"Yes, Lord!"

What is the universal sign of surrender?  Wave the white flag, of course.

I'm holding in my hand a handkerchief that has "Yes, Lord!" embroidered on the corner.  It was one of the gifts included in the sweet tote bag I received at the True Woman Conference. Nancy wanted us to utilize these as a reminder of how we are to surrender to the Lord.   

In one of the sessions Janet Parshall taught us using the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She was just a 13 year old girl who humbly waved her white flag of surrender when the angel declared that she would have a baby and He would be the Son of God.  She said, Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)  She simply stated that she was the lowest of the lowliest servants, and she would surrender to God the Father's will.

My heart is so full after this conference.  Lots of thoughts, desires and emotions run through me as the days pass.  I want to be all that God has called me to be, but I can't do it myself.  By God's grace I can strive for it.  So I will carry this in my Bible as a visible reminder of what my heart should say when I read God's truth.  Yes, Lord!

If He is Lord, then the only right answer is, "Yes, Lord." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

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What's Up With That? - Gray Hair

Miss Wisabus was talking about gray hair on her blog the other day, and it reminded me that this is a subject I wanted to write about.  Do men have a different way of thinking that causes them to point out gray hair on women?  It puzzles me.

Never has a woman been standing there talking to me and suddenly said, You're getting a little gray there.  Are you planning on letting that haircolor grow out or what? 

Nope.  Never. 

Men, on the other hand, seem to hold nothing back.  They come outright with it....  Wow!  You're really gray for your age.  Do you plan on covering that up? 

And it's at that moment I want to run to the nearest Walgreens and pick up a box of Clairol Nice 'n Easy because clearly I've neglected my roots for WAY too long.

Seriously.  I have had at least four men make mention of my gray, and one of them I only saw for about 60 seconds in a store one day after not having seen him for years.  I couldn't understand why THAT was the thing he wanted to say to me.  I don't know about you, but I want a man to point out my gray hair about as much as I'd like for him to ask me how much I weigh.  Can you say, Awk-ward?

What's up with that?

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No Blog Fairy?

It's funny how I sometimes open my Google Reader and look for a new post on Discovering Liz, knowing full well I haven't written a new post.  And then, for some reason, I'm a little disappointed that there's nothing there. 

I guess I keep thinking the blog fairy will compose something for me overnight while I'm sleeping.  I guess that's not gonna happen.

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Back From the Conference

I really have no time today other than to just hop on my blog and say hello because I have a full day ahead of me.  No rest for the weary, as they say. 

The weekend at the True Woman Conference in Indianapolis was exhausting in every way... emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  They were long days with much information to process.

If you are able to go to the conference in Fort Worth, Texas coming October 14-16, you really should go.  In fact, do whatever you can to get yourself there because I don't know when they'll have another conference.  (I know one of my blog readers is already registered.)  You won't be disappointed.  The speakers are excellent, and getting to sing with Keith & Kristyn Getty is worth the price of admission. 

Be back soon...

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True Woman Conference

Remember the series I did this summer on the book Voices of the True Woman Movement?  Well, today I'll be on my way to the spend the weekend at the True Woman Conference.  I'll be seeing Nancy Leigh DeMoss in person.  I am thrilled to be able to see her live because she's spoken much truth into my life via radio and books, although I'm not sure how up close and personal we will be.  I imagine the conference center will be quite large. 

There will be several speakers, Mary Kassian being another woman I look forward to hearing speak.  I so wish that Joni Eareckson Tada could be there, but as I've mentioned previously she has breast cancer and is going through chemo treatments.  It truly would have been a joy to hear anything she had to say. 

I'm looking forward to returning Monday and sharing about all that happened.  If possible, I'll try to update via my phone, but it'll just depend on time and how concise I can be in my message.

If you are unable to attend a conference in your area, you could visit their website and view videos from their 2008 conference.  What a wonderful resource!

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What's Up With That? - Advertising

The other night we were watching TV, and a commercial grabbed my attention.  This is a normal occurrence in our home.  I see a commercial, and then I proceed to chatter about how I don't get it or it's lame or what was that company thinkin'?

In this particular commercial there was a polar bear, and he looked cute and cuddly.  Now in actuality you know polar bears aren't cute and cuddly. They're BEARS, for Pete's sake.  I think he was meant to look cute and cuddly, though, to tug at your heart strings.

He (the bear) proceeded to swim an ocean, walk through the woods, wander down a highway... (and at this point I started to wonder, What's this all about?  Some sort of global warming message?)

Oh, am I onto these "green" people or what?

The bear eventually ends up in suburbia, and proceeds to walk up to a man standing in his driveway next to his new 2010 Nissan Leaf and gives him a big hug for saving his habitat from global warming with the purchase of his electric vehicle.  (And aforementioned vehicle only has an MSRP of $32,780, which every American could surely afford.)

Puh-leeeeease.  Stop with the propaganda, people.  Your heartfelt commercial with the sweet, huggy polar bear doesn't convince me.  I'm not buying an electric car.

What's up with that?!?

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Fall Into Reading 2010

I've already been reading a lot this year, so I'm going to join in with Callapidder Days and participate in her Fall Into Reading carnival.  To sum it up... I choose the books that I intend to read during the fall season (Sept. 22-Dec. 20) and put that list here on my blog. 

Here are the books on my shelf that I will hopefully read by December 20th.  There's no penalty for not completing the goal.  It's all just for fun.  Maybe it will help motivate you to pick up a book or two in the next couple of months, if you've not been intentional about it.

Fiction:

• Love's First Bloom - Delia Parr
• Masquerade - Nancy Moser
• The Intervention - Terri Blackstock
• A  Woman's Place - Lynn Austin
• Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins
• In My Father's House - Brock & Bodie Thoene  

Non-fiction: 

• The Fear Factor - Wayne and Joshua Mack
• The Joy of Fearing God - Jerry Bridges
• Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament - Nancy Guthrie
• The Divorce Dilemma - Dr. John MacArthur

Happy reading, friends!

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In Every Heartbeat by Kim Vogel Sawyer

In Every Heartbeat by Kim Vogel Sawyer is the story of Libby Conley and her friends Pete and Bennett.  They are off to attend college together after having grown up in an orphanage.  As each one pursues their own ambitions, they struggle with the different directions those ambitions seem to be taking them.  They quickly learn that adulthood brings changes and choices, and they wonder if they will be able to remain friends.

It was an enjoyable story in that it contained a little romance, talked about the importance of family relationships, and the endurance of friendship.  I wanted to love the book, but something just didn't work for me.  I had read and loved the previous book My Heart Remembers, but this book didn't capture my interest as much.

One thing that I kept questioning was when World War I would be introduced into the story.  The synopsis made me believe the plot would somehow involve the war, and I think maybe that's what I was really anticipating as I read.  Not so.  It seemed to be introduced nearly 70 pages from the end and had very little to do with the plot of this book.  That struck me as a little odd.

The other thing that felt a little "off" to me was one of the character's conversion experience.  It seemed a bit abrupt, as if all of the sudden in a crisis the character knew they needed God, and they prayed a salvation prayer.  In addition, their behavior and thinking changed dramatically in  a short time, and I guess that didn't seem truly realistic to me.  Although, it made for a nice, tidy ending.

I rate this book with 3 stars.  It was a good story, just not exceptional in my opinion.

I thank Bethany House Publishers for sending me a free copy of the book to review.  This review is solely my opinion, and I was not required to write a favorable review.

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Love These Links

I've collected another handful of interesting links this week.  You might check these out.

"Fall Into Reading" Challenge - If you're a heavy reader like I am or wish you had a little more motivation to read, you should check out this gal's blog for her fall reading challenge.

Whatever - I liked the challenge on The Simple Wife's blog yesterday.  It boils down to this: everything I do matters to God.

Baked Potato Soup - Need a good soup recipe?  This one looks DE-LI-CIOUS!!!  I'm printing it out and giving it a whirl.  If I make nothing else in this fall season, I MUST try this soup.

My Fitness Pal - I just had to throw this link in here because I use the website all the time and love it.  It helps me keep track of my food intake and exercise and is helping me to lose weight.  It has a database of food that is quite comprehensive, and whatever isn't in the database can be added using the nutritional info off the back of any package.  It's also a FREE service, which is the best part.

Have a great weekend.

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Let Me Check My Calendar!

I'm not certain as to whether I should love or hate Culver's, home of the Butter Burger.  I'm on their e-mailing list.  Not sure why I signed up, except maybe I thought I'd get free ice cream, or something.  I've only been there twice in the last two years.  Last week they sent me the most awful email, and I've kept it in my inbox just to punish myself.  At least, I don't know why else I would keep it.

I know you think I'm talkin' crazy, but here's what they wanted to inform me of.  They feature a different flavor of ice cream every day in September.  They thought, just maybe, I would like to come in every day to their restaurant to taste the various flavors.

September Flavors

1 Chocolate Covered Strawberry

2 Peanut Butter Cup

3 Bananas Foster

4 Cookie Dough Craving

5 Caramel Cashew

6 Berries & Cream

7 Turtle

8 Chocolate Covered Strawberry

9 Mint Oreo

10 Heath Chocolate Almond

11 Twix Mix

12 Turtle Dove

13 Double Strawberry

14 Turtle

15 Chocolate Covered Strawberry

16 Cherry Cheesecake

17 Black Forest

18 Really Reese’s

19 Caramel Cashew

20 Berries & Cream

21 Turtle

22 Chocolate Covered Strawberry

23 Cashew Delight

24 Caramel Chocolate Pecan

25 Cookie Dough Craving

26 Oreo Overload

27 Raspberry Cordial

28 Turtle

29 Chocolate Covered Strawberry

30 Pumpkin Pecan

Do you know how much I want to drive there right now?  What is today?  September 17th?  Look, they're serving up Black Forest flavor today.  That sounds delicious! 

I think I want to LIVE at Culver's!!!

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Catching Moondrops by Jennifer Erin Valent

Catching Moondrops by Jennifer Erin Valent

Jessilyn Lassiter and her best friend Gemma have seen a lot of hurt and hate over the span of their young lives in Calloway, Virginia.  So when a new black doctor arrives in town, they know there's sure to be trouble stirred up if he starts treating white folks, and the racial tension starts rising.  Jessilyn has much to learn about the human heart, both in love and hate.

I enjoyed the setting of Calloway.  The author's use of southern drawl dialogue was enjoyable and easy to read.  I felt like I was in the south.  She managed to sweep me away with Jessilyn and Luke, causing me to forget all about the trouble brewing with the Klan, and then suddenly I'd be caught off guard by a turn in the story.

I truly appreciated this book because, although there was romance, it was innocent.  The scene dealing with a lynching was subdued as well, without being over the top in description.  I don't believe we need too much information to understand what occurred or to grasp the full emotion of the characters.  It was handled well.

I would find the book challenging for both Christians and unbelievers.  It challenged me spiritually, and I think this would be a good book to share with an unbeliever who has heard the gospel but is uncertain about what it means.  The spiritual challenges wove in nicely with the story.  I didn't feel it to be abrupt.

I highly recommend this book!  I loved it, and I anticipate reading more novels by Jennifer Erin Valent.  She stole my heart and exceeded my expectations with this story.

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes.  This review is solely my opinion, and I was not required to write a favorable review.

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What's Up With That? - Irony

I'm starting to wonder if the Lord is trying to teach me something, or else I just can't explain something so fluke-like happening twice in a week.  Do you remember last week when I showed you the damage that the post office had done to my book?  It happened again.  I am not kidding. 

I ordered a study book for someone from the Amazon marketplace a couple weeks ago.  I was anticipating receiving it any day, and it was with the mail this morning.  I didn't know exactly what to expect because it is a used book, although the seller stated it was in very good condition with minimal underlining and shelf wear.

That's not quite what it looked like when I removed it from the package.  The cover had been folded in several places.  It was peeling in spots.  There were pages totally folded up inside.  I was so disappointed, and all I could think was, "How am I going to give this to my friend?  It looks beat up."

The interesting part of all this is that I didn't realize the damage had been done by the post office.  I just thought I had gotten a bum deal from the marketplace seller.  But then I noticed a small slip of paper in the bottom of the package and pulled it out.  After that, I realized that the label on the mailer had the United States Postal Service as the return address, and it had been stamped DAMAGED IN HANDLING IN THE POSTAL SERVICE.  That's when it all became clear.

It began... We regret the damage to your mail that occurred during handling....  What?!?  No, this just can't be.  I laughed out loud at the irony of my love for pristine books and the adversity the post office has cruelly set upon me with its careless ways.

Oh, but my favorite part of the note -- and mind you, this is a generic printed note for such incidents -- says this,

We are constantly... striving to improve our processing methods to the extent that even a rare occurrence such as this one can be eliminated.

C'mon.  You know you're laughing with me now.  Rare occurrence?  Twice in a week for me is not considered rare.

So I'm asking the question again... What's up with that?

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Is This Normal?

Did all of you hear me squeal from Indiana yesterday?  Three packages came in the mail for me, and I squealed with delight.  Wanna take a guess at what they might have been?

Okay.  I guess it's kinda hard to play a guessing game on a blog.  So I'll just have to tell you.

BOOKS!

Oh my.  I looked at each one's cover as I pulled them out of the bubble wrappers, oohing and aahing over the loveliness of them.  And I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm crazy by now.

I must say I'm starting to get psyched over becoming a book reviewer.  I mean, have I mentioned how much I really love books?  What?  I have?  Oh yeah, I guess maybe once or twice or ten times.

Thinking back now, I guess I've loved books for a lot of years.  I'm not sure when it started.  There were seasons when I didn't do any reading.  I was more into trying my hand at various crafts and sewing.  But I keep coming back to reading.

I guess my preoccupation can be traced all the way back to childhood.  My parents implemented a family reading time at night before bed.  My sister and I would crawl up into their bed while Mom or Dad read the Little House on the Prairie series to us.  Sometimes I couldn't keep my eyes open and would fall asleep, missing out on whatever was happening in "The Big Woods".

Recently I started recalling how we used to get the book fair catalogs in elementary school.  I had forgotten about that. Every time we received a new one I would look and look and look and change my mind about 8 times trying to decide exactly the books or posters I wanted to order.  I also remember being a bookmark freak, too.  I'm not sure why a bookmark was so thrilling.   Anyway, I knew I could only buy one or two items from the catalog, so I had to choose wisely. 

I've tried to understand what's going on in my head with such a desire for books.  I don't deny that I'm perceived as unusual because my heart starts racing anytime I get within two blocks of my public library, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I need to stop and see if there's a book on the shelves that is on my to-be-read list when in actuality I already have six novels awaiting me at home on my bookcase.

I know it's not about escapism.  It's utterly impossible for me to read when I've got problems on my mind, so I know that can't be it.  I just don't understand what it is that makes me do this.

Are you book readers?  If so, why do you read?  Are you obsessed with books like me?

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"Immanuel's Veins" by Ted Dekker

This is the story as told by a young warrior, Toma Nicolescu.  It's a tale of a struggle between lust and love. Set in Moldavia in the 1700’s, Toma and his companion Alek are given an assignment to protect the Cantemir family, a woman and her two daughters.

The daughters are very beautiful. One revels in sensuality and men’s affections. The other is demure and waiting for true love, uncertain what true love embodies.

This is the first of Ted Dekker’s books I’ve read, so I was curious and didn't know what to anticipate. Immanuel’s Veins is shrouded in mystery from the very beginning, starting with the synopsis on the back cover. The mysteriousness is what creates a fast-paced read. Being of the fantasy genre, it is suspenseful but not frightening.

Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed with the content. There were so many sensual scenes and vampire-like activity, that I felt uncomfortable reading it. I believe the author’s intent may have been evangelistic, but I cannot see how the end justifies the means. I feel the imagery was meant to titillate, and I have a problem with it being used in a Christian work. Therefore, I will not be recommending this book.

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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

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Love These Links

I often come across blogs and such that I find funny, interesting, or encouraging that I'd like to tell you about but never do.  This week I decided to do something about that.  Here are a few links I loved.

Books Disney Films Are Based On - I was awed by this list of Disney films that are based, or loosely based, on books.  It begins with the 1930's and continues through 2010.  I found it at Reading To Know.  I had no idea there were so many Disney movies based on books, and I've always been a huge Disney fan.  I have a strong urge to start putting these on my to-read list simply out of curiosity, but there are so many. 

Facebook Contest - Christian author Jennifer Erin Valent is having a contest for Facebook Fans Only to give away a signed copy of her new book Catching Moondrops.  Head over to her Facebook page to join and enter for a chance to win.  By the way, I'll be posting my review of the book this week on Thursday.  Come back and see what I thought of it. 

Asking Why - This is a brief video by Jennifer Rothschild at the True Woman blog.  She says that when you face adversity and want to ask God "why?", there is another question you should ask.  Check it out.

Update From Joni Eareckson Tada - I've mentioned Joni here before.  She is a Christian woman who is a paraplegic and has a worldwide ministry to people with disabilities.  Joni was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago and is undergoing chemo treatments, and she is periodically providing video updates on her blog.  She is an amazing woman because she has an amazing God.

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