Review and Giveaway: Their Name is Today

About the book:
Softcover / 192 pages

“If you want to glean insights into how to raise and influence children to be more compassionate and considerate, more courageous and confident, more independent, secure, and unselfish; if you want your children to be more loving and joy-filled, then get reading!” —excerpt from Mark K. Shriver’s Foreword (President of Save the Children Action Network)

Despite a perfect storm of hostile forces that threaten to deny children a healthy, happy childhood, courageous parents and teachers can turn the tide. Yes, we can reclaim childhood, says Johann Christoph Arnold, whose books have helped more than a million readers through the challenges of education and family life. In Their Name Is Today, he highlights drastic changes in the way our society treats children. But he also brings together the voices of dedicated parents and educators who are finding creative ways to give children the time and space they need to grow. Cutting through the noise of conflicting opinions, Arnold takes us to the heart of education and parenting by defending every child’s right to the joy and wonder of childhood.

About the author: Johann Christoph Arnold
A noted speaker and writer on marriage, parenting, and end-of-life issues, Arnold is a senior pastor of the Bruderhof, a movement of Christian communities. With his wife, Verena, he has counseled thousands of individuals and families over the last forty years, as well as serving as an advisor at several innovative private schools. Arnold’s message has been shaped by encounters with great peacemakers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Cėsar Chavez, and John Paul II. Born in Great Britain in 1940 to German refugees, Arnold spent his boyhood years in South America, where his parents found asylum during the war; he immigrated to the US in 1955. He and his wife have eight children, forty-four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. They live in upstate New York.

Acclaim for the author:

“A much-needed message not only for South Africa, but for the whole world.” -Nelson Mandela, on Why Forgive (one of Arnold’s books)

“In this book we find a message needed today in every part of the world.” -Mother Teresa, from her forword to Sex, God, & Marriage (one of Arnold’s books)

“Written in a way that is easy to grasp…indeed, very beautifully.” - Pope Benedict XVI, on A Little Child Shall Lead Them (one of Arnold’s books)

Official Website: http://www.plough.com/en/ebooks/t/their-name-is-today


I so appreciated the author's advice throughout the book. Put away the screens, spend TIME with your children, get rid of the screens, get out in nature with your children, put the screens away, read a book with your children...I'm sure you catch my drift. Children don't need screens...they really don't. And to top it all off, we could do without them as well. Can you imagine how much less worry and stress we would have, if we weren't tapped into world news 24/7 and instead spent time with our children and saw things brand new from their eyes?! I was challenged by this book to put the smartphone away and play with my children. Not just homeschool them, but just be more available for casual chats instead of hushing them, because I'm talking to someone through text on my phone...or through facebook. I like my friends, but my family DOES need to come first. I would love to see all families read this book, even if you think you have a good handle on limiting screentime in your home (like I did), I know this book will challenge you to go to deeper relationship levels with your children and with Yahweh.

Yup, I would love for you to win this book! So leave a comment below and that is your entry to win! I will only be checking comments and entering you that way for the draw, so come back daily to enter!


"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Giveaway Time
We will be giving away a copy of this book! The draw will be held on Nov 11th, 2014

1. Leave a comment. This can be done daily.
2. Post about the giveaway on your Facebook or Twitter, please do this one, I would really appreciate it. I will give you 5 entries if you do this one, just post the link in a separate comment.
3. Sign up for my RSS feed to hear about other giveaways and other stuff when I find time to post, leave me a comment letting me know that you did, or if you already are signed up.

Review and Giveaway: Overrated

So I agreed to do a review on this book, when I still lived in a house on an acreage. I thought, YES! This book sounds exactly like what I need to read right now. Here's the write up on it.

About the book:
We all want to change the world, but as pastor Eugene Cho found out, it takes more than just desire. It takes action. In this personal confession he encourages readers to discover a practical discipleship that begins with the recognition that changing the world starts with changing ourselves.

Many people today talk about justice, but are they living justly? They want to change the world, but are they being changed themselves? Eugene Cho shares his story, a messy, painful story of being more in love with the ideas behind the actions than counting the cost and being a world-changer in action. Because everyone loves justice and compassion, but few have taken it upon themselves to truly live it out in their own lives. Cho is still on that journey to discover what it means, and invites readers to join him.

About the author:
Eugene is the founder and visionary of One Day’s Wages, a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty. He is the founder and senior pastor of Quest Church, an urban, multicultural, and multigenerational church in Seattle, Washington. Eugene and his wife, Minhee, have three children.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying this book. It is challenging, even though we are currently living quite simply already. September 1st we moved out of our rental home on a beautiful acreage and found ourselves homeless due to the crazy housing market. So like Eugene Cho and his family, who opted to go couch surfing for 3 months, we have been camping and staying at my inlaws house for the past 5 weeks. It isn't easy.

One of my favorite chapters thus far has been, "Shut up, Listen, and Pray". In this chapter, Eugene shares the following statistics:
"-Parents spend an average of about 3.5 minutes a week in meaningful conversation with their children.
-An average child spends 1'680 minutes (that's 28 hours per week) watching television.
-The percentage of households that have at least one television is 99 percent, and in fact, the average TV household owns 2 1/4 TV sets.
-The percentage of US homes that own three or more TV sets is 66 percent. Wow, that's a lot of TVs.
-The percentage of Americans who regularly watch television while eating dinner is 66 percent. " pg88-89

These statistics made me glad I homeschool as well as not own a tv. Yes we still watch netflix on occasion. But where we are camping there is no internet or a cell signal for that matter. We are truly living simply. Connecting with our children and disconnecting from the material things. Downsizing from a 4 bedroom house to a 12'X14' tent and now in a 30ft motorhome, I'm realizing how much excess we still have. Like really, I don't need more than 2 or 3 skirts or shirts. It is purely for vanity's sake that I have more. This book also continues to challenge us in our attitudes. Are we going to simply whine like the Israelites did or are we going to face things head on and seek Yahweh for provisions and shelter?! This is the perfect book for me to read during this time in my life. It has helped me to realize that it is easy to talk about living simply and giving to those in need...it's quite another to actually live simply (with a good attitude) and give to the needy. Now I never grumble about giving to those in need...but it's hard to find them when you are out camping in the wilderness.

I highly recommend this book to all who love the Lord and desire to walk the way Jesus walked. It WILL challenge you, though. You won't set the book down unchanged.



"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Giveaway Time
We will be giving away a copy of this book!

1. Leave a comment. This can be done daily.
2. Post about the giveaway on your Facebook or Twitter, please do this one, I would really appreciate it. I will give you 5 entries if you do this one, just post the link in a separate comment.
3. Sign up for my RSS feed to hear about other giveaways and other stuff when I find time to post, leave me a comment letting me know that you did, or if you already are signed up.