Did YOU hear about the MORGANS?

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Recent Reads

Marriage that Works by Chip Ingram

I'll admit that after my recent marriage read (10 Choices that Successful Couples Make) that I LOVED this one had a lot to live up to and it fell short for me. Ingram's writing is a bit dry for me. While Marriage That Works had some good information for married couples, It just felt a bit dated for me and because of that irrelevant. I 100% believe that marriage is spiritual and that God must be in the midst for it to be successful. However, this book felt a bit overly spiritual to me. I just wasn't a fan of it overall.

**Thank you, Baker Books, for providing this book to me!**

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The Memory House by Rachel Hauck

I have been a fan of Rachel Hauck for several years and I couldn't wait to read The Memory House. As with other books, I enjoyed this one so much and had trouble putting it down. The Memory House tells the story in two different time periods 50 years apart slowly connecting the dots between the two story lines. Beck Holiday is an NYPD officer who lost her father in 9-11 and she ends up with partial amnesia. She has a run-in with a perp at work and gets suspended. Around that time, she receives a letter knowing that she has received a house through a will. She doesn't full understand and can't remember the details of the person who left the house to her. Nonetheless, she goes down to Florida to see what's going on. She reconnects with an old friend who remembers her but she doesn't remember. Slowly, information returns to her and the dots are connected. There's a bit of a love story, mystery and just a good fiction read. Definitely worth checking out!

Check out this giveaway, too!

**Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!**

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Love Where You Live by Shauna Pilgreen

Love Where You Live: How to Live Sent in the Place You Call Home was a highly anticipated book for me. I had heard a great deal of hype leading up to its release and I couldn't wait to read. This book is DENSE! Each page contains so much good information that you will want to take time to read and digest. I loved every practical tip in the pages as well as the stories the author tells about her own family and their "living sent" journey. The concept of living sent is so neat in that it encourages you to look at those around you, learn from them, let them learn from you and in the midst of that show Jesus to them. I highly recommend this book if you are struggling to connect with your neighbor on a day to day basis.

**Thank you, Revell Books, for providing this book to me!**

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Breaking the Power of Negative Words: How Positive Words Can Heal By Mary C. Busha

Breaking the Power of Negative Words: How Positive Words Can Heal is an incredible book! When I began reading this book, I did not have any negative words that had been spoken over me so I wasn't sure how much this book would matter to me. However, I learned so much through this book about the importance of the words I speak to others especially my husband and my boys. Sometimes, we allow words to come out of our mouths quickly and flippantly without awareness of their impact. This book taught me/reminded me of the power of our words and that both positive and negative words are impactful in a major way. I pray that I take this book to heart and speak kindly and respectfully to those around me.

**Thank you, Revell Books, for providing this book to me!**

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If God Is For Us: The Everlasting Truth of Our Great Salvation: A 6-Week Bible Study of Romans 8 by Trillia Newbell

If God Is For Us by Trillia Newbell is a bible study I was asked to review and share. As this is for 6 weeks, I haven't finished the full study yet but I want to go ahead and share about it.

A bit about the study:

Why just the one chapter? The simple answer: there’s so much there! It’s no wonder that so many Christians list Romans among their favorite books of the Bible and Romans 8 as their favorite in the book. Romans is packed with profound truth after profound truth which are then followed up with life-changing promise after life-changing promise. In this 6-week study, Trillia will walk you through Romans 8 and help you cement deep inside yourself the scandalous truths of our great salvation, our inheritance, the assurance of our faith, and ultimately the love of our good Father.

Each week includes 5 daily readings out of Romans, an accompanying devotional, and questions for reflection and study.

I really like the in depth nature of this study. I mean you are covering 1 chapter over six weeks. There are incredible questions with each section that have you diving deep and looking within to learn from the scriptures. This is a great study to do alone or with a group of two or more.

**Thank you, Moody Publishers, for providing me with a copy of this book.**

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What's Next?: The Journey to Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose and Make a Difference by Chris Hodges

What's Next? was a fun read for me because I love Pastor Chris and Church of the Highlands. both had a major impact on my life as a young professional and even now into my thirties. What's Next? is extremely practical. Hodges goes through many next steps to be taken after salvation in an effort to determine your purpose, thrive as a believer, grow closer to God and it's spot on. Helpful, encouraging, simple steps. Check it out!

**I'm grateful to be a part of the launch team for this book. Thank you, Thomas Nelson, for a digital copy of this book.**

Maddox Says & Does {18}

Maddox was eating a boiled egg and I was eating a fried egg. He kept asking for my egg because he didn't have any. 😑

I told him he had egg and he said, "not white egg" because he only had yolk left.

Maddox is recently potty trained now and he has learned how to stopping peeing then start again. He said, "I turned it on and off!"

Seeing an airplane taxing after landing, "He's going back to his cage."

When he saw Matt in running shorts, "Why you wearing short sleeved pants?"

Maddox shared a pretzel with me and I told him thank you. He said "I'm being nice."

"Mom please you play with me?" ❤️

"I snuggle up to snuggle so I can suck this." 😂😑

While on a recent visit to CiCi's "Hi! Welcome to CiCi's!!"

On that same outing, I told Maddox to eat his pasta and he said, "and pizza because I'm hangry!"

One morning Maddox asked for the orange plate and I had already told him he could have it. I said "what did I say, buddy?" and he said "be patient." 😊 Guess he's heard me say that a few times!

"Do cows drink chocolate milk?"

While at the park, a little girl walked up to Maddox and asks to get on this horse. He points to the other identical one that was open. She said no and he said, very calmly, "Well, I'm riding this one."

Matt got everything set up to paint since Maddox had asked to do . Then he said "I don't want to paint." 😂😑

This isn't something Maddox said but rather something very sweet. Matt and the boys were at Chick-Fil-A and a friend came in. When they walked in, she said, "there is my best friend." and pointed to Maddox. ❤️

Since we were starting Whole30 and would be doing it on Matt's birthday, we went to eat at Golden Corral beforehand. While eating, Maddox said, "Ask me my favorite restaurant." So we did. Then he said, "What is this restaurant?" We told him Golden Corral. Then he said, "Golden Corral." 😂😂😂

I told Maddox to get all the way in his chair at the table and he said very politely, "I'm getting to it."

Mason asked what was for dinner. Matt told him "chicken, fruit and vegetables." Maddox said " chicken fruit!?!?!"

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Mason Says & Does {37}

Early one morning, Mason called me saying he needed to go to the bathroom. As he sits on the toilet yawning, he says "I was asleep when I called you." 😂

Mason read his first sentence during reading lessons on 2/1/19

Mason found LEGO Batman figurines at Target and asked to buy one with his money. Then he said, "I'm so excited!" 😭

"Sandwiches. Alexander Sandwiches."

From BSF Study, Mason said, "In our palace, we will live forever." 😭

Pit = egg yolk

After watching his buddies doing their baseball evaluations, he ran up to tell them good job! :)

When leaving first T-ball practice he said to his new team mate "You did a good job out there!" ❤️

All the things are about poop these days. One day there was the discussion of "poop butter" and that about sent me over the edge. 🤢🤢🤢

One morning Mason woke up early to go to the bathroom. Then he snuggled in the bed with Matt. He said, "I have homeschool PE today, I wish I didn't have to wake up early to potty. I needed that rest."

Mason was trying to get Maddox into a secret spot to play a game. Over and over and it wasn't working. He then matter of factly says, "Well, you just get killed." 😂😳

"When I get older, I hope I live in the same town as y'all. That way I can workout Home Depot with Daddy."

few seconds later...

"But then Daddy will be old."