Wanna Be a Great Mom? Check out Jennifer Grant's new book, Momumental.

In a world of parenting blogs, books and pinterst posts that fuel my aspirations to be a supermom, Jennifer Grant’s new book, Monumental, gives readers permission for me to be an everday mom that loves her kids in a crazy, messy and loud home.

Jennifer is a great storyteller – she uses her mom memories to remind other moms about the mission and journey of motherhood.

Don’t read it if you’re looking for a how-to parenting book.  But if you’re looking for a mom who understands your trials and triumphs, and wants to hang out together, then pick up this book.  IT’s full of conversations I could imagine with best friends on a hike, beside a fireplace, or tucked on a porch swing. 

You will laugh and cry.  Remember and aspire.  You will be encouraged. 

This book is good for moms with kids in diapers or prom dresses – any mom who needs a dose of encouragement for the difficult (yet delightful) adventure of motherhood.

I received the book in this post compliments of Worthy Publishing via Handlebar Marketing for purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.

Wanna win a copy of this book?  Leave a comment below, and I’ll randomly select a winner on May 14, 2012.

Book Review - God Helps Me Bible

The God Helps Me Bible is a very cute book of Bible stories for preschoolers and early readers.  The stories are easy-to-understand, and short enough for small attention spans.  The pictures are vibrant and engaging.  The stories have great application points, as each story ends by saying how God helped someone, and gives the reader a natural (though unstated) invitation to pray for God’s help and praise God for the help he has already provided. 

The 100 page hard cover book has spiral binding which makes it easy to hold the pages wide open for easy viewing.  The stories range from Genesis to Acts, though it does not cover Christ’s crucifixion or resurrection. 

This would be a great tool for teachers and parents!  Hats off to Juliet David and Clare Caddy for putting together such a great book.

Great Marriage Books - repost from Women Living Well

I really enjoy reading Courtney's posts on her Women Living Well blog.  She has a gift for encouraging women, especially in their journeys as moms and wives.  I wanted to share her Top 10 Marriage Books with you.  I haven't read all of them, but they look really good. 

I'd also love to hear your favorite marriage books/blogs.  What has encouraged or strengthened your marriage?

Free Webinar on Money & Kids - Tomorrow!

The ParentFurther.com webinar series continues tomorrow with a presentation on family financial literacy given by personal finance expert and president and founder of Share, Save, Spend®, Nathan Dungan

Webinar participants will:
Learn to recognize their own dominant money characteristics, and discover how they can impact their family’s well-being.
Get simple, doable tips to help their family develop critical life skills around money and values.
Leave equipped to change the way they approach money conversations with their family.

The live, no-cost webinar, ShareSave Spend: Your Money Traits and How They Are Impacting Your Kids will take place Wednesday, April 18th at 1pm Eastern/12pm Central.

Formore information and to register, please visit: http://www.parentfurther.com/webinars/kids-and-money

Book Review - Garden of Madness by Tracy Higley

I finished reading Garden of Madness, by Tracy Higley, this weekend.  It’s a well written Christian historical fiction novel.  It the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter during her father’s madness.  It deals with many challenging themes, such as

·         Wealth vs. poverty

·         Honesty vs. deceit

·         One true God vs. false gods

·         Living a purpose driven life

·         The power of prayer

·         The power of demonic influences

 It’s a very good coming of age book, encouraging women to become who God created them to be and influence culture in the ways He designed them to impact. 

I enjoyed it, and I wasn’t ready for the story to end.  I will definitely share my book with others.

Disclaimer: A complimentary copy of this book was provided for this review. All thoughts are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

I always feel bad when I have to waste things, so I'm always looking for ways to repurpose things around our house.  Frugal Hacks is the queen of stretching pennies by stretching food and other goods around the house.  Check out this article she wrote:  Loaves, Fishes, and Ten Ways with Leftovers - it's full of practical ideas that you can use in your house!

Book Review - Simon and the Easter Miracle

This is not the Biblical story of Easter, but rather a loosely historical fiction story told from the perspective of Simon, the man who carried Jesus’ cross up the hill to Golgotha.   It’s the tale of Simon’s trip into the market to sell his wares, why he was chosen to carry the cross for Jesus, and how he discovered that a miracle had happened.  But it never tells of Christ’s resurrection.  And it only describes Jesus as a man preaching a message of peace.

If you’re looking for a folktale related to the Easter story, you will appreciate this book.  If you’re looking for a tool to teach your children about the miracle of Christs’ resurrection, you will be disappointed.

My favorite parts of the book were the two final illustrations.  You can feel the beauty and energy on the pages, and I would love to see more of illustrator Anna Luraschi’s work.

If you do read this with your children, use it to introduce the gospel story of Easter from the Bible (Matt. 26-28, Mark 14-16, Luke 22-24, John 18-21) and share the real Easter story – how Jesus lived a perfect life, suffered through a horrible death in order to pay the penalty for our sins, and conquered death when he rose again on the 3^rd day.  Share about the miracle of God bridging the gap between our sins and a holy God, and that he wants to live in fellowship with us each day on earth, as well as in heaven for eternity.

FTC Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

Understanding Why We Get Angry - from Joanne Miller

With 3 children, I know about how quickly tempers can flare and anger can dominate a situation.  I don't like angry voices at all, so they frustrate me easily.  I appreciated this post from Joanne Miller, about understanding WHY kids get angry:  http://www.biblicalparenting.info/2012/01/understanding-why-we-get-angry.html

Creative Easter Basket Ideas

Easter is just around the corner, so you'll soon be thinking about what to put on top of your Easter grass. My friend Mary is looking for Vanderbilt baseball jerseys to give her boys who love baseball and love attending Vandy baseball games.  Last year she got them spring raincoats, umbrellas and rainboots for the baskets.  I juts picked up some Nerf Gun jerseys and sidewalk chalk spraypaint blasters for my boys.  I like to get them toys that will encourage outdoor play in the spring/summer.  Here are some more Creative Easter Basket Ideas from Faithful Provisions.   What ideas do you have for your children's baskets?

8 Tips for Eating Organic on a Budget

Kelly from Faithful Provisions posted this article titled, 8 Tips for Eating Organic on a Budget.  She shares many wise and simple ways to keep your budget and make healthy food choices.  Check out her other posts while you're on her site!

Book Review - 1000 days: The Ministry of Christ

1000 days: The Ministry of Christ is a Jonathan Falwell’s new devotional book that teaches about Jesus time on this earth. Falwell uses stories, sermons, and even classic literature to give readers insights into the life and ministry of Christ. And each chapter has 5-6 questions for individual reflection or group discussion.

Here are some of the topics covered:
• Jesus uses simple people to illustrate teachings and to represent him.
• The source of true happiness is only God.
• Jesus focuses on relationships instead of popularity.
• A look at hypocritical followers of Christ.
• Life is not about stuff – less is best.
• How Jesus wants us to live based on his lessons from the cross

There is a 45-page reference section at the end of the book, that includes a Bible Study Guide and an outline of the 100 main events in Jesus’ life I think the reference section was my favorite part of the book..

This would be a good book for a new believer, or someone exploring who Christ is. It provides a good introductory study to the life of Christ. As a long-time believer, though, I had a hard time reading the whole book. It was much more simple than I expected, and a bit repetitive.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.