When Calls The Heart Deal!!!

I've been given the opportunity to share with you one of the best deals I've heard about in a long time!

It is time to pre-order the "When Calls The Heart" Season 3 Box Set and Fishflix is offering an awesome deal for "When Comes The Heart" fans (AKA #hearties)!

This 10 DVD set contains both the film versions and the TV episode versions. This gives you the option of watching   the series as 10 hour-long episodes  or as 5 feature films! You can test your observation skills by trying to spot the little differences between the two viewing options.

The Season 3 Box set also includes 3 bonus disks! Disc 8 features the typical  bonus material that is included in most boxed sets, BUT Disc 9 was created especially for the fans! It features footage from the #hearties gathering in Vancouver.  The 10th disc is a trivia game (I LOVE trivia!)

But here's the best deal of all: If you preorder season 3 by October 11th, Fishflix will send you season 1 as a gift for FREE!

Fishflix is the perfect place to find all of your favorite Christian movies! Check out the site today!

-Alicia

P.S. I have been offered a free item in exchange for my honest opinion!

Review: VeggieTales: puppies and guppies

 

 

I was contacted by the people at fishflix Christian DVDs and asked if I would be willing to review one of their many Christian DVDs. I was more than happy to accept.

 

When I open my mail box and found VeggieTales: Puppies and Guppies DVD! I was so excited because all of my boys have enjoyed Veggie Tales when they were young.

 

My youngest son and I pulled out the laptop and put the movie in. This is a new version of Veggie Tales that I didn't even know existed but I'm so glad that I do now. Even though my one year old is a little young for Veggie Tales, he watched bits and pieces (especially the songs!). I also enjoyed watching it and my ten-year-old came in and started watching it with us.

 

It's a little different from the classic Veggie Tales yet it still has all the important elements. There's a great moral to the story, there are fun songs, and there are familiar characters.

I would definitely recommend puppies and guppies to anyone looking to add to their Veggie Tales collection or start a new one.

 

Go to fish flix.com and order one today! And if you sign up for the email list, you can get a $5 coupon! Visit www.fishflix.com/5gift or text 5-GIFT to 44222!

THE GREAT BABY FOOD EXPERIMENT: Intro

Hello again! I'm back!  I want to introduce you to my newest experiment...

I have a TON of baby food in my cabinet!  My 16 month old son is no longer interested in eating it as-is because he wants to feed himself finger foods all the time. Well, with almost 100 jars of baby food in the cabinet and 6 containers of baby cereal, I decided to go online and see what ways I can find to use it up.

Follow me in the next few posts and see what I did with this hoard of baby food...

baby food organization tip

Today I wanted to post a quick idea for organizing baby food. A friend of mine have me a ton of food for my little guy but some of it expires this month, some in 2015, and some in 2016. I went through my sticker box and found some old Valentine heart stickers that were perfect for the job. I went through and put the ones that are about to expire in the cabinet and then placed a heart sticker on all the ones that expire this year. Then I placed then in a box under my cabinet. Now I can tell at a glance which ones to use first.

Thoughts on Leviticus 11-15

I know I've been MIA for a while now but since losing my mother in February and having a baby in January, life has been hard. Now that I am enjoying my Summer Break, I joined a Bible study at women living well blog. I joined late but have been reading my daily reading and then one from the beginning to catch up. Now, on to my observations:

Basically this week's readings have been all about cleanliness/legal purity. This is pretty dry reading art first glance but makes you think about purity in the world today.

Morally, we are still so unclean but luckily our lamb has been sacrificed for us. When sin, we are offered instant forgiveness. In the Catholic tradition, we choose to confess our sins to a priest. We are not bound by church teaching to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation for all sins, only those that directly defy the ten commandments. All other songs can be forgiven through personal and private confession although many choose to congress those to a priest as well. This may leave you wondering: Why do Catholics confess to man?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "only God forgives sins" and "since he is the Son of God", he "has authority on earth to forgive sins. Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name" (CCC #1441). In 2 Corinthians 5:20, St. Paul tells us "... we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God".

Also, remember in Matthew 16:19, Jesus says, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.". This means that Jesus transferred his earthly authority onto man (specifically Peter) just as in Isaiah 22:22 when the keys to the Davidic kingdom were transferred. The key is a symbol of authority.

So basically we believe that Jesus handed over his earthly authority to man. One of his main actions while on earth was to forgive sins, therefore we believe that he ordered that some men on earth continue this action in the form of a sacrament administer by a priest.

On a personal level, it is very refreshing to confess sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation. The act of actually having to SPEAK the sins committed is very hard. We can explain them away and make excuses for ourselves in our heads but when it's actually spoken, we have to face it. Also it is freeing. If you read much about human psychology you have probably heard of the importance of speaking about fears and anxieties because sometimes this fees a person from thier internal thoughts. This works for speaking sins as well. Lastly, when we speak to another person who we know will not judge us and will offer advice on how to begin the healing process for this particular sin, it makes us love God even more.

On my way home from my first reconciliation in 2006, I Sat in my car and suddenly a light went off and I realized and spoke aloud, "I just talked to Jesus!". That's what it's all about!

Review: Passion and Purity

Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



At first I was not too impressed with this book, thinking it would be something that I could not relate to. By the end of the book I learned why so many Christian women refer to Elisabeth Elliots books in their own writing. I found this book informational and a generally fun read, learning how she lived a life of celibacy waiting for the "ok" from God. It is a great insight into the struggles of abstinence in real life.



View all my reviews

Book Review: The Catholic Prayer Book

 

Although I am a fairly devout Catholic, I am not a good pray-er. I have been struggling with this for a while and have tried reading tons of different books on the subject of prayer. As a convert, I do not have the background of growing up with praying parents who added memorized prayers to my arsenal to Heaven. Well, now I have finally found a resource to help me learn some traditional  Catholic prayers!

The Catholic Prayer book is a wonderful resource full of prayers for every life event and trouble that a person could go through. There are traditional prayers from the Bible, the Magesterium, and Fathers of the Church. There are also prayers of famous Saints included in this lovely little book. This is one of the most exhaustive resources I have ever seen in the area of Catholic prayer.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Catholic Prayer Book. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Book Review: Saint Francis of Assisi

 

If your children are anything like mine, you probably have trouble teaching them anything about the Catholic faith without their eyes glazing over and their shoulders slouching. Kids today are more interested in the colorful media that is constantly vying for their attention.

In the book, Saint Francis of Assisi: Messenger of Peace, kids will find not only the story of a great Saint of the Church, but a fun graphic novel as well. The illustrations are fabulous and the book is appropriate for children of all ages. As a matter of fact, I gave my copy to my 13 year old son who is going to choose Francis as his Confirmation saint this year. I think that graphic-novel loving adults will also get much enjoyment from this 80-page book.

Not lacking in information, this graphic novel is not the thin comic book of yesteryear. With 80 pages full of colorful illustrations, all readers will feel satisfied. I recommend this book for children and adults of all ages, especially Confirmation students or RCIA students who enjoy the graphic novel approach.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on St. Francis of Assisi: Messenger of Peace . The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Book Review: Road Trip to Redemption

Sometimes I wonder if all of my talk of Jesus and God and Christianity is really getting through to my children. As a religious education teacher, I was often frustrated with the lack of relationship that tweens and teens have with Jesus and I rarely hear my own children refer to a Jesus as someone close to them. This worries me a lot.

This also worried Brad Mathias who authored Road Trip to Redemption: A Disconnected Family, a Cross-Country Adventure, and an Amazing Journey of Healing and Grace
. His life was in shambles until God took over. After reuniting the Mathias family, God alerted Brad and his wife that their middle daughter was in grave danger from her depression. Unbeknownst to them, she had suffered a traumatic experience and kept it all a secret. Finally, God sent the Mathias family on a road trip where each of them would find their personal relationship with their Savior.

At first this book just looks like a chronicling of the Mathias family's experiences. After reading and digesting, this book is a push to all parents to find that one thing that will make God real to your child. Once you have that thing in place, there is better footing for the future of your child's religious formation. My favorite parts were the journal entries, which are unedited. These gave a true glimpse into the lives of the family members as they went through their spiritual metamorphosis. If you are concerned about your child's relationship with Jesus, no matter your religious denomination, I recommend that you buy a copy of this book.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.



Other great resources:

Buy it now: Road Trip to Redemption: A Disconnected Family, a Cross-Country Adventure, and an Amazing Journey of Healing and Grace

Book Review: Come and See Bible Study: Exile and Return

I am on a mission. I have been looking for an affordable and easy to understand Bible Study that is Catholic. I used to love the "God's Word Today" monthly booklets where I would read a little each night so that by the end of the month I had read and digested a whole book of the Bible or Bible topic. Unfortunately, these are no longer being sold so I have been searching for something that was just as easy and something I comprehended just as well.

The Come and See Catholic Bible study is more in-depth than something like the little magazines I used to read but when used as individual study, I found that it is just as simple and even more comprehensive. With this study, you read a little and then answer some questions about the material. When used as a group study, I can imagine that many doors are opened within the group setting and the individuals get even more insight. As an individual, I appreciated that this study covers readings from the Bible and the Catechism. At the beginning of each section there is also a little introductory information, making it a wonderful aid for private study as well as group study.

The Exile and Return package is awesome! I have been wanting to read the "Catholic" books of the Bible and this gave me the perfect opportunity to get started! I haven't finished my study but I am pleasently surprised at what an interesting book Tobit has turned out to be!

Head over to the Catholic Company site and grab a copy of  Come and See:Exile and Return-Bible Study! You won't be sorry!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Come and See:Exile and Return-Bible Study. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.