Iran: The Coming Crisis

Well, when I requested this book I thought it was about something very different. I thought it was going to be about the persecution of the church in Iran and found out that it was more about the rapture being near due to things that are happening in Iran and the Middle East. The author's eschatology is different from my own. It was almost like reading something from the "Left Behind" series.

The author looks at all of Iran's resources and political status and sees Old Testament prophecies about the end times. It seems exhausting to be living constantly living in that kind of fear. It is really sad that Iran is in such a state, but instead of reading into the events that are happening over there, we should be praying for Iran that it's leaders will come to know God as their Savior.

The book had a lot of good information about current events. It was written well and easy to read. However, I'm just not sure that it is high on my recommendation list. Mostly because it's not my favorite genre of book.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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.  

The New American Herbal

This encyclopedia is beautifully designed and has oodles of great information. It also includes some really yummy looking recipes. I highly recommend this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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. 

Fluent Forever

     This book was absolutely amazing!! I have loved languages for as long as I could remember, even though I am not that good at them. When I saw this book was up for review, I was very excited. Little did I know how much I was going to enjoy it and learn from it.

I- Great Information:   The information was sooo good! The author walks you through the methods to learning on your own and learning them better and more efficiently then in a classroom setting. If you're already learning in a classroom don't worry you can implement these methods on your own and get more out of the class.

II- The Method is not just for Language Learning: The methods that he describes in the book are not just for language learning, you can use them for any subject. When you are reading about the methods he is describing it easy to think that it's more work then it's worth, then it all starts making sense! And then it's like how did I learn any other way!

III- I Got Inspired: All it took was reading the first few pages of the first chapter and I got excited. I started thinking that I was going to review and learn more Spanish using this method, I am going to finish learning ASL this way (implementing the class I am doing) and that I wanted to try a new language using this method from the very beginning (I chose Dutch). I will definitely keep you all updated on how it's going.

IV- The Only Bummer: The only thing about the book that made me sad is that the author is not a Christian. He swears about 10 times in the book. I highly recommend the book, but I would be selective about who I recommend it to. Parents the learning methods described in the book are excellent, and I would recommend implementing them into your homeschooling (if your a homeschooling parent) or if your child attends school or college implementing it there. However if your children are young or you would prefer they didn't read that just yet, read it yourself and tell them how to use the methods. Besides think how good you will be at it by the time you're done teaching it.

  Now I haven't described what his methods are simply because he does a way better job then I could ever do at describing it. And I think you should check out the book. Also check out his website where he has a lot of information. This book is definitely useful and I can't recommend it enough. Enjoy!



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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.

JAF and Me

     Four years ago today, I attended my first Joni and Friends Family Retreat at Twin Rocks. I had watched a short video on Facebook about camp two weeks before camp was going to start. I thought it looked like a great oppurtunity so I signed up. Little did I know what I had signed up for .

      The first day of training was terrifying. I was homesick, was catching a cold and I didn't really know anybody. It was such a hard week. For almost the first year after camp I didn't really talk about camp, simply because I was trying to process the whole thing. 

        The May before my second year I finally decided that I really did enjoy myself and that I wanted to go back.  I didn't want to go alone this time, so I brought along all of my brothers and several friends from church. By this point I was in love with the ministry and here's why. At Joni camp I was pushed beyond myself phsycally, emotionally and spiritually. I was shown where my love for people had fallen short. I have always had a love for the disability community, but now I love them way more then I did. Some of my greatest friendships happened at camp, everyone from the other STMs to the Families to the Leadership. My life has been so blessed by Joni and Friends that is has become an important part of my life and year. If some summer in the future it didn't work out for me to attend at least one family retreat it will be a very sad year. 

       I am very happy to report that my camper from my first camp and I are very good friends now despite a rough week at camp! I was able to serve her family again last year by being her sisters STM (short term missionary). Over the last four years I have attended seven Joni and Friends Family Retreats in two states. I absolutely love it! www.joniandfriends.org

Kembucha Revolution

                                                              Kombucha Revolution
                                                                             By
                                                      Stephen Lee and Ken Koopman

    This book was beautifully designed and filled with great information about how to start brewing your own kombucha. The author of the book from Portland, OR this was a fun fact to learn because I am from Oregon also. The majority of the book is recipes for making your own kombucha, which is totally great, that's what the book is for, but I would have liked more about the art of brewing kombucha, why are certain things necessary  and that sort of thing. Overall it was a really good book.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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.

My Summer and Joni and Friends

       My summer was absolutely amazing! Earlier this year I wanted to attend 3 Joni and Friends Family Retreats, and by the grace of God I was able to go to all 3! Each camp was different and I learned soo much at each one. I have said this before, but my year would not be complete without going to at least one Joni Camp during the summer. I love all the people at camp. The fellowship is so great.

     The first camp I went to this summer was Mission Springs I in June. I had so much fun during this week, not only because I got to see other STMs and returning families who have become great friends, but also because of my camper this week. We had so much fun together!! We collected over 20 banana slugs, whom we carried around in a 5 gallon bucket. We also played lots of soccer. It was also a week of pushing myself physically. He was a runner, so he would be standing next to me one second and be halfway across the camp the next. I loved the challenge of having a runner, but partway through the week an old leg injury flared up. Several years ago I had gotten shin splints in my right leg, and with all the running and soccer playing it got aggravated. It was such a great lesson in depending on God for physical strength.

     In July, I went back to Mission Springs for the second time this summer. I got to have my camper from last July again! I was sooo excited! We had bonded so much last year, and I was praying really hard that I would get him. This young man has come so far since last year. We had so much fun sharing experiences at camp together! I love his family and him sooooo much. We picked right up from where we left off last year.

    I just got home from my third and final camp for this summer. It was held at Twin Rocks in Oregon. It was bittersweet. I loved being there, but I was already going through camp withdrawals, because I knew that I was going to have to wait a whole year before I could go back to camp again. Throughout this summer I have only had to wait 3-4 weeks between camps, so waiting 52 weeks is way to long. I absolutely loved my camper from this last week! She is one of the sweetest, patient, happy people I know. We went swimming, played on the swing, rode horses, played with wagons and did piggy back rides (she rode on my back not the other way around ;)). She also rocked at the talent show with her sister!
    Joni and Friends has meant sooooooooooo much to me over the last four years. I want to become more involved in disability ministry because of the wonderful, God loving people I have met at camp. I am looking forward to next summer when I can return to Joni Camp, but I am also looking for ways to get involved in my community.
www.joniandfriends.org

Soli Deo Gloria!

Juice

                                                                            Juice
                                                                                by
                                                             de Castro, Gores, Slater

    This book was really interesting!  I had watched a documentary about juicing last year, and it had sorta caught my attention. But this book seemed to explain juicing in very easy to understand terms and to make it really simple to do. Let's take a look at the book!

The Information was Excellent: I absolutely loved how easy to understand the authors made this book. They explained how much nutrition there is in fruit and veggie juices, that we can't always get by eating. There was also a ton of recipes and tips about how to do a juicing cleanse as well as how to incorporate juice into your everyday life.


There was Balance:  In this book they really tried to emphasis  that juicing shouldn't be difficult or an out of balance starvation diet. It was pointed out that juicing should be included as a normal part of a healthy lifestyle. This is really different, because the current fad with juicing makes it more of a starvation diet.




Christian Perspective: While this book wasn't written by Christians, it still had a lot of great points. I would love to see more Christians writing about these subjects. I highly recommend this book!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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. 

Stand Strong

                                                        Stand Strong by Nick Vujicic
This book was so inspiring on so many levels. If you have never heard of Nick Vujicic before, you should look him up on YouTube. He was born without arms and legs, and travels the world as a motivational speaker. His story is really amazing. In this book Nick talks about how to deal with bullies. He talks about the bullies that picked on him in school and how he dealt with them. He also gives some really good advice on how to deal with the bullies in your life.

I. Faith-Based Bully-Proofing
What I really appreciate about Nick is that he is a Christian and he's not afraid to tell you about his faith. In this book he emphasizes the role that his faith had in his ability to deal with bullies. The Christian faith really does give so much hope for those of us who are dealing with bullies or other tough things. I really loved how much he emphasized this aspect.


II. Remember That We Are All Human
This was such a great reminder. Those of us who are getting bullied might tend to think that their bully is not human. They are! They may be dealing with a plethora of  difficult things at once. Maybe they come from a broken home, or maybe someone else bullied them. Whatever they are going through may be showing itself in the way they are treating you and others. Try being nice to them. You might be surprised by what happens.


III. Create a Support System
Again this advice was really great! He recommends doing a couple different things to create support. First he highly recommends gathering the right people around you. This includes your family (and specifically your parents), people at your church (pastors, friends), and joining clubs. These aren't just any people, these are people that you trust and who trust you, they are also interested in what is best for you. And by the way these people who you are looking out for their best interest as well. You will need these kind of people around you in order to overcome bullies. On top of having a good group of people around you, having a solid faith in God is the best support. I am not saying (and neither is Nick) that if you believe in God everything will go great for you. With a good understanding of the Bible and God, however, you will be able to see God's purpose in why you are going through this tough time.

IV.  Let's End Bullying Now!!
 At one point in the book, Nick mentioned the parable of the Good Samaritan. He mentioned it because he wanted to encourage us to be more like the Good Samaritan, by being kind to those who need a good friend. If we are more worried about meeting other peoples needs and loving other people bullies will be less likely to bother us. In fact let's work towards ending bullying now!!


I highly recommend this book!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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. 

Chia Vitality

           I just finished reading Chia Vitality by Janie Hoffman. It had lots of very good information, but like so many other books on healthier food choices and lifestyle changes it had some weird stuff mixed in. This is an area that I would love to see Christians reclaiming. We have handed organic food and natural health options over to the world and now associate all of it with hippies, New Agers, Buddhists etc. Well guess what?! God made all of this first!! He owns the copyright on them, not the world. SO let's take a look at the book.
          I. The Information about Chia Seeds was really good.
              She had so much good information about the health benefits of Chia seeds. Since reading about the great nutrients that they have, I have wanted to get some. They have tons of omega-3s, lots of fiber and way more. It was amazing to hear what they had, and what they could help your body achieve by providing the nutrients that your body needs. One thing I would like to see Christians pay more attention to is eating healthier and thinking about what they are putting into their bodies. By doing this we aren't necessarily  "protecting" ourselves from sickness, but we are taking steps to try and be healthy to better serve God and the Church and our community.
       II. Community.
            Another really cool point she makes is building community. Both by getting involved in different ways, and by buying local. These are both very good things and should be used to the glory of God. But again she pushes this with the view that we are all "connected" with each other and the earth in a "Zen" type way. Community is such a wonderful thing and is a great way to minister to people and spread the Gospel. We are all human, which is something we need to remember, and we do need to connect with each other. We also need to be good stewards of the earth, because God told us too, but we should not worship the earth, check out this documentary film about how we should view the earth. Get plugged into your community and have fun!
     III. Religious Aspects
            This was the most depressing aspect of the book. At one point she says, "I don''t consider myself part of any specific religion, but at the heart of all of them." However, she was really inspired and influenced by Buddhism and some New Age. She pushed finding your "soul" and "soul purpose", as well as practicing yoga and meditation. She also mentioned a couple times that she took yoga classes from a Buddhist lady and that this lady had really mentored and inspired her. And the meditation she suggested doing was really scary sounding. One of the "seed thoughts" that she recommended for meditation was "I quiet  my mind and listen to the innate wisdom of my body." This wasn't only in one section of the book or in just chapter, but it was throughout the whole book and had more then one chapter dedicated to  meditation and yoga. It would be so nice to see a book written about this kind of topic from a Christian perspective, without all of that stuff.
     IV. A Few Last Positive Notes
          A couple of things that I really appreciated throughout the book was that she was talking about eating healthy with a main highlight of the Chia seed. She pointed out that it is important to check out the ingredients of your foods, to buy organic and non-GMOs. All of these are great things and are smart choices, but she also points out that you need to stay within your budget! Making healthier food choices, but staying within your budget is really good advice. Another thing that I thought was a good suggestion that she made was keeping a gratitude journal. This is definitely something that we as Christians should be doing.
     I really enjoyed the book and thought there was some really good information, but there was some things that I didn't like.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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.

A Few of My Favorite Books

               Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I love to look around bookstores and libraries for fun. My all time favorite bookstore is Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon. I think I could live at that bookstore. With summer approaching, I thought I would share some of my favorite books with you all.

                                                           Book #1: The Secret Garden

I love this book for a couple reasons. First it's one of the first books I remember reading. Secondly, I remember reading it and then watching it with my cousin one summer. It was our obsession for 3 whole months. This one and A Little Princess were our life that summer.

                                                             Book #2: End of the Spear

Books about real people especially missionaries have always been high on my list.  This particular book is no exception. I love the story and how God's providence and grace shines through it. Another one that I share with my cousin, thug in its movie form and during a different summer. Well needless to say I started to cry and so did my cousin. It's a remarkable story.

                                                                  Book #3: Pearl Maiden 
This such a wonderful book, set during 70 A.D. and the fall of Jerusalem. It's about a young Christian woman who falls in love with a young Roman Soldier, and it follows their story from just before the siege of Jerusalem through the siege a little bit after. It is a historical fiction, and you do have to wade through the first couple chapters before it starts getting exciting, but I highly recommend it.

                                                               Book #4: Joni and Ken
Hands down one of my absolute favorite books.  Not only for the great message and inspiration that the Tadas are, but because of who gave it to me. Every summer for the last 4 years I have gone to Joni and Friends Family Retreat and last year one of my campers gave me a copy of this book, with a special note inside.

            These are only a few of my favorite books, I hope you liked them. Check out my other list of books that I really enjoy on my other blog Thoughts From Oakdale. What are some of you favorite books? What books do you plan to read this summer? What's your favorite bookstore? Please leave them in a comment below. :)

Welcome!!

      Welcome to Confessions of a Red Head! I am a 22 year old, red headed young woman, who lives at home, sells essential oils through Young Living, I am the oldest child in a family of 6 kids, I love going to Joni and Friends Family Retreat, and I write for Thoughts From Oakdale. Following is a list of a few of my favorite things. Except for the first thing on the list they are in no particular order.
     
                        A Few of My Favorite Things
1. My Siblings: I have 5 siblings. 3 brothers and 2 sisters. There is an 18 year gap between me and my youngest sibling. I have the best brothers and sisters ever. Just saying. Hands down the best.

2. Reading: I love to read. I love a good book and blog. As far as books go I love anything by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters (although I don't read very much of them, because I lose sleep if I do), L. M. Montgomery, and Frances Hodgeson Burnett.. That is the short list of my favorite books, but I will do a longer list later. Some of my favorite blogs include The Pioneer Woman and Wellness Mama.

3. Music: I play the violin. And I love it!!  I started taking violin lessons when I was 14. I play in a small group called All Manor of Music, and of all the groups I have played in this one is my favorite. My favorite musicians are Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn and Lindsey Sterling.

4. Essential Oils: Yes. I like them a lot. It seems to me, we as society have let these amazing healing oils go without a good fight. Why wouldn't we want to use something that not only helps us get healthier but also protects us from any future sickness and helps make our bodies better. Instead of using conventional medicine that is only a band aid for the symptoms, try using essential oils that will actually help the problem. I am not against using modern medicine, but I think that there needs to be more acceptance of natural medicines and that the two can both used. Certainly not the use of the one to the exclusion of the other. Check out my other blog for more on this topic.

5. Joni Camp: I would live at Joni Camp if I could. Every summer Joni and Friends hosts Family Retreats where families affected by disability can go and get a week of respite  and I go as a buddy/counsler. I am attending 3 Family Retreats this summer. Check out more about Joni and Friends ministry and why I love Family Retreat.


This is just a little about me, and I hope you enjoyed it. What are you doing this summer? Let me know in the comments below.