I am a Promise!

Just sharing some of the cutest kids in the world!

Heaven Is For Real!

Book Description from the publisher:

A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven.
Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.
Colton said he met his miscarried sister whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.
Told by the father but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready there is a coming last battle.

My Take:

Born and raised in a Baptist preacher's home, I was always taught to be skeptical of anyone's near death experience, so it was with skepticism that I approached this book. I was pleasantly surprised though. I'm the mom of a 4 year old, who like Colton, has been in church her whole life. I know what she knows about the Bible, because for the most part, I'm the one who taught her. The descriptions of Colton are far from what is contained in the preschool Sunday school curriculum. Beyond my own skeptical nature, this book is a wonderful testimony of God's love and faithfulness. It was uplifting to read. It is thought provoking and emotion invoking!

As I was curled up in bed reading, my 4 year old came in and curled up next to me and said, "Read to me, Mommy!" So, we laid in bed together reading about Colton's heavenly experiences. She loved the book which got me thinking about her imaginary friend, Inky. Could Inky be an angel or the Holy Spirit? We never know what children are able to understand in the spirit.

Check it out for yourself! I would love to hear other people's take on it!

My next book review will be Start! The Bible for New Believers. I can't wait to check this one out! Here's a sample for you!

I was provided this book for free in exchange for my review through the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze program.

Menu Planning...trying again!

I'm terrible about meal planning which means that I end up going to the grocery (WalMart) 3-4 times a week. I know...crazy! I know that if I would shop for two weeks at a time, I would save money and stress. So, here I am trying again!

I have created a list of meals... actually, I borrowed one from here and personalized it for my family. I have shared it via Google Documents for everyone. I printed out the list of meal ideas and the menu planning form from the about.com site. I'm the type of person who likes to work on the computer, but really want something in writing when it comes to menu planning, so I laminated both the meals list and the menu planning form. I have a Vis-a- Vis marker that I'm using to write  on the laminated pages, so I can wipe them clean and make new plans. I like that I can mark out meals on the list that I have used, so hopefully we can get some variety in our meals! Currently, I'm focusing on planning suppers and weekend lunches, but eventually I hope to plan breakfast lunch and supper. One thing I should have done is print the menu planner on both sides, so I could plan an entire month at a time.

Looking at my plan for the next week, I will need to go to the grocery this weekend to get bread and milk, but I can do that at our locally owned grocery or dollar store, rather than running to WalMart. We'll see how it goes!