Book Advent

My mom and dad read this book to me when I was a young girl. It is an awesome book. You read a story a day until Christmas. I have inherited this tradition and continue to do it with my children. From reading this book, came my idea of a Book Advent.

My boys are a little young yet to be going all crazy, and while I love the ideas such as the Jesse Tree, I am just not the motivated or together right before Christmas.

I just came up with it this year and have been trying to keep up with it as much as I can BUT I will be doing it next year.

The day after Thanksgiving, I will be going around and collecting all our Christmas books. I will then wrap them up and number them in a sort of organized order. An example is the above Christmas book will be number 1 to be opened on December 1st since it is a story a day until Christmas. I will do this all the way to the Nativity story on December 24.

So far, my kids are really enjoying this tradition. It keeps the books centered around Christmas, gives them an idea of how long it is until Christmas, and lastly gives them practice on opening presents.

Do y'all have any traditions you have started with Advent? Do you not struggle as much as I do with the fancier more in depth Advent ideas?

my thoughts on Marley & Me

I recently rented Marley & Me from the library. I really enjoyed this movie and I wanted to share a few of my thoughts with y'all (especially since I am not a pet person, sorry dear friends).

Marley & Me spoke volumes to me. One of the main reasons was the movie did not portray the perfect marriage. In movies sometime, I feel like an untrue, perfect picture is being painted of married life, especially after having children. Not only did this movie not portray that, it showed how a commited relationship is supposed to be.

When the single, had it all best friend, questioned whether John and Jen would be staying together, the husband stated that it was just a fight and of course they would work it out.

The whole movie, being the single, eligible bachelor was shown in the positive light, but in the end, it was the married with children man that appeared to have the life they both wanted.

I also enjoyed that the wife/mother, made the choice to stay home and take care of the house and family. Once again, they did not portray a rosey life, but one that many families go through. She made the sacrifies of a mother and stood by her husband and his dreams continually.

A lot of movies show the beautiful romance but stop after they are together. It doesn't make for a good romantic comedy when the marriage is crumbling under pressure, money is tight, and where making love used to be, there are children with grubby hands.

However, there was one tiny (okay maybe not so tiny) little detail that I would like to disagree with. It is most certainly due to my faith, but I still believe it should be thrown out there. The main idea of the book/movie was that when everything else was falling down and apart, the dog was there. He was the constant in their lives.

I just think it should be said (and I'm sure it wouldn't make a great Hollywood movie) that the only stability and constant we have in our life is Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 11:8), not a family pet.

With all that being said, the movie was one that I loved. It was an easy watch and even though I would not allow my children to watch it, I wasn't nervous if they walked into the room.

So take some time out of your busy day and rent Marley & Me. I'm sure you will enjoy it!

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This is post to Things I love Thursday.

Home IS the Most Important Place on Earth

The Most Important Place on Earth by Robert Wolgemuth is one of the best books I have EVER read. It is an incredible book that gives great wisdom, advice, and encouragement towards being a "different" home.

A "different" home in that we should not be conforming into other families in our neighborhoods. We should be the family that is a family, not just rooming buddies.

This book talks about what your home should say about you and your family. Is your home filled with the aroma of Christ and His love? Is your home filled with loving words and actions?

Robert Wolgemuth showed me that there is WAY more to being a parent and wife than meeting basic needs. It is so much more spiritual and deeper.

After reading this book, I found myself asking myself: Is my today list really so important that I am missing out on key memorable experiences with my family? Is my house being spotless more important that love radiating through it's halls? This is when I started looking at my life and what was really important.

Another key idea in The Most Important Place on Earth is how words meaning and how they are said are so important. One thing that really hit me straight in the forehead was when he talked about when we know that we are going to tell our children "no" and just because we don't want to deal with it right then we say "We'll see". Now I don't think that is a blatant lie, but I also know there is more then what I am saying.

I just LOVE this book and I would recommend it to ANY parent who wants the Lords will their home and their family!

For More Things I LOVE Thursday click here!

A Book by an Inspiring Woman

Dearest friends- I want to pass on a little pearl in the rough. Most of you know that I am part of a little bloggy world and enjoy reading blogs and finding SAHMs just like me. They bring me inspiration on days when I want to pull my hear out. Today I want to share with you a little something about an encouragement I have found and a book she has written with her husband.

Now I would love to tell you that I have finished the book, but that would be a lie. I'm almost there but in all honesty it is really an incredible story of their journey and I just have to read a chapter and sit and praise God. They are such an inspiration!

Many of you know of our debt problem. We went from no debt to in the matter of a few months a crap load (best words I could find to describe). Due to medical expenses, we ended up with $30K in a matter of minutes.

I have looked into Dave Ramsey and I am so on board with his ideas but he just doesn't seem real to me. I have a hard time connecting. About the time that I was thinking about where to go next to find encouragement and support, Marybeth wrote on her blog that she was writing a book with her husband about becoming debt free.

I was excited and ordered the book right away. Now with the book in hand, I have learned so much more than just about becoming debt free. I have learned that God can heal our marriages, God can heal our ill feelings about ourselves, and God will provide, not just with money but love and peace.

Friends, Marybeth and Curt are open with their relationship and mistakes in this book. They are real people that I identify with and have come to love as a brother and sister in Christ.

This book is a go find, not just a walk and find but a RUN and find. If you need healing in the Lord when it comes to life or finances- this is a book for you.

Not only do Marybeth and Curt have an incredible book for you, they also do seminars at churches. So friends, head over to Marybeth's website, the Whalen's website, or Amazon to find this pearl of knowledge.

I cannot wait to get back to this book. Therefore, I am off and you need to go to the above resources!!

Nightstand Reads

So as promised here are all the books on my "To-Read on the Nightstand" list:

• Learning to Live Financially Free by Marybeth and Curt Whalen
• Plan B by Lester R. Brown
• School Starts at Home by Cheri Fuller
• Family Power by Karen Miller- Kovach
• Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery by David H. Albert
• Have Fun. Learn Stuff. Grow. by David H. Albert
• What Happens When Women Walk in Faith by Lysa TerKeurst
• Faith Driven Family by Voddie Baucham Jr.
• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (Please don't judge me. I am just truly intriged.)
• Simple Secrets of a Great Marriage by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend
• Prayer by Phillip Yancey

Woohoo! Now everyone grab a cup of coffee and a good book! The next book I will be going through is Marybeth and Curt Whalen's Learning to Live Financially Free! I have just gotten through the first few chapters and it is truly an inspiration and a great read!