The IE Mommy

That first garden can’t start growing without the perfect starting point: a healthy seed. Author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Seed Saving and Starting Sheri Ann Richerson walks readers through the important techniques from harvesting, cleaning, and drying to properly labeling and storing seeds. The book reveals:

•       The secrets of seed saving that explain why store bought seeds aren’t always the best option
•       Tips for starting a new garden without blowing a budget
•       Disease and pest control

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Seed Saving and Starting answers any and all questions gardeners may have regarding the seeds to plant. According to Richerson, a bountiful garden flourishes with the use of proper tools, healthy soil, pest control and sowing.

My Thoughts

As a mom of three kids I find it important to provide them the healthiest food possible. With food prices higher than ever it’s difficult to budget enough for the regular food, let alone the prices found on the organic aisle. Recently my husband and I started talking about starting a garden and growing our own produce. But with no experience or understanding of what it would take, it remained just a pipe dream. You can only imagine my excitement when I received a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Seed Saving and Storing to review. Finally I had a place to not only get started but to keep my garden continuing for years to come.

The book is broken down into six parts covering the basics of getting started, harvesting and storing seeds, germinating and sowing, building your seed collection, and a great seed directory. I found every piece of information both invaluable and encouraging. My husband and I are ready to start and maintain our own organic garden and we feel that we have the knowledge to do it thanks to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Seed Saving and Storing.

Jo~
Review Crew

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jillian Kent is a busy writer and the alter ego of Jill Nutter, a full-time counselor.

Jill spent the first semester of her senior year of college at Oxford studying British Literature, where she fell in love with England. During this season, she came to appreciate the written word, the rich imagery of romantic poetry like The Highwayman, and historical novels of many types, including Jane Austen and all things Regency.

Jill received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Bethany College in West Virginia, and her Masters Degree in Social Work from WVU, and she brings her fascination with different cultures and societies into her writing.

Jill has always been a romantic at heart, so readers will find a good dose of romance woven through each of her novels. Jill, her husband Randy, and children Katie and Meghan are animal lovers. They currently own two dogs, Boo-Boo and Bandit and a menagerie of cats, Lucky, Yuma, Snow, and Holden. Critters of all assortments make their appearance in her stories.

ABOUT THE BOOK

How much can you really know about someone?

Lady Victoria Grayson has always considered herself a keen observer of human behavior. After battling a chronic childhood illness that kept her homebound for years, she journeys to London determined to have the adventure of a lifetime.

Jaded by his wartime profession as a spy, Lord Witt understands, more than most, that everyone is not always who they pretend to be. He meets Victoria after the Regent requests an investigation into the activities of her physician brother, Lord Ravensmoore.

Witt and Victoria become increasingly entangled in a plot targeting the lords of Parliament. Victoria is forced to question how well she knows those close to her while challenging Witt’s cynical nature and doubts about God. Together they must confront their pasts in order to solve a mystery that could devastate their future.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Chameleon, go HERE.

Cravings is a collection of card-size devotionals based on the Psalms. They are written to help mothers develop their relationship with God in the midst of motherhood.

Each card contains a scripture for the day, a “thoughtlet,” and an action idea. As moms crave the sweet morsels from God’s Word, they can draw a card from a delectable Cravings holder—a pink cupcake!—that also displays the daily card for hands-free viewing. Versatile enough to fit with any feminine décor in a dining nook, a prayer closet, a kitchen–wherever you‘d want Scripture at your fingertips. If you find you need Cravings around the home, just one may not be enough!

Cravings can be a mom’s daily devotional, a supplement to her regular quiet time, or even doubled up during the day. The set of 40 cards offers over a month’s worth of Cravings in whatever way serves the spiritual needs of individual moms.

My Thoughts

What’s a mother to do? Life is fast. Kids are faster! It seems that the world never stops or slows down once you become a mom. Showers and bathroom stops seem to be the only breaks you can get and that’s only if you LOCK the door.

Thankfully Carey Bailey understands the craziness of being a woman and/or a mom. She also understand the need we have to be in the word and lean on God, His wisdom and His guidance.

I was immediately drawn to this adorable set because it was accompanied by a card that actually made me cry. I guess I need a bit of love in that moment and Carey’s personal card definitely hit the spot. Thank you Carey.

The devotional is the cutest little cupcake that makes a sweet addition to your decor in your home or office. It’s simple, whimsical and purposeful.  There is a card for each day…just enough of a bite to keep you thinking and contemplating God’s word but not so much that you are overwhelmed at the thought of using it daily.

If you or a loved one…is finding themselves busy, stressed, or disheartened…rest assured that God’s word and Carey’s format will be day and soul brightener.

Christine
The IE Mommy

We all go through times when we feel insignificant or times when we feel certain that we have experienced a degree of failure from which there is no return. This is not a reality we experience alone, but is one that a man after God’s heart experienced as well.

In “A Heart Like His,” Beth Moore looks at this bond of mutual love and admiration between a man who was not unlike any of us and the one true God who is all good and all powerful. The book is an exploration of David’s incredible life, drawing spiritual insights from a man who boldly fulfilled his divine destiny not merely by what he did, but who he loved and served.

Bringing lessons from David’s life to bear on your own, this picture of a man who loved and followed God will help you to serve with a heart focused on Him no matter the circumstance.

About the Author:
Beth Moore is a best-selling writer, teacher and founder of Living Proof Ministries. Her numerous books and Bible studies, including “Breaking Free” (B&H Books), “Believing God” (LifeWay Christian Resources), “The Patriarchs” (LifeWay Christian Resources) and most recently, “James: Mercy Triumphs” (LifeWay Christian Resources) have been read by women in Beth Moore Bible study groups all over the world. Her Living Proof Live conferences have reached women in all 50 states in the United States.

My Thoughts

In March I started a Bible plan and began reading the book of Samuel at the beginning of the month. When I had the opportunity to read a Heart Like His by Beth Moore I was excited. The life of David was such a beautiful example on how we should live each day. His heart was pure and David was thankful to the Lord even when his life was in turmoil.
Each chapter starts with a Psalm and ties it to the part of David’s life that it relates to. This book helps get a better understanding on how David went from tending to the sheep to being a King. It chronologically goes through David’s life and the ups and downs that he faces all while still having a heart for the Lord.

This book really came at a time in my life when I needed it. I often forget to really be thankful when things are going good. It seems as though we are always leaning on the Lord only when there is turmoil in our lives, when we should constantly be thanking the Lord for everything. This book shouted it out to me in many ways.

We are never alone and we should love God just as he loves us. 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 points out some real truths that we must never forget.

He is my strength when I am weak.
He is my rock when I am slipping.
He is my deliverer when I am trapped.
He is my fortress when I am crumbling.
He is my refuge when I am pursued.
He is my shield when I am exposed.
He is my Lord when life spins out of control.

This book helped me remember that it is what is in our hearts, not what is on the outside and a Heart Like His shows us how to look in our hearts just as David did.

Michele
Review Crew

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dineen Miller readily admits that one of the greatest lessons she’s learning about life is that there’s purpose in our trials. It’s all about trusting God and putting our hope in Him. Her favorite stories are of the miracles God has wrought in the lives of her family.

Through this lens she also believes her years as a youth counselor, a Stephen Minister, a women’s ministry leader, and a small group leader fuel her desire to ignite the souls of others through words of truth.

In addition to writing for Spiritually Unequal Marriage, Dineen has won several prestigious awards for her fiction, and her devotional writing has been featured in Our Journey and Christian Women Online Magazine. She’s also a C.L.A.S.S. Communicator and has been featured on the Moody Radio Network, Family Life and Focus on the Family Radio.

Married for 24 years to a guy who keeps her young, she lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two adult daughters, who surprise her daily with their own creativity.

She is the co-author of Winning Him Without Words: 10 Keys to Thriving in Your Spiritually Mismatched Marriage and the author of The Soul Saver.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Trusting God Is the Only Way Out

On an average day, God started her missions in her sculpting studio, revealing the face of the person she would meet at the grocery store, bank, or playground. The goal was always the same. Reach the lost, bring someone back to God, restore hope. But then came the tough missions—the ones that sent Lexie Baltimore into real battle. And she had a few battle scars to show for it.

Tormented that she can’t reach the one person she loves the most—staunch atheist and husband Hugh—Lexie finds her own hope waning when the battle comes to her doorstep in the shape of a pastor who represents everything she wants and everything her husband is not—a godly man.

Then false accusations and rumors spin her husband and family into a precarious position, and the only way out is to trust God. But how can she convince her husband when she’s struggling to trust God herself?

This time Lexie is the mission.

ENDORSEMENTS:

“Never before have I felt as if I were seeing someone’s life play out across a page until I read Soul Saver. Dineen Miller’s prose had me sighing at the beauty of her word pictures. This is not a book to be missed – Life changing!”

— Robin Caroll, author of the Evil series and Injustice For All

“When you combine stellar writing, intriguing characters, and a fascinating plot the result is a story like Soul Saver. It’s the kind of novel I wish I had written.”

— James L. Rubart, bestselling author of ROOMS, Book of Days, and The Chair

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Soul Saver, go HERE.

My Thoughts

It will only take you a page or two to be totally engrossed in this book.  Soul Saver is definitely a page turner. As a Christian, I believe there is a Devil that is seeking to destroy the “good” we do in our lives and the impact we make on the world. But in Soul Saver…you’ll see a clear, active Satan that is working hard to destroy the live of Lexie Baltimore and those she loves.

As I was reading the book…I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have the kind of intimacy Lexie experiences with God in the first few chapters. To hear His calling and His voice so loudly that it compels you to “create” His message to you.  Pondering that as I read gave me the urgency to find out the rest of her story.

As an author, Dineen Miller, is masterful at creating just enough image to feed your imagination without overpowering your thoughts with images of her own. The authors I enjoy the most are those that don’t load me down with descriptions of people and places. I’m intelligent…I can create the person in my own mind…if you can create the right words and Dineen does so expertly.

You will not want to put this book down. Your pages will not turn fast enough and you’ll be enthralled. As a book reviewer…it seems to be harder and harder to impress me, but The Soul Saver certainly did. Without a doubt a must read.

Christine
The IE Mommy