The Beautiful Wife and Kindle Fire Giveaway!

Want a Growing Marriage?

My husband and I were reading a financial book about how to make your money grow when one of the principles jumped off the page at me:

What you focus on grows. 

Because it’s such a simple principle, I couldn’t get it out of my mind and began applying it to all areas of life, especially relationships.

Most women have the desire to grow a more intimate relationship with their husband

yet  few  focus  their  desire  long  enough  to  do  anything  about  it.
Thus, nothing changes. 

• Ignorance, 
• Distractions, and/or
• hopelessness are often to blame.

I should know. Just 19 when I said, “I do”, I was ignorant about how to grow my marriage.  Our pre-marriage counseling consisted of one two-hour meeting with my pastor and that wasn’t enough to prepare me for the emotional, spiritual, and verbal abuse my husband doled out on a regular basis.   The abuse produced pain and grief.
I could think of little else than surviving. 

Hope for our future crumbled.

Over time, I began sharing my pain with a few trusted, godly women.  Venting my pain and hearing their honest feed-back helped me see that the abuse I was suffering wasn’t my fault. 

I  began seeing a Christian counselor who gave me tools that helped restore me to a place of strength and dignity. 

The best choice I made was to dig into God’s word and find out what He wanted to say to me about my marriage.  In the Bible I found the following verses which applied to my situation:

· “…Your godly lives will speak to them [husbands] better than any words.  They will be won over by watching your pure godly behavior.” (I Peter 3:1,2) In place of preaching to my husband, I began entrusting my difficult situation to God through prayer—listening for His instruction.

· “Instead, we will hold to the truth in love…” (Ephesians 4:15) I began to exchange preaching for speaking the truth in love—in as few words as possible.

· “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good…” (I Thessalonians 5:15) On my new path, I chose to respond in kindness and enforce healthy boundaries in place of angry retaliation.

When I dug into the word, I learned that my husband wasn’t the only one sinning.  My responses to Tom were often sinful and my response was the only thing I was responsible for. 
(What I wanted was to change my husband but I couldn’t find a biblical reference to support my desire and neither will you)!  

Focused on God and His Word, I was able to reverse negative behavioral patterns in my life which had long plagued me. 

When I did what I could do—keeping my focus on God, HE DID WHAT I COULD NOT!

He healed me and ultimately my marriage—to the praise of His glorious grace!

What you focus on grows.

Are you focused on growing your marriage?

Study Guide:

I received an advanced copy of The Beautiful Wife study, Mentor's Guide and the Prayer Journal from Litfuse Publicity and I must confess that I was extremely excited to begin reading this study and coordinating a small study group with like minded friends. But as I began reading the study, I was getting the impression that this was written for either young newly married women, engaged women or for women who are new believers. The book is well organized and written and there were a few topics that I hadn’t really focused on in my marriage before but I do believe that this study guide is for the younger about to or newly married believing wife; I think it would make for a wonderful young women’s group study at church or small group home study. I think it would be beneficial to have an older woman guide the study as well.

Mentor’s Guide:

I opted not to put together a study group only because I know very few young women at this time in my life. However, The Mentor’s guide is extremely well written and has an abundance of encouraging support along with small group instructions, hosting tips, leader material and week-by-week guidance. This is a tool I will be using in future groups.

Prayer Journal:

I found the prayer journal to be one of the better prayer journals I’ve seen in many years if not the best one I’ve seen ever! There is an introduction and a How-to guide. And then each week begins with a prayer, reflection on the prayer, a section to write prayer request and for answered prayers. A verse to memorize and a place to journal your response and some follow up or relating verses where you can also write responses to those verses.But the portion that is my favorite is the section where you list God’s attributes using scripture. If you love to journal like I do, this prayer journal is a must have.

Blog Tour Schedule

About the book:

The Beautiful Wife uses these inspiring stories along with biblical principles to guide and encourage any wife looking for God's best in her marriage. The Beautiful Wife answers serious questions women have about their roles as wives. Discussing everything from romance and money to beauty, communication, and sex, Sandy challenges women to open up and share their journeys so that together they can see God's plan for their marriages. "It is my passion to help women discover God's heart for their marriage, just as the other women helped me," writes Sandy. "When women share with each other the details of their journeys with God as wives, it's a beautiful thing indeed." The Beautiful Wife has two companion resources - Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide.

 

 

About Sandy Ralya:

Sandy Ralya is the founder and director of Beautiful Womanhood, a marriage mentoring ministry based near Grand Rapids, Mich. Her marriage testimony was the focus of a popular three-day interview on FamilyLife Today, TV's Walking by Faith, and Time Out for Women. Sandy is a sought-after speaker, presenting Beautiful Womanhood seminars to hundreds of women each year at MOPS groups, women's retreats, and church leadership conferences across the country and in Canada. Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980, and have a growing number of grandchildren. www.beautifulwomanhood.com

Celebrate with Sandy by entering her Kindle Touch Giveaway and coming to her "Beautiful Womanhood" Facebook Party {3/8}!

One beautiful winner will receive:

• A Brand new Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi
• The Beautiful Wife By Sandy Ralya
• The Beautiful Wife Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/7/12. Winner will be announced at Sandy's "Beautiful Womanhood" Facebook Party on 3/8. Sandy will be hosting an evening of chat, laughter and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, prayer journals and a live chat with Sandy for your Bible study or small group!

So grab your copy of The Beautiful Wife and join Sandy and friends on the evening of March 8th for an evening of fun.

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on March 8th!

Tammy♥

**DISCLAIMER**  I received a copy of this book(s) for free in exchange for my completely honest opinion.

 

 

Nearing Home by Billy Graham

Book Description

“I never thought I would live to be this old.”

In this moving narrative, Billy Graham once again takes up the pen not only to share his personal experience of growing older but also teach us some important lessons on how to view our time here on Earth. He says that the Bible makes it clear that God has a specific reason for keeping us here. So what is His purpose for these years, and how can we align our lives with it? How can we not only learn to cope with the fears and struggles and growing limitations we face but actually grow stronger inwardly in the midst of these difficulties?

In what may be his most powerful message of the last decade, Billy Graham speaks to all on this side of Heaven as he covers the importance of four key areas:

Building strong foundations and understanding the gift of years

Facing life’s transitions, including the passing of years, retirement, and when loved ones die

Making wise decisions

Understanding our glorious hope

“In this book I invite you to explore with me not only the realities of life as we grow older but the hope and fulfillment and even joy that can be ours once we learn to look at these years from God’s point of view and discover His strength to sustain us every day. I pray that you and I may learn what it means not only to grow older, but, with God’s help, to grow older with grace.”

My Review

Billy Graham has been given the gift power, the power of words from Almighty God himself. His messages are so powerful and thought provoking in which you have to sit back and  pause, reflect and ponder what he is telling you. As I read his book Nearing Home, I couldn’t help but stop and think about my life’s past, present and future. As I reflected on my past, I remembered things I thought I had forgotten or so I thought and I had to ask God for forgiveness in the things I had said or that I had done in my youth. Some of it was very painful so much so, I had to put his book down and go back to it later. The Lord through him has made me realize some things I need to work on now, presently. And the things I need to begin getting in order now so that my children won’t have to deal with them when I am gone.

Nearing Home is a wonderfully warm and informational read and I recommend it highly! This glimpse into growing old will help everyone who reads it, some of “what to expect” as we grow old. I hope you will pick up a copy and that you enjoy it as much as I have.

** DISCLAIMER** I have received this copy free in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Year With Jesus by R.P. Nettelhorst

Book Description

Too many times the impact and grandness of the actual words Jesus spoke, as recorded in the Bible, are lost in the telling of the story. In A Year with Jesus, the primary focus is to allow the scriptures that contain Jesus' dialogue to uniquely speak to the reader. The author follows each reading with insights and applications to help explain the context and nuances of the text. The unique titling of each meditation and the nontraditional themes and organization help bring Jesus to our daily lives. Topics include:

Love and Hate

Truths and Lies

Arrogance and Humility

Friends and Enemies

Belief and Disbelief

Patience and Impatience

Deserved and Undeserved

Good and Evil

Fidelity and Treachery

Life and Death

My Review

This is a book that you will want to have for the up coming new year and it is a book, given as a gift that would be treasured throughout the year by it’s recipient. Though we don’t always “count our blessings” throughout the year weather it is because life is just so hectic or because we have so much on our minds,  ten minutes each morning reading the short devotions on topics such as love and hate, patience, friends, truth and lies, will ease the difficulties that we face throughout each day. It is a thought provoking devotional that I have truly enjoyed.

Although my personal preference of scripture is the King’s James version, A Year With Jesus has many scriptural versions throughout this devotional. It is an easy and understandable read that when I am going about my day, I find myself reflecting on that particular mornings reading.

You can find it HERE. I highly recommend this devotional to start your day!

Tammy♥

 

Everything Christmas by David Bordon and Tom Winters

 

 

About This Book

Opening this book is like opening a box full of Christmas cheer.

Christmas is a time of celebration and wonder, a time to embrace longstanding traditions and establish new ones. It’s a time for meals made of memories and heartwarming stories shared around the fireplace. It’s a time for worship, reflection, and remembrance of God’s greatest gift.
Everything Christmas brings all the best ideas for the holiday season together in one volume. In this book, you’ll find your favorite classic Christmas stories and a few new ones destined to join them. You’ll discover the most delectable holiday recipes, enjoy the words to treasured hymns and carols, be encouraged by inspirational Christmas poems, and find renewed joy in the Nativity story. From decoration ideas to Christmas trivia and humor – it’s all here!

My Review

Our family, like everyone else, has our special Christmas traditions that we hold dear in our hearts that will be passed on for generations to come. And as such, it doesn’t hurt to add a new tradition when one presents itself.

I received a copy of Everything Christmas to review from and to be honest, I was expecting the a book that has what every other Christmas book of traditions has. But I must say that I was and still am presently surprised with the content in this book! It is beautifully illustrated in old worldly charm, there are stories of old such as The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolfe by Francois Coppee, Christmas In The Heart by Rachel Field and Harry The Singing Angel  by Robert Pengold plus countless others. There are personal stories like Unlikely Places by Cheri Fuller. there are recipes of new and old, Christmas carols of old, crafts, jokes, Santa stats, the history of Christmas, old Christian Christmas hymns and so very much more. Everything Christmas is a treasure trove of heartwarming traditions to add to the traditions of your family that will be loved and passed down for years to come. I highly recommend purchasing Everything Christmas because I guarantee that it will be the first book you take down off the bookshelf the day after Thanksgiving.

Tammy♥

**Disclaimer**

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

My Review of Suzanne Woods Fisher’s THE WAITING

 The Waiting is the next in a series of The Lancaster Secrets Collection by  Suzanne Woods Fisher. Suzanne immediately draws you into the characters and their lives, her vivid descriptions of the landscape and the setting has you drawn into the story from the first word and continues throughout the story. You find yourself in the land of the Amish where you find love and loss, grief and regrets by choices that have been made. Suzanne makes you feel like you are there smelling the air, being transported into the story, that we must never lose faith or our trust in God.  And has once again proven herself to be an accomplished and heart felt writer. I am patiently waiting for the next book in this series!

 

Suzanne Woods Fisher is thrilled to announce the release of The Waiting, book two in The Lancaster Secrets Collection. In The Waiting Jorie finds herself caught be two loves and two lives in this compelling page turner about complex people living the simple life.

A must read! Visit the blog tour and find out what the reviewers are saying! Learn more about Suzanne and her books at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com!

The Waiting is the next stand alone story in The Lancaster Secrets Collection and follows in the footsteps of the best-selling, The Choice. The Waiting is in stores now and to celebrate Suzanne is hosting The Waiting KINDLE Giveaway.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a Kindle preloaded with Suzanne Woods Fisher titles and a Amazon.com gift certificate! The Prize Pack (valued at over $185.00) includes:

* A brand new KINDLE, Free 3G, 6", Latest Generation * The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher * The Waiting by Suzanne Woods Fisher * A $15 dollar Amazon.com Gift Certificate

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on October 28th at Suzanne's Lancaster Secrets Book Club Party.

Join Suzanne for the Lancaster Secrets Book Club Party on October 28th! She’ll be announcing the winner of the The Waiting KINDLE Giveaway, hosting a book club discussion of The Waiting and The Choice, and giving away copies of both books and HEAPs of readerly prizes! Be sure to join us on Thursday, October 28th at 5:00 PM PST (6:00 MST, 7:00 CST & 8 EST) at Suzanne’s Author Page. 

Tammy♥

** DISCLAIMER **

I received a free copy of this product to review, giving my honest opinion.

 

Book Tour Review of The Choice

Description


     Carrie Weaver was looking forward to running away with Solomon Riehl, a pitcher for the Lancaster Barnstormers, this meant that they would have to leave their Amish community where they grew up. Carrie had to make a choice, would she make the right choice? And would the choice she makes change her life forever? Download an excerpt here.

Book Tour Begins Today

       I recently became a member of Litfuse which is a publicity site for writers and reviewers. I am now a reviewer for them and I will be reviewing books that have just been released or will be released. I am very excited about this new relationship I have begun with Litfuse. The first review I will be writing about is a new series from Suzanne Woods Fisher.

BOOK REVIEW "THE NOTICER" By ANDY ANDREWS

     Andy Andrews' The Noticer is a reminder for all of us to put our lives back into "perspective". It is a seeker of the truth into one's soul. It is revealing, uplifting and inspiring, a good read that is hard to put down.

Household Product Review Of LA'S Totally Awesome

     My review today is a household product that I have purchased at our local Dollar Tree store. This product is called La's Totally Awesome. It is an all purpose concentrated cleaner. And it sells for $1.00 for a 20 oz. bottle.

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Let Me Introduce Myself

WELCOME!

Hello, My name is Tammy and I am the wife to my wonderful husband of fourteen years. We have six great children and two dogs. I homeschool our youngest son while our second to the youngest son is a Senior in a public high school. Our other four children are grown and living on thier own. We also have a beautiful grandson who turned five last July.

I have begun writing this blog on reviews for two reasons, one because I love to express my opinions and write. And two, because I enjoy trying new products. I am looking forward to giving you information on products that will help you decide weather to try them or not, are these particular products worth the marked price and, if it lives up to it's claims.

Please leave me comments on what you think and, if you purchase a product as a result of my review, please comment and let me know if that particular product lived up to my review. I love comments!

I hope you enjoy your stay here and I'm looking forward to meeting all of you.

Blessings,
Tammy