The Return of Cassandra Todd by Darrel Nelson

Summary:

What happens when you are re-introduced to someone who indirectly was part of the

group that made high school miserable? 

Here we find Turner. He was bullied in high school by the popular kids. He has

managed to move on and find a life he enjoys. 

When Cassandra moves into the motel Turner works at, the past begins to return.

Although Turner tries to hide who he is, when Cassandra finds out, she has to see

him for who he is now. Cassandra is in danger from an abusive husband and Turner

makes the decision to do what he can to protect her and her son.

When her husband shows up, Turner quickly realizes who it is. Turner must learn to forgive and

find the strength to finally let the past completely go so he can work on them surviving.

Review:

Just by looking at the summary on the back cover, I could tell it would be a good read.

Overall it looked like a book full of excitement and love.

This book is very well written. It is descriptive in a way where it's easy to picture

whats going on. I felt a part of the story just by picturing what was going on.

The overall storyline has adventure, drama, suspense and love. What else could you want?

Everything in this book pulled together nicely. You follow them through some rough 

situations and learn how when you realize you can't do it on your own, you can give it

to God. 

The characters are relatable, realistic and honest. This book kept me up at night because I

just couldn't put it down! That to me is the perfect sign of a good book!

I highly recommend this wonderful book and look forward to reading more of Darrel Nelson's books.

Disclosure: I received a print copy of the book from Booketeria in order to do my review. 

All my reviews are my honest opinions and may differ from others

Philosophy Adventure Curriculum Giveaway!

 

Homeschool moms, Look no further! Homeschool Adventure Co provides you with Christian based History,Philosophy and Geography Maps ,not only of the ancient times, but current pictures which allow for more interest. You can also use this for high school credit! We've already done world history with my son, but we will in some way use this anyway just due to his interest in history, and the unique way this is written. This program includes not only the reading text, but there is also a student guide and teacher guide to help you dive deeper into the study. Have you ever wondered what History characters were around during Biblical Times? Amazing findings! You don't want to miss this. Great information and easy to follow! The whole program is carefully organized and laid out in a way that makes sense. There are assignments which give the student step by step instructions which give great detail. Memory work is encouraged which is a huge help in the child's overall learning. 

Below is a  giveaway for your chance to win an entire digital copy of the curriculum! Check back also for a complete review of the entire curriculum. Can't wait for you to see this program!



Vendor Link Text - Homeschool Adventure Co. (http://homeschooladventure.com/)
Product Link Text - Philosophy AdventureTM – Pre-Socratics
(http://www.homeschooladventure.com/products/now-available-for-pre-order/)
Prices:
Physical Set: $89.95
Digital Set: $39.95
You can follow them on email and get all the information quickly at Email


Enter the giveaway for your chance to win a full digital edition which includes the reading text along with the supplements!
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Disclaimer: As part of the Philosophy Adventure Launch Team, I received a copy of the curriculum in exchange for my honest review and the opportunity to be a part of the giveaways and promotions.

Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely

I was really looking forward to reading this book! I was interested to see what he would say, and how he would address this topic.  We learn from this book that grace can not be commanded or forced. We have to choose for ourselves to accept the grace given us. He starts out with relating the topic to both parables from the Bible, and to current movies and such. I feel this was a great way to introduce us to his thought process. It was great also for someone who might be new to the concept of Grace and might need help understanding.

We find that real grace happens when we stop focusing on the power of the forbidden, and our true desire is for God.  God loves us no matter what, and more than we can imagine. We see throughout this book that it isn't our love, but Christ's love. Jim McNeely does a great job explaining each topic carefully and in a way that anyone can understand. He explains through examples about law and the difference between being moral and good. We have an innate desire to sacrifice and he does a wonderful job relating this to grace.

The book is written well and is clear and easy to understand. He includes Bible Verses throughout each chapter to lead you to the truth found in the Bible. At the end of each chapter, the reader is provided with discussion questions meant to draw you closer in, and get you to think about what you have read.
I love that he speaks truth, and allows us, as the reader, the chance to discover this truth for ourselves.

Whether  you are a Christian or not, there is a lot of great information and direction for leading you closer in a relationship with Christ. It will strengthen your relationship and remind you of what grace really is.

We have a giveaway for starbucks card here :The Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely Description and Giveaway!


Disclosure:  I received an ebook copy of Romance of Grace in order to do this review. No other compensation was given. My reviews are always my honest opinion and may differ from others.

The Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely Description and Giveaway!

Here is a great way to spend quality time with God. Learn to fall in love with him and learn how he sees us! Amazing book, Life-Changing!




Here is the book information.

First, the Amazon link: www.amazon.com/The-Romance-of-Grace-ebook/dp/B00BD9HLAY Author: Jim McNeely
Blog: www.thereforenow.com
Twitter: @jwmcneely
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thereforenow
Book title: The Romance of Grace.
Book Description: What if God sees us the way a man sees a woman he is infatuated with, and His main question is not how to make us moral but rather how to get us to fall in love with Him? In The Romance of Grace, Jim McNeely explores Bible passages that tell us what God really wants for us and what His love means. This is the love of a God who chose to give His life for ours, even carefully retaining His scars into the throne room of heaven and telling us in His very body, "I have gone to great lengths and great costs to say that I forsook all comforts for the love of you." Join Jim in his exploration of life in God's unconditional, redeeming, amazing grace.


Author Bio: Jim McNeely is a teaching pastor and elder at Dakota Creek Christian Center in Blaine, Washington, where he lives with his wife, Betty, and their four sons. Formerly president of New Century Data, with clients such as Lockheed Martin and American Airlines, he now works as a programmer and database administrator in the health care industry.

  Top Endorsements: So often we turn our faith in Christ into a forcing mechanism, which doesn't work in any event; and if anything, produces disillusionment or hypocrisy. The Romance of Grace is a prophetic book. I believe that unless we heed its call, to put grace absolutely without condition and frontally as the be-all and end-all of the Good News, we will lose completely, and not just in “the eyes of the world” but in the failure of well-intentioned religious lives that tried to love and never knew how.
—Paul F. M. Zahl, author of Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life

 It is time, as Robert Farrar Capon put it, to get drunk on grace. Two hundred-proof, defiant grace. That's what you get here in Jim's book. You won’t see a list of qualifications, and you'll get no "footnotes."

What you’ll encounter is grace unmeasured, vast and free. It will frighten you and free you at the same time. —Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and author of Jesus + Nothing = Everything

 In The Romance of Grace we are confronted with a truth that we may have previously rejected. It seemed too easy to embrace. It lacked obligation on our part and contradicted accusations we have given credence to for the majority of our lives on earth. Yet herein lies the truth—
“Not that we loved God, but that God loved us.” This book will help to right the plumb line in your life. —David Collins, author of Out of the Box, founder of Canadian Food for the Hungry International


Date: 5/22 at 12:01am to June 7 at midnight
Location: USA residents only
Age: 18 yrs or older
Void where prohibited.

 Disclosure: Lost Island of Book Reviews is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment. Love2EncourageYou is not responsible for postal delivery errors once the prize has been safely shipped out at the post office. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.           a Rafflecopter giveaway

Noxicare Pain Relief Cream

                                                           

An amazing product! Noxicare is a natural pain relief cream which works great on joint, muscle and nerve pain. There are 7 all natural ingredients which quickly help relieve pain.
This pain relief cream really works!

I have a lot of pain that occurs in my shoulder and my back. I have tried many creams to try and alleviate the pain with minimal results. With Noxicare I was curious to see if it would be any different. I was amazed at the results. Although it didn't completely take away all the pain, it did make a tremendous difference in my ability to rest comfortably all night.

I love how effective this cream is. It is non-greasy, which is wonderful, and allows me to rub it in and go on with my day. I don't worry about leaving a greasy feeling anywhere. It works very quickly and easily. It keeps me going with my busy day without having to stop!

With the different pains and inflammations it helps, this is a product everyone should have around the house at all times! I know for my family, we are hooked!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Joni and Ken : An Untold Love Story

                                                               

I was excited when I saw that I could review this book. I read her original book "Joni" when I was a kid, and saw the movie when it was in theaters. I was amazed at how she could trust God throughout her recovery from the accident, and the realization of how life changing this accident was. She was completely real and it was encouraging to me and many others.

In Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story, we get an authentic look at their courtship and 30 year marriage. We see throughout the book that life isn't all easy or even enjoyable. Living with a quadriplegic person is hard even when you are in a committed relationship with them. We live through their struggles and accomplishments alongside them as we follow not only the present life, but the past 30 years. We find the reasons that this marriage works regardless of circumstances they face daily.

Although the majority of the book is from Joni's perspective, we learn alot about Ken also. We learn how open he is about his personal struggles he faced when realizing life with Joni is much more difficult than he imagined. He found he did allow some "fame feelings" to intrude in his feelings with how life would be. It's easy to glaze over some of the more difficult issues in a relationship when you can focus on the positive aspects, and when those aspects are known world wide, it's harder to ignore.

We follow the couple as they serve Christ through their travels, and ministries. Ken begins to feel he has taken a backseat in the relationship as Joni's personal and professional life takes over their day to day life.

Through the years, the marriage begins to feel more like  parallel living instead of the closeness that should accompany a marriage. They begin to feel overburdened, and Ken especially begins to find his patience stretched to the limits.

When Joni is diagnosed with cancer, and Ken finds himself delving into a deeper relationship with Christ, we find a new devotion and commitment to the marriage. They find themselves feeling closer than ever to Christ and each other. They make the marriage a priority daily. The little things Ken found himself overwhelmed with, now become more about serving and love.

I loved this book. It was a great story of true love, and how you can overcome any struggle with Christ in your life. It was obviously more directed to their personal struggle of quadriplegia, but I found the book a great help in ways that could encourage any marriage. I highly recommend everyone read this book!


Disclosure: I received an ebook copy of the book from book sneeze.com in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given. My opinions are my own and may differ from others.

Mother's Day

I hope and pray everyone had a great Mother's Day today! We are far away from family, so our Mother's Day was pretty low key. My husband was going to be at work all day, so he and my son made a rump roast dinner for me the other night.

Today, my son and I went to church in the morning, and then came home and had lunch. Although he had great plans of reading and playing video games, I managed to convince him to play a game with me in between:)

We played a game called Settlers of Canaan. In this game you are building settlements and cities and have to make roads in between. There is a lot of strategy in the game which always makes him crazy because I have no strategy. lol!

We have always enjoyed playing board games. It's a great way to spend time together!  As he grows older ( he turns 16 next month), I really cherish the times I get to spend with him when we can just relax and laugh...or for him, to roll his eyes and shake his head when I once again make a move that is not as strategic as it should be or have another question!

I hope you had a great day and enjoyed your time with family!