Review of CD: A Place to Belong

I received a copy of this CD with songs by A Circle of Friends.  It is written to accompany a book written by Lisa Troyer entitled, A Place to Belong:  Out of Our Comfort Zone and Into God's Adventure.  The book encourages women to find their own circle of friends where they can develop lasting relationships and discover the purposes of God for their lives.
I have not read the book, but I was given to opportunity to review the CD.  The music is very calm, relaxing and encouraging.  The songs all have a very mellow tempo.  I can see where many women would find this to be very comforting.  The songs are all written with praise and worship to God and are listed as follows:


1.  Love Falls Down
2. I Believe in You
3.  Your Love Endures 
4.  Let Us Bow Down
5.  Thank You for the Cross
6.  God the Victorious
7.  I found Grace
8.  Lifting My Praise Up


I enjoyed listening to the CD and if you like listening to Christian music this I believe you will enjoy this CD as well.  I was provided a complimentary copy of this CD by B and B Media Group.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  The opinions in this review are my own.

Letting Go

Do you ever had a hard time just letting go with issues and feeling like you can move on with your life or do you tend to dwell on certain thoughts until they make you anxious and drive you crazy?  Letting go is a much healthier response and I am doing some research so I thought I would share this article with you.
This is from TheDailyMind.com:  

How to let go of your past

For some people, the past is like a ball and chain. It follows you wherever you go and it stops you from achieving your goals in life. It is restricting, heavy and extremely burdensome. A lot of people never break free. If you feel a little bit like that then please read through these suggestions and take them to heart. If you can break free from your past you might find your present and future moments are looking a lot brighter.

1. Realize that it cannot be changed
The most sobering thing about the past is that it cannot be changed. Things have already happened. And seeing as there is no way to travel back in time, there is no way to change the past. Learn to accept it.

I once read about a man who sped through a traffic light because he was late to work and ran over a mother and boy. Both mother and child were killed but the driver survived unharmed. This man became an alcoholic and a drug user and his life started spiraling out of control as his guilt was so painful. It took him almost 30 years but one day he realized that what was done was done and there was no way to change it. By destroying his life as well he was effectively ruining three lives.

If you live in the past and are having trouble letting go you need to realize that it cannot be changed. You can never go back to those times and you will never erase what happened. By living in this past moment you are preventing yourself from actually fixing what you did wrong.

Personal note: I have been told by a very wise person that "It is what it is."  and I keep reminding myself of this often.

2. Don’t make “mind stories”
Sometimes when I cast my mind back to my days in high school or my first trip to India I get a swell of emotion and then start to create “mind stories”. These stories can go on all day and basically consist of my going over all my good memories and then getting upset when I realize that times have changed. Don’t do this.

We all make “mind stories” to some extent. My mother is the opposite of me and she spends all day going over all the bad things that could happen or all the negative events that occurred in the past. The mental chatter is poisonous. As soon as you start, it is almost impossible to stop. One thought leads to another and before long you realize that you have a whole day of your life in the past.

Personal note:  Don't you wish your mind had a switch that you could just use to turn these thoughts off.  I am finding that listening to music, relaxation tapes and reading a book help me to stay focused away from those thoughts.

3. Think about impermanence
It wouldn’t be a post by The Daily Minder without mentioning impermanence. I can hear of you all groaning now – “here he goes… rambling on about impermanence again!” It is an important truth to realize, however, and it is particularly useful when dealing with an inability to let go of the past.

First of all, we need to realize that we don’t have a lot of time on this Earth. Death can come at any moment. You could eat a poisonous dinner, choke on a carrot or get hit by a car. You could get cancer tomorrow. Imagine if a wise old meditation master came to you and said you only had two weeks left to life. Would you regret spending so much time thinking about the past? Would you consider that you wasted your time here on Earth? I know I would.

The next time you start worrying about the past I want you to remember impermanence. Say to yourself, “I don’t have time for this” and just drop it. Over time you will train your mind to ignore those thoughts and as the days and weeks go by the attachment to the past will fade away.

4. Meditate on compassion
A few years ago I was in North India listening to a talk by an old Tibetan Lama who had grown up in Tibet and fled to India in the 60′s. At the end of the talk the Lama answered a few questions from the audience. One of the questions said:

“Tibet was one of the most beautiful countries where people had freedom to practice meditation and live in peace. Do you miss those days?”

The Lama, without even pausing for a moment, just shook his head and said “No”. Then he followed up by saying, “thinking about times gone by is useless. It doesn’t help yourself and it doesn’t help other people”. I was impressed. What he said left an indelible mark on my mind – dwelling on the past is a fruitless pursuit and it helps no one.

If you are stuck in the past you need to realize that those thoughts and habitsare helping no one. It is an extremely uncompassionate way to live your life and it will get you no where.

5. Understand we can’t control everything
I am a firm believer that we control our destiny. I do not think God or anyone else plans things out for us, I think we are the ones who forge our future and I think we are the ones responsible for our actions. Sometimes, however, we have to realize that we cannot control everything that goes on.

Personal note:  I cannot say that I buy into this thought in the way it is written.  I do believe that God plans things out for us and His will manifests in our lives.

I once heard a mate of mine say that people who dwell on the past are just trying to control everything. I think he was right. Sometimes I feel like my sense of independence means that I blame myself too heavily when things go wrong. And that means I am often dwelling on my mistakes.

If you spend a lot of time cursing yourself for things you have done in the past I ask you to go easy on yourself and to stop trying to be so controlling. You cannot control everything. You cannot control everyone. And although you are the one in charge of your destiny there are times when you will be utterly unable to change a set of circumstances. So let it go. You will be glad you did.

Conclusion

Letting go of the past is like lifting a weight off your shoulders. It allows you to move on and make a new life and it stops you from staying stagnant. Like any habit, however, it will be hard to accomplish and it will take a lot of practice. But it is possible to let go of the past and live completely for the present.

Book Review: After All

Book Description:

Eighteen months after the tragic Grove Street Fire took the life of her husband, David, and four other heroic firefighters, Susan Marlowe thinks she’s finally beginning to heal.But then she discovers that David carried a secret to his grave.

A secret that changes everything she thought their marriage had been.

For the sake of their sons, can Susan forgive the unforgivable?

Andrea Morley lost her closest friend in the fire. But she has no right to mourn him. Instead, she must forever grieve in silence—because her dearest friend was someone else’s husband. Peter Brennan carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. As Hanover Falls’ fire chief, he was responsible for the brave firefighters

who lost their lives that awful November night.

Can he ever shake the feeling that he should have somehow prevented the tragedy?

As he tries to rebuild the team at Clemens County’s Station 2, it seems he might find comfort in the arms of the woman he least expected.

My Review:

This is a story of love, redemption, and forgiveness.  The main character finds herself reevaluating her marriage after her husband's death when she discovers some secrets that he was keeping.  The secrets are having an effect on one of their son's as he cannot possibly understand why his father would do such as a thing.  I enjoyed reading this book and felt like I got to know the characters on a personal basis.The author writes from various points of view so you can know what each character is truly experiencing.  I prefer this style of writing rather than a straight narrative.  It allows for more intense reader involvement.  I highly recommend this book to readers that enjoy christian fiction.  This is the first book I have read from this series, but I would like to read others as well.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Glass Roads Publications.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  The opinions in this review are my own.

My Funeral?!?

Ok. I may be morbid, but after last year's auto accident, I realize that our lives could end at any moment so I have picked out the songs I want for my funeral.  I will also pick out scripture readings as well in the near future and then share with my son and minister for when they will be needed.







 Possibility: Undecided

Never thought of this one, but ran into it tonight and I like it as well.

Book Review of Children's Book: Thomas and Erin with Granddad: The Zoo

Book Description:


Childrens book for children under five. It is a story about Grandad, his grandson Thomas, who is 3 1/2 and Erin his grandaughter who is 2 and their adventures on the way to and at the zoo.


My Review:


This is the second book in this series that I have reviewed.  I think this is a good little series for children to read.  It emphasizes the importance of spending time with family.  The graphics are bright and colorful.  I am still not sure how I feel about the images of the people in the book.  They seem almost ghost-like to me and perhaps when a child sees them, they don't have the same effect.  However, I do like the story and the way it is written for children to understand and relate to it.
I was provided a complimentary copy of the book for review from the author.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  The opinions in this review are my own.

Book Review: Wisdom From the Streets

Book Description:

As a former teenage runaway on the streets of Seattle, Dr. Cecil writes about his true-life journey revealing the wisdom process needed to help both himself and others. Honest and often humorous, the book is written from two perspectives, both as the street kid and also as the therapist. It is a journey deep within a family therapist's own soul, and offers suggestions and encouragement to engage in the change process as we travel along our own path toward self-empowerment. In Wisdom from the Streets, Dr. Cecil offers wisdom and insight for: PARENTS who often feel frustrated and confused about how to have a good connection with their children at any age. TEENAGERS who often feel that no one listens or cares. ADULT CHILDREN OF DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES who have problems with relationships, feelings of failure, or just want to run away from it all. VICTIMS of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.

My Review:

I thought this was a well written book by a therapist who had a past of living on the streets.  With this past, he has an understanding of where his clients may be coming from or what they may be living.  Throughout the book, there is a dialogue going on between the therapist and the kid from the streets.  I found this to be a little distracting and I don't think it added to the understanding or quality of the book in any way.  I thought the advice that he gives in the book would be helpful to parents and teenagers and I would recommend the book to those who are living with similar circumstances as described in the book description.

I was given a complimentary copy of the book for review.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  The opinions in this review are my own.

     

Book Review: Just Say the Word

Book Description:


Rita Napapolus’ fingerprints were all over the murder weapon, beckoning authorities onto her path and into her past. They immediately hit a wall when they find no record of the petite office manager’s history before she appeared in Seattle with her daughter twenty years ago.

When a million-dollar bail is mysteriously posted and a hot-shot defense lawyer arrives from San Francisco, her friends want answers. So does the FBI.
- Where did Rita come from?
- Who is watching out for her?
- Could she really be the killer?

Carla Salvo was raised in the Northeast United States, but has made the Pacific Northwest her home. In addition to being an artist and writer, Carla loves animals and spends time working with rescued horses.


My Review:


The main character of the book, Rita, is arrested for murder and the real story of her life begins.  No one know anything of her distant past until she begins to tell her friends.  Who would have thought she was involved with the mob in her younger days?  Not in a direct way, and many times she was not even aware of her own involvement.  Carla Salvo weaves an interesting story that keeps your attention throughout.  The mystery of the main character's history adds to the reader's interest.  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a good novel.  
I have had this book for some time and am finally able to review it.  I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publicist. I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  The opinions in this review are my own.l