Laughing @ Myself

I am particular about the way I do most tasks. I know this about myself, but I did not realize I was so transparent about it! Sometimes I think God uses people to show me my peculiarities so I can get a good laugh at myself.

The other day I was fixing my tea in the break room at work and I got into a conversation with a coworker.  Our positions work in orbit of each other and we don't usually have much cause to interact, except the few minutes we spend in the break room in the mornings.  That day I was fixing my hot tea and was going through my normal routine, and out of the blue she asks if I am the only girl child in my family.  I tell her that I am, and go on to explain that I have an older brother and 2-step sisters that I gained as an adult.  I didn't know what prompted the question and so I said, "Why do you ask? Is there something about me that gives it away?"

She just shakes her head, laughs and tells me that everything I do is done "just-so".   I immediately knew she was confronting my strange compulsion to be particular and had laughed right along with her.

Sometimes I need to have a good giggle at the parts that make up the sum of who I am as a person.

What parts of your sum do you need to laugh at today?

And the Winner is....

On Monday I reviewed Matthew Paul Turner's book, Hear No Evil and gave you the chance to win a free copy. Well, according to the fine people at www.random.org the winner is....


Colin Mansfield!


For all the rest of you that didn't win....BUY it!  Seriously; you will not regret spending the money on it.  I'll even make is super easy for you with direct links to the book at these online stores:


www.waterbrookmultnomah.com {the publisher}
www.amazon.com
www.christianbook.com
www.barnesandnoble.com




And, the FTC is making me do this next part...This book was provided for review and giveaway by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Tuesday's Trio - Twitter Edition

This week's Trio is all about my favorite twitterers tweople twits people who use twitter.


JesusNeedsNewPR - He's just so dang funny! I may not agree with everything he says, but at least he believes what he says,and lets be real, he's pure comedy.


Snowhite197 - She's my favorite foodie on twitter. Even better, she posts food pictures. I would pay good money for some cooking lessons with her!


JClayville - #1 Hilarious; #2 Real, Real Honest; #3 cutest kids EVER.


Follow them. Now. Right now before you forget. ;)

Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner + a GIVEAWAY!

If there's something you don't know about me it's that I LOVE to read blogs. One of my current favorites to read is Matthew Paul Turner's JesusNeedsNewPR because of his sense of humor about Christian culture. A few months ago he put out an invitation on his blog to participate in a blog book tour for his soon to be released book Hear No Evil. So, I jumped at the opportunity to read and review his book before it's release on February 16, 2010.

From his beginnings in a fundamentalist church that preached the "evil" of most music, including Amy Grant and Sandi Patty, to his college years at a Christian university and the beginning of his career, Matthew Paul Turner's book Hear No Evil is a collection of laugh out loud funny essays about how music has impacted his life. Turner is such a visual writer that I had a "Wonder Years" experience with him becoming the narrator to what I would see as I read. While his essays could be misinterpreted as bashing the church he grew up in, I think he ultimately points out how not all aspects of Christian culture are necessarily biblical. It's easy to see that Turner's intent is to point people to the freedom of having a relationship with Jesus instead of being bound by man made rules alone.

Now it's time for the free stuff! Thanks to the generosity of fine people at WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Company I get to give away a copy of Hear No Evil!

So here's how this will go down:

For your first entry, just leave a comment about anything! For additional entries: • Follow @alisonlhunt on Twitter • Follow my blog • Tweet about this giveaway • Blog about this giveaway Please leave one comment for each method of entry. Each comment is an entry. This giveaway will close at Noon PST on Thursday, February 18, 2010. Winners will be announced on Friday, February 19, 2010. Please make sure I have a way to contact you incase you win!

Don't worry, if you don't win you can always purchase this book and others by Matthew Paul Turner at RandomHouse.com. {which I HIGHLY recommend}

Happy Reading!

***Disclaimer: This book was provided for review and giveaway by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Review // How to Reach Your Full Potential for God by Charles Stanley

How to Reach Your Full Potential for God by Charles Stanley aims to guide Christians into a process of self examination about whether they are living the life God planned for them to live, and encourages Christians to live abundantly while aligning their life with the purposes of God.

When I read the description of Charles Stanley's How to Reach Your Full Potential for God, I was really excited.  Doesn't everyone want to reach their full potential? I know I do, and I was open for any help to make sure I don't miss the mark.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Stanley has a lot of great biblical points in his book, but overall any revelation I would have received seemed to get lost among the hundreds of questions he asks the reader. It got to a point where I felt hammered by self-examination questions.  The purpose of the book did not match the delivery and after reading it I felt overwhelmed by having to achieve every one of Stanley's 7 steps in order to reach my full potential. I guess I was hoping this book would not be another "do these 10 things and you will arrive"...I was wrong.

Stanley is a great man of God and a great preacher, but not all preachers should necessarily be writers.

To purchase this book or learn more about it please visit www.thomasnelson.com.


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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Exemplify Magazine - February 2010

The latest issue of Exemplify Magazine has just been released at www.ExemplifyOnline.com!

I am in the company of some incredible writers, and am so excited to be published along side of these women.  My article Cultivating A Simple Heart begins on page 25 (and the title is on the front cover AHHHH!!!!!).  I would love for your insights on the subject and you can comment through email, here on this blog, or over at Exemplify Online. I'll get comments no matter where you post it :)

Don't forget to get your free subscription by signing up at Exemplify Online!

Thanks and Love,

Tuesday's Trio - Book Series edition

Welcome to another edition of Tuesday's Trio!  This week is the Book Series edition.

I love books. That is no secret.  What you may not know is that I love book series even more.  It's the ultimate reading experience because the story lasts that much longer.

I have some subjective criteria that determined this list:

   Number of times read
+ Resonance with my imagination
+ Amount of personal takeaway
+ Entertainment factor                  
= A place in the top 3

Ok, so here are my top three in no particular order:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Even though this series is classified in the Children's Literature genre, many adults would greatly benefit from these books.  Every time I read this I get a new revelation about the character of God and is as close to a modern day parable as you can get.  Not only a great writer technically, Lewis has a special insight into Biblical truth to tell it in a way that is palpable for many different audiences.

Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
When this series first made its appearance with the book Twilight, I was a serious hater. I did not want to read about vampires at all. To be honest, I was a little afraid because I can't watch scary movies, due to the dreams they produce.  I don't even remember what compelled me to pick up the book, but when I did I could not put it down.  The story line was unexpected, but something about it made me want to keep reading and rereading.  The haters that remain need to give it another shot.  This got major bonus points for the entertainment factor, resonance with my imagination, and number of times read.  Not much takeaway....other than having to make choices and living with the consequences.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
There are actually four books in this series: Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men and Jo's Boys.  Little Women and Good Wives are usually published in one book though.  These books are just a great reminder of another time when women were expected to do very different things than they are now, and how this band of women made their mark on society.  This series has been on my shelf for many many years.  A great read for all ages.

What does it say about me that each series is either in the Children's Literature or Young Adult genre? Wait, on second thought, I do not want to know.

Now it's your turn...what are some of your favorite book series?

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