the cross and now He lovingly refuses to look at our sin anymore.

I prayed with Debbie and she sobbed and wept, she released the pain that was kept inside of her all these years, she asked for forgiveness of her sins, and she received the healing power that only Jesus can give. “Come, let us return to the Lord; it is He who has torn us—He will heal us. He has wounded—He will bind us up.” Hosea 6:1  Sometimes God purpose      ly makes us miserable through guilt, fear and worry so that we will come to our senses about our sins and repent. God heals as well as disciplines us. He can, and will, replace every emotional pain brought on by guilt, with joy and gladness! So, until next time, may the Lord bless you

and keep you—Kimberly