Adventures in Odyssey

I am so excited to be sampling the new Odyssey Adventure Club!! 

 

My boys have been fans since my oldest was about 4 years old.  He would listen at night when it was on the radio and he loved it!  I loved that is helped him relax after a busy day, but I also loved the truths that Odyssey teaches! 

So, fast forward 9 years and my little girl has suddenly become a devoted fan of Odyssey.  However, it is not on the radio anymore!!  Bummer!

So what am I to do?  I have all the free podcasts downloaded, but I think she has heard them all.  So I was beyond thrilled when offered a chance to check out the OAC for 3 months and then share what I think!!

So far we have loved hearing new episodes!  We can download 5 at a time onto my phone and then we can listen in the car.  There is an APP (of course there is) that allows you to listen when you have wifi too.  So I have enjoyed scrolling through and checking out episodes I want to listen to.

My most favorite thing though, is the Adventure Challenge!!  OAC has partnered with Compassion International!!  We love Compassion!!  So I cannot wait for a day when we can listen to both episodes of an adventure in Uganda!  Then you watch a video about sponsorship, then there is a webquest adventure followed by a chance to share your story!

If this does not sound like a perfect family devotion night, I am not sure what would!!  I hope that my family will carve out some time to do this over the coming weekend!  I think it will spark some great discussions!

So check it out and see what you think!!

Book Review : Seagrass Pier

Colleen Coble has written another great novel!!  I loved Tidewater Inn almost 2 years ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed Seagrass Pier too!

The setting of these fast paced romantic novels takes place on the coast of North Carolina.  Colleen has a gift in the way she illustrates a place in your mind, one that you have never seen and yet can imagine with perfect clarity!  I feel like I am on the islands of the Outer Banks, I can almost feel and smell the sea breeze!  I think that is one of my favorite things about her books, she takes you there, immerses you in the beauty!

I love the characters too, as the main character Elin is adjusting to a healthy life after a heart transplant, her challenges were intriguing.  I am not sure how real cell memory is, where a patient has memories from the person whose organs they received.  However, the story was so interesting as Elin struggled with her new self.

The thriller part of the book kept my attention as well.  There is someone stalking Elin and her daughter and we are never quite sure who it is or why until the very end!

This is a great summer read, but one that might keep you up to finish the last page!

I enjoyed this book just as much as I did Tidewater Inn.  I enjoy Colleen’s writing style and her stories and I look forward to reading more by her in the future!!

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About the Book :

Readers have really loved my Hope Beach series, and the 3rd book is coming in July! There is a pre-sale campaign going on, and you can get the digital version for only $4.99 if you order before the release date. And click this link to win a Kindle! So don’t miss out on the great deal! Here is the back cover copy:

In a secluded corner of Hope Beach, one woman must decipher a stranger’s memories . . . before they cost her everything.

Elin Summerall was one of the lucky ones. Not only did she get a heart transplant, but the donor was a perfect fit. A miraculously perfect fit.

But when Elin begins having violent flashbacks—and vivid dreams of being strangled—she realizes that she has been the recipient of more than just a new heart . . . Elin is remembering her donor’s murder.

Her strange affliction has attracted some unwanted attention: from the press, from the authorities . . . and from the killer himself. Now, living alone with her young daughter and aging mother, Elin is being stalked—by a man she’s only met in her nightmares.

The police are dubious of her story, but one off-duty FBI agent is eager to help her: Agent Marc Everton.

Now, in a remote cottage on Hope Island, Elin and Marc must probe the secrets buried in her borrowed heart. And there’s no time to waste. One man is desperate to silence her—before she remembers too much.

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NOTE : I was offered a copy of Seagrass Pier in exchange for an honest review, by LitFuse.

Book Review : finding spiritual whitespace

So after reviewing tons of books of various genres I have decided that my favorite are thriller fiction.  I have signed up to read many other types of books and thoroughly enjoyed almost all of them, but non-fiction is a category that I am SUPER picky about now a-days.    I have found that I struggle to get through a non-fiction too much. 

However!!  Oh my.  When I saw the blurb about Bonnie’s book Finding Spiritual Whitespace – okay, honestly the title alone decided it for me.   I had not idea where she would take this title, but I KNEW I need some spiritual whitespace.

Where Bonnie took me?  wow.  To put it bluntly.

Bonnie Gray wrote this book as a journey that she went on.  When she started writing this book she wanted to explore what whitespace was and how having spiritual whitespace would impact our walk with the Lord, she had no idea He was about to take her on the walk of her life.

The first few pages of this book grabbed me, it spoke to me, I even took a picture of one page and texted it to a friend to show her what I had just read.  This book was meant to be in my hands right then. 

As Bonnie went on her journey to explore her past, and uncover her hidden memories, she learned a great deal about how to slow down and dig deeper into who she was.  As she writes about her journey she prompts you to take your own journey.  This is not a book you read and put down and walk away, you interact with the Lord as Bonnie leads you along.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this book, stopping along the way and journaling through ideas and questions that came out of the book.  I enjoyed reading her story, and seeing how the Lord moved mountains in her life.  I find when I read about what the Lord has done for someone else, I find more courage to believe what he is going to do for me.

If you have a lack of whitespace in your life, and really who does not?  Who has the quiet slow moments?  Maybe there are others who do (who are not homeschooling 4, tending to a small hobby farm, keeping the home, serving outside the home, etc) but in this season of my life, whitespace is at a minimum.  This book helped me find a bit and realize I need even more.

Check out Bonnie’s Blog for a video of the book, and more about her! 

NOTE : I was offered a copy of Bonnie’s book Finding Spiritual Whitespace, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review : Persecuted

First, I need to tell you how thrilled I was to realize that the movie for this book was coming out in a few months!!  Oh My!

I loved the pace of this book, the characters, and the story line!  I could not put it down, and I admit I had to ask my kids to keep it down more than once while in the last quarter of the book!!  Oh my!!

Okay, so check out the trailer for the book (including scenes from the movie)…..

 

I love action/thriller type books and movies, and I LOVE a movie my kids can watch!!  I will have to see this first, but I can tell you that in the book there is NOTHING inappropriate.  THe “event” that happens is referred to as him being with a girl (with clothes on) taking pictures.

Okay, so back up.  This book is about how Washington can spin what they want about just about anyone.   An evangelical preacher is targeted because he will not endorse a bill going before Washington Politicians that will open Christianity up to more persectuion.  The bill is named a Fairness act, but John Luther realizes the true implications.  John then uses his platform to speak out against the bill.  Washington has other plans and arrangements are made to smear John Luther, hoping to force his hand.

However, we get to see who John Luther was as a boy, when he relies on his ability to run and hide.  Throughout the book, John flashes back to his youth and younger years, he reflects on his relationship with his father, and how much has changed since then. 

I loved the dramatic Washington story, but I also really enjoyed the look back at what made John the man he is today.  It was easy to see how God’s hand was on John from day one, and how his father’s love ultimately showed John God’s love.

I cannot wait to see the movie, and I am pretty excited that there are some more well known actors in it!  This is going to be a great movie that we can take the kids to.  It is important that we realize just how precious our rights are, and how quickly they can disappear!

Movie Trailer :

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NOTE : I received a copy of Persecuted in exchange for an honest review, by Bethany House.