Category Archives: Giveaway

You’re Going to Be Okay

Oh friends do I have a treat for you!! It is a special week because my dear friend, Holley Gerth’s, newest book is finally available to purchase!

I was blessed by an advance copy and it is so good! I will admit I haven’t gotten through the whole thing yet but it is because I am reading it slowly and underlining in so many places it is taking me some time to get through! 🙂

Holley is a natural encourager. She has a gift of using her words…God’s words, to touch the hearts of women.

She is no stranger to difficulties either. She writes with the understanding of a close friend. She has walked through dark times, and seen God’s goodness during and after. Those are the words that you will find in this book.

Words of encouragement, affirmation and support.

Just starting the book she talks about God’s purpose for our lives. Do you know that I lived a long time believing that I had messed up God’s plan for me? Mistakes, problems, and difficulties in my family had me feeling like I couldn’t ever get “back on track”.

And then I read this in Holley’s book….

“When life comes along and slaps us silly, it can feel as if God’s purpose for us has now been cancelled. But nothing can stop His purposes for us!”

And this…

“God’s purpose for you will prevail. In all of history, no person has ever been able to thwart Go’s ultimate plan. He isn’t shocked by the brokenness of this world or even our personal failures. He can redeem and reroute as much as is needed to get us to the destination he has in mind.”

All this time I had never considered that. You know the idea that the all powerful God of the Universe may just have a little more control than little ol’ me and I am unable to mess up His ultimate plan?! Seriously! 😉 But really – I believed God couldn’t redeem my mess!

And finally before I share too many of the amazing nuggets that this book has, there was this….

“In other words, the very places and times when you feel God can use you the least are when he may actually shine through you most.” (<==== Click to Tweet)

My failures seem overwhelming at times. I blog about my faith and I mess up with my family daily. Who do I think that I am trying to set myself apart as a Christian here? I am likely one of the worst examples of “good Christian” there is…

But Holley reminded me that he uses my weakness to make me strong.

So I press on, and share my mess-ups and then share about the continued redemptive work of God in my life because without Him NONE of this is possible!!

I KNOW that this book is going to be a blessing to so many and I just can’t keep the joy all to myself! So I am giving away a few copies today! Yay and fun right?!

Just leave a comment why you would like a copy and I will pick the winners on Monday and have Amazon deliver a copy to you. Open to US and Canada residents only please! 🙂

For an additional entry tweet the link below and come back to let me know you’ve done it!

Enter for a chance to win @HolleyGerth’s new book You’re Going to Be Ok at the @richesofhislove’s blog. @RevellBooks(<===Click to Tweet)

**Update! Giveaway is now closed. I have decided that I couldn’t randomly pick a few winners because I believe in this new book so much so everyone that commented will be getting their own copy! 🙂 I have emailed each of you and once you have sent me your address I will have Amazon ship a copy to you! ** YAY! 🙂

Unstoppable – Review and Giveaway!

Leave a reply

Where is God in the midst of tragedy and suffering?

That is the question that Kirk Cameron sets out to answer in his newest movie Unstoppable.

I was given a copy to watch and review from Flyby Promotions Blogger Network and Dominic and I sat down together to watch it a few nights ago.

I had heard a lot about the movie before it came out and was interested to say the least. The question “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people” is a question that I have asked myself on occasion!

The movie was made because Kirk faced the death of a 15 year old friend of the family. Interestingly, Matthew Sandgren, the child who passed away, grew up in South Dakota. He got cancer when he was 5 and fought it for 10 years until he went home to meet Jesus.

Apparently Matthew was a strong Christian and made it his goal to share Jesus with others so that they could meet in Heaven again someday.

So why then? Why does God “let” someone like that die at such a young age?

That is what Unstoppable tries to answer.

The movie starts at the very beginning. The creation story. God and man, and then a woman. But sin enters in….It was interesting to me how they chose to depict the serpent in this movie (I won’t spoil it…you will have to watch for yourself)

Because of the fall, sin and evil, and a recognition of shame enters the perfect garden.

It is the start of the answer to the question….

I will say this – for someone who knows the Bible, attends church etc., this movie was pretty “basic”. It covered some of the more well known stories of the Bible, but in an understandable way – to reach a wider audience. After watching we both felt that this was possibly made to target that specific audience.

At the very end of the movie Kirk tries to wrap it all up – to answer that question. I understood where he was going and what he was trying to say…but I have to be honest I felt like I wanted more.

If I were the parent who had just lost a child and came to this seeking an “answer”….would I have walked away from this movie confident in God’s plan? I don’t know.

Dominic has read a lot of C.S. Lewis books and he tackles this issue from just about every angle there is, in a very detailed way. I guess that is what I expected in this movie.

I agree though that “spin”, if you will, would be too much for a non-believer and may turn them away….so this movie is a start.

Having said all that, I do know this. God’s love for us IS Unstoppable. The movie touches on that. Having been through trials and hardships and come out alive and praising God – I believe He is a God that is for us…not against us.

**Contest has ended – Congrats to Kate!! You are the winner of your own copy – I will be in contact with you! 🙂 **

Have you seen Unstoppable yet? Would you like a copy for yourself? Flyby Promotions has one copy to give away here! Just leave a comment why you would like to see the movie – or who you might give it to and your email address! A winner will be chosen on Friday February 7th!

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Coming Home for Christmas – Review and Giveaway!!

Leave a reply

UPDATE!! Congratulations Joyce you are the winner of your very own copy of Coming Home for Christmas! I will be contacting you for your address and Flyby Promotions will be sending you your copy! 🙂

I LOVE Christmas. It is my favorite holiday. It is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and reflect on what a gift we have been given through God’s son. And then the decorating…oh how i LOVE the decorating!

But for some Christmas can be a difficult time – especially if there is a family strain in the mix. Christmas time wasn’t always a time of celebration for our family. When Dominic and I were struggling in our marriage we weren’t the most fun to be around. I know that there were times our extended family “tolerated” us because we were related – not because we radiated love and kindness. 🙂

Thankfully things are different these days and our families enjoy spending time together. Christmas has become a time when we do return home. My brother and sister and I all live in different states with our families, and Christmas is the one time of year that we know we can all be together again at our parent’s home. We have a traditional Christmas dinner and watch the kids tear through the presents. It is always a wonderful time and I am so grateful for all God did in our families to restore what once was broken relationships!

“Coming Home for Christmas” is a movie about two sisters, who have a strained relationship and haven’t spoken for 5 years, that come together to try and help save their parent’s struggling marriage. They seek the help of the new owner of their old family home so that they can surprise their parents with a old time family Christmas.

I don’t want to give all the twists and turns away in the movie but I will say that this is a clean and wholesome movie, and acceptable for the entire family. It can be hard to find quality movies available so I really appreciate that I was able to watch this with the kids present!

To see the official movie trailer – watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI5OSK0BAzw

If you want to purchase a copy for yourself they can be found at Walmart but I am also giving away 1 copy for one of my readers!! To enter just leave a comment sharing your favorite Christmas movie. Additional entries given for sharing this post on FB and Twitter. Just come back and leave a comment for each entry!

Please make sure you include your email address as well so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Giveaway ends Tuesday November 26th and is open to those in the US and Canada!

Disclosure: I received an email from Flyby Promotions with an offer to review a free copy of Coming Home for Christmas and one for giveaway in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own but I will only be sharing products here that I truly love and believe in!

Amazing Wii U Giveaway!!

Leave a reply

Nope, no trick here.

This is a giveaway for a Wii U. I know I can hardly believe it either!!

Was the Wii U on your Christmas list and you just didn’t get it?

Do you want to get fit for the new year in the comfort of your own home?

Maybe you just like intense Super Mario matches against your significant other…

Whatever the case is, you have a chance to win the Wii U in the picture above for free (:

I’m teaming up with these lovely ladies pictured below to bring you this amazing giveaway: And a HUGE thank you to Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals for organizing this and letting the rest of participate! MORE than grateful!! I found Kaitlyn’s site when I heard about the Cara Box swaps…I participate in November and it was so much fun!! So stop over and check that out on her site as well!And while you are at it please check out the blogs for all of the women below…it is fun finding new blogs to read and this is the perfect way to do it!!

1// Kaitlyn 2// Marquis 3// Ashley 4// Samantha 5// Ashley

6// Nilda 7// Kaitlin 8// Janna 9// Clara 10// Alexandria

11// Stephanie 12// tookies 13// Casey 14// Kristin 15// Melissa

16// Hallie 17// Alli 18// Gayle 19// Brandi 20// Brittany

All you gotta do is use the Rafflecopter below to your heart’s delight.

This giveaway will run from 8:00am (EST), Monday, January 7 – 11:59pm (EST), Thursday, January 10.
RULES
1// Giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS only
2// Winner will be notified via email on Friday 1/11/13. You will have 48 hours from the timestamp on the email to respond, or a new winner will be chosen.
3// WINNER WILL BE VERIFIED. If you claim to have done a task you did not – a new winner will be chosen!!!
4// View the Terms & Conditions listed on the Rafflecopter below
Now why don’t you enter and win yourself a Wii U (:

a Rafflecopter giveaway