Book Review:. The Gift of Church

Taken from a blog posted by me in 2010:

I was excited when I found out that I had the opportunity to do my first official book review.  Then I faced a difficult decision:  What book would I choose that would be pertinent to my own life, as well as to the life of you, my blog reader?

I chose Jim Samra's The Gift of Church.  I do believe the local church is a gift to Christians, and I am saddened when I hear loved ones express the frustrations and difficulties they have experienced within their own local church.  I read in anticipation, eager to find some truths that I could share with these loved ones to encourage them to persevere in their trials.

In his introduction, Samra acknowledges that the church has been hypocritical, among other things, "and worst of all has been these things while claiming to represent God".  With all the failures of the church, why is it so important for Christians to be involved?  Simply put, "God designed and created the church for our benefit and for his glory".  The church is God's idea!

Samra walks the reader through the different parts of Scripture, showing what God designed the church to be and how He designed it to function.  Samra clearly points out the difference between churches and parachurch organizations and shows the benefits that can only truly be found in churches.  He also candidly discusses possible hindrances to the community that should be found in the church.  His conclusion brings the reader back to the fact that the church is the place where "God's infinite grace is highlighted".  What a great reminder that the church is God's design, and it is intended for His glory.

I would encourage any of you who are questioning the importance of being involved in a local church to read this book.  Although the writing is somewhat difficult to follow at times, the content is excellent.  Samra does not attempt to ignore or sugar-coat the problems that are all too often found in our churches, but addresses them with candor.  Perhaps the problems in our churches actually stem from the heart attitudes of you and me.  Or perhaps the answer to the problems in our churches is actually the involvement and dedication of you and me.

* This book was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the book to the publisher. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Book Review: None Like Him

One of my goals for 2019 was to read one book a month.  Fiction has always been easy for me to read.  I can fly through a fiction book in a long evening, forsaking all responsibilities in the meantime.  Non-fiction seems to be a different story.  I get lost, become uninterested, or just plain fall asleep.  To help overcome this, I am choosing to focus on non-fiction for the bulk of my 12 books this year.

First on my list of books to read in 2019 was Jen Wilkin's None Like Him: 10 Ways God is Different From Us (and why that's a good thing).

The opening line of Wilkin's book drew me in and made me feel as though she and I could be good friends.  She does an excellent job of sprinkling personal anecdotes throughout this theologically-rich book.  True to the title, Wilkin clearly conveys why it is a good thing that God is different from us.  She does this in a way that is practical and applicable.  Each of the ten chapters of this book begins by defining and explaining an attribute of God.  This is followed by examples of how we cannot attain these attributes, were never intended to, and how it is truly a good thing we cannot.

I loved everything about this book.  The content was deep, though easy to read.  I had many "ah-ha" moments as I read, as well as some conviction on areas where my thinking and actions have not been correct.  Overall, I found her book to be very challenging and encouraging, and I am excited to read more by this author in the future!  This is definitely a book I would recommend to others.

Rachel's Rating:
★★★★★

Family Vacation

This week we took our first-ever, official family vacation.  We have had several visits to see family, but I consider this our first official vacation because: 

                        1) We stayed in a hotel. 

                        2) We ate out (or in the hotel dining area) for every meal. 

                        3) We did fun things every day. 

                        4) It was just the 4 of us!

We left Wednesday morning, July 4th.  The girls "helped" me pack my bag: 

Our destination was Grand Rapids, Michigan.  My husband and I both lived there for a time before we were married, and it had been over 5 years since we had seen a lot of the places we used to frequent.  Our first vacation destination was....Cornerstone University/Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.  Boo refered to this as "Daddy's Pastor School".  :)

It was HOT!  Baby Cakes relaxed in her stroller with Diggity Dog.

We took a family picture.

Daddy was showing his mad pole-climbing skill as two little girls screamed in terror.  :)  They did NOT like him doing this.  He came back down just after this picture was taken.  No bell-ringing that day!

Boo got over her terror and tried to climb the pole herself.

They're just so cute.

We had some time to kill before hotel check-in time, so we headed to the mall for awhile.  Boo rode her favorite ride...

And even let Baby Cakes join her for awhile.

Boo enjoyed staying in a hotel for the first time (that she can remember).  She loved having this big bed to herself, and she did pretty well staying quiet so that others could sleep.  She told us she wanted to live there.

The girls loved sitting in this chair and being spun round and round.

On Thursday, we went to the zoo.  We saw monkeys...

Baby Cakes liked the penguins.

The favorite for both of the girls seemed to be the bears though.  I loved hearing Baby Cakes growl at them .  Soooo cute!

Boo named one of the bears Cabela Bear (after her beloved stuffed bear), and Daddy named the other Mike.

With Cabela Bear:

The girls banged on the drums...

And Baby Cakes LOVED that.

Boo showed off her balancing skills.

And we visited the children's area.

Did I mention how HOT it was this week?!  Baby Cakes would not let this cup out of her hands.

Friday we went to Rockford.  This is the Rockford Dam.  This place will always be special to me, as this is where my husband proposed - 6 years ago, July 30th.

We sat on "our bench" (which has since been relocated a few feet) and Boo took our picture.  Pretty good for a 3 year-old.

6 years ago, I never would have guessed that the next time I would be back in Rockford, I would be with my husband and 2 little beauties.  So blessed.  And how cute is this?!

 We went to a second mall on Friday.  Boo got to ride on a frog.

 And more fun rides.

The girls enjoyed Taco Bell.  Boo had her first-ever taco, and Baby Cakes enjoyed a cheese roll-up.  Mmmmm...Mommy is so excited to share my love of Taco Bell with another generation!

 We had a lot of fun just relaxing and enjoying the places in and around Grand Rapids.  We swam in the pool.  We ate lots of good food.  We took naps and even slept well at night.  (This is quite an accomplishment with two little ones in one hotel room!)  It was a nice change of pace.

Mostly, we just enjoyed having Daddy with us all day for 3 days and spending time as a family.

Hair Bow Organizer

I joined Pinterest a few months ago and am in love with it.  I have found so many fun crafts and ideas since joining.  Now the only problem is...I need time to complete these projects!
I love hair bows for my girls.  I have made a few that were inspired by Pinterest.  But I needed somewhere to store these bows, so I found an idea on Pinterest (of course). 

This idea originally came from The Frugal Girls.com.  I liked their idea of using a picture frame and ribbon, but their bow organizer seemed a little small to me.

I searched in my attic for old frames, and I remembered a frame I had from an old mirror in my first apartment.  The mirror broke in a move, but I liked the frame so much that I kept it.  It was perfect for this project.

Then I started thinking about what scrapbook paper to use as the background.  The mirror frame was a little too big to use scrapbook paper, so I started thinking about fabric I had "for later".  I remembered an old scrub top I had been given a few years ago.  I liked the pattern on the top, but I never actually wore it.  I wasn't a big fan of the bow in the front.  Again, perfect for this project.

I found some ribbon I liked at Walmart, and I set to work.  All I had to do was cut the front off the scrub top, position it on the back of the frame, and tack the back corners down with some hot glue.  The back of the frame is not pretty, but nobody will ever see it, so it doesn't matter.  Then I tacked the ribbon on the back with some hot glue, clipped the bows in place, and hung it on Boo's wall.  Ta-da!  A beautiful bow organizer, ready for some more bows:

Happy Birthday Boo!

Our little Boo turned 3 today.  How is she 3 already?!  I think I tell her everyday, "You're getting so big". 

This birthday was so much fun.  She actually knew what having a birthday was all about.  She knew she was going to have "Happy Birthday" sung to her, eat birthday cake, and open presents.  She was excited, and that made it really exciting to watch as a parent.

She was allowed to open a gift yesterday - some play food from someone at church.

 I asked her what her favorite was, and she held up this chocolate.  :)

I spent naptime yesterday baking a cake.  I was so excited to use a train cake mould that someone from church had given me.  Unfortunately, my train did not turn out like the pictures.  But it was presentable, and Boo would have been happy with anything that remotely resembled a train.  :)

Last night, I decorated the cake.  I felt like I was making a gingerbread house with all the candy decorations.  It was fun!

 Our dinner tonight consisted of Boo's favorite food.  She has often requested hotdogs and french fries, and I believe tonight was the first time she ever actually got to eat that combination!  She was a happy girl.

 And she loved her cake!!!

 It took several tries and much coaching on how to blow out that candle...

 In true Boo fashion, she only ate the decorations off her piece of cake.

 Daddy with his Boo

 Mommy with her Boo.  (Babycakes was in bed by this point.  We didn't get any pictures of her with Boo.)

 Time for presents!  She was the typical kid, totally unimpressed with the clothes I got her.  :)

 But the toys were a different story!

 See that little pice of black on this box?  When she saw that she said "it's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse".  How did she know?!

 Boo's fun presents

 Of course we had to play with the toys.  Mommy and Boo played the Mouse-ke-tag game together, and then we had Family Play-Doh Night. 

 She enjoyed creating.

I love that girl!!!