I can’t tell you how excited I was to learn of Kathi Macias’ new Christian fiction series Extreme Devotion from New Hope Publishers. The first two titles in this new series are actually New Hope’s flagship titles for their new fiction line, and if the first book in the series No Greater Love is anything to base expectations on for the rest of their fiction line, readers have great things in store for them!

No Greater Love takes us to apartheid South Africa in the year 1989 (slightly before Nelson Mandela was released from prison). Orphaned children of African National Congress (ANC) activists, Chioma and her brother Masozi now work on an Afrikaner family farm where they are treated with some degree of kindness. When tragedy strikes, and Masozi is killed in an act of random race-related violence, Andrew Vorster (the farm owner’s soon) finds himself mysteriously drawn to the sad, angry girl

Their burgeoning innocent love has terrible consequences, and Chioma finds herself on the run, harbored by a violent rebel band intent on finding revenge for the wrongs done to their people. As God reaches out to her in the midst of her pain, she finds herself confronted with a difficult decision that holds life and death in the balance.

The Extreme Devotion series takes readers into the heart of Christian lives where difficult decisions are being made for Christ. In the face of persecution, oppression, and opposition, these believers walk with the Lord through these trying circumstances. Not only do we see this tension played out in the characters lives, but all sides of the story are so believable. Lest I give the impression that this is only a love story, sensitive readers should be aware that there are violent scenes of conflict realistically portrayed within the text – disturbing, yet based on historical facts.

It would be so easy for Macias to have villainized some of the characters, but she never does; writing with true integrity. I have read books dealing with racial inequity that just make the slavers into demons, no in between ground, but all of Macias’ characters are real, complex, and breath with traits both noble and ignoble, regardless of which side of apartheid we find them on. She in no way approves of apartheid, and presents it as a travesty, but through her writing we can see each character her pen touches as a soul in need of a saviour, and she leaves us with some hope.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series More than Conquerors. Look for my review next month!

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW AT CHRISTIANBOOK.COM OR AMAZON.COM!

For the past few days our family has been battling a virus of some sort. My two little girls (almost 2 and 4) have been violently ill – throwing up, loose bowels, the whole thing.  I’ve nearly lost my voice and have a sore throat.  Thankfully my husband and oldest daughter aren’t ill…yet.

However, I haven’t been able to get my reviews written for posts that are due today – my apologies.  Having been up at all hours of night and day with extensive vomiting (sometimes 12x/day for my little girl) from two girls (EEK!) etc. I’m totally wiped.

Please accept this apology for any delays on my part.

We’d also greatly appreciate any prayers on our behalf.

CONTEST CLOSED!

Congratulations to Chrystal our winner of the Wonder Hangers!  I’ve just emailed you, but please get back to me within 72 hours or a new winner will need to be chosen.  Thanks to all who entered, you can look forward to another new contest soon!

This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Wonder Hanger for this review.

When I received our set of eight wonder hangers in the mail I thought – gee, these look kind of cheesy. You know…in that “I saw it on TV” kind of way. But, in all honesty – they work! Our family has one closet for clothing (coats included!), and three children, so any kind of space-saving closet device is right up our alley.

Basically, it’s a simple concept, each Wonder Hanger has five ‘slots’ that you can hang any kind of hanger in, then you unhook one of the Wonder Hanger loops and it collapses down into a nearly flat position (depending upon the bulk of your clothes.)

My seven-year-old is in love – she’s just discovered the joys of hanging clothes in the closet and has transferred much of her wardrobe onto our Wonder Hangers – now I’ll need to buy some more for the rest of us! They really have freed up more space, and we needed it!

The Wonder Hangers support up to 20 lbs. of clothing each, and with one package you can hang up to 40 garments!

You’ll find Wonder Hangers at major retailers like WalMart, Target, CVS etc. for $9.99 per package, or you can buy them online from Wonder Hanger themselves – if you buy one there, you get another for free, you just need to pay another shipping and handling on it. You can also buy it at AMAZON.COM for around $9.30 per package.

Thanks to Wonder Hanger I have a package of 8 Wonder Hangers (retail value $9.99) to give away to one blessed US reader!

CONTEST DETAILS:

I have 1 set of Wonder Hangers (8 included) to give away to one blessed winner in the U.S.!  To enter, visit Wonder Hanger online and tell me something you learned there!

For additional entries:

1. Subscribe to this blog for updates – see the left hand sidebar. Leave an additional comment letting me know you’ve subscribed (or if you already subscribe).

2. Write a post on your blog promoting and linking to this contest. Leave an additional comment with a link to your post.

3. Add the Quiverfull Family button (see the code box in the right hand sidebar under BUTTON UP!) to your blog’s sidebar, or let me know if you already have the button displayed. Leave an additional comment with a link to your post.

4. Digg, Stumble, Tweet, Facebook or otherwise share this post on a social networking site. Leave an additional comment indicating how you shared this post.

5. Follow me on Twitter or let me know if you are an existing follower.

Each additional step taken counts for 1 additional entry. A total of 6 entries are available if you complete all of these steps. Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

The contest will close at 12 a.m. MST on Sunday, May 09th, 2010. One (1) winner will be randomly drawn for the Wonder Hangers on Monday, May 10th, 2010 and notified by email. Please fill your email address in the comment form when you are completing your comment so that I can contact you. The winners must respond with a mailing address within 72 hours of my email, or a new winner will be chosen. This contest is open to those living in the US.

I look forward to seeing God bless a reader with this neat prize!

I just wanted to write a quick post to our blog readers who are newly subscribed – thanks for joining us!

Today I’ve been catching up with some posts that have been in the pile for a few days, so I apologize for the large influx of the written word in your blog feeder or email inbox today!

Normally I have one to two posts per day, one of which is generally a book review . I hope the rapid posting today isn’t off-putting, and I hope you enjoy your visits here!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Bliss Living. All opinions are 100% mine.

After browsing through some of the popular jewelry styles available for Mother’s Day at Bliss Living Jewelry it quickly became clear that many of the jewelry styles are designed for mother’s of one or two children. Some of the silver pendant necklaces come with one or two pendants with a large price increase for each additional pendant you require.

Since I already have three children on the ground and one on the way, I’m not too interested in investing in a permanent piece of jewelry that gathers and names all of my children right now, I’m hoping the Lord will bless me with more! For large families coming to the end of their fruitful years, I did find a Birthstone Tennis Bracelet that’s a great choice for a Mother’s Day gift!

You can choose up to ten different simulated Austrian crystal birthstones to be arranged in order.  Because we believe that children are a blessing, I love this representation of them as little ‘gems’ that we can carry with us.

Bliss Living Jewelry is also offering free shipping on orders over $99, but you’ll need to order soon (May 1st) or get rush shipping if you’re counting on Mother’s Day delivery .

We’re back from our monthly shopping trip o the city, and as always have brought home a bunch of goodies that we need to find homes for.  My four-year-old daughter has been saving up for a bike for over a year, and on this trip we found her a sweet little bike just her size that was on sale for $30 off!  We did some clothing shopping for our oldest daughter (7), and the girls bought some VERY fancy dresses with some of their ‘fun account’ money – they were on sale too (we bought baby a matching dress too, she doesn’t have her own money yet).  I’m going to try to get a picture of all three of them together!  They split up their money into several categories – wealth, planning, fun, learning, and charity (we have a program for kids that helps with this), and they haven’t spent a lot of it over the past year and have a lot saved up!

I’ve  never tried a memory foam mattress, but I do have a pillow made out of this unique synthetic material.  It squishes to form your body – and this apparently is because it self-adheres when exposed to heat – like body heat!  With our family having some latex allergies, it’s good to know that neither a memory foam mattress or a memory foam mattress topper are made out of latex (which is a naturally occurring rubber.)

Being newly pregnant and looking forward to many more months of pregnancy one of those memory foam mattress topper s sounds so good at the moment.  Sore hips, sore back, contoured memory foam mattress goodness…

Ahem.  More pressing however is my need to replace my ‘between-the-legs’ pillow that is terribly flattened – I need a new poofy one!

We’ve never had the kinds of large rooms that you can fit all sorts of optional but fun bedroom furniture into, but we’ve always tried to make the best use of the small spaces we’ve had to work with.  One of my favorite pieces of bedroom furniture is the bookcase – I know it isn’t classically considered bedroom furniture, but for a bibliophile like me, it’s essential!

Some overhead units for beds that replace headboards incorporate some bookshelf space, but my sweet husband made me a full bookcase that we mounted at the head of our bed – might seem a strange piece of bedroom furniture, but hey – we need all the book space we can get!  We also have beds, dresses, night tables etc. but my over the bed bookcase is possibly the most conversation-generating bedroom furniture we own!

My four-year-old needs a new mattress, so we’ve been keeping an eye open for one.  The mattress that came with her bunk-bed is very ‘springy’ feeling.  When you put weight on it you can feel the springs inside it – of course she’s light, so she doesn’t mind, but still – I’d like a better mattress for her.

I’m keeping my eyes peeled for a good deal on a mattress in the Ikea As-Is room (sometimes you get great finds there!) because we aren’t in a rush.  Still, she is sleeping well, and no complaints from her – maybe I’m just being overly fussy when it comes to mattress quality!  I have been known to be opinionated!

If you have a few minutes to take a 10 question survey from the Carrier’s at Values Driven Family concerning the use of supplemental (non-curricular resources) in your homeschool, they’ll give you a download to one of their $1.95 convention audios for free!  This only takes a few minutes (I’ve filled mine out!)

So drop by their survey here and let them know what you think!