I haven’t always been good at being generous. In fact I feel like it goes against my nature. I married a man who loves to give. I have learned a ton from him about being a cheerful and generous giver.

One of the things we love to do together is using our giving to fuel our passions. Most of us have many passions but we could never devote all our time and energy to them. Most of us have “day jobs” that aren’t in areas we are necessarily passionate. And even if they are, we are typically passionate about more than one thing.

[read the rest of my post at Pennies and Blessings]

I rarely do book reviews because frankly, I don’t enjoy doing them. I love reading and am actually a very fast reader, but I just don’t like having to read a book one someone else’s time schedule. So, like Nancy Reagan told me, I just say no. Although I’m not sure she was talking about books. So what would possess a blogger who hates to do book reviews, beg to do a book review? When her pastor writes a book.

A little backstory, if you will indulge me. My hubby and I met at a church in Chicago that we loved. Like big puffy heart loved. One of the reasons I resisted moving away from Chicago for so long was that I just knew we would never find a church we loved as much. I seriously wondered if a 3 1/2 hour weekly commute was an option.

Where we live now is the land of churches. There was no shortage of churches to choose from and some “celebrity” pastors to go along with them. Ada Bible Church was the third church we visited and honestly the reason we kept coming back was the teaching pastor, Jeff Manion. You know when you hear a sermon and feel like it was spoken just for you and just what you needed that day? That happens week after week. The fact that the church has grown by the thousands in the five years that we have been there indicates I must not be the only one who feels that way.

The Land Between is based on a sermon series Jeff did a few years back comparing the journey the Israelites took through the desert to our lives when we are in that transitional place in life we just don’t want to be in. Job loss, illness, break ups, wayward children….the list could go on and on. Sometimes life just isn’t going the way we think it should go. I think I can confidently say that all of us will be in “The Land Between” at some point or another. Maybe you are in it right now.

I think if you have ever studied the Israelites’ journey, there is a tendency to judge them as whiny brats who can’t get their act together or learn from their mistakes. I mean how often can you whine about “the good ole days” in Egypt BACK WHEN THEY WERE SLAVES? But Jeff helps me see myself in their story and shows us how to avoid their pitfalls. Pretty important for a girl prone to some impressive bouts of whining. God wants to meet us in these seasons, grow us and teach us to trust him. If we don’t use “the land between” as a place to be spiritually transformed, we are missing an opportunity to draw closer to God. Or as Jeff puts it:

While the Land Between is prime real estate for faith transformation, it is also the space where we can grow resentful, bitter, and caustic if our responses are unguarded. The wilderness where faith can thrive is the very desert where it can dry up and die if we are not watchful.”

I am in a season of blessing right now. But I am surrounded by people going through all sorts of life’s difficulties. And I am not one to shove books in people’s hands when they are suffering, but this book would be what I would recommend to anyone in “the land between.” Because this isn’t some fairy tale how to on how to get out of the place you are in. Life doesn’t always wrap itself up perfectly with a pretty bow. Sometimes the promise land, is frankly, the one we are promised when we leave this earth. This is a real life guide to getting through those times with your faith intact.

I would to give this book to someone who needs it right now. And although I was given a book to review, I will be buying the giveaway book with my very own money. That is how much I want you to have this book. All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment. No special hoops to jump through. Winner will be chosen next Sunday Oct.3rd at random. Good luck!

There have been seven so far. And with every one, they creep a little closer to my house. No one has been hurt. Well at least physically, but everyone’s sense of stability and safety has been damaged. There is an arsonist in my neighborhood.

We moved to our city from Chicago. Evanston to be exact and we lived in a  nasty neighborhood. A nice street in a nasty neighborhood. We didn’t walk much, always kept our wits about us if we came home late at night and got used to sirens in the night. But here, we live in a neighborhood marked by kids playing in the street, old ladies walking their dogs and local college students walking home from school.

Admittedly the neighborhood directly south of my house is dotted with lower rent duplexes and apartments and that is where the fires began. And so although, we were shocked, it didn’t really seem like it was “my neighborhood”. It was concerning, but I didn’t really feel that affected. And then after 6 fires, there was a 17 day lull. So although we still slept with the window open, we were sleeping rather peacefully.

But then another fire. This one much closer than the ones before. Literally five houses from a friend of mine. Sirens in the middle of the night. News trucks in the middle of the day. Emails from the neighborhood watch telling us to be even more vigilant. We have been lighting up the outside of our house every night, but today we installed a smoke detector in the garage and put a baby monitor out there. Oh and did I mention that all of the fires have taken place in garages and the hubby and my bedroom is right above the garage?

So we are walking the line of not letting our young children know what is going on, but making sure they know what to do in a fire. And walking the line of not living in fear, but being prepared. It is a tricky line, but one that is necessary or we would go insane with “what ifs”. So if you are a praying soul, will you pray for our neighborhood? Pray that this disturbed individual would either change his ways of be caught. Pray that no one will get hurt. And specifically pray for our family’s safety.

I will definitely keep you all posted. And thank you.