The Ultimate Prescription, A Review

When I saw this title, written by a cardiologist and Christian believer, I was excited to see what he had to say about health.  So excited, that despite my own moratorium on requesting books for review purposes, I requested this one from Tyndale House.  The reason for my self imposed moratorium is that the book arrives, I set it on the shelf-and then forget that I'm to read it and post a review in a timely manner.  This one was no exception to that pattern.

A few weeks ago I finally picked it up and started reading.  I liked what he had to say about conventional medical practices and our society's belief that doctors and prescriptions cure what ails us.  He was willing to admit that this approach just treats the symptoms-that true change can only occur by discovering the source of the problem and addressing that.

He reminds us that we're asking the wrong questions.  Instead of asking how to get well, we should ask "Why am I sick?"  The author states that it's been estimated that 80-90% of all cardiovascular disease is acquired.  As in something we do that causes it, not simple genetics.  He states,

The painful truth is that we give the disease to ourselves by the choices we make over a lifetime.

Now I was really getting excited!  I know he's speaking about heart disease, but the principle applies to anything else, don't you think?  If bad choices cause the problems, the good choices ought to be able to prevent and maybe even reverse them, right?

He goes on to briefly point out the dangers of high fructose corn syrup (and the irony that it's in nearly every hospital meal served) and the argon gas applied to fruits and vegetables.  He poses the questions I've asked myself.  If it's dangerous, why has it been allowed into our food supply?  Whose responsible?  He suggests we take a look in the mirror and ask if the Standard American Diet is really working.

Then it happens.  The myth that animal fat is what causes heart disease is upheld by this doctor.  I was so disappointed that I put the book down for the night!  I decided that I didn't have time to spare reading a book that propogated a myth that has been disproven.  The next day however, I glanced through the table of contents to see what else to expect and read a few more pages in later chapters.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough there to redeem my hope and I've chosen to write my review and offer the book to anyone that wants to read it.

I also just decided to include a short video on how the lipid hypotheses came about.  I don't think it explains why society bought into it, but here's some myth busting for you.

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, which did not affect my review.

Love & Respect: A Book Review

My husband and I attended the Love & Respect seminar a few years ago and having the book around is a wonderful tool to refer to. I especially appreciate the biological approach that shows that men and women are wired differently. That doesn't make one right and the other wrong, it's just different. Dr Eggerichs explains the "crazy cycle" that so many of us fall into and how to stop repeating it so that both husband and wife get what they need from the relationship, bringing about more of what the other needs and turning the crazy cycle into a healthy one.

I also appreciate the Scriptural basis for the logic and reasoning, as Christ is the center of all good marriages. Buy this book and follow its principles and see how your marriage is healed and made better!

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari

When this arrived by mail my 5 year old son was ecstatic!  He couldn't wait to sit down and look at it, then have me and his dad read it to him.  I appreciated the play on words as the two friends camped at the base of Mount Sillymanborrow.  The publisher's review starts with, "Padraig the dragon and his best friend, Roger the turtle are determined to spend the whole night outside."

They encounter plenty of imagined scary scenarios and manage to tough it out despite their fears.  When their supply of bravery seems exhausted and they've agreed to try again another night they realize that the sun is about to rise and they made it!  They camped outside all night by themselves!

The story presents multiple opportunities for teaching and discussing important character traits with a young child, such as the difference between bravery and courage; and what it takes to be a good friend.  As the friends focus on staying out all night, they encounter all kinds of wild African beasts in their backyard.  They also share a story about wanting to make pancakes and having to borrow all the ingredients.  I'm assuming that's where Mount Sillymanborrow comes into play.

My son loves the book, the pictures are very well done, and there are discussion points and a Bible verse a the end.  We've enjoyed this book-it's good when those required to read it over and over can enjoy it too!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

BLOG TOUR: The ME Project by Kathi Lipp

The Me Project - 21 Days to Living the Life You’ve Always Wanted
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN-10: 0736929665, ISBN-13: 978-0736929660
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Paperback: 224 pages, Retail: $12.99

Kathi Lipp

Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project, serves as food writer for Nickelodeon, and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults. For more information visit her website: http://www.kathilipp.com/

Three Super-Simple Kick Start Living Your Dreams
– in the next 15 minutes

by Kathi Lipp

Is there a dream that God has given you, but you are waiting until the kids are grown and you have money in the bank before you get started?

You may not be able to enroll in a month long pastry making class or take a week off of work to get started on your novel, but today you can take three little baby steps to making your dream a day-to-day reality.

1. Go Public with It

It’s a little scary to tell the world what you want to do when you grow up—but this is one little step could get you closer to living your dream than almost any other. Plus—it takes very little time and you don’t have to raid your kid’s college fund to make it happen.

When you gather up all your courage and tell your best friend, “I want to learn how to paint,” suddenly she remembers an old art book she has laying around she would love to give you, or her friend from church who teaches art classes. The people you know and love want to be a resource. Give them the privilege of being a part of making your dream happen.

2. Join an Online Group

This is one of the simplest—and cheapest—ways to start exploring your passion. Find out who else is talking about restoring antiques and listen to their conversation. Start by Googling your interest along with the term “online groups.” You will be amazed with the number of people who want to talk about the proper way to care for 1950’s lunchboxes as much as you do.

3. Don’t be Afraid to Pray

I remember the first time I put an offer in on a house—I wanted it more than I had wanted almost anything else in my life. While I knew that I had dozens of other people praying on my behalf, I was too scared to pray.
I didn’t want God to tell me no. I was afraid to pray until my co-worker Kim asked me (in a loving, kind way), why I didn’t believe that God wanted His best for me. Don’t be afraid to pray—as with anything amazing in my life, the path is never what I expected, but it has always been obvious that God’s hand has been on it the whole way.

Grand Prize Giveaway:

Deluxe Starbucks Coffee Gift Basket

• Three 2.5-oz. bags of Starbucks coffee
(Sumatra, House Blend, and French Roast)
• Tazo black tea
• Starbucks marshmallow cocoa
• Almond roca
• Almond roca buttercrunch toffee cookies
• White chocolate and raspberry cookies
• 2 Starbucks mugs
• Keepsake black bamboo basket
$62 value
For a chance to be entered in the drawing, simply comment below.  I'll choose a random name to send to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications on March 4th.  KCWC will draw a random winner on March 7th.

Love & War; Devotional for Couples

I had a hard time getting through this book, but not because of the content.  It's just hard for Tony and me to do anything consistently for 8 weeks.  I finally realized I needed to just read it so I can review it.  I like the format-a few paragraphs per day with an opening quote and closing Scripture.  Each week (5 days) ends with an exercise.  I'd prefer to have a daily exercise, personally.

The content is unique in presenting marriage from a perspective most of us probably haven't thought about.  While most of us as wives have dreamed of the fairy tale romance, we've only expected the good parts of the fairy tale.  What about the part where it looks like evil is going to win and nothing can go right?  That's how the "war" part of marriage is presented in this book and it's actually refreshing!  It's a good reminder to not expect wonderful times of bliss from the time we awaken until we fall into bed each night.  It's encouraging to know that there's a spiritual battle being waged and the enemy is pulling out all the stops to prevent the ultimate marriage of Christ to His body.  We know Jesus is triumphant, but do we apply that to our daily lives?  Do we look at marriage difficulties as part of the eternal struggle and rejoice that we are partakers in this battle?  I don't.  I should!

A quote from the book that really struck me occurs early in the book, Day 4 of the first week.

The Bible begins with a marriage and ends with a marriage.  From start to finish, the part of this great story we have been given to play begins and ends with a marriage.

That was really profound to me.  The Bible begins and ends with marriage.  No wonder it's so important and no wonder the serpent acted so quickly to try and dissolve it.  That should be my constant reminder as I face difficulties in my marriage.  It's all part of God's plan and ultimately HE has the victory!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.  The review is my honest opinion.

The Sound of Music

It's my all time favorite movie, despite the fact that I think musicals are stupid.  Now is that a contradiction or what?  We've got it on VHS and Goober Gus chose to watch it this afternoon as our nap time movie.  He watches, we nap.  I'm glad he likes it, mostly because it means a family tradition will be carried on.  I think one of the reasons I like it so much is simply because of childhood memories watching it.  We saw it in the theater in the early 70's, with my Grandma and parents, and then after that NBC played it on TV annually.

Today I fell asleep as the children were crying at the dinner table because Maria had "covered their sin".  That connection just hit me-aren't we grateful that 'love covers a multitude of sins"?  I can remember hearing them sing shortly after Maria has tuaght them, but then I was totally out until the Captain returns with Baroness Scraeder.  I tried to just keep my eyes closed and rest more, but listening to the movie gave me a deeper revelation of the powerful sway music has over our emotions.  I'm always touched by the scene that softens the Captains heart, but listening instead of watcching deepened that.  Maria is true to her beliefs and doesn't let social status or class keep her from saying what the Captain needs to hear to open his heart again so that he can love....the children as well as Maria as we soon find out!

I tear up upon hearing Edelweiss, whether in the movie or elsewhere.  My brothers in law played it at our wedding.  Right now Maria and the Captain have just revealed their love for one another while singing Something Good.

The whole story is romantic, full of love, awe, wonder, intrigue, fulfilled dreams, and standing up for what's right.  I think another reason I can bypass the fact that it's a musical and let it be at the top of my favorite movie list is that people don't spontaneously break into choreographed song and dance.  The songs are sung and dances danced as part of normal life.  It's believable.  Hope you've enjoyed my little review and my favorite song from the movie!

The Least Among You

This movie is a based on a true story that I was not familiar with prior to ordering this for review purposes.  I prefer "based on a true story" movies over fiction more often than not, and this was no exception.  The storyline was a bit slow moving, but who says it has to be high speed to be good? 
Set in 1965 following the Watts race riots, Richard Kelly finds that he is unable to take the job with the big computer company that he was so proud to get.  Instead, he'll be spending "time" at an all white seminary as the only black student in their history.  In the process he learns about reverse racism, forgiveness, consequences, perseverance and loyalty.  To tell you anything else would give away too much, so let it be known that I enjoyed the movie and recommend it to all.  It's an important life lesson learned.

Cause & Effect

I requested a copy of this 4 disc series of Adventures in Odyssey to review and find out if my son enjoys listening to the show.  I know the suggested audience is a little older age range than he is, but I figured it was worth a try.  To my surprise, he was really paying attention!  We listened while running errands one day and he wanted to wait in the car while I went into the grocery store, so he could keep listening!  I didn't let him stay but he reminded me as soon as we got back that we needed to turn the story back on.

I found myself even being curious as to what would happen next.  We've listened together and enjoyed everything we've heard!  I like the morals and values that are expressed throughout the stories and the way the shows wrap up with a recap of the lessons taught.  This set is something we will listen to over and over!  If you've got young children, I recommend this set for "edutational" purposes.

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this CD to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Edge of the Divine...

...Where Possibility Meets God's Faithfulness by Sandi Patty.  Feeling as though I needed to get closer to the Divine God I serve, I picked this book from the titles available for review from Thomas Nelson Publishers.  As I started reading I wasn't sure it was the right choice.  It's a bit autobiographical, and Sandi has struggled with her weight since childhood.  The story focuses on this portion of her life and her journey through Lap Band surgery that's supposed to help her return from being severely, morbidly obese.  I've got some weight to lose, but for most of my life have been thin and athletic, so I started thinking I may not learn much from reading her story.

However, I realized that her struggle with overeating isn't really any different than the struggles each of us face, so I kept reading.  She shared the commitment it would take-that the surgery wasn't a quick, easy fix, but rather a tool in her arsenal that would help her get control over this addiction.  She learned that she used food to stuff her negative emotions, and once she stopped that habit, she found she needed to learn how to gently express those negative emotions. 

She spends time taking us to the edge of extreme situations in life and showing us how God is there to take the bad and use it for good.  She shares stories from her own life, as well as from the members of her band.  She helps us see that trusting God is always better than trusting our circumstances and experience.

It's the last chapter that really affected me.  It's simply called Enough.  In a story of an alcoholic acquaintance's journey to sobriety that survived the loss of his, he tells of his own discovery that the abused substance is never enough.  Never enough to kill the pain, forget the bad memories or satisfy the longing deep within.  But GOD is enough.  He promises to meet our needs, and offers to share His abundance when we draw close to Him.  I remember for a few days, thinking that I had enough.  I had enough stuff, I had enough time, I had enough blessing.  Could I truly be satisfied, content, while living in circumstances that I didn't choose?  While struggling with a situation that I couldn't control?  In the midst of less than ideal health?  Is God enough for me?  Is He enough for you?

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.

The Marriage Project

This book by Kathy Lipp is a great resource for helping any marriage to be a happier one.  Ours has been ruled by chaos lately, so it was quite helpful-and we haven't even done the projects yet!  I requested a copy back in January to review, but never heard anything.  Then a few weeks ago Kathy emailed me to see if I had done a review yet.  Once we got the confusion cleared up she put a copy in the mail.

The premise is like The Husband Project.  There are 21 days of projects to do with your spouse.  The day I read the book I wasn't a very happy wife, and the thought of putting out effort to improve my marriage wasn't very appealing.  But something happened as I read the introductory chapters.  My attitude started changing.  I’m happy to report that with some prayer and the first few chapters of the book my attitude improved. Nothing else was different, just my attitude, and that made plenty of difference in our interaction and improved things without even having read what the projects are, let alone actually do them. Now I’m looking forward to DOING the activities!

I've now read the first weeks' worth of projects and am ready to engage in the full 3 weeks with Tony.  He doesn't know that yet, but the projects are fun and he'll want to do them.  I think we'll go on a date Friday night and talk about it!

Storm Warning

Storm Warning is a book by Billy Graham.  It's a revised and updated edition.  I've been trying to read it for weeks, and just can't muster up enough interest in it.  Maybe it's because it reads too much like a list of facts rather than telling an interesting story with those facts.  There are too many other books I want to read, so this one is getting a thumbs down and I'm moving on.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com 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 gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Shattered

Shattered, Struck Down, Bit Not Destroyed by Frank Pastore with Ellen Vaughn...my review.

This book was very easy to read, an excellent account of someone that thought he was an atheist, only to discover that God had a much better plan for his life, and that his childhood belief system was skewed.  Frank takes us on a journey through his troubled childhood, raised in a very dysfunctional family, through the transformation of the awkward, new kid at school nerd to the all star sports hero, academic scholar, popular guy on campus.  His new found popularity just increases his desire for more and because he has real talent, he has the ability to acquire more.  However, he eventually realizes that no matter how much you've got, you always want more.

After a devastating injury he begins to ask questions, and the Christian players on the baseball team he plays for continue to answer and share God with him.  He eventually accepts Christ and is then on fire for God.  He shares details from every aspect of his life with readers.  I felt a connection to his transformation and the passion he feels for Christ centered community activism.  While sharing of his time in counseling, I began to ask myself some tough questions.

I like that it was easy to read, but still called to something deep within me; that it showed what many felt prior to becoming followers of Christ, and how it's all so twisted in the collective public opinion.  This would be a good book to share with those that think they have all the answers, but still seem to be searching.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book and it did not influence my review.

My First "Official" Book Review!

I love to read.  I used to read a lot of fiction and devour everything an author had if I liked the style.  These days, my time is taken up reading non fiction in the form of research and discovery.  For my health, and that of my family; and for learning new skills.  I recently visited the publisher's web site of a book I had just finished-to see what else that author had written.  While there I learned of their "blogging for books" program and decided to apply.  The first request for a review arrived by email recently, with a preview of the first chapter of the book.  I dilligently read, taking special note for a review.

The first few pages really made me stop and think.  I was tempted to quit reading and forgo the review based on just a few pages, but I kept at it and saw a bit of a change.  Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream by David Platt IS radical if it can shake me up with just a few pages.  It was the topic of conversation at the dinner table, in which my husband noted that it really had affected me.

The author asks two questions.  Do I believe Jesus? and Will I obey Jesus?  The simple answer of yes came to my mind before examing the Scriptures Mr Platt has used to define radical faith.  At that point I had to decide if I was willing to accept Mr Platt's interpretation of those Scriptures-was his definition really what is said?  That's for the Holy Spirit to decide, so I'm listening and waiting to see what He has to say.

Jesus's disciples gave up everything to follow Him.  Family, home, career, comfort, stability, everything they held dear was set aside to follow Jesus.  Am I willing to do the same?  Are you?  One passage mentioned the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he must do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus's reply was to "go and sell everything and give to the poor, then you will have treasure in Heaven.  Then come, follow Me."  The man was not willing to do so.  Had he been willing, do you think Jesus still would have required it of him?  I immediately thought of Abraham and Isaac upon reading this.  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, but was not required to once the act of obedience was shown.  Would this have applied to the rich young ruler?  Does it apply to us today?  If we're willing, yet are not led to, is that obedience?  What characteristics are used to measure willingness?  If God called me to serve as a missionary somewhere in Asia, I'd go, but perhaps not joyfully.  I think about what they eat there and it's not on my list of enjoyable foods to eat.  But knowing that God called me, I'd know I'd be taken care of, so I'd do it.  But as far as I can tell, He hasn't called me there, so I'm staying put!

Having only had access to read the first chapter, I'd say this is one book I'd like to explore, just to see where the author takes  us.  He mentioned something that I do firmly believe is amiss in America.  Two headlines in a major church related publication, one large touting the $23 million raised to build a huge, ornate church.  The other, smaller, noting the $5000 raised to help Sudanese refugees.  Yes, there is something wrong with that picture!  Beyond writing this post, what am I personally willing to do about it?

You can request a free copy of The Radical Question by clicking here.  You can also download and read the first chapter here.  If you do, please come back and share your thoughts.