Sunday, September 12, 2010

Review: Outlive Your Life - You Were Made to Make a Difference by Max Lucado

This is the most recent book by popular Christian author Max Lucado.  This book celebrates his 25th year in publishing and all of his royalties from the book and other Outlive Your Life products will be donated to World Vision.  How cool is that?!  It is written in Mr. Lucado's common everyday language that makes his books such a refreshing easy read for me.  I finished this book in 3 days which hasn't happened for a few years due to the ages of my children and the amount of activities we are involved in. This book got my attention with the opening fable of Father Benjamin and kept it all the way to the discussion and action guide at the end.  The book is based on the book of Acts.  It retells the story of the first christian church with present day examples of things every person can do both big and small to make a difference in this world even after we have departed it.

Mr. Lucado really shows us that everyone, even your average ordinary "Joe" can do something to make the world a better place and to leave a legacy behind.  Yes, God can use even you.  Whether it's saying a prayer for someone, sharing hospitality or adopting an orphan from another country EVERYONE can do SOMETHING to make this world better.  If I could recommend one book that everyone should read this year, this is that book.  This book has the potential to change the world one reader at a time.  Thank you Mr. Lucado, for giving us inspiration and hope!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Life Update Part 1 - Summer 2010

So here's a sampling of what we've been up to since May:
The kids had fun at Cougar Day in May


 On May 8th, we picked up 2 calves and brought them to a farm close to our house to work with and train for the 4-H Fair. We had no idea what we were getting into!

We had a visit from family in May – Burt’s parents and 3 of our nephews. They had a lot of fun at the farm with all the different animals. There are horses, newborn chicks and newborn kittens in addition to our calves.
Uriah played little league and Burt ended up coaching his team and Tori & I assisted. We had a lot of fun!





Tori & Jersey
Uriah & Maurice
 We practiced walking the calves down to our house and back to get them used to being led. In addition to going down 2x a day to feed and water them.

In addition to all this fun, Burt took Memorial Day weekend off and the 4 of us went to Wisconsin Dells for the weekend.  We stayed at Hotel Rome and went to Mt. Olympus, Pirates Cove and rode the Ducks.  It was a nice, relaxing family weekend.

We took the calves to Dairy Day in June.  They walked in the morning parade and got 60 tickets each for the rides later.
After the parade they showed the calves in the dairy show.  It was a great warm up for what the fair would be like.  They learned a lot!

A fun nerf fight turned into an all out water fight outside on a hot summer day!

We had a great time at Vacation Bible School in June :)

July was fair time!
The club project was taking care of the Butterfly Garden at Mattke Park.  They took pictures through the whole process and wrote up the project.  They ended up being selected for the State Fair!  Way to go S-F Lucky Clovers!

The big day finally arrived - bucket/bottle calf judging!

The kids did excellent and both received blue ribbons!

My sister, grandmother and niece came for a quick visit so they could see the kids show their calves.  It was great to have them here for a few days!

Did I mention that the weekend before the fair (4th of July weekend) we went camping in Wisconsin with Burt's family?  It was a great time!  Could have done without 2 days of rain, but it was still good to see everyone again.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Review: The Boy Who Changed the World by Andy Andrews

Book Description:

Did you know that what you do today can change the world forever?
The Boy Who Changed the World opens with a young Norman Borlaug playing in his family’s cornfields with his sisters. One day, Norman would grow up and use his knowledge of agriculture to save the lives of two billion people. Two billion! Norman changed the world! Or was it Henry Wallace who changed the world? Or maybe it was George Washington Carver?
This engaging story reveals the incredible truth that everything we do matters! Based on The Butterfly Effect, Andy’s timeless tale shows children that even the smallest of our actions can affect all of humanity. The book is beautifully illustrated and shares the stories of Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, Vice President Henry Wallace, Inventor George Washington Carver, and Farmer Moses Carver. Through the stories of each, a different butterfly will appear. The book will end with a flourish of butterflies and a charge to the child that they, too, can be the boy or girl who changes the world.
My thoughts:  This is a beautiful children's book!  I did think that the writing would be hard for younger kids to follow so I would say this should be geared towards kids ages 9 and up.  The message is clear and good for adults too.  I especially found it interesting as we live so close to Mr. Borlaug's birthplace.  I do plan to use it for a children's sermon illustration soon.  Thank you Mr. Andrews for sharing such an important, inspiring story!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”