I hope to be able to put into words the incredible story you’ll find if you read Captive in Iran: A Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph Amid the Horror of Tehran’s Brutal Evin Prison by Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh. Living in America, we find such freedoms as sharing the name and love of Jesus Christ as a given. We’re not persecuted by our government for going to church or sharing our faith with someone we encounter. Even though we don’t face this difficulty, we often don’t seize the opportunities to share our faith on a regular basis.

Rostampour and Amirizadeh knew they were risking their lives in Iran though. But their love for Christ outweighed all the danger. Until the day sharing became difficult and a trip to get paperwork straightened out turned their lives upside down… or so they thought. The two young ladies were thrown into jail for an extended period of time, facing difficult situations and deplorable living conditions. Wanting to live their faith out loud, the girls made the most of their time in jail, serving the guards and encouraging those being held for any reason the government felt like.

But Rostampour and Amirizadeh’s journey didn’t end in jail. The corrupt Iranian government sent them to the notorious Evin prison, where the worst of worst criminals were sent. When given the chance to escape the horrors of prison by denying Christ, the two held strong to their faith and chose to stay locked up instead! 259 days of questioning, torment (mild compared to others), and horrible living conditions were worth it to them. Inside the prison walls, the girls had more opportunities and a wider audience to share their faith. They were able to change even the hardest of hearts, to show prostitutes, drug users, and murderers the unyielding love found in Jesus Christ!

This is a must read book! Captive in Iran will open your eyes to the injustices and corruption that plague our world. It will also encourage you to be more willing and more open to share your faith, even in the toughest of situations!

I received complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House

A Dream So Big by Steve Peifer is definitely one of the best books I’ve had a chance to read lately! Such an incredible story of how one family turned a tragic loss of their infant son into an unforgettable lifetime journey. Life hit the Peifer family pretty hard when they learned that their unborn child would likely not survive, and if so, it wouldn’t be for long. Despite the odds placed against his little life, Steve and Nancy went forward with the birth of little Stephen. A short time later they would have to bury their baby boy (bring tissues, you’re going to need them as you read through this section!). When they were offered a rare chance to escape their grief, the Peifer family moved to Kenya to be dorm parents at a school for missionary kids for a year. That year was studded with events that changed their life forever. Their year turned into a lifetime of service, not only to the missionary school, but to the children all over Kenya. Steve Peifer, along with help from people around the globe, have made it their mission to provide children in Kenya a hot meal each day. Along with that, they’ve made it their mission to give Kenyan children the opportunity to make more of their life by providing them better educations, in hopes that they can change the corruption in their country and give hope to their fellow countrymen.

Don’t read this book if you don’t want to be encouraged and motivated to do something to make a difference in this world, because it’s not going to happen! Steve Peifer is/was an average man, looking to escape the pain of losing a child. What his cynical self didn’t expect was to be empowered to change his little portion of the world, one child at a time. A Dream So Big will change your life! You will want to make a difference, some way, some how, in someone’s life.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I’ll be honest with you, when I first started reading Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic, I was pretty hesitant. I had just forced myself to stop reading Nick’s first book Life Without Limits because of the poor editing job that was done. The book had no flow to it, so I was bracing for the worst case scenario with Unstoppable. Thankfully though, I found myself wanting to know more and more of Nick’s story with each page I read. I wanted to hear all of the great things he’s accomplished. Not only did I feel like I was getting to know him as a person, but I felt like we were on an incredible journey throughout the entire book.

Nick doesn’t just share the stories of his life and the battles that he’s fought and won, but he shares the stories of those he has encountered throughout his ministry. He captures your attention and leaves you wanting to know more. You celebrate with some and mourn with others. And then there is a love story that you’re taken on as well. You can easily find yourself cheering him on throughout each scene!

Nick’s message isn’t just to tell you his story and the stories of people around the world. The purpose is to show you that no matter what your circumstances may be, that no matter what life has given you, putting your trust in the Lord can move mountains. You may not grow arms and legs, as Nick always dreamed about, but through the power of the Lord working in you, you too can be unstoppable!

The weather was nice on Sunday so we walked down to the playground and let Jonathan swing for the first time. I’m pretty sure he had a blast! We’ve gone back a few times since then, but the weather has gotten fairly cold so we’re limiting time outside.

Jonathan’s love for books at such a young age really impresses me! He is constantly picking up books, walking across them room and handing them to us so that we can read to him. If we’re not paying attention or taking to long, he’ll start throwing the book to us! Then we will sit and read…and read…and read. I think I’ve read one book close to 15 times in a row. But I love every moment of it!

He also has a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night, grab his book and flip through it instead of sleeping. Nap time also gets delayed because he likes to sit in his bed and read now! Thanks to his grandma, he has a bunch of new books to keep him occupied!

Our little monster is also walking like crazy. In fact, I think if he could steady himself enough, he’d run!  We were sitting by the front door on Wednesday when his daddy pulled into the driveway. I stood up and said “lets go get daddy!” He walked down the hall, through the living room and made it to the kitchen before falling down. But at that point he could see “da-da”, so he was happy!

Everything has become a drum too! Cabinets, chairs, the floor,piano bench, and the upside-down bucket, the toilet lid…

The highlight of my week came yesterday when Jonathan pushed his (formerly my) rocking chair across the room next to where I was sitting. He wanted to sit in the chair beside me! I sat him in it and turned on a cartoon for him to watch for a few minutes. He loved it and sat there trying to rock (the bottom of the chair has been worn down from use since my sister was a baby, through me and my three nieces). SO adorable!

Our little baby is growing up! I can’t believe that I’m already gathering things for his first birthday in less than a month and a half. Where has time gone?

What happens when your little baby morphs into a whole different person over night, leaving you with a child who thinks he can defy gravity and that cookies are the new broccoli? Gone are the days of endless cuddles. There is a new kid in town, and he has many great adventures in store for you. But there is something much greater than rescuing your child from swinging on the kitchen chandelier.  Saving his heart, pointing him in the direction of Christ, outweighs every other aspect of raising a toddler. Teaching your child to read at one or solving quadratic equations by two is not an essential. Raising a child who sees the love of Christ all around him, who is taught about God and the redeeming power of the Christ’s redeeming love, is far greater.

When I opened the envelope to find The Christian Mama’s Guide to Parenting a Toddler, I quickly put down every other thing I was doing and reading and dove right in. Why? Erin MacPherson is hysterical and I loved reading her book The Christian Mama’s Guide to Having a Baby. We’re also on the brink of entering toddler-dom. I need all the mental prep and wisdom I can get before heading into the adventure that awaits. As expected, I found myself laughing out loud, snorting at times, and finding the need to share many Dino nuggets of insight with my husband.

With topics including how to handle the toddler tantrums while avoiding your own meltdowns, how not to potty train your child, special sections for both stay at home moms and working moms, and what to do when even the pediatrician hasn’t seen a case quite like yours, The Christian Mama’s Guide to Parenting a Toddler is a perfect and easy read for all mom’s (and even dads) who find their homes and lives being hijacked by chaos. MacPherson includes prayers, tips, and quality advice on how to focus our hearts toward finding joy in the Lord even during the most trying of situations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I’ve been thinking about some of the things that bog me down during the day. My computer is one of them! Ok, my computer is pretty much the only big one. There is so much online that wastes my time.

Some of these time wasters are:

• Email that I have to wade through. As of yesterday, there were thousands of messages in my email inbox, about 300 unread ones.
• Facebook- be it groups I don’t participate in, pages I “liked” to claim coupons or enter contests, and people who really have too much drama in their lives and I really don’t need to know about the every detail of their day or their fight with so-and-so.
• Twitter notifications, even though I’ve not done much on Twitter in the few years I’ve had an account.
• Followings on Pinterest. I *love* Pinterest, and I’ve used it to better our home and life in certain ways

But Spring is nearing and before I tackle the madness in my house, I’ve started to clean up my little portion of the internet!

• I’ve weeded out my email. I no longer have 3,000 or so emails in my inbox or 300 unread emails. There are now less than 150 emails in my box (most of which contain some level of importance) and less than 20 I’ve not read. I no longer have folders and folders of unread mail either. They’re all gone!
• I’ve unsubscribed to roughly 50 different mailings I would get on a daily or weekly basis. If I don’t visit the website within a week or two, why bother continuing my email subscription?  And can I just say, LivingSocial and Groupon are the two worst offenders of email spam! They have so many sub-category email groups. I don’t need Groupon goods or LivingSocial escapes. One email a day from their company is more than enough, not ten!
• Facebook has been trimmed too. Over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve deleted roughly 200 friends. Maybe that sounds mean, but I’ll explain my reasoning. I’ve been a part of the Facebook world since the beginning of 2005, and thus accumulated a number of friends from all areas of my life. If I’ve not talked with the person in the last five to ten years, are we really “friends” or do we just stalk each others news-feed?  If the person hasn’t been active on Facebook in years, why are we still “friends”? If you have more drama in your life than a tv soap opera, do I really need to be subjected to it on a daily (or hourly) basis? Nah! Cleaning out my “friends” list has been so freeing!
• Twitter. Oh Twitter. I really don’t like you and have never really used you. In fact, my account has now been deleted. One less thing to worry with or to clog my email and iPhone
• Pinterest followings. I don’t follow a ton of people on Pinterest. But there is a reason for that. Not that I don’t like my ~1500 followers, because believe me, I do! The problem is, when I start following a lot of people, I can EASILY find my ADHD kicking into high gear. Instead, I’ve pared down the list of people I follow to a small handful (less than 30). It makes life a little more simple for me. And, I can easily click-through my friends and followers when time allows (not often here lately) to see their pins.

Cleaning up my little slice of internet pie is making things so much more breezy! Instead of having to delete 50-100 emails a day and respond to maybe 1 or 2, now I can respond to 1 or 2, and delete 4 or 5! And, less drama on Facebook is always welcomed!

This past month has taken a lot out of me…emotionally, spiritually, mentally.

In the end though, I feel as though some changes are due in order to get back on track and accomplish some of the things I need and want to get done.

Sometimes it feels as though God is far away.  There is clearly no way God understands what we’re going through right now. How could He even have a clue what its like to live on earth in the twenty-first century, facing the problems that we do on a daily basis.

How often we forget that He created the world we live in. We think because we have a disease, God doesn’t understand what its like. But did Jesus not heal so many that were suffering? Did Jesus not mingle with the most despised people of his day? Did God not understand the mother who suffered a broken heart at the loss of her child? Of course He understands! Even the temptations Satan throws at us on a daily basis…the Lord comprehends our struggles!!!

Next Door Savior is an incredible book that shows just how clearly the Lord understands. He meets us right in our place. He meets us in our mess we call life. Lucado does a brilliant job of showing that the God who created the world knows our pain. He doesn’t just show up in church, he’ll show up right where we are, even if that’s in the worst part of town.

Reading this book came at the perfect time in my life. Losing the life of a baby you never were able to hold is such a gut-wrenching thing. It is often easy to blame God for not understanding our pain and question why He would allow such a thing to happen. Being reminded in these pages that the Lord does understand was so comforting. He knows what it is like to lose a beloved child. He lost His too! Sometimes it feels as though He is so far away, when in reality, He’s right next door. He lives where I live, He goes right where I go. He knows my name, He knows my story, and He is willing to meet me right where I am. Even in my mess.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

More than Enough by Dave Ramsey was a great read. I had originally purchased this book to give someone for Christmas, but decided to keep it for myself for various reasons. I’ve read other of Ramsey’s books and am a frequent visitor of his website. I agree a lot with the principles behind his teachings on financial and debt freedom. The book discusses different approaches to changing your financial destiny. Dave is a big advocate in giving back, to your community and to the Lord. More Than Enough focuses in on your core values and goals and what you must do to be prosperous in your life, marriage, job, and with your faith.

If you’ve never read a book or blog post by Stuff Christian’s Like author Jon Acuff, you’re missing out. He’s quite a writer and I often find myself laughing out loud! In this quick read (finished in a day), you can learn to not only Baby Proof your basement from your 27-year-old, but you will also learn a lot of practical advice. I loved reading that Dave Ramsey’s team lives out loud what the “preach”. Jon tells the story about the first time he had to go on a company trip and was given an envelope of cash to pay for everything. No company credit card exists! The book is filled with useful knowledge and tips on handling finances, while being entertaining at the same time. Go read it!

Oh Good Lord! I read a book about sex and I’m going to talk about it on the blog. Pick up your dropped jaw and come back to reality. Sex happens. God designed sex for a husband and wife and The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex is a great book to get a Biblical perspective on the topic. From engaged women to those who have been married 30+ years, this book is for you! This book is beautifully written on the details of having an intimate marriage the way God intended. The book is not risque by any means. A definite read for ladies.

When I saw this I Want It Now by Julie Dawn Cole for free on Kindle ebook one day, I grabbed it because, quite frankly I loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! Cole, who played the infamous Veruca Salt, tells of her journey to and through stardom and what life was like on the set of the great Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Did you know that the chocolate room set was off-limits the entire time they were filming the rest of the movie? The directors wanted to get the casts first impressions of it on camera. In fact, the scene that made the final cut was their initial reaction to the chocolate room. How awesome! Cole talks about her friendships with the cast, her homesickness, her rise to (and from) fame.

While I didn’t get super excited during the final parts of the book discussing her adult years, the book was overall a great and fun read.

Shepherding a Child’s Heart has so many conflicting reviews on Amazon, but I wanted to read it for myself to have my own opinion. I fully believe that the goal of parenting should be to point the child’s heart to the Lord and Savior, which Tripp discusses. This biggest part of the controversy lies with spanking, I do believe. Do I believe in spanking? Yes I do.  I don’t believe spanking is right in certain situations (special needs children), in certain environments (public), and never when the parent is upset/angry because it runs the risk of becoming more than a spanking.  (Please note, those are my opinions. You’re entitled to your own. This is not meant to spark debate so please keep it that way.)

Overall, I’d probably give the book about four stars out of five. The book is subject to each parents personal convictions, so you would need to read it yourself. I will, however, not use it as my main guide for parenting. I believe the Bible does a good job with fulfilling that role!

One of my/our goals for this year was to be more mindful of our expenses and try to cut back where possible, while also paying off a small student loan. I’m really excited that not even a sixth of the way into 2013 and we’ve paid the loan off!!! Now to start tackling one small thing, our house, and the medical school loan!

The thing is, we can’t pay things off faster if we don’t watch our everyday expenses. I’ve been using Dave Ramsey’s cash envelope system only for our grocery expenses. You have to start somewhere, and that’s the best place for us. Last month we saved more on grocery expenses than we did the previous month. I’m hoping this month will produce similar results!

Another area we’ve found to cut back is with our cable package. Time Warner is not only increasing rates AGAIN, but their service is getting worse. We love our tv time, but we don’t watch certain things anymore, like HBO. So we’re got rid of it. We also don’t watch much tv in our bedroom, at least not enough to warrant having cable in there. Got rid of it too! Those two things alone will save us a couple hundred dollars a year.

Saving money is incredible, and there is a little adrenaline rush you get when you pay off a debt. Hopefully over the next few months we’ll find other ways to reduce expenses and/or pay off the rest of our debt quicker!