Radical By David Platt

Radical is a book about giving up the "American Dream" and taking back your faith. David Platt uses this book to challenge you to look with an open heart to become Jesus' disciple. Then David urges you to do the Radical Experiment.
First let's just say that the beginning of the book I could of done without, barely kept my attention. David has a tendency to ramble then I would have to say he goes way to far into preaching. Preaching to sell and give up everything to help the poor. Something he isn't willing to do. He has become famous from having a Mega Church in Alabama, living in his house and driving his cars. That's his sacrifice?  But in his book I am to sell everything I have to help the poor. What happened to, "Practice what you preach?" I would rather David teach me instead of preach to me, this is a book, not a sermon.
I do find that he is correct about Christianity having a blind spot in materialism. I find where I live that is a major problem. I live close to a Mega Church, with Mega money! The congregation drives those SUV's, and BMW's and such while carrying Louis Vuitton purses. Is that really necessary? I found that I just didn't fit into that kind of materialism. I felt looked down upon because I don't have either in my possession. I do think some Christians need to reevaluate the things in life that are really important. But I'm not here to judge at all. I don't know how much they tithe or help the poor. I just hope that they do if they are driving around in there nice cars. We live pay check to pay check and some months barely make ends meet. We still find some money to tithe, give to causes we believe in and I give much of my time to volunteer. Yet, I don't feel like I need to sell all my belongings.

Now, I did find that towards the end of the book I liked it a lot. David gets into talking about the Radical Experiment.
This experiment is to take one year and do the following:

1. Pray for the entire world
2. Read through the entire word
3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
4. Spend your time in another context
5. Commit your life to a multiplying community

I have been struggling with what to do in life recently and one of them was to go on a mission trip. I found that this book has grown my passion even stronger. Did God put this book in my path to make my decision?
I do plan on taking this Radical Experiment for the next year and see how it betters me and my family.
I don't find this Radical Experiment to be so Radical. Isn't this pretty standard for the Christian faith anyway?

Watch Radical Video here

I do recommend the book especially if you are in need of a faith boost. If you are up for a faith challenge!
Have you read the book? What do you think of it?

I also have a review on this book here.

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

Just Sayin'

I have had a long day today but couldn't resist the blog world. I'm sitting here with no one home, I should be enjoying the relaxing piece and quiet, right? I'm not really, I have a splitting headache for the second day in a row and I feel like crap. I just found this bit of truth blog and I just love what she posts. So I had to share.

 

I am determined to achieve many things these days and today I found myself on the treadmill running next to a man and another women. They were both running faster then me and I kept thinking I need to beat them. Why? To prove I'm a better runner? A couple minutes later I just couldn't keep up and I thought to myself I have my own goals I don't need to beat there's too. I went at my own pace and ended up running longer and more miles then they did. So this one speaks to me often.

Teacher's Valentine's Gifts

I wanted to do a Valentine's gift for my kids' teachers this year and I wanted to attempt Royal Icing again (Try #3). So I decided on Heart Shaped sugar cookies.

I bought some Wilton snack bags with ties and added 3 cookies each. The boys will hand these to there teachers at the V-Day parties.

I'm happy with the way they turned out!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.....Take 1

On my quest to do more baking, I asked my kids what they would like most. Of course they always give the same answers, Doughnuts! I didn't feel like making doughnuts today so they said, Cinnamon Rolls!
So I thought for a moment and decided that yes, I would master making homemade cinnamon rolls just for my boys, and just like my mom did every Christmas morning.
I started my baking mid morning and it went like this

Looks good right?

Wrong...After all my hard work on these, I forgot to let them rise one more time before putting them in the oven.
I'm so embarrassed by the way they turned out I refuse to post a picture. The filling ran out of the dough and hardened underneath. The dough was hard as a rock too. The boys and I tried to eat one but no luck.
Homemade Cinnamon rolls are hard! I'll try again in a few days.
My quest to become a Pastry Chef is looking pretty bad, maybe I need to stick with the cupcakes!

2011 Goals so far

I said before I don't make New Years resolutions but I do make myself lots of goals. I feel if I put my goals on my blog you can all hold me accountable. So here is what I have so far. (I wrote this a few weeks ago and hit save instead of post).

January: No drinking alcohol, no buying any either

February: Complete a Pastry Class, start up bible study again, Start saving for a honeymoon, and be debt free,
Also see February goals here

March: Run St. Patrick's Day 5k, End being a Pampered Chef Consultant
April: Take rock climbing lesson
May: Run Cherry Creek Sneak
June: Visit my Parents in AZ, Complete my 2nd 14er

Homemade Heart Decor

To try and bring more hearts into my Valentine's Day decor, I made a Felt shaped heart for my front table.

 I found this foam heart on clearance at Micheal's for like 30 cents or something, it was perfect!

 I used my Pampered Chef biscuit cutter to form circles on my felt. Then I cut out like a million circles.

Tada, after pinning and re pinning, I really like how it turned out! I already have my next felt project in the works, so stay tuned!

Julie and Julia By Julie Powell

I want to start off by saying I just love this book cover! This isn't the book cover I got from the library, I got the large print book and the cover is ugly.
Julie and Julia is about Julie a 29 year old turning 30 who lives in a small apartment just outside New York City. Julie is in a dead end job that she hates, so she decides to Master the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 by Julia Child as a way to reinvent herself.  Julie starts a blog to write about making 524 recipes in 365 days in 1 small apartment kitchen.
I liked Julie and Julia, what a great book. Being that I am a foodie and I blog,  I felt like this book was written just for me. It kind of gave me a kick in the pants. I won't be making half the things they made, I will never DE bone a duck or make aspics but I do want to try and make tarts and lady fingers. The amount of butter and oil used in the dishes made me a little sick to my stomach. I couldn't imagine not gaining weight after the things she made.
I did watch the movie when it came out first, but that didn't ruin anything for me. I actually may feel different about the book and movie then most. I think the book was better then the movie! I don't know if it's because of the annoying voice they gave Julia Child in the movie or Meryl Streep bugs me and I cannot stand Stanley Tuchi. But the book really made me feel like I was there in the small kitchen with Julie as she cooked, the details were amazing.
I do recommend the book especially for a foodie! I think I have my next blog post...Tart, Ladyfingers anyone?
Did you read the book? What did you think of it?
xoxo
-N