Book Review: A Woman's Guide to Fasting

I received the book A Woman's Guide to Fasting from Bethany House Publishing for review. I absolutely loved the book! I wish I had read it prior to trying to do a 21 day Daniel Fast. Lisa Nelson does a great describing her experiences with various types of faster, from 1 day to 40 day fasts. She describes no food, liquids only, Daniel fast, and other modifications she has incorporated. Fasting isn't just about the food, or lack there of, but also the spiritual aspect of fasting as well. I really enjoyed Lisa Nelson's voice and practical advice. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is interesting in learning more about how to fast. I will definitely try again in the future using the tips provided in this book.

Book Review: December 1941

I received December 1941 by Craig Shirley for review from booksneeze.com. I requested this book specifically because I knew my father would love this book! Being a huge history buff and the fact that I live 20 minutes from Pearl Harbor... this is the perfect Christmas gift for him. Each chapter covers a day for the whole month of December and recalls all the events, both political and social events that occurred each day. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys history books!

Recipe: Peanut Butter Chocolate Pudding Dessert

Last week, I went to a bbq and we had this amazing dessert... and I just had to make it for my husband!

I found it on yummly!

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Dessert-Food_com-110256

20 chocolate sandwich cookies (cream filled, divided) 2 tbsps butter (margarine melted) 8 ozs cream cheese (softened) 12 cup peanut butter cups 1 12 cups powdered sugar (divided)

16 ozs cool whip (carton cool whip thawed and divided) 15 miniature peanut butter cups (chopped) 1 cup milk (cold) 4 ozs instant pudding mix (chocolate fudge)

1	Put 16 cookies in a heavy duty zip-lock bag and crush (I use a rolling pin).
2	Pour crumbs into a bowl; add butter and toss to coat.
3	Press crumb mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9-inch square dish.
4	In a bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, and 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth.
5	Fold in half of the Cool Whip.
6	Spread over crust.
7	Sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups.
8	In another bowl, beat the milk, pudding mix and remaining powdered sugar on low for 2 minutes.
9	Fold in the rest of the Cool whip.
10	Spread over the peanut butter cups.
11	Crush the remaining cookies and sprinkle over the top.
12	Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. The only changes I made was I skipped the 3/4 cup of powdered sugar in the chocolate pudding mixture. I also sprinkled half of the pb cups on top along with the crushed oreos! It was perfect! I also served this frozen. Turned out just like ice cream cake! This is a definite keeper!! I did choose to use all fat free/reduced fat items... so it was a bit healthier! :) Enjoy!!!

Book Review: The Jesus Experience

I received the book The Jesus Experiment by Bill Perkins from Tyndale Publishing for review. Bill Perkins is a very open about the struggles he faced, and still faces when it comes to living a life like Jesus. This book is a 12-week "experiment" to see how you can transform your own life to be more like Jesus. The book covers the main concepts: What Jesus Did in Private, What Jesus Did in Public, and What Jesus did with People. The book is broken down to 1 chapter a week. I really liked Bill Perkins' set of questions he asks in all situations:

1. How would Jesus feel in this situation?

2. What would Jesus think in this situation?

3. What would Jesus say in this situation?

4. What would Jesus do in this situation?

5. How do I feel in this situation?

6. What am I thinking in this situation?

7. What am I saying in this situation?

8. What am I doing in this situation?

I really liked the examples he gave of both his own experiences and within the Bible. He also includes a set of questions at the end of each chapter. I would recommend this book as a study tool for small groups. It would be a lot more fun to have people to discuss these concepts with, instead of doing the experiment alone. :)

Book Review: This Little Prayer of Mine

I received the book This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano from Blogging For Books for review. This book is a prayer from a child's perspective, asking God to help him be brave, forgive him for being bad, to help him make good choices, for his future, and giving thanks to God for the abundant blessings. The book covers many areas that we need to teach our children to pray about, but I must admit, I personally don't think the prayer/poem flows very well. I will still use this book to teach my little ones to pray...

Book Review: Heaven is for Real

I received the ebook version of Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo from booksneeze.com. I have to admit, I was not a fan of the ebook... I would much rather have the actual paper copy of any book! That being said, this was still a very charming book. Colton was 4 years old when he "died" and went to heaven during an operation. This is his dad's recollection of the events leading up to and afterwards. It's interesting how long it takes the parents to really get the whole story from Colton... Colton's age at the time of the event may attribute to the slow progression. That being said though, the book definitely makes you think about what heaven is like. Todd Burpo did do a great job putting scriptural references to Colton's memories of heaven. I liked reading about Colton's "preschooler moments". I wasn't really that big of a fan of all the lead up to the incident of Colton's experience... I felt like it was almost a biography of Colton's dad's bad luck prior to all this.

However, I still enjoyed hearing Colton's recollection of his experience in heaven and meeting Jesus. There is a picture of the image of Jesus that Colton recalls in the back of the book. I think this is definitely a book that people who have never thought about eternity should read.

Book Review: When God Created My Toes

I received When God Created My Toes by Dandi Daley Mackall for review from bloggingforbooks.com. I am so glad I selected this book! It is such a sweet little book to read with preschool age children. Great book to discuss how we're all created beautifully and wonderfully by God. Cute illustrations and quick read for those with short attention spans! I would recommend this book for preschoolers and beginning readers!