Scared by Tom Davis

This book is hard hitting and does not hold anything back. It is a harsh reality to read the things that so commonly happen to children in Africa. This story, although a novel, could be the story of any number of children who live in Africa or even Asia. It is often a hard life for children in many countries across this world and if this book doesn't convince you that you need to do something to help, then nothing will!

Tom outlines the life of Adanna, a girl who lives in Swaziland who seems to have wave after wave of terrible things happen around her and to her. It could be her courage or strength or her joy and hope in the face of sorrow that endears this girl to your heart. Whatever the reason you find yourself investing in this girls life. It is much the same with the central character Stuart Daniels. He is a photo journalist who has found himself on this assignment in Africa as a last ditch effort to save his career and maybe even his life. His struggles are laid out brilliantly and you quickly get caught up in this riveting story.

Tom Davis has done a masterful job on writing this book, so much so that it literally transports you into the middle of Africa right alongside the characters. He writes so well that it grips your heart and emotions so thoroughly that it will change who you are and how you look at the world. This book does not inspire guilt but encouragement and passion to get involved with the ongoing fight to help those out there that are not able to fight for themselves, to stand in the gap of justice and do what's right.

This book is a must read for everyone!

Scared: A Novel on the Edge of the World

Author Tom Davis explores today’s most vital social issues in his new international saga

The United Nations estimates the world orphan population to be over 143 million children. Poverty, war, disease, and AIDS are the primary enemies of children across the globe, leaving those who are robbed of their parents at-risk for criminal behavior, prostitution, drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide.

In his debut novel, accomplished author and speaker Tom Davis offers readers a sweeping narrative that explores these most critical social concerns. Scared: A Novel on the Edge of the World (June 2009/David C Cook) delves into the lives of a photojournalist struggling to redeem his past and an African orphan fighting for survival.

Once a celebrated and award-winning photojournalist, Stuart Daniels is reeling from debt, a broken marriage, and crippling depression. The source of Stuart’s grief is his most famous photo, a snapshot of brutality in the dangerous Congo. This haunting image indicts him as a passive witness to gross injustice.

Stuart is given one last chance to redeem his career: A make-or-break assignment covering the AIDS crisis in a small African country. It is here that Stuart meets Adanna, a young orphan fighting for her life in a community ravaged by tragedy and disease. But in the face of overwhelming odds, Adanna finds hope in a special dream, where she is visited by an illuminated man and given a precious gift. Now what seemed like a chance encounter will forever change their lives.

In Scared, Tom Davis, also the author of Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless, weaves a beautiful story of redemption that takes place in a world far away from our own. Readers will discover, along with Stuart, that, “Sorrow is a part of life, but our tears can leave us with clearer sight, if we look to God.”

True “fiction with a conscience,” Davis’ novel is the first in a planned series of three. Narrated in the first person by both Stuart and Adanna, Scared offers a unique perspective on the tragedies taking place in Africa today and encourages readers to step out and help the “least of these.”

Author Bio

Tom Davis is the well-known author of Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless. He also serves as a trainer in leadership development. He holds a Business and Pastoral Ministry degree from Dallas Baptist University and a Master’s Degree in Theology from The Criswell College. He is the president of Children’s HopeChest (www.hopechest.org), a Christian-based child advocacy organization helping orphans in Eastern Europe and Africa. Tom and his wife, Emily, have five children.

Scared: A Novel on the Edge of the World by Tom Davis

David C Cook/June 2009/ ISBN 978-1-589191-02-0/288 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com ~ www.scaredthebook.com

Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove

I absolutely loved this book. It had some seriously heavy topics that it touched on but Grove covered them well and shone a light into this otherwise dark topic that most people turn a blind eye to.

The story begins with being introduced to the main character of the book, Kate attending her husbands funeral. Shortly after she begins to hear the voice of her dead husband. We follow the story with her thinking that she is going insane and not being able to tell anyone about it. Her story seems to go from bad to worse, but through it all she keeps searching for the answers. Though her mind seems fragile she keeps persevering to find the answers that she knows are lurking somewhere in her mind.

This book sheds a great healthy light on how amazingly intricate our brains are and how when we have been hurt it often takes others helping us to get us through. This book is full of grief and hope, horror and humor. It takes you through the roller coaster ride that Kate is on as if you were right there beside her.

For her first novel, I would say it was a smashing success!

Go check out her web site! www.bonniegrove.com Or go buy this amazing, uplifting book from www.davidccook.com or anywhere else that sells it. Let's hope we can convince this amazing new Canadian first time novelist to keep up the good work!!

Talking to the Dead

In her first novel, author Bonnie Grove offers readers a tender, quirky story about grief—and second chances

"Kevin was dead and the people in my house wouldn’t go home. They mingled after the funeral, eating sandwiches, drinking tea, and speaking in muffled tones. I didn’t feel grateful for their presence. I felt exactly nothing,” writes Bonnie Grove in Talking to the Dead (David C Cook, June 2009). “Funerals exist so we can close doors we’d rather leave open. But where did we get the idea that the best approach to facing death is to eat Bundt cake?”

In her first novel, beloved author Bonnie Grove pens a poignantly realistic and uplifting story of hope, grace, and recovery from grief. Grove’s main character, twenty-something Kate Davis, can’t seem to get the grieving widow thing right. She’s supposed to put on a brave face and get on with her life, right? Instead, she’s camped out on her living room floor, unwashed, unkempt, and unable to sleep—because her husband Kevin keeps talking to her.

Is she losing her mind? Kate’s attempts to find the source of the voice she hears are both humorous and humiliating, as she turns first to an “eclectically spiritual” counselor, then a shrink with a bad toupee, an exorcist, and finally group therapy. There she meets Jack, the warmhearted, unconventional pastor of a ramshackle church, and at last the voice subsides. But when she stumbles upon a secret Kevin was keeping, Kate’s fragile hold on the present threatens to implode under the weight of the past…and Kevin begins to shout. Will the voice ever stop?

In this tender, quirky novel about embracing life, Grove patiently walks readers through the depths and mysteries of extreme sorrow after the death of a loved one. As she takes an unflinching look at the mental health industry, Grove’s training in counseling and psychology brings realism and empathy to grief and mental breakdown. While Kate must confront her own loss to find the grace to go on, readers will be led to the God who is always willing and able to comfort hearts in pain.

Trying to win a coffee maker!

Hey guys I have been trying to win a Keurig coffee machine. They are so cool and if you want a chance to win go enter this contest too. http://doublebugs.com/2009/08/01/keurig-platinum-brewer-review-and-giveaway/comment-page-1/#comment-11841

more giveaways

OK, so here I go again trying to win free stuff and giving you a chance to enter the same giveaway too. ... which lessens my chances of winning so how smart am I really? But go anyway and have fun looking at pretty colours of nail polish!

http://theglamorouswahm.com/index.php/2009/07/duri-for-nails-free-blog-giveaway/comment-page-1/#comment-11896

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

In his book Stearns tries to get us to see that North American Christians are not doing what God has called us to do, love our neighbors! Millions of people die every year because we have become complacent and comfortable. This book is a wake up call and a plea for us to not be lukewarm any longer, to have our hearts break with the things that break the heart of God. The need is great and if all of us did our part it could be attained!

I will start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Don't get me wrong, it was often tough to read about the pain and suffering of my fellow sisters and brothers around the world, but it is all stuff that desperately needs to be said! People need to hear this and read this book! I work in this field of trying to care for the poor, orphaned and widowed, albeit on a much smaller scale than World Vision, but it was a great refresher of what God has called me and all of us to.

In his book "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns, the President of World Vision USA,

surprised me at how honest and open he was with his own short comings and failure to realize or answer the call of God, and when he did so, it was with fear and trepidation. Seriously, he admits to just crawling in bed a weeping crying out to God before he finally decides to take the job.

Stearns is a great writer. The book is well thought out and seems to follow a logical flow of information. There are five basic parts 1. A Hole in My Gospel-And Maybe Yours 2. The Hole Gets Deeper 3. A Hole in the World 4. A Hole in the Church and 5. Repairing the Hole.

He starts off the book with several stories of people that he has met in his travels, many of them absolutely gut wrenching to read and had me sobbing by the end. All of the stories are woven together making his points and accenting them well.

Then he cautions the reader that he is going to become more statistic oriented and says that this might turn some of them off, and it did me to some extent. It takes away the feeling of connection with the heroes of the stories he is telling and lets you put them in a box with all the other 300,000,000 people who are in that same situation. For me that always makes the situation hopeless and I get overwhelmed with the enormity of it all, but to have a name and a story of one family in the country, that makes it possible for me to think that I can help. I know I cannot save the whole world but I might be able to save a few.

He does not sugar coat the problems and short falls of the church, but the good news is he does not leave us there feeling chastised. He goes on to say that there are ways we can change and if we all just do our part in what God wants and calls us to do, then this is a problem that can be overcome! He tries to motivate us to truly walk the road that God has called us to walk.

I think that this book is amazing and can roughly be summed up in this quote, "Can you also see that God has provided enough resources for all of His churches to thrive? It's just that they are not distributed evenly - that's our task" (pg 188).

My cup overfloweth

Today I sit here and have had a few days off to relax. Which if you know me, you will understand what a rare occurrence this is. These few days off have come after a short trip to Edmonton for work and QFT. I have been reflecting on how amazing family and friends can be. I am realizing that I have been blessed with a great family. We have had our fair share of ups and downs but for the most part we are pretty tight in our own way.

I have over the past few years begun to have a great respect for my brother, not that I didn't before because he has always been my superhero, but it has been changing and maturing lately. I see him as a man that I respect and love. The only one of his kind, as he is my only brother and no one will ever take that place. With all of the changes in the not so distant future, I am excited to see what God has in store for him.

My relationship with my dad has always been a bit of an effort but even that one has had a few moments over the years that we have shared or connected on a deeper level and I have been pleasantly surprised.

My sister I think will always be an enigma to me. We come from different ends of the spectrum and so we don't get each other. But even she has become softer since her kids have started to grow and have an effect on her life. I love those kids!

My Gran worries me a bit. She will be turning 90 this year and has had an amazing wonderful life, by her own admission. But it makes me sad to think that she won't be around much longer. It makes me sad that I could not find the elusive "man that will take care of you and love you", as that has been her dream and prayer for me for as long as I can remember. She has been a second mom to me all my life. None of my family memories don't have her in them some where, as she has lived with us since I was only six months old. I don't know what life will look like without her. I pray I don't have to find out any time soon.

And my mom... I adore her. She has become one of my very best friends. She is my greatest cheerleader and my measuring stick of all that I want to be. She keeps me in line, or tries to, but does it with love. If I can be half the woman that she is I will be lucky.

Well these are my reflections of my family and where to start with my friends? I have been blessed with many great friends and God has been good. I wish I could gather them all up around me so I could enjoy their company more often. But even the little snippets of time keep me going for long stretches.

Thanks for the love my friends!

And thanks for reading.

Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous giveaways!!

Ok this web site my friend Tara told ma about is so amazing!! They have giveaways for all kinds of stuff!! I am in love.

Check them out they have a giveaway from LUSH one of my favorite stores. There is one that she just listed for Soap Nuts, a product I would love to try as I am allergic to most laundry detergents and all the harsh chemicals they have in them. They also have a cool baby bottle givaway that are made out of stainless steel. So cool looking and made by OrganicKidz!! And a kids clothing line called Squishy Fish, come on with a name like that you know they are cool. One more cool kids clothing line called Redfish kids (what is with kids and fish?) They have amazing clothes and is from right here on my area of the world Vancouver!

HOLY CRAP!!! They have a giveaway on a kids clothing line that the designs are made by tatoo artists like Chris Garver! I have loved this guy for years! Both his art and a bit of a crush on him too if I am being totally honest. I am going to be buying things for all the kids in my life from these guys!!! Ruthless and Toothless is the name of the company and it is amazing!!!

All of these companies are giving stuff away to the readers of this blog so jump on and check it out!!

Seriously!! This is my new favorite giveaway blog!!!