apology

So all those book reviews? yeah, I'm sorry. I've been majorly slacking in that area of my life. Those unreviewed books were like a dark cloud looming over me for the past couple of weeks. I finally felt motivated to do them after I received 2 new books in the mail for April's book review. I needed to get it done, and it feels good to have it past me. My life has been pretty blah for me lately. No Spring break unfortunately. Rhea is in Florida with her friends this week. I've been working more hours lately to prepare me for full time. It's not bad at all. I can handle it. Tomorrow is my last day as part-time(and I'm working 8 hours:)). I'm definitely not regretting my decision at all. I'm so thankful for my job. The past two weeks we(Princeville) hosted ACYF. It is sort of strange going to ACYF and watching the kids and not knowing hardly any of them. Goes to show how long I've been out of that, which I'm thankful for. But really, it takes me back, and I remember all the vanity in ACYF, at least for myself. I had to have the perfect outfit. I remember that very vividly. Plus all I did during the program was rate each church by how good they sang and by how cute the boys were. So dumb. Oh, and young group sings, are so much better than ACYF. Just saying:) Maybe it's because we mean what we sing, and we have a reason to sing! Today was my last day of having a day off of work, so Mom and I baked rolls for the senior citizen dinner. Actually it was mostly Mom, because I'm not to hot at rolling the crescent rolls. They kind of looked fat and out of shape. Mom's on the other hand looked great. Obviously I need some more practice. Tonight I am going to a Bradley Honors Choir concert that Claire is in and also Hannah Schick is in. Mom and Dad are going also, but I'm going with my friends. I also hear that the Bradley Choir is singing also, so I'm excited to hear that. Hopefully I get a few pictures of that. We all know how well I am at remembering to take pictures:) I am quite ready for this winter weather to be done with. Today its been in the 50s so maybe a few layers will be shed. Hope you all are having a wonderful week. And one last apology. Sorry there are no pictures. Hope no one is too disappointed. Maybe soon:)

A Dad's Prayers for His Daughter {book review}

*I received this book for free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest review*

This book by Rob and Joanna Teigen is pretty good. I know it's probably kind of a weird book for me to review, but I also wanted to give it to my dad. Basically it's a book full of prayers of all different topics for a dad to pray for his daughter. Really, I think it is good for dads to read this because it probably helps him understand his daughter too, which we all know they struggle with at times. I would recommend this book to dads with teenage daughters, although dads with younger ones would probably benefit from it also. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

The Deeper Life {book review}

*I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review*

This book by Daniel Henderson is great. period. It has challenged me in ways I didn't even know was possible. One of them being what is my theology(or perception of God). Everyone's is different, and it has this nice little test that helps you find it. And it works. There is so much "hands-on" I guess you call it throughout the book. The purpose of the book is for you to dig deeper in your spiritual life. It's definitely not the kind of book you can just read through really fast. You have to stop and think about what it is saying and how you can apply it to your life. About 1/3 of the book is called Discovery Exercises which has a bunch of pages that helps you learn about yourself spiritually. I would highly recommend this book to others, especially those who are looking for the deeper life, which shouldn't we all? I give this book a 5 out of 5.

The Pleasure of His Company {book review}

*I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review*
(and this is going to be brutally honest)

This book by Dutch Sheets was definitely not a favorite. I couldn't even read past the first chapter. I have a difficult time reading these sorts of books anyways, and have been trying to do better, but when it does not capture my attention for the first chapter, I don't have any motivation to finish, and that is what happened to this book. I feel bad saying that, because I know it's a lot of work for an author to write a book, and I know they have good intentions when publishing it, but it just wasn't of me I guess. I would have to give this book a 1 out of 5.

The Dream Dress {book review}

*I received this book for free from Revell Publishers in exchange for a honest review*

In this book by Janice Thompson, Gabi, works as an alteration girl for a very prestigious wedding dress shop. She has always dreamed of designed her own line of dresses, but she is just an alteration girl, so it would be hard for her to get to the top. A famous woman decides to buy her wedding dress from the shop that Gabi works at, and as a result, the shop gets put into Texas Bride magazine. The man that works as the interviewer, catches Gabi’s eye, so they start talking and eventually get married. It’s kind of a cheesy story, but it was still good. Not a lot of spiritual depth to it, and there wasn’t much action. If I were to rate this book, I would probably give it 3 out of 5. 

news

It all started a couple of weeks ago, I got an email at work saying that one of the tellers I work with was moving out to Speer to work as a loan processor. There was full time position open in Peoria(where I work). Was. I'm excited to announce that I am now full-time. God is so good. Honestly, 3 weeks ago I would have never guessed that I would be full time. During the time that I was waiting to hear back from my supervisor, I had kind of a lot of stress building up. I wasn't sure when I would get another opportunity like this at the bank, and I really do love my job. I had to work on my patience and trust. I knew that whatever happened was part of God's will for my life, and I was going to have to accept whatever he threw my way. I'm so thankful and excited that my prayers were answered! God truly knows what is best for me. Really not a lot is changing, except for my hours. I was working around 30 hours a week, and now I'll be working around 40. I won't have my Thursday afternoons off, so time management is going to be a little stressful. I probably will have to cut back on my social life during the week and save it for the weekends. Sacrifices of a working woman I guess:) And I'm willing. Claire came home tonight to steal my thunder, and announced that she got a job today also at Jubilee Cafe. It's ok though. I'm glad for her. I wonder how my parents are going to manage with half their kids with jobs:) God truly has provided for our family. We really haven't had a lot of trouble finding jobs, and they are good jobs too. I think we can all agree we work in great places with great people. Anyways, that is my news. Probably not as exciting as you thought, but I love to see God's plan for my life, and I can't help but share how He is working.

For God giveth to a man what is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge, and joy.
Ecclesiastes 2:26

Sunshine Boxes

About 2 weeks ago, some of us had an open Thursday. We were wondering what we could do. We racked our brains with things to do in Peoria(not much), and finally came to the conclusion to go bowling. As I was driving home, I just felt really convicted that all I do is for my own selfish pleasure. It is sometimes difficult to think of things to do for others, but I came up with the idea of doing sunshine boxes for some of the elderly people in Princeville. So I texted the Princeville girls, and asked who was available. On my way home from work, I stopped at Target to pick up yellow items. My cart seriously looked like the sun. I wonder if anyone noticed that everything was yellow. It was fun going up and down the aisles looking for yellow stuff. On Wednesday night I designed some sunshine quotes and a note to go along with our boxes. At Hannah Schick's we wrapped the boxes and assembled the boxes. It was such a good evening, and it was so much more fulfilling than doing something else. I know that in the my last book review I posted on how it is better to let good deeds go unnoticed, but I guess I am posting this more for a challenge to my readers to do something similar and also to give you an idea of how to do it. 

 Hannah and I assembled these Cowboy cookie mix jars. There were too many ingredients so we had to put some of them ziploc bags. We only made up the jars for the ones who had kitchens, a lot of the boxes went to the nursing home where Princeville people live. For the ones who do not have kitchens, we made a batch of the cookies and sent it along with the box.

Our faithful wrappers. They did an excellent job.

This is what the boxes looked like.

 And our faithful cutters of the paper:)

 This is what the inside looked like. It was jam packed. Here's what we put in it: Cookie jar mix, Lay's chips, lemonade packet, Burt's beeswax, Werther's caramels, butterfingers, Reese's eggs, lemon hand sanitizer, stationary(for the ladies), Tazo citrus tea, kleenexs, butterscotch candy, highlighter, bag of yellow candy, bag of oreos(with yellow filling, it's there spring kind). I'm sure I'm probably missing some stuff, but that's a majority. We lined the bottom of the box with yellow tissue paper, and them added a bag of yellow grass to each box. It was like $0.50 per bag. We estimated that each box was about $10, which was pretty good. We did approximately 10 boxes and then did 2 gift bags with some of the extra stuff. The dollar bin at Target was great:)

Theses are the papers that went along with it.
It was so fun making these, but it was even better handing them out. Everyone was so appreciative, and one lady I took it to was having a bit of a rough night, and it really made her feel better. These people really deserve it. We can learn so much for them, and these boxes can't even begin to give them what they have given us. Their faithfulness truly is such an inspiration to us to keep on fighting the fight of faith. I was so proud of the girls who showed up, because I'm sure they could have found other ways to spend their night, but instead used it to bless others. So thanks girls. God really used you that night! I hope to do this next winter also.

In the Shadow of Jezebel {Book Review}

*I received this book from free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest review*

I am really into Biblical fiction books. I guess that's what you call them. In this book, Jehosheba has been taught ever since she was little to be a Baal priestess. Her future changes when her mother and grandmother decide to have her marry Yahweh's high priest in order to deceive into becoming a Baal follower. She learns to love her new husband and his God, Yaweh. She decides she can not deceive him, because he follows the one true God. Her brother becomes king after her father dies and he marries a jewish girl, who becomes friends with Jehosheba. They both have baby boys just days apart from each other. Her mother, the queen, wants to take over the kingdom, so she kills her son, all his wives, and his children. Jehosheba saves her nephew, and hides him, pretending he is her own son. Her and her priest husband raise the child, and when he turns 8 years old, he becomes king. His name is Joash. This story was so good. Really, I had no idea what was going to happen at the end. It keep me so captivated, and I didn't even look ahead to the end, which is really saying something for me. What I love most about this story is the message of the unknown character who makes a big impact for God's kingdom. I looked in the Bible for this story, and her name is only mentioned once. I'm not sure how true this story is, but the author did extensive study on it, so I think a lot of it is true. Imagine if she never would have hidden her nephew, God's will would not have been fulfilled. It's good to remind ourselves that we do not have to be recognized when we do something good. It will still be part of God's plan for either ourselves or someone else. I give this book a 5 out of 5 and definitely recommend it!