Our Favorite Reads For September

Gerard's Favorite:  Blood Feud by David Robbins

Blood Feud by David Robbins is about a feud between the Harkey clan and the Shannon clan. Chase Shannon sets out for revenge after the brutal rape of his older sister by the Harkeys. To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement--I loved it! Blood Feud is a double wow, which means it's as good as it gets! The good news is that there is going to be two more books in this series. Can't wait!! Read and enjoy!

Karen read this one too.  Here's what she thought of it:
Blood Feud by David Robbins moved along at a good pace and kept my interest because Chace was such an interesting character.  It is is full of killing, a shoot-em up book about family loyalty, revenge, and hate. My favorite part was when Chace fled to Galveston, Texas and took over the hawking business from Tunk to help the kids which showed he was kind-hearted in spite of being a killer.  I did like the ending!

Karen's Favorite:   War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

War Horse is a touching book that kept my interest all through. 

Although it is a children's book, I enjoyed it but must admit I got teary-eyed reading it.  Parts were very sad but I loved the ending!  Joey, the horse, tells his story about living on a farm with a boy named Albert and then being sold to the army because Albert's dad needed money to save his farm.  The horse goes through a lot but Albert never gives up looking for him.

Gerard liked this one too:  War Horse by Michael Morpurgo is a double wow book for me! Joey, the war horse, tells about his adventures during World War 1 and the special bond he has with a young boy named Albert. At only 160 pages or so, it goes very fast. I loved it! I look forward to seeing the movie which is coming out on Christmas.

Once again, we read a lot of very good books in September so it was hard to choose.  Please visit Grab A Book From Our Stack to find more great reads.  We read some romance, memoirs, thrillers, contemporary fiction, suspense, and YA. Spunky Doodle says, "Don't forget the cat book!"  Meow!

Share this:

Lingerie Football?

 Did you know about the Lingerie Football League?  I just learned about it recently and think it's disgusting.  Teams are made up of strong, pretty women barely dressed.  There is no modesty here!  Yes, they play football in an arena.  They wear knee pads and helmets, but only bikinis and underpants on the rest of their bodies.  I think this is so deameaning.  It just looks trashy and I am not even posting such a picture on my blog.  If you want to see a picture and/or learn more about this, go to Wikipedia.

I have no problem with women playing football.  It's actually a fun sport.  My problem is not giving them decent uniforms to wear.  What do you think about Lingerie Football?  Would you play?

Share this:

Why Not Celebrate?

I sure enjoyed watching the Cleveland Browns football game yesterday.  Actually, it was pretty dull until the 4th quarter came.  The Browns were down by 6 and were having trouble offensively all game.  Then Colt McCoy (QB) put together one long drive from the 20 yd line in the last 4 minutes of the game to score a touchdown, giving us a one point lead.

Naturally, the guy who scored was ecstatic and another player joined him in a bit of a celebration.  Unfortunately, celebrating is against the rules in football which to me makes no sense at all.  I think it is a ridiculous rule.  I like to see the players get excited!  What's wrong with that?  Baseball has no such stupid rule, why does football?  Anyhow, because of that, the Browns were penalized and had to kickoff from farther back, giving the Dolphins slightly better field position with just a little under two minutes left.  All they needed was a field goal to win it.

I was yelling at the defense to stop them and they finally did!  Adams got an interception around midfield and then time ran out with us having the ball giving the Browns a 2-1 record and the Dolphins 0-3.  (Sorry, Daisy).

Seriously though, don't you think that celebration rule is stupid?

Share this:

Creator or Creation--Which Rules Your Heart?

This was our discussion this morning in our "Circle of Friends" Bible study. It really made me think and I thought I'd share some of the things that stood out to me here.

An idol of the heart is anything that rules us other than God.

So, what do you think rules your heart? Some of the things mentioned in our class was family, appearance, addictions and hobbies. I for one must be careful not to let blogging become an idol. I am either posting, reading other blogs and commenting or thinking about what to post next all day long it seems. In other words, it is constantly on my mind. Yet, I like to believe that it is under God's control, that I seek his guidance, inspiration and direction daily. I like to use it to bring glory to God and to share things I've learned, including some spiritual things but not only limited to that.

Based on Ezekiel 14:1-5, there is a core principle of inseparable influence:

Whatever rules the heart will exercise inseparable influence over a person's life and behavior.

This is why people have such a difficult time changing their behavior for long-term, because our hearts need to change for our behavior to change. If God is ruling my heart, that I will show his love to others in my action and speech. If I take back control, then what I do is self-serving. It's definitely something to think about.

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator. who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 1:25

The above verse, Romans 1:25, is referred to The great exchange in our study and was described as follows:

The great exchange (creator for creation) is when what really rules our hearts in daily living is not love for God, but a craving for some other thing. The way God changes us is to recapture our hearts to serve Him alone.

This takes constant surrender to God every day. Oh that I would pour out my heart and be honest with Him so that he will rule my heart all the days of my life!  
 
If you are not involved in a Bible Study group, I encourage you to seek one out.  My greatest growth spurts spiritually always happened when I was involved in a small group Bible Study.  I sincerely hope the Creator rules your heart.  

Related Post:  Making An Idol Out of Sports

(Quotes other than scripture are all from Instrument In The Redeemers Hands by Paul David Tripp.)

Share this:

4 Things We Learned This Week 38 of 2011 (exercise, fun, book, charity)

Exercises

I found some exercises that will help get rid of the love handles over at "Quick Moves To Get Rid Of Love Handles." They are the bicycle, Twisted decline sit-ups, side plank and rotating leg raises. Click on the link to go to the post for more detail.

Day of Play

When reading blogs this week, I learned that tomorrow, September 24, is Worldwide Day of Play! Yippee! I love to play! Here is the post I found that you may want to visit: 10 Activities to Help Celebrate the World Wide Day of Play .

Betty White

When I read Betty White's book, If You Ask Me (and, of course, you won't), I learned that she is 89; I had no idea she was nearly that old! She said she doesn't feel 89 and is still very active. She even did a TV series, "Hot In Cleveland." It's good to know that old age doesn't have to be miserable. I enjoyed this book very much. Click the link to read my review.

The Big Fun Box

Kristin at The Goat helped with The Big Fun Box project by packing some boxes that she posted about.  The Big Fun Box Foundation donates thousands of Big Fun Boxes each year to children who experience frequent and extended stays in pediatric hospitals across the country to provide them with a little fun and distraction.

Find more Friday Fragments or link up yours at Half-Past Kissin' Time.

Share this: