CONTEST CLOSED - the blog tour contest winner is Gkstrato – thanks to all for entering!

As part of the Guided By Him blog tour, the authors are sponsoring a grand prize contest drawing (from all tour stops) for three Julie Morris books: Guided By Him, From Worry to Worship and From Worthless to Worthy.  Just leave a comment before Friday, February 13th, 2008 with something that piques your interest about Guided By Him or the authors to be entered in the draw!  This contest is open internationally!

To purchase this title, or to learn more please visit the Guided By Him website.

About Guided by Him

Lose the Weight…Lose the Worry!

Mother and Daughter Team Up to Share the Plan

(Birmingham, AL) – Does the idea of starting a diet make you hungry? Can you eat more than your children’s combined weight in twinkies? Don’t worry! Help is on the way. Author Julie Morris, RN, and her daughter, Sarah Morris Cherry, have developed a proven method for losing weight and keeping it off permanently. The Guided By Him method not only helps people lose weight, it also helps participants learn how to cope with stress. After years of struggling with her weight, Julie has developed a strategic, humor-filled plan designed to keep participants motivated, laughing, learning and yes, even eating.

In Guided By Him, readers embark on an adventure in weight loss. Julie and Sarah use uplifting scriptures, thought-provoking questions, daily devotionals and fun-filled food facts to ensure readers keep a positive, light attitude toward learning a leaner lifestyle. Julie’s experience as a nurse and Sarah’s knowledge as a certified counselor, make this a pair of enthusiastic, highly qualified coaches. This study could be used alone in the comfort of home or led in a group setting. It’s great for casual girlfriend meetings, church small groups and even the lunchroom at work! Accountability questions keep participants honest and real with themselves and others.

About the Authors

Julie Morris and Sarah Morris Cherry  

Julie Morris is a wife, mother, nurse, author and teacher. Since 8 years of age Julie has struggled to control her weight. That struggle of overeating, along with high blood pressure, sent her searching for a solution. After discovering the Christian 12 steps she began seeking God’s guidance toward health and wholeness. Now, 25 years later, she’s excited to share these tips with others. She is the founder of the Step Forward weight loss program. Guided by Him is a lighter, easier version of Step Forward, for today’s busier lifestyles. 

Sarah Morris Cherry is a wife, new mother and Licensed Professional Counselor. She has counseled people from two to 92. Whatever the age, she enjoys teaching people new ways to deal with stress as well as facts for healthy living. She coaches them with simple things they can do to become more like the people they want to be. She speaks from experience, having overcome many overwhelming health problems by putting these concepts into practice.

Blog Tour Questions

It seems like everyone is endorsing, writing or following some kind of diet plan these days. What prompted you to write Guided By Him, when there are already so many programs out there?

Julie- I wanted to share a fun and easy way to lose weight–especially designed for busy people who overeat when they feel stressed out. I know personally that this program works. It helps overwhelmed overeaters lose the weight… and worries… that weigh them down. Guided By Him (GBH) is encouraging, inspiring and can be done in just a few minutes a day!

You introduce 12 Steps for weight-loss in your book. Briefly describe the process and importance of these steps.  

Julie In 1982, when I first read AA’s 12 Steps, I knew they were the answer! I had been trying to figure out how to rely on God’s power when I lacked willpower with my eating and the 12 Steps showed me how to do that. The 12 Steps were written by Christians over 70 years ago and have helped millions of people around the world to overcome their weaknesses. GBH steps are similar to AA’s, but ours are shorter and they focus on Jesus helping us to quit overeating. 

You offer many practical tips, called Stepping Stones, to encourage participants to make intentional choices regarding food. Share a few of these with us. 

Sarah We teach you how to spend 10 minutes having a daily Quiet Time that will literally change your life. In those few short minutes you will learn how to draw closer to Jesus, recognize things that are driving you to the refrigerator that day, and surrender them to Him. We also teach you how to use a Prayer Journal so you will learn to cast your cares on the Lord, not the refrigerator, and Food Cards that will help you to eat in a well-balanced way without having to count calories. Other Stepping Stones provide practical ideas that help you to lose weight. Here are some simple weight-loss tips:

A good way to decide how much a serving of meat is: look at a deck of cards. 

Never eat while standing.  

Make eating a meal a relaxing event (I’m finding that’s really hard with a toddler!). 

Brush your teeth frequently. It helps you reduce snacking. 

As much as possible, stay away from foods that trigger your cravings (mine is peanut butter). 

Chew gum or wear a mask if you’re tempted to nibble while you’re cooking.

You’re a mother/daughter duo. You both bring years of experience to the writing table. How did your careers help you in the writing process of Guided By Him?

Julie I am a wife, mother and new grandmother. I have been a secretary at the Pentagon, Spanish teacher, lay counselor, and RN. But the experience that helped me most in writing GBH was doing things WRONG for so many years, and then watching amazed as God helped me to change. I lost my extra pounds over 25 years ago and have kept them off. And God has changed my misery to ministry. I’ve been writing, speaking across the country and leading weight-loss groups since 1992.

Sarah I am a wife, new mother and Licensed Professional Counselor. I have counseled people from two to 92. I have worked a lot with overweight people who desperately need to lose weight, but are overwhelmed at the thought of doing it. I love teaching them new ways to deal with stress, facts about healthy living and easy things they can do to help them become more like the people they want to be. 

Sarah, how do you incorporate the principles in Guided by Him in your counseling ministry?

Sarah  I use them in many ways. I teach my clients how to use Anger Busters, Victory Lists, and Prayer Journals. And I teach them the fun-filled food facts and fitness facts in GBH. I talk to my clients about how quitting their Stinkin’ Thinkin’ can change their behaviors. One example of Stinkin’ Thinkin’ might be: “I have already blown it today so I can eat anything I want.” I encourage changing that to “Shrinkin’ Thinkin’: “I need to plan a healthy, filling meal tonight because I am starving!”

When tempted to cheat on your healthy habits, what snack do you each reach for?

Sarah When I’m snacking, I try to balance carbs and proteins so my body stays balanced. And I drink a lot of water with lemon or lime slices. 

Because scripture is emphasized in this method of weight-loss, what is your favorite verse to use as a defense against overeating?  

Julie There are so many! I guess my favorite is 1 Corinthians 10:13 “…God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” For many years I thought the only way out of my temptation to overeat would be in heaven because I was sure that I’d always be tempted by unbearable food cravings while on earth.  

How do you reward yourself for achieving your goals?

Julie This sounds really goofy, but I’ll tell you anyway. Every week, I tell my friend Sue how I have done with my eating, exercising and other goals (like not being grumpy). If I have achieved more than 80% of my goals, she gives me a pretty colored sticker. I love having a sticker on my Victory List each week. And I HATE having to tell Sue that I’ve done badly! But the biggest reward is that I feel so much better when I’m on track with my eating and exercising, and I really feel crummy when I’m not.

Sarah  For my rewards, I make extra time for myself to give myself a manicure/pedicure or to watch a favorite TV show. Sometimes I do “Wal-Mart Therapy” where I buy $10 worth of things that I don’t normally buy at the grocery store (shower gels, an unusual tropical fruit, a new nail polish). 

For moms out there trying to help their children to lose weight, what advice do you have for them? 

Sarah- I have a two-year-old so I am finding ways to reward him with things other than food. They include hugs and kisses (of course!) praising him when he obeys and Play-Dough time (his favorite reward right now). I think it is super important to keep kids active, limit TV, computer and game time. Those things are privileges–not requirements–for kids. Other advice to help your child lose weight: exercise and eat in a healthy way as a family. They will do what you do. No pressure!

Life and our experience of it are in a continual state of flux. Coming to know God personally only seems to increase the speed with which our understandings and beliefs regarding the world around us, ourselves, and our relationship with God morph, shift and grow. If a series of concise snapshots could be taken — time capsules assembled which represented our life at any specific point in time — we’d be amazed at the continual changes that we experience in our walk together with Christ.

Me, Myself and I AM attempts to establish such a written time capsule. Taking the form of a workbook for adults, checklists, fill in the blanks, yes/no/maybe, rate on a scale and long answer sections are presented covering a wide array of questions concerning life, belief, past, present and future. Questions concerning your theology, history, goals, hypothetical situations, personal preferences and a hodgepodge of other questions make up the baseline for your own personal time capsule. The mood of the inquiries ranges from dead-serious to light-hearted fun.

One of my favourite questions follows, in a check-box format.

The fictional character(s) that fit my image of God when I was growing up:

[ ] The Abominable Snowman: huge, scary, and probably nonexistent – but you never knew

[ ] Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia: wise and good but untameable

[ ] The Big Bad Wolf: tricky, mean, and always showing up in places I thought were safe

[ ] Fairy Godmother: sweet, kind, and always looking out for me

[ ] Father Time: a distant but loving grandfather who kept the world moving

[ ] The Great Pumpkin from Peanuts: a hopeful figure I wanted to meet but who never whoed up

[ ] Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings: Kind, powerful, magical and mysterious

[ ] Mother Nature:life giving and good but didn’t come inside much

[ ] The North Wind: cold, harsh, impersonal – and bad news when he showed up

[ ] Santa Claus: the person who would give me what I wanted if I was good enough

[ ] Winnie-the-Pooh: warm and comforting, a good buddy

[ ] The Wizard of Oz: big and powerful until you got to know him

[ ] Other:

[ ] None

The questions relating to childhood perceptions of God, relationships and forgiveness hit home for me as I was reading through the book. Even such lighthearted questions can trigger lengthy introspective ponderings if that is where God chooses to place His finger. Other areas will prompt your heartfelt prayers and examination as God leads.

Rather than being a straightforward, back to front, checkmark when you’re done format,Me, Myself and I AM encourages a looser, free-flowing approach to working together with the book. You can start at the front, the back or flip through randomly. Likewise you can enter into prayer during your reflections, fill in just the basics or use the questions as prompts for in-depth journaling.

This title’s value is not merely in filling in all of the blanks to establish a baseline for who you are at a specific point in time – rather there are riches to be found in the process itself. Me, Myself and I AM seems deceptively simple, but when read prayerfully you can expect God to speak to you through the gentle queries and prompts.

Pick up a copy and work through it. Fast or slow – depending upon God’s leading you might sail through in a matter of days or spend several weeks in contemplation. What you won’t want to do is shelf the book once you’ve completed it. Make a note in your long-term planner to pick it up again in one year, five years, ten. Better yet – purchase multiple copies so that you can re-examine yourself at these time posts as you grow in God.

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Publisher Info:

Title: Me, Myself, and I AM: The Story of You and God
Author: Matthew Peters, Elisa Stanford, and Multnomah Books
Format: Hardcover, 96 pages
Publisher: Multnomah Books (October 7, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1601421427
ISBN-13: 978-1601421425

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

The Rose Conspiracy

Harvest House Publishers (January 15, 2009)

Craig Parshall is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the National Religious Broadcasters Association, and the author of six legal–suspense novels: the five books in the Chambers of Justice series, and the stand–alone Trial by Ordeal. He speaks nationally on legal and Christian worldview issues and is a magazine columnist. He has coauthored five books with his wife, Janet, including the historical novels Crown of Fire and Captives and Kings.

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (January 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736915141
ISBN-13: 978-0736915144

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT CHRISTIANBOOK.COM!

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One of the frequently reappearing questions I see coming up on the various homeschooling e-lists and groups that I frequent is, “How do I get my children to help me clean the house?”  Often it is a matter of not having clear, reproducible systems in place.  Children have short memories and shorter attention spans; clear cleaning systems, visual memory aids and fun all help to get the job done and keep motivation levels high.

The team at Trigger Memory: Jennie von Eggers, M.J. Flanagan and Dena Wood have combined their talents for reaching children at their level to produce a set of three Clean ‘N’ Flip’s – cheerful, child-sized flip charts that help children accomplish their chores..  For some time I’ve been thinking about putting together a flipping, pictorial picture schedule.  For my children the combination of pictures and flipping create a sense of accomplishment and provide clear, visual instruction; I’m sure many other children are geared the same way.  The Trigger Memory team has beaten me to it on the chores end, breaking down tasks into child-sized bites in their 8.5” x 5.5” chore checklists, providing lively illustrations and a spiral binding.

The Zone Cleaning for Kids Clean ‘N’ Flip is the flagship of the Clean ‘N’ Flip product line.  Produced on sturdy, laminated pages, it comes with a dry erase pen so that you can get started without delay.  A simple system for cleaning the kitchen, bathroom and living room is provided along with room for additional tasks for certain days of the week.  Different zones can be assigned to specific children (there is room for their name), or children can be paired to work in a specific zone.  The colourful illustrations by Allison Martin make the system easy to use for pre-readers once parents go through the system with them a few times initially.  Interior illustrations, purchasing information and further product details are available here.  When purchased individually Zone Cleaning for Kids costs $17.95, and it will last a lifetime; I’m impressed with the quality.

Printed on heavy paper/light card the Bedroom Cleaning for Kids Clean ‘N’Flip tackles childrens bedrooms.  How, oh how can parents inspire their little ones to clean their rooms?  This is a great place to start.  The simple, illustrated instructions are fun and systematic.  Unlike the Zone Cleaning for Kids you won’t want to use a dry erase marker on this book.  I did tentatively try it in a corner and it came off, but this spiral bound book isn’t laminated.  The pages are designed to flip through as tasks are completed.  General room cleaning, trash removal and bed making are all illustrated and explained in detail.  A customizable list of ‘day of the week jobs’ is provided to meet your family’s specific needs. Interior illustrations, purchasing information and further product details are available here.  When purchased individually the Bedroom Cleaning for Kids Clean ‘N’ Flip costs $7.95 or $12.95 for two (one for each child’s room).  These should last well with normal wear, just keep them away from your teething babies…they won’t be able to handle the love without lamination.

The third title in the series tackles the never ending pile…Mount Laundry!  Recruit your children to help with this task and you may just be able to keep on top of it!  The Laundry for Kids Clean ‘N’ Flip empowers parents to teach their children to assist with the laundry process.  A check box is present at the beginning of each step, letting parents check only those steps they wish their child to complete in accordance with their age and abilities.  Printed on a heavy, glossy paper, this flip chart is not dry-erase compatible.  Black and white illustrations guide children through the entire laundry process from gathering and sorting to running laundry machines, folding and putting the laundry away.  The instructions are fairly general, and customized instruction will be required from parents on running the laundry machines, folding and final destinations for laundry. Interior illustrations, purchasing information and further product details are available here.  When purchased individually Laundry for Kids costs only $7.95 and is similar to Bedroom Cleaning for Kids in terms of wear and tear.

All three Clean ‘N’ Flips can be purchased on any of the detail pages listed above as a package for $29.95/set, a great value.  Here’s to full participation from family members big and small in the housekeeping process.  I’m confident that these resources will enable many families to simplify and delegate chores in their homes, leaving more time for fun read-alouds and cuddles on the couch.

It seems like these things are inevitable.  The extended warranty on our IMac expired…and so did it.  We’re having some technical difficulties again with that machine – hence the lack of updates lately.  We’ve purchased a new computer, replaced the hard drive fan in the old one, but it’s still not up and running.  SO, if you haven’t heard from me in three weeks and you’ve emailed me, please try again – jennifer at quiverfullfamily dot com.  I was extremely ill for the week prior to the computer meltdown and I know there are emails that came to my inbox that I hadn’t had time to check, read or respond to yet.

Thanks so much for your patience.

The story of the world’s first couple – Adam and Eve – appears so early in the Bible that anyone attempting to read through God’s word for themselves gets at least that far. Indeed as a child, I never succeeded in reading through the entire Bible, the Old Testament books of history and genealogy were too dry for me to plow through at that age. However, I did succeed in reading through Genesis on a number of occasions as I took up the goal once again. It’s all over in the first four chapters, chapter five lists the genealogy from Noah until Adam and the next stop is the flood.

Over the past year two authors have tackled Eve’s perceptions of her life from first awakening to the fall and beyond. Tosca Lee released Havah: The Story of Eve in October of 2008, and this month Elissa Elliott debut’s her first novel, Eve: A Novel of the First Woman. Though very little is said in scripture about the first woman and her offspring, she remains a figure of great allure. Being the mother of all living it’s no surprise that she continues to garner such detailed attention. I certainly couldn’t resist the opportunity to examine the first woman from a new angle by reading Eve.

Elliott’s re-imagination of Eve’s life is told through the eyes of three of her daughters and Eve herself; all in first person excepting the account of one daughter. Eve herself twines the threads of story together as her daughters visit with her on her death bed. Sharing their remembrances, their struggles and differences, their memories. All four women look back in time to the summer when Cain killed Abel, a deeply painful and life changing time for the family. Eve’s narrative moves between that summer, her time in the garden, and their early years as a family. Each voice is distinctive, particularly those of Aya, Eve’s crippled daughter, and Dara, her little girl.

The lush, rich writing of this new author entranced me. Eagerly, I gobbled up the first several chapters until serious flaws emerged that would have had me abandoning the book if I wasn’t bound to review it.

When an author lifts characters from the pages of scripture their lives often have large gaps, which the writer then fleshes in with cultural detail, imagined challenges, surroundings and details. To my mind, the information that is clear and present about the character in the Bible should be incorporated as carefully as possible, building a firm foundation upon which to add the flesh of the tale. It’s true that Elliott presents her work more as literary fiction than biblical fiction, but when we’re dealing with scripture, shifting the titles’ designation does little to alter my personal standards. Unfortunately the skeleton upon which Elliot sets her evocative story is weak and wobbly, agreeing neither with scripture nor within itself.

While it isn’t within the scope of this review to point out each event in scripture that was not included or was misrepresented, a brief sampling follows. Eve did not receive her own name until after the fall; prior to that she and Adam were both called Adam. In the novel Eve experiences guilt both before and after eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil; obviously this just doesn’t work. Simple explanations from scripture are bypassed in favour of complex imaginings from scholars as on the topic of conjugal relations between Eve and her husband. The Bible says that Adam knew her after they left the garden; based on the conjecture and traditions of others rather than the Word of God, Elliot shows this intimate act occurring prior to their expulsion.

Several other minor discrepancies are easily noted by those who will read the Genesis account carefully for themselves. However the deal-breaker was when the first couple encountered a pre-existing Sumerian society with a population much larger and technologies far further advanced than their own. In her footnotes Elliott notes Cain’s fear that those who found him would seek to destroy him after his murder of Abel was discovered. Based upon this fear she then goes on to imagine another group of people, though where these people came from is beyond anyone’s understanding and indeed, is not explained within the novel itself, though Eve wonders where they fit in as well.

Unfortunately this is the Scopes “Monkey Trial” all over again. Adam and Eve had many children, their grand-children and great-grandchildren would soon represent a sizable group of people. Rather than accepting the simplest answer, Elliott introduces this misplaced group to lend additional conflict, tension and spiritual uncertainty into the lives of her characters.

The deep doctrinal discrepancies, the addition of other people into this period of human history brings, is addressed nowhere in the author’s afterword, where she explains some of the decisions she made in the novel. Romans 5 tells us that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned, and this group had clearly been breeding and dying for some time prior to encountering Adam, Eve and their children. I could go on, but I’ll limit myself here.

Without doubt Elliott is a strikingly talented new voice, creating emotionally gripping scenes, internal struggles and makes lavish use of rich descriptions. Her writing I love; her story I loathe.

Interested readers can find the updated FAQ’s that accompany Eve: A Novel of the First Woman at Elissa Elliott’s website.

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Publisher Info:

Title: Eve – A Novel of the First Woman
Author: Elissa Elliott
Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 27, 2009)
ISBN-10: 038534144X
ISBN-13: 978-0385341448