he can't actually hear you

emma was standing by me as i opened up an email from daddy... i said "emma, daddy says he misses you." she leaned in toward the screen and said softly "thanks, daddy!"

Fierce Beauty {Book Review}

Fierce Beauty
by Kim Meeder


“You were not created to be a princess of entitlement, but a warrior, fighting to bring love and hope to the world.”

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

True beauty is not about how you look…but how you live.

Women are constantly bombarded with the lie that how we look is far more important than who we are. It’s time for a clarion call back to the truth.

Journey with gifted storyteller Kim Meeder as she encourages women to see that true value is defined by our Creator and that our worth has a purpose of eternal proportions.

Real beauty isn’t a look, it’s an action. It can be found by making one crucial, life-defining choice—to lay down personal ambitions and selfish desires, pick up your sword of encouragement, and fight for those who are losing their battle for hope. As you do, fierce beauty is revealed—along with lasting value, fulfillment, and joy.   

In Fierce Beauty, Kim shares inspiring true stories from her own life of adventure, love, and loss—including her parents’ shocking death when she was nine years old and her struggles with self acceptance, knowing God, and standing for Him. Through it all, you’ll discover life lessons about trust, transformation, surrender, forgiveness, and genuine purpose.

Ultimately, life comes down to one question: Will you serve yourself or your King?

MY THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed the format of this book: personal accounts of different moments in the author's life followed by practical application of biblical truth.  Fierce Beauty is an easy, thought-provoking read for the new Christian as well as the biblical scholar.   I love seeing how God clearly works in the lives of His people and this book was a great demonstration of just that.  Using real-life accounts of God's work in her life through adventure, tragedy, personal friends, and just the everyday tasks of life Kim Meeder has put together a wonderful compilation to inspire the reader to live for God and to display His glory to a fallen creation.

Read an excerpt here.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

sorry, Baby Jesus

Jackson!  Take Baby Jesus out of your mouth!

Christmas Greetings!

Merry Christmas from the Sharbaughs! The text at the bottom of our Christmas greeting is from the song "Celebrate the Day" by Relient K. You can listen to the whole song via youtube embedded below (lyrics are also posted below that). Enjoy!

Celebrate the Day  {Relient K}
And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know 
How much You've touched my life

Because here is where You're finding me, 
In the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time that You opened Your eyes 
Did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And the first time that You opened Your eyes 
Did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare 
The things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And the first time that You opened Your eyes 
Did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And the first time that You opened Your eyes 
Did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

encouraging words to keep up the good fight

God's aim in our pain. "Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator." 1 Peter 4:19


Thanks, John Piper.

The Love & Respect Experience [Review]

The Love & Respect Experience
A Husband-Friendly Devotional that Wives Truly Love
Dr. Emerson Eggerichs


About the Book:
In a nutshell, this book is a devotional for couples touching on 52 "hotspots" in a marriage.  Each devotional is only about 3 or 4 pages long making it an easy book to read in short chunks.  Very approachable.  This devotional is based on Dr. Eggerich's larger volume "Love & Respect."

My Thoughts:
I felt the subtitle was pretty annoying, but if you can get past that into the meat of the information it's worth the ten minutes each chapter takes to digest.  The information is definitely helpful for the woman to see the man's point of view and vice-versa stemming from the fact that we are wired differently.  If anything, this book would definitely be helpful as a conversation-starter between man and wife.  Overall, it would be beneficial for married couples at any stage of the game. However, if you are looking for an in-depth study on how love and respect between man and wife are intricately woven into the marital relationship, the larger volume would be a much better resource.  This book would also make more sense if read after Love & Respect.

BookSneeze® has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

NLT Drawing Giveaway

Just thought I'd share!

Starting on November 29^th until December 24^th at the New Living Translation Facebook page we're giving away lots of great prizes and something free for you just for singing up.

By visiting the giveaway entry page (located on the NLT Facebook page, the link is under the profile picture) and entering your name and e-mail address you'll be entered to win the following prizes:

• One random person each day will win a Life Application Study Bible Family Pack (Guys Life Application Study Bible hc, Girls Life Application Study Bible hc, Student's Life Application Study Bible hc, Life Application Study Bible hc, Life Application Study Bible Large Print hc).
• One Random person each week will win an Apple iPad 2!

Everyone that signs up gets a free download copy of the Life Application Bible Study – Book of Luke!

It's a miracle!

Jackson is holding a piece of the play nativity set---emma took it and walked across the room saying "now walk to  baby Jesus.  Walk to baby Jesus!"

wise deductions

daddy tooted while working on the floor.  jokingly, he  immediately blamed emma.

Emma: I didn't toot.  That was a loud one and I don't do loud toots.  and neither does mama.  it had to be daddy.

cold and partly cloudy

Watching the weather during the 12:00 news...

"Wow... she looks really cute today! Don't you think she looks really cute, Mom?"

malpractice suit?

Emma (excuse me... Rapunzel) and her husband Eugene have been having lots of babies recently.  Let me stress once again...her HUSBAND Eugene.

"Mom, I've got to go to the doctor and get my baby out!"

[from what I could see as she ran around the corner, she laid down somewhere on the floor and pretended to have the doctor take the baby out of her belly--we recently saw an episode of the Duggars where the mom had a C-section, so at this point, no hard questions have been asked about the whole baby escape].

A while later, she came up to me and handed me a washcloth. "Here.  You need to wash this because my baby was all bloody because they didn't wash him when he was born."

Mama: They don't sound like very good doctors.

Emma:  No, they are good doctors, but sometimes they just forget.

john's december desktop

included: a picture of our first december together.

Soundtrack: Savior, Please {Josh Wilson}

Savior, Please {Josh Wilson}
Savior, please take my hand 
I work so hard, I live so fast 
This life begins, and then it ends 
And I do the best that I can, but I don't know how long I'll last 

I try to be so tough 
But I'm just not strong enough 
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me 
I try to be good enough 
But I'm nothing without Your love 
Savior, please keep saving me 

Savior, please help me stand 
I fall so hard, I fade so fast 
Will You begin right where I end 
And be the God of all I am because You're all that I have 

I try to be so tough 
But I'm just not strong enough 
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me 
I try to be good enough 
But I'm nothing without Your love 
Savior, please keep saving me 

Hallelujah 
Everything You are to me 
Is everything I'll ever need 
And I am learning to believe 
That I don't have to prove a thing 
'Cause You're the one who's saving me