- Favorite Radio Station ~ 91.5 fm
www.focusonthefamily.com
www.middayconnection.org

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June 2010 - Stepping Up by Beth Moore

Vidalia First Baptist is hosting a summer women's group on this book
Tuesday 10-11:30am
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May 2010 - A Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers

picked this up b/c I LOVED "Redeeming Love"!
loved this one as well... makes me strive to be a better mother :)
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April 2010 - I Just Want You To Know by Kate Gosselin

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March 2010 - The Shack by WM. Paul Young

August 2009 - The Shack by WM. Paul Young
Reading this now after several friends recommended it... honestly; it 's the first book I've put down
after a few chapters in a while - still haven't felt the need to pick it back up :(
... take two-2010; amy convinced me with a "finish it, you won't regret it"...
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March 2010 - Lift by Kelly Corrigan

picked it up for a quick read... and that it was.
a little over an hour to read and very pleasing; i could relate... a lot :)
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February 2010 - Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

an "extra" anniversary gift from billy...
having a bit of trouble finding time to get into it, or maybe making time...
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December 2009 - Ford County by John Grisham

it's a group of short stories all wrapped in one story...
some sad, some funny, easy to read...
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October 2009 - The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

really good... a great teen or pre-teen book ;
gonna send a copy to my niece, Destiny...
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July 2009 - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Filled with tons of twist... I was caught a little  off guard several times...
which i like... :)
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May 2009 - My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Picked up 8 copies for "end of year" teachers gift & thought I would read it...
Really good & NOT like the movie (that I refuse to see), duh? Completely different ending!
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January 2009 - Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyers
Twilight - New Moon - Eclipse - Breaking Dawn

I picked this up around Christmas... started it around new years & finished all 4 books in 13 days!!!
loved it... obsessed over it... & bought a t-shirt (not joking)... honestly felt depressed when I finished book 4!
Found extra chapters and tons of cool stuff on the authors website:
www.stepheniemeyers.com
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January 2009 - Esther by Beth Moore

Lyons First Baptist women's bible study
Begins January 5th ~ childcare available
Monday's 9:30am or 6:30pm
Over 50 women showed up on the 5th... I've got a feeling
this could change everything! Meet me there!
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Christmas 2008 - Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy

Christmas 2008 - Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy
...billy gave me the follow up to the book he gave last Christmas... i read it in two days!
every mother MUST read this book...
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NOV 2008 - The Outsiders by SE Hinton
(one of my all time faves... since I was 11)

...the first "real" book i can recall reading... that moved me
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Sept-Oct 2008 - "For Women Only" by Shaunti Feldham

Lyons First Baptist Church is offering a study class for this
Wednesday nights from 6:30-7:30 (Nov, 2008)!
(welcomed to jump in anytime...)
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Summer 2008 - "Redeeming Love" by Francine Lewis

...honestly, one of the best books EVER...
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SPRING 2008: "When God Whispers Your Name" by Max Lucado

"given to me by Cynthia Carter and sat beside my bed for months before reading;
i flip through it a lot now for inspiration...
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WINTER 2008: "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

"so well written... LOVE IT!...
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DECEMBER 2007: "Louder Than Words" by Jenny McCarthy

an '07 Christmas gift from my husband (he knows me so well);
i read it cover to cover that day & felt a tug at my heart like no other book.
 it's very informative & every mom should read it ...
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

 http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=9e7c4b40cf5a13cea6ca

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ACPSechyzs&feature=related

Life is short!  Break the rules!  
Forgive quickly!  Kiss slowly!
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably...
And never regret anything that made you smile!.

INVICTUS
by: William Ernest Henley.

Comes the Dawn
Author: Veronica A Shoffstall

After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a sole,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security,

And you begin to understand that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head held high and your eyes wide open

With the grace of a woman and not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build your own roads, because tomorrows
Ground has a way of giving away beneath your feet, and dreams
Have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

 After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own sole,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure…
That you are strong,
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn…
With every goodbye you learn.

Poem by Maya Angelou
When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'.'
I'm whispering 'I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Blue & Red

I remember...
My hair in pigtails and ribbons,
a runway of electric blue,
a four foot streak in a red leotard.

I remember taking flight,
hands barely brushing the mats,
exhilarated in air.

I remember touching down
knees locking, back arched,
arms high above my head.
A perfect round off.

I remember feeling powerful
and strong
and streamlined.
It was a wonderful flight,

The flight of my childhood
before adolescence grounded me,
when a runway of blue mats and
a red leotard were all
a girl needed to fly.

Daisy C. Abreu 1993

A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
 
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
 
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
 
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
 
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
 
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
 
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always
remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
 
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
 
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
 
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
 
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."