Deal of the Week: Free Audiobooks

I love free stuff. And I love books. And I love listening to books!

Brody loves books too! So, of course, I'm all over this deal from Audible Kids Audio Books and Parenting Magazine :) Click here to get these three free downloads for the kids! [Edit: Ok...go here first and click on the link at the bottom of the article]

Rapunzel (Unabridged)

Brothers Grimm

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (Unabridged)

Rudyard Kipling

The Emperor's New Clothes (Unabridged)

Hans Christian Andersen

Good Reads

[1] My girlfriend Heather Richter has started a blog and since I'm a HUGE fan of Miss Heather, I thought I'd do a little advertising. I was blessed to meet Heather a few years ago thru our home group. She and I 'clicked' immediately which I think is more about her than me. I'm pretty sure she's good at 'clicking' if you know what I mean. Well, I realized very quickly that pretty much everything she says is like this golden nugget of wisdom. Mother of 4. Living the life of a missionary. Wonderful loving wife. Full-out lover of Jesus. I contemplated purchasing a small voice recording device and covertly taping all our convos but then she up and left me. Sort of. God answered their prayers to move to Ohio (from Santa Barbara to Ohio...I know. But they were literally over joyed!) to actively work & serve through Athletes in Action.

Point. Heather has finally started her own blog! Before they left I was begging her to blog or create a women's newsletter or something. She's the kind of person you want to be best friends with and the sort of quite leader who speaks loudest thru her actions. I encourage everyone to bookmark her blog Moments of Clarity for some good reads.


[2] Guess what? There is at least one other Mia Sturm in this world! Not only that but she lives in California. Not only that but her Mommy and Daddy are believers! Their faith has been such a beautiful example of how we, as Christians, should be every day. Unlike most of us, the Bakersfield Sturms have a big reason to lean on the person of God and rest in His peace. Little Mia was born with pretty serious conditions that they were completely unaware of and totally unprepared for. I spent one night reading every post from the past 10 months and am truly encouraged by them. "God is so good!". What might make weaker people (faithless people) break has made this family so strong. They're beautiful and I hope we can meet one day and introduce our little Mia's to each other! Check them out at Snooky Great for regular prayer request and updates.

[3] So after reading about Kristy's obsession with Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, I decided to check them out. I bought it the night before we left for our Phx/Denver/Phx trip and ended up reading the first three on that trip! Then, was excited to find the fourth book on the 7-Day read shelf at our local library {btw, I adore the library. We go at least once a week. One of my favorite "by myself activity treats" is to spend time in the library w/the kids. If you haven't been in a while I suggest you do!}! Gobbled it up in 8 days (goodbye $.50). I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who needs a break from reality. Note: it involves vampires. If that trips you out, I understand but really...it's a fun read. Youth fiction. Warning: Since all 4 books are already published you can read them in rapid-fire. The problem with this is that after doing so, I became totally invested. I find myself actually missing the characters.

Anyway, thanks again, Kristy! Whatcha readen now?

[4] I recently subscribed to Christian Stay at Home Moms {CHSAHM} changing the world one diaper at a time. It's a really fun site with a topics from Activities for Kids to Product Reviews. I especially like the Mom Blog directory. There are a lot of directories out there but this one is specifically for Christian moms.

[5] Important. If you use iGoogle (or have a Gmail account) I want to recommend Google's Reader application. Kristy posted about it last year some time and I jumped on board that band wagon immediately! Reader lets you 'watch' all your fav blogs. When someone posts, they show up in Reader where you can read the post or click to the actual blog (if you want to comment). I used to spend several minutes checking each of my regular blogs in excited anticipation...only to see they still hadn't posted anything. Such a let down! Now, I click my Reader tab and can see in an instant who has new posts! Such a good thing. Google: Google Reader

[6] Just completed Gorgeously Green (thank you, public library). I've wanted to read this for a while but never wanted to fork over $17 to own it! Plus...how "green" is checking out books at the library?! Anyway, the trouble with reading this book is that now I'm equipped with all this knowledge and thereby compelled to act...and, unfortunately for those who don't care, also compelled to share. Ugh! Stay tuned for my life updates.

[7] Last point on the reading tip. I'm starting Jane Eyre tonight. Tired of my favorite books being from the Teen Fiction section. Thought I'd try out a classic. If you wanna blog-book club with me, leave a comment!

Happy Readings, my homies.

My Purpose

Tonight I watched this video podcast of Rick Warren at the TED Conference in 2006. He is the author of the book, The Purpose Driven Life. At the conference, he was reflecting on his own crisis of purpose in the wake of his book's wild success. He explains his belief that God's intention is for each of us to use our talents and influence to do good.

I really enjoyed listening to Rick's talk. I am a big fan of the book and recommend it often. I've even given a couple as gifts (although Kevin still hasn't read it). Tonight, I was encouraged by Rick's talk. Just like the book always does, this talk sparked something in me that I'm determined to pursue.

At one point he brought up the story of God turning Moses' staff into a snake. [Exodus 4:2]

1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?". "A staff," he replied.

3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers...has appeared to you."

God asked Moses, "What is in your hand?". A simple, wooden staff. Part of Moses' everyday life. Right?

With that staff Moses defeated the magicians of Egypt, stripped Pharaoh of his power, humiliated Egypt's gods and brought Israel out from slavery to freedom*.

Rick went on to ask the audience: What is in your hand?

At that moment, I was holding Mia. She was in my hands.

Q: What do I have that God has given me?
A: My children

And what am I going to do with what God has given me? I don't have the perfect answer for this. But I know that I will work every day to influence my babies by example, by education, by discipline, by unfaltering love...I will influence my babies to make this world a better place. To love the Lord with their whole body so that they might be used by him to be a light in this world.

My children aren't mine just like this world is not mine. But I've been given the great pleasure of helping guide them thru life. They. Are. In. My. hands.

What has God given you? What are you going to do about it?

I'm going to re-read The Purpose Driven Life with this new perspective. I've always read the book with an 'all about me' slant. And that is exactly how I needed to read it at those times in my life. I'm excited about what God will reveal this time? My babies are my passion and part of my purpose in life.

What can do with what has been given to me. I'll keep you posted.

* sentence copied from here

Celebrate Your Next Gen Dad!

My Honey was invited to participate in a book giveaway by Hachette Book Group USA! You should know that his Next Gen Dads blog has also been published. He's practically famous, I think!

Anyway, if you write a short essay about a Dad you know (yours, your baby daddy, someone elses baby daddy...) you might win a set of 11 great books! What a great Father's Day gift for the reader in your life. To check out the rules go here. These are the books - Kevin describes each on his blog.

Hurry, deadline is 11:59 PM on Friday, June 13th and there will be 5 winners! Good luck :)

The Kite Runner

What a book. I am a slow reader. I joke that it's because I read...every...single...word of a book. I believe that 'fast readers' are actually skimmers. Reading about every 5th word and skipping entire paragraphs at a time. Kevin, Sarah and Staci all deny this but I have to cling to what I believe to be true, right? Anyway. I flew through The Kite Runner (about 5 sittings which is pretty impressive for me). It was the most engaging book I think I've ever read. Definitely one of those books that beckons you throughout the day...'I wonder what is going to happen next?'...'I can't wait to find out what happens to X'....'How could he do that to someone he loves so much?!?'. When Sarah sent the book to Kev for his birthday she warned that it would be a difficult read. We both knew what she meant by that and it was. I wept throughout the book and sobbed at the ending. I know that might not sound like a recommendation and actually I struggle to recommend the book because it's so difficult....but I do. I really do. The writing is wonderful. The story is powerful. It's a book that stays with you and I'm glad I read it. I'd love to know what other readers thought....