Sunday Words of Encouragement February 12, 2012

This morning our Pastor gave a good message entitled "A Heart Problem."  He reminded us that Saul had started out following God's word but soon turned to his own power and desires. When Saul realized that the Lord was with David, Saul became afraid (and jealous) of him, and remained his enemy for the rest of his days.  1 Sam18: 28-29.

Saul had a chief shepherd, Doeg, who was an Edomite, an enemy tribe, but who had chosen to become a Jew. Doeg happened to see Ahimelech, the priest in Nob, give provisions and the sword of Goliath to David. Saul confronted the priest and then ordered his guards to kill Ahimelech and his household.  The guards refused knowing that the priest and household were innocent.  However Doeg not only slaughtered all 85 of Ahimelech's household, he proceeded to kill everyone, including women and infants, and innocent animals in the town of Nob. 1 Sam 22: 6-19.

Doeg, like Saul, had a heart problem that we must be careful to avoid.
1.  He desired power for himself.
2.  He had a lack of "awe of Heaven." Religion was a ritual and a duty, not an act of obedience and a submission.
3.  He did not internalize God's word.  All of his understanding was superficial and he did not allow God's word to reach or move his heart.

David was a man of God's heart who was attacked and pursued by Doeg, a man after Saul's heart. God did punish Doeg for his wickedness. Psalm 55:23. Doeg became leprous and died in his early thirty's - half the age of a man's life.

We must be careful who we allow to influence us. Don't lie down with pigs or dogs... don't allow other crabs to keep us down in a pot.
Pastor asked us to reflect: Who are you allowing to shape your heart?

 Here is a song that struck me as good for Valentine week:

My Offering

A Verse for Today:

Proverbs 4:23 New Living Translation

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

I pray today that my heart might be tuned to God's Will and message.
I am praying for another online follower this week.

Sharing Beyond Books #35 Comment Giveaway February 11, 2011

Welcome to another late SBB. We just had a rush trip to south Florida. DH drove so he took the brunt of it but it was still rushed.

Thank you to all those who commented last week.
The large majority of us would choose to be a millionaire in the 1800s. Only Krystal was willing to be a cavewoman for partial choice. :-)

I was surprised by how many of you don't keep lists although several said they thought it might be a good time to start. At least nine of you keep your list on Goodreads and other online group lists. That seems like a good idea.  Miki started her list at the young age of 8!

~~~~

The Winner from SBB #34 comments is: #8 Tore. There are still 8 'love' books to pick from, 3 Christmas choices and 1 Summer title below. Tore please choose a book from the remaining Love Books List for Giveaway or remaining Christmas Giveaway Books, the one summer book below OR pick from the ARC box and let me know your choice, your address and a choice of bookmarks by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #35 Questions

Q1. This week Margaret asks:  When downloading those freebies in a series do you actually buy the sequel??

A:  If I like the first in a series I will almost always end up buying the next... I do love a good series! Also, sometimes the freebee is book #2 and I have to get #1 as I don't like to start mid series.

I wanted to think of an example: I got Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater last summer as a free download from SYNC YA Listening at AudioBook Community.  I have purchased Linger and Forever on Audible since.  I hope to listen to Forever soon!

Image found at Glogster

Q2. Here is my question: Do you have special plans for Valentines or do you hope to get a special gift??

A:  We are looking forward to our church youth sponsored Valentine's dinner tomorrow night. No special gift is expected although my DH usually gets me some flowers and/or makes me a nice dinner. Chocolates are nice too but we are trying to diet so maybe not this year.

Thanks to those who are sending in Questions. DON'T BE SHY! Surely everyone has a Q or two you'd like to ask.  Input suggestions in this Suggested Question Form.  At the end of each month I will draw from the suggestions I used the month before and that person will get a book choice or GC. I thank everyone for submitting questions but some of you others might want to get in a question or two as we have a few people submitting most of the questions so far.  Either way - it works for me. :-)  The question list is being replenished!  Thanks for sending in questions! 

Your turn to share:

1. This week Margaret asks:  When downloading those freebies in a series do you actually buy the sequel??

2. Do you have special plans for Valentines or do you hope to get a special gift??

SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the remaining  Valentine and "Love" books or the remaining Christmas Giveaway Books - there are still about 12 books available plus 2 left in the Summer titles to choose from. Also I have added the Review and ARC Box now.

The Days of Summer: A Novel

My copy is a paperback from 2006

with a different cover.

 
A Summer Affair (Calhoun Chronicles)
I love Susan Wigg's historicals!

SBB Rules: a) Must be a follower; 
b) Share a comment on any (or all) of the two/three questions above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.

I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made by Friday, February 17, 2012 at 10PM central.

Winners of Forever's Paranormal Two Books and The Rook

CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNERS!

Giveaways ended February 10, 2012

Forever's Paranormal Blog Tour and Giveaway; Two Books, Three Winners!

winnie, Booklover0226 and Mara80

ARC Giveaway: The Rook

Carl

ALL WINNERS please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form so I can let the Publisher know to send the books and I can mail the other to the winners.  Please reply within 72 hours! 

Book Review: Baby, Baby by Karen Wiesner

Once again Ms. Wiesner has crafted real to life characters in a warm, believable story.

Baby, Baby [Family Heirlooms Series Book 1]  
by Karen Wiesner

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 377 KB
• Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press LLC (April 1, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0056HP6QK

     Genre:  Christian Fiction, Inspirational Romance
     My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Product Description Book One Family Heirloom: Accepting God’s will A Proverbs 31 wife wonders, does “submissive” mean giving up having anything of her own?

Thirty-seven-year-old Tamara Wolfe married her childhood sweetheart, Robert, right out of high school and proceeded to have a passel of children who fill her life to capacity. With the last of her children in preschool, Tamara decides to make a business out of her long-time love of creating designer gift baskets. She doesn’t expect Robert to be against it from her first word.

Robert has always prided himself on giving Tamara the option of staying home to raise the children, just as his father did before him. Since birth, it’s been drilled into him that a man who doesn’t provide for his family is the worst kind of loser. What will happen if her business takes off? She won’t have time to take care of the family. Worse, maybe she won’t need him anymore.

Although they’d agreed years before their family was complete, Robert considers that perhaps the cure for Tamara’s restlessness is another baby.

Tamara prays for wisdom. All she wants is a small space of time for herself. Is she being selfish? Or is God leading her to continue being an outdated model of the Proverbs 31 wife--submissive, but never equal?

Review:

Tamara and Robert have had a nice marriage raising several children together. They have shared their ups and downs and most importantly have shared their faith. As their youngest child enters pre-school, Tamara is encouraged by a stranger to market the gift baskets that have been a labor of love for her to make special and give as gifts. Before she even realizes it Tamara is buying the materials and passing out flyers through her friends and sister-in-law who think this is a grand idea.

Unfortunately, when Tamara presents the idea to Robert he is angered and threatened. Robert’s father had always insisted that it was the husband’s responsibility to provide for the family and his wife had no business going out to work. Robert had no idea how limiting this was for his mother and he has managed to forget his mother’s unhappiness at the restrictions placed on her.

Robert argues that setting up the basket business will effect Tamara’s household and family life. Also he insists that they don’t need the extra money that she could bring in. Even if it would help with upcoming college expenses which will stress their  budget if he doesn’t get the promotion he is fighting for at work.

Robert is a worrier and has had times of depression that Tamara has patiently worked through. Now he gets more tense as the promotion looks like it will go to a less qualified co-worker. He also wonders if Tamara might be attracted to another man at their church who has had a secret crush on her for years. Tamara is concerned that Robert may even be trying to force her to get pregnant to keep her with young ones so she can’t develop this side interest.  His behavior causes pain and hurt for Tamara and frightens his sister who thinks that he will be unreasonably dictatorial like their father.

Tamara is a beautiful, loving and supportive character - I’d love a friend like her. Robert’s work stresses are very vivid to me as my husband had to deal with a similar situation. The tension builds and secrets are revealed. The couple experiences much stress and some estrangement before they can talk clearly and hear each other’s concerns and desires. This communication problem is so real in life, as are the problem of worrying too much and the issue of submission being improperly used as a tool of control in some Christian households.

The writing flows well and kept me engaged in the interesting problems. I was anxious to learn how the matters were resolved.  I highly recommend reading Ms. Wiesner’s works if you enjoy life-like stories that deal with real Christian issues.

Interesting quotes:
Tamara's thoughts:
Has she been so giving that her own husband felt no compunction about being selfish and insensitive to her?  Location 1533

Tamara to a friend whose husband isn’t a believer:
“Ed doesn’t own your soul. The Lord does, and He wants to be the source of your reliance.”  Location 2033

Thank you to the Author for this book to enjoy and review.

Sourcebooks' Specials for Valentines!

Please find information here for TWELVE books at special prices for "Sharing the Love" at Valentines.

As always, please be patient if our online retailers don’t have every single title uploaded to their discounted price points, but the promotions are set to begin on the start dates listed below. These deals are available with all major e-Book retailers!

Feel free to share the info with others on Facebook and Twitter, and however else you’d like to spread the word. We have a special page with all of the titles listed here: http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/browse-our-lists/ebook-specials/1948-share-the-love.html, for easy sharing!

Please be aware of the following:

©       There are 12 titles included in this promotion!
©       These titles consist of Romance Fiction and Romance Non-Fiction titles.
©       Pay attention to prices—they vary from Free up to $2.99—I have noted those prices below on each title.
©       This promotion will last from 1/31/12-2/15/12.
©       Please Note: the last three titles listed are adult in nature—{Check the special page for more info}

You can always receive the latest information about our eBook deals by checking our eBook deals page, which also lists our eBook retailer partners:  http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/browse-our-lists/ebook-specials.html.

Thank you,

Danielle

DANIELLE L. JACKSON | Publicist
www.sourcebooks.com | @SourcebooksCasa

Share the Love with Sourcebooks Valentine’s Day eBook promotion! (1/31/12 – 2/15/12)

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Title: Everything I Know About Love I Learned from Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell

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Category: Relationships (Non-Fiction)

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Title: 1001 Ways to Be Romantic by Gregory J.P. Godek

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Category: Relationships (Non-Fiction)

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Category: Relationships (Non-Fiction)

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Title: Love by the Numbers by Glynis McCants

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Category: Relationships (Non-Fiction)

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