{Book Review & Giveaway} Persecuted by Robin Parrish

About The Book: The Question Is Not IF Attempts Will Be Made to Limit Religious Freedoms, But When

The most popular evangelist of his day, John Luther, simply wants to share the Gospel and enjoy a quiet life with his family. He never asked to be at the center of a political controversy, but an ill wind has been blowing through the halls of Congress, and supporters of a new religious-equality bill see Luther's endorsement as critical. But when Luther refuses to lend his support, he unknowingly sets in motion an explosive plan bent on destroying his reputation and undermining everything for which he stands. His once-normal life is turned upside down as he becomes a fugitive left with only one dangerous option--putting everything he holds most dear at risk while he fights to expose the truth. It is a mission that brings him face-to-face with the coming storm of persecution that could threaten the very fabric of our nation's freedoms.

About The Author: Robin Parrish is a journalist who's written about the intersection of faith and pop culture for more than a decade. He's also the author of Offworld and The Dominion Trilogy . Robin and his wife and children live in North Carolina. Visit Robin's website...www.robinparrish.com/

My thoughts:
I get easily annoyed by politics so I try to stay out of that type of discussion as much as possible. I'm pretty conservative though and grow more so each and every day. I really don't think it talks a poly-sci major to see the way things are moving in our country. Frankly, I find it a bit unnerving at times. 

This is one reason I was intrigued by this book's concept. It poses an interesting scenerio. The government is trying to push through a bill called the Faith and Fairness Act. A bill that would make all religions equal. None would be above the other. It would all be fair. It's a nice concept on the surface, but there is a darker side to all of this and the protoganist, John Luther, finds it all out first hand when his seemingly wonderful life is turned upside down. 

I started this book on a Thursday morning and had it finished by Saturday morning. I would have had it finished sooner, but there was a holiday in between. It was a page turner that had me guessing all the way to the end. It was impossible to predict the ending.

This book was written based on a movie by the same name that is coming out on July 18th. I'll be hoping it comes to a theater near me. I'd love to watch it.

If you like thrillers and, in particular political thrillers, then I think you'd enjoy this book. You can view a sample on the author's website. 

Would you like to win your own copy? Please leave a message below (if you are reading this on Facebook, you can leave a message there), telling me the title of a recent book you really enjoyed. I'll pick a random winner on August 25th. Please be sure to read the fine print below regarding the contest. 

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.

{ABC Blogging} I is for Inspiring

In an effort to be more consistent in my blogging, I decided to jump midstream into Marcy at Ben and Me's weekly Blogging Through the Alphabet link up. This week they are blogging about Letter I.

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Anyone following me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest has probably seen all the posts I've been putting up about the Experiencing History Through Music books and CD's by Diana Waring. As part of the launch team, Diana has been sharing some of the wonderful back story to how this curriculum came about.

From Diana herself:
Sometime in the mid 1990s, the partnership that had produced "America," "Westward Ho!" and "Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder," decided that it was time to let a "real" publisher take over. So, we signed contracts with a company that was quite large in the homeschooling movement at the time. We were excited to have others taking over the day-to-day details, as I had moved from the Portland area to South Dakota, and this was going to make things so much easier for us all.

However, when this business went bankrupt in the late 1990s, something happened that was past my comprehension. I still don't know why, but when they declared bankruptcy they simply threw everything in the dumpster—including our masters. When I heard this, it utterly devastated me. These wonderful projects were gone, and to reproduce this again seemed too hard without the audio masters. Between having to start over from scratch with all of the images and graphic design and having no audio masters, I thought the entire project was gone forever.

People would ask us about them from time to time, as they had read about them, or heard of them, or had owned the original cassette tapes, but we always told them sadly, "I don't think they will ever come back into print."

Then, several years ago, Gena Suarez of The Old Schoolhouse contacted me to see if we might have any remaining stock of this product. She had heard of a family who had gone through a fire and lost everything, and her company was trying to help them rebuild their lives. I guess that the mom specifically talked about these American folk music in history books/audios, and this prompted Gena's call to me.

I contacted the former partner who owned the recording studio to see if he, perchance, had somehow saved the audio files to digital. At the time, Tad was quite busy with other things, but he told me that he thought he might have saved a FEW songs. Since it didn't sound promising, I thought it was probably a dead end. And I was sad all over again. It seemed like such a waste of a really fun product, that families had thoroughly enjoyed for years!

And, of course, these were the first books I had ever written. . .

Why I tried again two years ago is a mystery to me. I just took the notion to contact Tad once more and ask if he had discovered whether or not he had saved any of the songs. This time, as we talked, Tad realized that there were possibly some ways he could "pull out" the recordings from the antiquated DAT machines. However, he was in the midst of some medical issues, and was not sure how much time he would have to devote to the project.

It took two years. And then, suddenly, I had an email in my inbox. The songs had ALL been digitally restored, remastered for CD, and were ready to go!! I could hardly believe my eyes. After fifteen years, these products were going to have a new life.

I can hardly describe what this means to me, personally. But, maybe I can share with you what happened a few months ago to illustrate. Our business phone rang one day, and a woman began excitedly talking to my husband. As he heard what she was saying, he suggested that I would like to hear her story directly. When I took the phone, this is what she said:

"Diana, I met you fourteen years ago at a convention. When I told you that our family absolutely LOVED 'Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder,' you told me what had happened when the publisher threw your masters away. You asked me to pray that somehow it would all be restored. . . And, I have been praying!! Each time I walked by the cassette tape, I was reminded to pray. . . for FOURTEEN years!!"

She went on to say that she had just read on social media that the products were coming back into print, and she was so excited to see that her prayers were finally being answered. Together, we shared a few tears and a few amazed words of joy at what was taking place before our very eyes.

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I'm very happy to be part of the team that is helping to launch these remastered, updated editions of that product that was thought to be lost. I'm one of the moms who has seen the cassette tapes kicking around at used book sales, but didn't buy them because they were on cassette tapes.

Now having listened to many of the songs and read the stories that go with them, I'm so thankful that a new generation of children (and parents!) will once again enjoy Experiencing History Through Music.

A full review of the curriculum will be coming next week. And don't forget to enter the huge giveaway that is currently going on!

Diana and Friends Experience History Through Music Giveaway --- $700+ Value!

A few years ago I was blessed to participate in writing reviews of various homeschool curriculum. I really enjoyed getting a sneak peak. I was recently blessed to be able to jump on to a new review group.

The reason I jumped? We are launching a new product for none other than Diana Waring. I first heard about Diana and her world history curriculum a few years in to our homeschooling journey. I love her enthusiasm and the way that she presents her materials. Needless to say, when I heard that I had the chance to preview her newest offerings, I leaped at the chance.

Some of you may remember Diana's musical history ::cough:: cassettes that were around, well, when cassettes were the only option one had for playing music. She has since updated that particular product, now on compact discs, and added in some very cool books to go along with them.

A full review of those items will be coming up at the end of the month. Experiencing History Through Music by Diana Waring will be launching the week of June 30th, so be watching for a full review of it. Hint: It's awesome!!

 

To celebrate the release of Experience History Through Music, I am joining members of the Diana Waring Launch Team for an amazing giveaway. Friends of Diana have joined in and as you can see, someone's homeschool is going to be greatly blessed!  Here's what you could win! 

From Diana Waring Presents

Experience History Through Music - set of 3 books with CDs ($50/set) Diana Waring Presents is about to bring back into print the BEST folk music you have ever heard, combined with the fascinating stories they represent in American history!   The Experience Music Through Historyseries includes: America - Heart of a New Nation, Westward Ho! - Heart of the Old West  and Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The musicians are amazing, every instrument is real, lots of great vocalists, and more toe-tapping music than you can imagine! The books tell the stories behind the songs.  Together, they bring American history to life through it's music!!With fascinating history books and toe-tapping folk music CDs, American history has NEVER been this fun!

 

Encouragement for Homeschool Moms Collection ($25) Every mom needs that word of encouragement from someone who has been there, who has grownup children and can speak with assurance about the journey. Homeschool moms have an extra portion of the journey to navigate, and often wish for an extra voice that will offer direction but without nagging or prodding. Diana Waring has that voice.  

From A Journey Through Learning

$50 Gift Certificate $50 to spend in the A Journey Through Learning store, applicable toward any digital download purchase.  

From Homeschool Legacy

Westward Ho! Part I ($19.95) Load up your wagon! Discover the extraordinary times of adventurous frontiersmen and brave pioneers as you travel cross-country along the Erie Canal,  Oregon Trail, and even “remember the Alamo” in Westward Ho Part I. Westward Ho! Part II ($19.95) Continue the exciting saga begun in Westward Ho! Part I as you journey with the forty-niners, ride the rails of the Transcontinental Railroad, experience life on the prairie, and discover the exciting era of cowboys and cattle drives in Westward Ho! Part II.  

From Knowledge Quest Maps

Map Trek: Atlas and Outline Maps of World History ($55) Map Trek is a historical atlas plus outline maps that allow you to teach geography alongside history. This is a resource that any homeschool parent can use with brilliant success, even if you don't remember a thing from your history or geography classes in public school.  

From Home School Adventure Co. 

Philosophy Adventure™ Digital Download ($39.95) Philosophy Adventure™ is designed to help students 6th-12th grade cultivate and defend a biblical worldview by teaching them how to write skillfully, think critically, and speak articulately as they explore the history of ideas.  

From Heidi St. John (The Busy Mom and Real Life Press)

Firmly Planted Family Devotional Digital Volume 3 ($39) The Firmly Planted Family Series is divided into ten-week studies and is your key to making sense of the Bible—even if you’re learning right along with your children. Each lesson provides a core idea, a simple narrative, memory verses and discussion questions for children of all ages. And the companion student workbook is filled with age-appropriate, full-color, reproducible activities for children of any age!  

From Raising Real Men

Free Registration to Boyhood Boot Camp or Boot Camp 9-12 LIVE webinar series (winner's choice) plus Mom & Dad Special Raising Real Men (Book for Mom to read in the bathroom + AudioBook for Dad to listen to on the commute) ($62-69)

 

Free Registration for Marriage Retreat Online plus His & Hers Special of My Beloved and My Friend: How To Be Married To Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses (book + audiobook), ($65)  

From Institute for Excellence in Writing

$50 Gift Certificate $50 to spend in the IEW store, applicable toward any purchase.  

From The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

SchoolhouseTeachers.com ($139) A one year membership to the curriculum arm of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Nearly 100 classes for Pre-K to High School, taught by expert teachers, and lots of extras including the Schoolhouse Planners, Schoolhouse Expos, monthly free ebook downloads and more.

 

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine 2014 Print Book ($15) Be encouraged, enlightened, and educated with the all new 2014 Annual Print Book published by The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.You’ll get a year’s worth of homeschool support in almost 300 pages in this full color one-of-a-kind print magazine for homeschoolers, by homeschoolers. This is a magazine you’ll refer to again and again.  

From Writing with Sharon Watson

The Power in Your Hands ($53.96) With The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School, they’ll learn what they need to know for high school and will be prepared for college writing.

 

Writing Fiction [in High School] ($35) Are you raising the next C. S. Lewis or Jane Austen? Help your student develop their fiction-writing talents. Writing Fiction [In High School]: Bringing Your Stories to Life will help your students develop their fiction-writing talents with Writing Fiction [In High School]: Bringing Your Stories to Life.

 To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter below. Residents of the U.S., age 18 and older only. Other Terms and Conditions can be found in the Rafflecopter. a Rafflecopter giveaway

And the Winner Is....

Sorry for the delay in picking a winner.....

Using Random.org and assigning numbers to all who entered via blog comments as well as Facebook comments (I used the time stamps to assign numbers in the order folks entered....)....the winner is.....

Jeannine P.!!!

Congrats, Jeannine! You have won an American Bible Challenge T-shirt as well as a Quest Study Bible!

And the winner is.........

The winner of The Crossmaker DVD from See the Light is.............

Tara S. - Congrats, Tara!!!! ;-)

Once again there are a few other blogs also offering up this DVD as a giveaway. They are listed below:

Ends 4/14

• A House Upon a Rock
• Footprints in the Butter
• Tumbleweed News

Ends 4/15

• Pondering on the Prairie
• Joy in Our Journey

Ends 4/18

• Guiding Light Homeschool

And the winner is.............

Sorry for the delay! The winner of the above prize package from the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest is...........

Jessy from Our Side of the Mountain! Congrats!!!!

Please e-mail me your mailing address so I can get this out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered!

2010 Gratitude Challenge - November 22 (contest winners announced!!!)

Today I am thankful for photography. I love how it allows me to be creative and capture life around me. I have been interested in photography since my mid-20s. Actually long before that but on my 28th birthday, my hubby bought me my first SLR camera. It opened up a whole new way of looking at things. Just this past summer he bought me my first DSLR and I'm having even more fun capturing life.

Recently I opened a store on Etsy called Berry Patch Creations. Earlier this month I hosted a giveaway of three of my prints. Today my boys helped me pick the winners.

Winner #1 is......Stephanie at Wild Crickets

She won the "Fairy House" photo.
 

Winner #2 is Ashley K. 

She won the "Nature's Paintbrush" photo.

Winner #3 is......Christine at Our Homeschool Reviews

She will be sent the "God's canvas" photo.

Thanks to all who entered and promoted my new store. All winners have been notified and have claimed their prizes. I will be posting a Black Friday sale later in the week.

I have an idea

A little bit ago I started a store over at Etsy. It's called Berry Patch Creations. I have some of my photos there for sale and I'm starting to add some verses to a few too, although only one is up at the moment.

So I have this idea. I'm thinking of doing a giveaway.

This post is just to put you all on notice. I want to get the word out about my shop. I can think of no better way then to have a bunch of my blogging internet friends to help me spread the word.

Be watching. I ordered some prints yesterday and they have already been shipping. Once they arrive, I'll be posting my giveaway. Do you want to win? Well, who wouldn't!

Neat New Products!

    

I love, LOVE using the Apologia Elementary series of science books. They are written from a wonderful Biblical worldview & read like the author is sitting right next to you reading them out loud. Have I mentioned how much I like these?

Jeannie Fulbright certainly filled a wonderful niche in the homeschooling community that was sorely lacking (of course that's just my opinion but I hold to it). But she just made it all so much better!

Taken from her blog:

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available. You can see samples on the Apologia website here:

Astronomy or Botany.

These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal. 

Each of the notebooking journals include:

• A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
• Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
• Review Questions
• Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice 
• Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
• An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
• Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
• A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.

See the sample pages here:

Botany

 and 

Astronomy

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog (Jeannie's Journal) to learn more about this contest.

Now back to me...

I just have to say that I really feel these notebooks will make the use of her book even more enjoyable. And I'm not just saying that. 

Jeannie provides (and will continue to prove) free notebooking pages on her site that go along with her books. All of her books follow a Charlotte Mason style of learning so notebooking & narration are part of all of them. And I used those when I was doing these books with B a few years ago. We tried something new this year that did not work. I'm looking forward to having the newest book come out. Jeannie is currently working on an anatomy book.

However, I have two younger boys & I'm looking forward to going through these books with them. I'm waiting one more year for J to be a tad bit older. Then I plan to start with Astronomy & work our way through all of them again. And I can't wait. The best part this time? I get to use the journals. I love how these look & work & I'm pretty sure my boys will be happy to cut & paste & write (well, okay, let's be honest here - probably not writing but they will anyway because I'll make them) a wonderful keepsake of their learning.

And the winners are....

Spring official "springs" on March 20th. It's now been three weeks past that date & here is a photo of my front yard taken just mere minutes ago.....

This is why I really start longing for spring. One can tell it's coming as the snowbanks are receding. We've been having a lot of rain lately so they are going fast - well relatively speaking of course. 

One can see the growing ring around the trees as they soak up the sun's warmth & melt the snow even faster. That nasty, brown, dirty spring looking snow.....

This is what my front garden looks like. I finally did something I swore I would never do as it seemed so, well, so stupid...I shoveled down a snowbank - in spring. This past weekend I spent a good 10-15 minutes shoveling the top of the snowbank off & tossing it on to the lawn to melt. I want to see my spring flowers bloom this year!

But I did find some green things growing. These will turn in to wonderful wild tiger lilies. I love the orange all over my yard. There is a big bunch (this one) that will grow by the boys swing set & another really large bunch that grows right in front of our trailer.

Oh right - winners....I should get around to announcing winners right?

Winner of the $20 Amazon Gift card is......

Lisa in Jax

SEE ALL THIS SNOW STILL!?!?!?

::sigh::

Winner of the $10 Snapfish gift certificate is....

Sheri 

And "Mud Season" is here which means I get to wear these stylish green mud boots in my yard. They are my cheap pair and work great. I typically wear them to & from & change when I get to "civilization" (i.e. pavement!)

And winner #3 of the Canon digital camera remote is....

Laura in MO 

Thank you to everyone who participated! I have sent e-mails to all the winners. If you didn't get one, be sure to let me know.

Photo Contest: Spring Where You Are

Spring has sprung here in Maine. There's still some snow though. Mud season is beginning. It's still too cold to not wear a jacket most days. But the calendar says it's spring & I need a reason to get outside. Added to that, I saw a friend comment the other day on Facebook that she wanted to take photos just 'cause. That all started me thinking & with some help from Suzanne...here's the result...

I'm going to have a photo contest. The rules are going to be very simple. You have a week to document what spring is looking like where you live. That's it. Sign Mr. Linky below. I'll pick a random name at the end of the week. And if there is a winner than there must be a prize or in this case, prizes!

• Prize #1 - $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com


• Prize #2 - Wireless remote RC-5 for Cannon digital camera


• Prize #3 - $10 gift certificate to Snapfish.com

To sign up you must follow these steps...

• Write a post with your photos. They must follow the theme.


• Include the button & code to link back to this post in your post.
  
  

Cut & paste to your blog.


<br /><!-- maineberrypatch.blogspot.com banner link start --><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://maineberrypatch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> <br /><br /><img src="http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr86/berrypatch29/spring.jpg" alt="Spring Where You Are" border="0" /> </a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><!-- end maineberrypatch.blogspot.com banner link --><br /><br />


• Add your link to Mr. Linky. PLEASE link directly to your photo post. I'll be checking & will have to delete any that don't follow this rule. Sorry! If you don't know how to do this, please ask me & I'll gladly help you out.


• Keep your name short when you sign up, pretty please.


• Leave a comment & let me know your first choice of prize.

Contest begins today (March 25th) and runs through Wednesday, April 1st. I will use Random.org to determine the winner. You must have your post up by midnight (ET) on April 1st to qualify. I will post the winners on Friday, April 3rd (which is also my middle son's 8th birthday!). The first person picked has first choice, second person second choice & the third person, well, sorry, you get whatever is left. Winners will have one week to claim their prizes otherwise I will chose an alternate. Thanks for playing and Happy Spring!


Hint: You have to CLICK on Mr. Linky to add your link. A pop-up window will show up & you add it there. For some reason my info is showing up in Mr. Linky. Just delete it & add your own. Sorry!

PS: No changes - I just wanted to bump this to the top. ;-)

Natural Candy Giveaway

Kind of seems an oxymoron doesn't it..."Natural Candy." It's a neat little candy store called, what else, the Natural Candy Store, where all the products are

• Organic
• Vegan
• Gluten-free
• Kosher
• Feingold
• Allergen-free

Even better, Over Coffee is hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift cert. Entering is really easy. You don't have to stand on your head or anything hard like that. Honest. Check it out by clicking HERE.

Pssssttt...let her know you heard about the contest here pretty please? It gives me an extra entry. Thanks!