Anybody interested in a Mom's Nite Out??

Have you heard about the national Mom's Nite Out movement? They're having one in the Triangle, and I think it kinda sounds like fun. You pay a flat fee to get in for three hours of entertainment, pampering, prizes, and girly fun time, and all proceeds to go Nancy's Butterfly Fund, in memory of Nancy Cooper. You can find out more here. Is anybody interested???

"The Stones Cry Out"

Just a reminder - we're scheduled to meet tonight at Isabelle's to talk about The Stones Cry Out by Siobella Giorello. Hope to see you there!

"If I Could Ask God Anything" by Kathryn Slattery

If I Could Ask God Anything is just that - a series of questions and answers divided by topic and geared for children. The questions are open and honest, and the answers are, too. When an answer isn't known, Slattery says that, as well as explaining how she knows the answers she does. She lists references for known answers and explains in simple, clear-cut terms.

I love the way that this book starts out with simple questions like "Did Jesus ever do anything wrong" and works up to harder questions like "If God loves people, why do bad things happen?" Slattery doesn't dodge difficult questions and gives them the same honest consideration as the simpler ones. Written from a Christian perspective, the answers in this book are encouraging and appropriate for a child of any age who asks them. The scripture references make it easy to go back to the Bible and see for yourself, in context, what God has to say about any given topic. This book is a must for any parent who has a curious child asking those hard-to-answer questions.

Thomas Nelson has provided me with a free copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I expressed are my own.

Sandpaper People

Do you have any sandpaper people in your life? How do you treat them? Are you a sandpaper person for someone else??

Wendy talks a lot about sandpaper people in her vlog today. If you've got any of these people in your life or your sphere of influence, head right over here and check out this vlog. This is not one to miss!

Also, Debbie from NC posted in today's comments about Max Lucado's Brook of Besor devotional. You can sign up for his free daily devotionals, and if they're all as thought-provoking as this one, I just might. There are lots of golden nuggets in this one - be sure to check it out.

'Letters to God' Road Trip

The votes are in, and it looks like most of us are free on Tuesday, April 20th, for a road trip to Danville to see 'Letters to God.' So ...

Let's plan to meet at my house at 6 PM. That should get us where we need to be in time for the movie.

The movie begins at 7:10 and is just shy of 2 hours. It should end right around 9 PM for our trip back home.

Tickets for this show are $9. They are available online here.

If you have any questions, let me know!

PS - Don't forget to read 'The Stones Cry Out' by Siobella Giorello for April 27th! :-)

A Change of Pace

We're finally out of the war stories - at least temporarily - and we've read the book of Ruth. Isn't it so amazing how God redeems even the ugliest, bloodiest stories? I was so happy for a break from the gore that I didn't think about how it happened. Wendy pointed out that at this point the Israelites did not have a very good track record of obedience - just the opposite. And if I'm understanding this correctly, the story of Naomi begins with a famine in Israel - which God promised WOULDN'T happen as long as they obeyed. Only a few years later, however, Naomi and Ruth head back into a land of abundance.

What changed?

I don't know exactly. Maybe God was extending grace to them. He does, of course, know the whole story and how it will ultimately end.

But as Wendy pointed out, somebody amongst all of those crazy, irreverent, bloodthirsty, pagan-worshipping Israelites, somebody was teaching God's word. Somebody loved Him. Somebody had "committed themselves wholeheartedly to these commands ..." Somebody was "repeating them again and again to their children," and somebody was "walking about them when [he was] at home and on the road, when [he was] going to bed and when [he was] getting up. (Deut. 6)

Somebody, for all of those yucky generations, was obedient to God and was quietly following His will. How do we know?

Ruth's son Obed was the grandfather of King David. THE King David. The one who wrote tons of Psalms and praised God throughout some really dark times. THAT King David.

So even though Boaz, Ruth's new husband, was a descendant of Rahab, the prostitute, and somewhere back in there was Tarah (SP?) the tricky daughter-in-law, God used them. God really can redeem anything!

If you haven't had the chance to watch Wendy's vlog , check it out!

Joshua, son of Nun

Did you hear about Joshua? People will be flocking to visit his gravesite soon. You can read more about it here. Reminds me of how it says throughout the Old Testament that "and it remains there until this day."