Changed by Faith Luis Palau- REVIEW

“How many people do you know who say they believe in God . . . but you’d never know it from looking at their lives? Despite good intentions, their faith isn’t life-changing or world-shaking; they may go to church on Sundays, but God doesn’t seem to make much difference the other six days..”

From this description it would appear the target audience is church goers, but upon reading the book I feel it is an excellent book to give to someone who is spiritually seeking. Luis evangelistic heart is poured all over this book. It is an easy read, with lots of stories. He lays out the path to Jesus and his challenge is sensitive yet determined.

I feel the message better speaks to one looking at who this Jesus is and that a life in Him does result in change. I didn’t find the book offered much guidance to those who have a professed faith in Jesus but are not seeing the change the Bible promises. I think his book Say Yes! does a much better job of addressing that topic. I read it MANY years ago, and it still stick in my mind as a book I felt God used in a great way in my life. So if that is an area you want to read up on, check out that book instead. If you have friends or family seeking, give them a copy of this book.

I heartily recommend Waking the Dead by John Eldridge for a book that will bring a dead faith back to life!

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Read and Share Stories about Jesus Gwen Ellis- REVIEW

This book is illustrated by Steve Smallman.

The back cover states there are 13 stories about Jesus-from his birth to his death and resurrection. Now in a collection that is only going to pick SOME aspects of Jesus life, the choice was good EXCEPT for the end, it felt a little like false advertising. There is one line given to his death and resurrection, “He even died and came back to life.”

This was in a 2 page story where the main focus was the ascension, so I felt it is misleading in what it delivers. It also asks kids if they have been baptized. Seeing the target group for this book, that is, in my opinion a bit early to be asking this.

The quality of the book is good, it is a board book, good binding, nice colors and art work. I really like that after each story there is an application question or comment included, kudos for that!

I would say the book is ideal for ages 5-7. I think you could use it for preschoolers for short story times, but not in a Sunday school teaching setting, they are too brief for that, but I could see using it at nap time with this age group and having a short conversation prior to the nap.

Recommend it with the content comment noted.

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.”

Sick girl again(Katie) changed our travel plans for this week, we were going to head down to Edmonton and Calgary for a visit, but that will be changed :(.

Julia is so wanting to walk, she is pulling herself up on stuff and has taken a couple of wobbly sideways steps.She is getting quite expressive and she was quite affectionate with me tonight, nuzzling my arm(partly wiping her dirty face on me, but there was also some affection :) ).

Got a couple of book reviews coming up, and looking forward to the adoption conference next weekend.

Focus on the Family has opened a new website www.waitingtobelong.ca. My article on our church journey in orphan care is there in the church stories section.

Amazing race is in China the last few episodes, so time to tune in again.

How the girls are doing

Grandma and Julia

Katie checking out videos on the camcorder.

The girls are doing well together and we have survived the "Everyone get sick in some way" month of February( I was spared).

Julia is 24 pounds and developing well. We need to get on immunizations soon(I have to find the video where I got her medical sheet on those translated verbally...).she is bouncing on her bum to get places and is so close to forward crawling, we sense she hits times of frustration over not being able to participate as fully as her sister. She has also grown to develop more of a sense of self entitlement(this is a good thing, in this case, for this stage of things),where she will cry if a toy she wants gets taken away or if she isn't getting the type of attention she wants.

I have been pleased to have her express some healthy dissatisfaction when daddy leaves and am loving seeing 2 beautiful smiling faces greet me at the door(Cara usually takes that time to run to the washroom for a "break" and know she can have a few minutes of silence and to do her thing before Katie marches in wondering what is going on and what can she turn on, push a button on, or pull off a shelf) Thus the reason why it isn't 3 beautiful smiling faces greeting me :)!

Julia is getting much more vocal and one of the things to expect each supper meal is the competition to see who is louder, Katie, Julia or Mummy(Mummy is trying to spoil the fun and have then tone it down, and she wins every time ;) ).

Julia hasn't been sleeping as well as we would like, we aren't sure if it is because we changed the sleep situation from the co sleeper attached to the bed to the co sleeper set up right beside the bed, or what. But the extra disruptions, sleep wise, is certainly wearing on my faithful wife.

We are certainly anxious for the snow and cold weather to stop so that there is more options to get out.

In other news, I will be speaking at a Focus on the Family Adoption awareness event in Edmonton www.endthewait.ca, in conjunction with the Steven Curtis Chapman concert being held later that day. Still have a bunch of prep to do, including the debut of a brand new magic trick I will close my chat with, "dreams of orphan care" where the dream a spectator creates about how to care for orphans matches the dream I had, and had displayed in a sealed envelope in front of them the entire time.Fingers crossed on that :)!

Celebrating

Grandma B with Julia


Katie and Uncle Chris dancing!

Play Doh creations( the adults were playing with it :)

We had a wonderful time with family coming up to celebrate Katie's 2nd birthday and us dedicating Julia to God in a ceremony at church.

Family has been so awesome and supportive, and what fun we had!

Life of attaching

http://chinaadopttalk.com/2011/03/02/attachment/

Good blog post. Talking about how attachment is a life time thing, it is a larger issue for some kids more than others, but it goes far beyond just the first few months after you bring a child home, Good list of references at the end of the post!