Hands on Bible Review!:)

I am SO stoked to be asked by Tyndale House to review the new Hands on Bible, as we are definitely a hands on learning family and I just knew my kids would LOVE it and boy was I right! The minute we received it in the mail, they were eagerly flipping through it with excitement!:) We started using the Daily Reading Plan( found on their AMAZING website) for our morning Bible Lesson and I LOVED how it teaches kids how to find passages in the Bible and makes learning the Bible fun for them, my kiddos had a blast looking up the verses I was teaching and reading the interesting facts that went with them!!:)

We then used it that night for our Family Devotion Time and once again used the AMAZING website for ideas! Our lesson was based on Genesis 9:8-17 which talks about how the rainbow was and is-God's sign of the covenant He made with all life on earth. And so we made Rainbow Raindrop Promises to God to help us remember that God keeps His promises and to ask Him to help us keep ours:) We had SO much fun doing these and the hands on approach through this Bible ROCKS:)!!

I love how this hands on approach makes the Bible come alive for not only my children but also myself! I even want to use this Bible for my own personal devotion time!;) I can't recommend this bible enough, it is such a BLESSING and we are SO excited to have it in our lives now!!:)

Be sure to check out the website(http://www.myhandsonbible.com/) which is jam packed with Reading Plans, Family Devotions, Songs and a Parents Forum! LOVE it!

Product Info:

List Price: 19.99
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3769-2
Trim Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Binding: Softcover
Release: July 2010


List Price: 24.99
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3768-5
Trim Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Binding: Hardcover
Release: July 2010

Mirror Mirror

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

It seems all to often the mirror's image is what we allow to define us as women. We wake up every morning and allow our days to be set by who the mirror tells us we are. We twist and turn, inspecting every inch and crevice of our bodies, examining it through a magnifying glass we created on our own. I carried that magnifying glass all to often in my life and I am still at times tempted to take it out. I bought into the lie that physical beauty is what determines your worth. That what the mirror portrayed of me was more important than anything else. And because of that I struggled many years with a distorted body image that led to countless years of eating disorders and depression over trying to keep the taunting voices happy. It was a long exhausting road and it got me nowhere..But then I realized that's the trap satan doesn't want you to figure out, you believe that if you get to a certain number, then you will finally be happy and will finally have the worth you have been seeking. But the the vicious cycle continues..Because as long as you are placing your worth in anything other than Jesus, then it will never be enough. Jesus didn't create us to allow things such as that to define our worth..He knew they would fade..But what about the beauty that truly radiates, the beauty that shines from within?

I have met many people in my life that were physically gorgeous, but all to often I would realize that something was missing, I was constantly looking for that inner beauty, something that kept me captivated. And all to often I just couldn't find it..why?.. Because inner beauty isn't the same as that which lies on the outside..Physical beauty can't go inward, but inner beauty..Christ's beauty can radiate from the inside out..What Christ puts on the inside of a woman desiring to be made whole in Him, radiates outward and she becomes a image of TRUE beauty. She becomes the COMPLETE package..When we begin to realize our worth is in Him and learn to accept the woman He created us to be, we realize that it doesn't matter if we can do sit ups, run a mile or fit in those skinny jeans;) We begin to see that those things don't define us anymore nor do they own us..

It is certainly not wrong to want to be physically fit, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be treated as such, and I for one love being physically active and enjoy keeping my body in shape.. But the Lord began teaching me, it all lies in our focus..If we choose to focus all our energy on the physical then that's what we will have to settle for..an empty shell..But if we begin to focus on the inner part of ourselves and allow God to teach us who He says we are and allow Him to clothe us His heavenly garments, that's when the complete transformation takes place.. When the real beauty will radiate! That's when you are able to lift your head up and walk confidence because you know that no matter what may linger on the outside..You are confident in WHO lingers on the inside and well that kind of beauty girlfriend is the REAL thing and it just doesn't get any better than that!:)



I want you to take some time and answer these questions..


Does your focus on your appearance take your eyes off the Lord?

Are you more focused on your weight, clothes, or makeup than you are on God?


If you answered yes.. Spend time with God and ask Him to allow you to look in His mirror and see the beauty He sees in you and wants to do through you..You might just be surprised at what you see;)



Music always plays a big part in the way the Lord speaks to me and as I was writing this the Lord laid this song on my heart and it goes perfect with this message and I wanted to share..

Something Heavenly...

For a long time I have known God was calling me to something huge, something beyond myself, and I knew it had to do with telling my story. When I applied for the BLAST mentorship program with Shannon Ethridge, I had no idea that I would be chosen to embark on such an incredible journey. But indeed the time has come and so I take a hold of my Jesus’ hand and follow Him... While waiting for this program to start, God began revealing some things to me, and well honestly it wasn’t really what I was expecting...He gently took my face in His hands and whispered to my heart

“Its time my child that you get to the nitty gritty, you have to lay everything out table, it’s has to be all or nothing.” I sat in silence after I heard those words come from the heart and core of my Heavenly Daddy. Because you see I knew what they meant...I knew this journey wasn’t going to be an easy one, and well I have a feeling it’s going to hurt for awhile. He began to show me that it was time to go back…back down memory lane...it was time to sift, dig, uncover, and process things that I have endured but more importantly it was time that I heal from them. That in order to effectively be the writer, speaker and Life Coach that He created me to be, I had to allow Him to take me through the walls of my heart that I for so long guarded as “off limits” to everyone including… Him... The dark secrets my of heart’s chambers, once hidden and buried from life’s past...were now going to be exposed...I was sure they were safe there..I am a new person now...I am not her anymore...Is this really necessary? Do I really have to go back? And I heard Him say...

“Yes child...there is no other way... What you see now is only just the beginning...You think you are not her anymore...but apart of you still clings to her because its all you have ever known, all you have given yourself permission to be, and what you have allowed others make you believe you deserve. She indeed will always be a part of you, but in order to move on into the future I have planned for you, you have to understand who she was and how she made you into who you are today even through the grief, shame and guilt...Its time you take a hold of that inner child, teenager, and wounded woman and allow her to teach you things about yourself that only she can.”…

So here I sit, one hand griping the phone receiver, one about to dial the numbers, I take a deep breath and make the call to Restoration Place Ministries and allow the journey of counseling begin, it’s not going to be easy, in fact I am pretty sure this will be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but God has made it clear it is necessary in this process, in my healing, in my transformation…This has proved to be much more than just a writing/speaking program, it has become the beginning of a something beautiful, and one day all of heaven will watch in excitment.. as I walk out on that ledge and lift my head high with confidence, spread my wings of beauty as I watch the chains of my past crumble to the ground and for the first time I will be able to shout with joy..I am FREE!!


” But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

This song has never touched my life and heart as much as it does right now, and through the chaos of emotions I choose to surrender because I know that my Daddy is up to something oh so Heavenly!!