"360* Life - Ten Ways You Can Live More Richly, Deeply, Fully" by Billy Joe Daughtry ~ Book Review and Giveaway!!

What if you only had a few days to live?

Would you love?

Would you laugh?

Would you give?

Would you live differently than you do right now?

--Billy Joe Daugherty

That's how this book begins...
The idea of a 360* life, is that we start with God, enter the world, touch others during our brief stay here, and then finally complete the circle to enter eternity with God!

The really interesting thing about this book, is that the author did not live to see this book in print. Sadly, his own brief journey here on earth was over before it was published...which is in itself, a testimony to the fact that this earthly life, is only temporary.

I took my time reading this book, and was once again struck by the way God chooses to get my attention while I'm reading...with everything else going on in my life at the same time, (He tends to do that a lot with me). One of the first times I sat down to read this book, I ended on page 65 where the 23rd Psalm is printed in its entirety. The very next day, I went to a tea party at church, (a REAL tea party, not one of those political ones), where the pastor's wife opened in prayer. She read us the 23rd Psalm! Of course many of us have heard that psalm numerous times in our lives...I was just struck by the "coincidental" timing of it.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a new bible study, "Becoming More than Just a Good Bible Study Girl." The night before, I'd been reading page 21 in this book, about David and Goliath and "Rising Above Your Circumstances" and facing your own giants. There is a video that goes along with this study...yes, in the video that day, she talked about the story of David and Goliath. Imagine that.

Chapter 6 is called "Hearing God's Voice" and talks about learning to hear His Still, Small Voice. The topic of our sermon LAST SUNDAY, was "Be Still and Know That I am God," and was about that very topic. In fact, on page 91 the book talks about 1Kings 19:12, where God sent a strong wind, a violent storm, an earthquake and finally a fire. God's voice was not contained in any of those things...but in a still small voice. Yup, that's what we heard on Sunday too. Coincidence??

So what am I hearing God telling me to do these days? He's telling me that I have been put here on this earth for certain specific tasks...and that I need to learn to listen to Him, and hear His voice, so that I know exactly what it is I am supposed to be doing. He wants me to know that not only did he create those works for me to do, but that He also created ME to do them! He wants me to know that I am loved my Him, and that I should trust in Him, and not worry or be fearful about things. He wants me to pray for my needs with faith and thanksgiving. Believing in my heart that He will provide...

As a matter of fact, I believe I'm going to read this book...one more time. I know there are things in it that I have already forgotten... My memory has never been great.

If you would like a preview of this book, you can download the first chapter here. 360* Life is available at WaterbrookMultnomah.com, BarnesandNoble.com and ChristianBook.com. I would also like to give you, my wonderful readers, an opportunity to win this excellent book. All you need to do, is leave a comment after this post. You can come back and leave one comment each day for more chances to win. I will do a random drawing on May 15, 2010. Make sure to leave me a valid e-mail address, so I can contact you in the event that you are the winner. Good Luck!
Include the FTC disclaimer: This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Jannessa and Drew, Who Knew??

About a year and a half ago, I blogged about the "small world" we live in, in a post called, Coincidental Connections. One of these "coincidences" was the fact that my niece, Jackie at one time had a little boy named Joey as one of her first foster children, along with his younger sister, Kryssy. Joey eventually went to live with his father, here in P-town, and about 10 years later, I met him again at my church, after I moved here...but I didn't put two and two together at that time. Well, Joey just HAPPENS to be very good friends with Drew, who is the son of one of my very good friends, Lisa, (QTPies7).

And now, you're thinking, "Okay, but you've told us all of this before, you really ARE losing it now, aren't you? What's the big deal??" (I'm TRYING to make a long story short...but it's not working). Stick with me... after having had Joey and his sister, Kryssy in her care, my niece took in a set of three siblings, Tiffany, Jannessa and Timmy...and then she adopted them all, along with (eventually), Joey's two biological half-sisters, Kryssy and Lily. Anyway, before Joey left for the Marines, in July of 2008, Jackie had a party for him, and invited his friend, Drew. Here's a picture from that party:

For reference, the guy bending over, comforting the little girl in this photo, is my brother, Bob. Directly behind Bob, is Lisa's son, Drew. Then L to R, Kryssy and Joey. In the right-hand corner, (with the date across her chest), is my great-niece, Jannessa. I don't know if this was the very first day they met, (I think Jackie said Joey had brought Drew to their place for dinner before this), but it was right around that time. Now....the big deal is... almost exactly 1 year and 11 months later, Drew and Jannessa will become HUSBAND and WIFE!! Therefore, my friend, Lisa and I will soon be related...sort of... Here's the happy couple:

(I borrowed this pic from Lisa's blog)

Lisa is having a lot of fun helping the bride and groom get everything ready for the wedding, and I think it's pretty cool, knowing the entire wedding party myself. They're having all of their siblings involved in one way or another, and since I happen to know them all, it should be a very fun wedding for me to attend. Now, just one question...which side of the church do I sit on, the bride's, or the groom's??? Lol!

Coincidental Connections?

I've heard it said that everyone in the world is connected by 6 degrees or less. Ever since I started attending our church here in P-town, about 7 years ago, I have run into people there that have some kind of connection to me and or my family. Granted, they are all Minnesota connections...but are pretty much spread throughout the state, which leads me to believe that everyone in MN is connected by only one or two degrees. Here are all the ones I can think of off the top of my head...

1. There is a woman named Mary Lynn, who went to Apollo H.S. like I did, (about 30 miles away from here), I didn't know her then, but her brother, Gary was in my homeroom. He and I graduated from there way back in 1976.
2. I moved to Rice, MN in 1985. A few years later, someone named Brian moved into the house directly across from us with his 6 yo daughter, Charissa. Brian is a brother to Bob...who is married to Mary Lynn, (see above coincidence), and his daughter and my daughter, Jessica have been bff's for over 20 years now!
3. My sister, Kathy did not go to the same H.S as I did, Mom and Dad had moved by then, so she went to Rocori. Jody, who is one of my best friends from church went to the same school, her sister graduated with my sister in 1987.
4. My kids did not go to the same H.S. as I did either, they went to Sauk Rapids High. Another one of my best friends, Sarah attended the same school and at the same time as my oldest son, Jeremy.
5. Sarah is married to Terry. Terry's mom, Cheryl was a Cubmaster in Staples, MN at the same time I was a Cubmaster in Rice, MN. Coincidentally, we have discovered that their family and mine attended some of the same family camps at Parker Scout Reservation, and that Terry and his brother played together there with my two sons, Jeremy and Joel.
6. A couple of years ago, while I was on the 30 year reunion committee for my class, one of my classmates, Dave, came to a meeting and said that his son had been in a terrible skiing accident and asked if we would keep him in our prayers. At the time, I was going to a bible study at the home of a friend from church named Lyn. During our prayer time, I brought up wanting to pray for Dave's son. When Lyn asked what their last name was...we discovered that she actually sorta dated him for awhile before either of them met their spouses. They had met at a completely different church near the twin cities.
7. Then there's the man named Tom from our church. It turns out, his parents, (who live in Brainerd, MN), are very good friends with my parents, who live in Cold Spring, MN. They belong to the same antique truck club, with his dad being president of the club. My dad is the vice president, and my mother the secretary of this club.
8. Now this one may be the weirdest...About 11 years ago, my niece Jackie, started doing foster care. She took in two siblings to begin with. Their names were Joey and Krissy. She had Joey for about a year and a half, and Krissy a little longer. Eventually, Joey's dad got custody of him and they moved here to P-town. Unbeknownst to me, I have known Joey for the past 5 or 6 years from church. I never put it together, since he had a different name back then, and I hadn't seen him in a few years. Oh...and get this, Joey's best friend's name is Drew, who just happens to be the son of one my very best friends, Lisa! So now Joey has graduated from H.S. and is going into the Marines and Jackie, (who is now in the process of adopting Joey's 2 sisters), had a party for him on Sunday. Here is a picture of some of my family with Drew and Joey in it. (back l to r), Drew, Joey's sister Krissy, Joey, his cousin Kim, Janessa's boyfriend. (front l to r) my brother Bob (bending over), my nephew Tiegen, nieces Katie, Sarah (holding Elizabeth) and grand-niece, Janessa. Just think, I was Joey's foster great-aunt for awhile!

What do you think of all these little "coincidences"? Every time I find a new one, it just confirms for me that I am right where God wants me to be...at least as far as church is concerned, that is.