My Review of Give the Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson

The premise of this book is to teach us how to parent our children in a grace filled atmosphere. When we correct them, we are not to simply tell them not to do something because it is wrong or to praise them for their good behavior. Instead, when correcting or praising behavior, we should refer to the Bible and teach our children why it is important to behave properly. It is important for us to stress to our children that we are not able to be good on our own and that we have to rely on God for His help in every area of our lives.
I have to say that while the writing style of this book was not my favorite, the book did give me some really good food for thought. I felt that I got some excellent ideas out of the chapters and a different perspective in some areas.
One of the concepts that the authors pointed out that especially stood out to me was that many times, we don't feel that we need to extend "grace" to our children who are naturally more well behaved. The kids who follow the rules and don't tend to cause problems are not the ones that we necessarily think that we need to spend as much time instilling the message of grace into. However, as the authors point out, many times we raise our children to become "little Pharisees" who in essence feel like they are "good enough" on their own and don't need the forgiveness and grace from the Lord as much as our other children who get into trouble more often. The authors note that it is important that we convey the message of God's grace and how it covers our sins to each of our kids, whether they are a "problem child" or a "good child." It is only through the work of the cross that we are saved, not because we are good enough or have done enough good works. Our kids also need to know that there is nothing they can do that the cross did not cover.
I also was encouraged by the points that the authors made that, in the end, the burden of our children's salvation does not rest on our shoulders, but on God's. He created them and loves them far more than we do. At the end of the day, yes, we need to do our best and instill His Word and values into them, but at the same time, we have to acknowledge that they are individuals who will grow up and make their own choices. We can rest in knowledge that just as He was able to bring us into relationship with Him, He is more than able to do the same with our children.
Overall, I felt like I got some really good ideas and philosophies out of this book and I would recommend it to every parent. At the same time, as with any book that I read, I take what works for my family and "spit out the bones." I think the book gives some good guidelines, but obviously, most of us would adapt the conversations that the authors use to convey the points of grace to the children, and would use our own style of communication with our kids.
There are also some really helpful charts that help put the concepts in balance of how much dialogue to have with your child according to the infraction.

CVS Matchups

My Review of Unlocking Your Family Patterns by Carder, Henslin, Cloud and Townsend

Being a big fan of Townsend and Cloud, I was excited to read Unlocking Your Family Patterns. I have to say that I was not disappointed with this book in the least! Teaming up with additional authors Dave Carder and Earl Henslin, this book deals with issues of dysfunctional families head on in a balanced way with a Christ centered approach. While not offering false promises of "quick fixes", the book gives some great steps on the healing journey. I should add here that this book is a tool not only for those who have been in abusive familiy relationships, but for anyone who has had issues with their family relationships, such as a lack of bonding or lack of proper boundaries. I feel like this book sheds so much light on understanding why you are the person that you are and how you can become the person you want to be.
The book begins by discussing families from the Bible that can certainly be classified as dysfunctional: David and Abraham. While these men are seen as great men who were full of faith and love for God, we also see patterns of dysfunction in each of their family trees. We see David's children abuse and murder each other and he never confronts the issues and seems to ignore them! We see Abraham and his family have boundary issues that pass on to the following generations. So dysfunction is certainly nothing new. This first section of the book exposes areas of dysfunction that many people deal with and can relate to.
The book then goes on to discuss contributing factors of dysfunction such as the transmission process and how the cycle continues to the next generation in families, the role of "religious shame", as well as patterns of dysfunction in operation in the local church.
The final section of the book is Learning How To Do It Right When You Learned It Wrong. This section is full of healthy steps you can take in learning to bond, learning to set boundaries, recreating a proper perspective on goodness and badness, and dealing with unfair issues in your life. Again, we do not see an overnight fix all, but the authors outline ways to change your thoughts about yourself and family situations and how to handle proper and healthy confrontations when necessary.
While the authors certainly do not advocate blaming all of your issues and problems on your family, they offer a healthy perspective to help you understand why you handle situations the way you do and why your reactions and responses to situations as an adult stem from your upbringing. Taking responsibility for your actions and learning to be a healthy person despite your hurtful past is the message that I received from this book. There was such a wealth of knowledge and resources contained in these pages. I cannot even begin to share everything learned from this book. Obviously, if you have issues of dysfunction, then this is the book for you. However, even if you feel that you have had a healthy and well rounded upbringing, I would also encourage you to read this book. It gives so much insight to understanding other people and the reasons behind their behavior. Especially if you are in a leadership position, you would find much beneficial information in Unlocking Your Family Patterns.
I would also highly recommend all of the Boundaries books by Cloud and Townsend.
I was provided with a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my review. I was not obligated to provide a positive review nor was I compensated for my opinion.

My weekend shopping

So this week Kroger had their Dr. Pepper 2 liters priced at .89 each. I had $1 off coupons so I was able to score 12 of them at a PROFIT of .11 cents each! I'll take that deal!!

I also picked up 2 boxes (76 count each) of Pampers diapers at Target this weekend. They were priced at $18 each and I had 2 coupons for $3 off and a store coupon for a $5 Target gift card with purchase of 2 boxes. So after the gift card, I paid $25 for 152 diapers. Not the best deal I have scored but not the worst either.

Then I stopped in at CVS and picked up 5 of the Cokes that they had for .69 each. Even without a coupon, that is a great price. ;-)

Free Sample of Cheerios

Veggie Tales is offering a free DVD!  You can get Veggie Tales’s A Snoodle’s Tale ($14.99 value) for free.  Make sure you are logged in to your account and add the free dvd to your cart.  Then apply coupon code SNOODLE at checkout.   The only thing you pay for is shipping.
This offer is valid until July 14, 2011
http://www.veggietales.com/

My Review of Sticky Faith by Kara Powell and Chap Clark

Sticky Faith is  an excellent resource and a tool that every parent should have in their library. Powell and Clark and certainly done their research well in the topics that they cover in Sticky Faith.
The premise of Sticky Faith is to provide ideas and suggestions of ways that parents and communities can enable their children to become grounded in their Christian faith as they grow into adulthood. The obvious goal is for our children to come to an understanding and have a relationship with Christ for themselves and not simply because it is what their parents practice.
The ideas in this book were excellent. The focus is on not just preaching at your kids or just letting them watch you live your life, but on building strong relationships with them. By creating a safe environment where our kids feel that they can have ongoing conversation and dialogue about what is going on in their lives. Boundaries are clearly set, yet we help our kids have an identity of who they are as a person and who we are as a family.
While family relationships are emphasized as vital to the success of our childen, I really appreciated the concepts presented of having a "sticky web" or a community of people who are also committed to investing in your children and their success. The authors presented some helpful ideas of having a base of several families who you are connected to and together, these families commit to be there for the other families and their children as they walk out life together. At times, our children learn better from others and so I thought that this idea of giving our children trustworthy people that they can go to throughout their life to be essential to our children's development. Also, I appreciated the ideas that they authors gave of how churches can come together and provide our children with ways to be involved and stay connected during their teen and college years.
A lot of emphasis was placed on how to help our kids through their college years. We see that many times, students who seem to be grounded in their faith throughout high school often fall away when they go away to college. In college, they are now responsible for themselves and their own decisions. It is imperative that we assist our children through this phase of their life. Sticky Faith provides many wonderful and helpful ideas to allow us to do this.
I have to say that I was extremely pleased with Sticky Faith and the resources that it provided. The author also included more details about their research in the appendix of the book, which I felt shed more light on their findings. They also list their website for additional information.
I am thankful for the opportunity to review this book for Zondervan. I was not compensated for my review nor was I under obligation to provide a positive review.

Fiber One will be giving away FREE boxes of their 90 Calorie Brownies AND FREE boxes of their cereal every day for the next 6 days on their Facebook page at random times.  Be sure to “like” Fiber One now so you can see when the offers go live!

Blockbuster Express free rental codes available:
Good through 7/8
74JBHS8
75RRAP9
44CMEA9
98MLBJ7
54ZGDB3
93EHJR8
92KBDJ5
24NCRP9
54VHAP6
Good through 7/11
63CMEA3
39MLBJ8
83MDEB2
73ZGDB7
43EHJR5
86KBDJ7
63NCRP2
92VHAP2
 They only work on $1 movies not the hot releases that are $2.99. You may have better luck if you reserve the movie online and use the code. If you do reserve a movie online, you need to pick it up or they will charge you $1.
Also make sure you return this movie tomorrow to avoid late fees!

July 6 and 7 Ulta Salons are offering a free style and blowout. Spaces are limited so I would hurry to call and see if you get in. You will get the salon service free plus a free Sexy Hair Powder Play product.
This isn’t totally free because you need to tip your stylist but a nice way to get your hair looking great for at least a day or two

Snapfish is offering (99) 4×6 prints for just $.99.  You also have to pay shipping.  Your total should be roughly $7 plus a few cents tax.
That is a really excellent deal and now is the time to develop all those photos from the 4th and from Father’s Day!
Just head over to Snapfish and use promo code: JULYPENNY99.
This expires July 8th.

There are some new Gerber Graduates coupons available right now:
Save $1/2 Gerber Graduates Puffs or Lil Crunchies coupon
or Save $1/1 Gerber Graduates Lil Entrees

Buy 2 L’Oreal Preference or Excellence haircolor at $7.94 and get a $5 gift card back.
Use (2) L’Oreal Excellence coupons from 6/26 RP
or Use (2) $2/1 Preference from 6/5 RP
or Use $5/2 from 5/15 RP
and Use (2) $2/1 Target coupon for any L’Oreal haircolor (under beauty)
Pay $6.88 and get back a $5 gift card.
Net price of .94 per item!!

My Habit $25 off $25 purchase!

My Habit
My Habit has a new promo code available to get $25 off a $25 purchase PLUS shipping is free!!
This obviously works out to be a great deal but the bummer is that stuff is selling out like crazy. The best deals are in the kids section so hurry on over to My Habit  to have a look!
Use code: SUMMER25 at checkout.  This code is supposed to be available through 8/1 so if you miss out today I would keep your eye on this site and see if you get a great deal!
There is a limit to one promo code per customer

My Review of A Vision of Lucy by Margaret Brownley

This is my first book to read by Margaret Brownley. A Vision of Lucy is the third book in the Rocky Creek series. Having not read the first two, I have to say that I did not feel that this novel was dependent on the first two to know who the characters were. After reading the afterward by the author, I realized that some of the characters mentioned were from the previous story lines, but the plot of this book was not affected by it.
This book was just an average read for me. I certainly did not hate the book, but it was not my favorite either. It took me longer to become intereseted in the story and I felt like a lot of the plot was somewhat predictable. I had guessed what was going to happen well before it was written. I never felt that I connected with the characters in the story.
There are some really good points made in the book about forgiveness and exposing the truth. There are some funny moments in the book as the main character is somewhat accident prone and trouble seems to follow her.
Lucy Fairbanks is a young lady who is determined to succeed in her artistic profession as a photographer. In a time where women are expected to get married and raise children, this is quite a challenge for her. Her photography endeavors lead her from the top of a tree onto a stagecoach that is being robbed and into the arms of a handsome rescuer. Lucy immediately feels a connection to David, the "wild man" who comes to her rescue on more than one occasion. David is part Indian and part white and feels like he doesn't fit in either world. He is hesitant to bring Lucy into his situation because he feels it is unfair to ask her to be treated the way he is. David is also a man with many secrets. Lucy is unsure if she can completely trust David because she has grown up with a father who has kept secrets from her. Despite these obstacles, their romance begins to blossom anyway.
The author has a pleasant writing style and developed the story line well, but for some reason, there was nothing about the book that really stood out to me.
I was provided with a copy of this book by BookSneeze and was not obligated to provide a positive or negative review.