NIV Bible giveaway

     I remember as a child when I got my first Bible.  I grew up learning about Jesus and we had Bibles in our house that I could read, but this one was my own children's Bible.  I highlighted verses that were important to me and wrote a notes in the margin next to verses that God showed me during different seasons in my life.   Having my own Bible to read was a step towards making my faith my own.
    I think that every child (and adult) should have their own Bible that they can read.  That is why I was very excited to get to review the NIV Bible for Teen Girls.

This Bible is pretty cool.  It is in the New International Version, but also has extras geared towards teen girls.
Here are some of the features:

*Readings/devotions by popular Christian female authors including Bethany Hamilton (Soul Surfer), Annie Downs, Christine, Caine, Nicole Weider, Elsa Kok Colopy, Crystal Kirgiss, Bekah Hamrick Martin, Denise Van Eck, and more.

*Character Profiles of women in the Bible.--This is my favorite extra!  The profiles tell the meaning of the name, where to find her story in the Bible, and a description/lesson from her life.  I love that it shares well known women like Sarah and Hannah and lesser known women like Naaman's servant girl and the suffering woman that Jesus healed.

*Book Introductions for each book of the Bible--This section tells When the book happened, Who is in the book, Verses you might recognize, and What the book is about.  I really enjoyed reading these as an intro to the books.

*Highlighted promises of God

*A concordance for finding verses.


This Bible would be a great Christmas gift (or anytime gift) for the teen girl in your life.

I found it:
here on Amazon  kindle version also available.
Also here at Lifeway.com

Want to win a copy? One reader will win their own copy of the NIV Bible for teen girls.
Sign in to the Rafflecopter below.  You can get 1 entry for answering a question and 2 extra entries if you share this giveaway.  Comments are moderated so please do not be concerned if your comment doesn't show up right away.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

"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 a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”  US and Canada only.

The Biggest Story Review and Giveaway

I am so excited to share the book, The Biggest Story-How the Snake Crusher Brings us Back to the Garden with you.  This book takes the stories of the Bible and connects them all to share the story of redemption.

I have to be honest, was a little bit nervous after I started reading.  I am a stickler for keeping to the facts when telling kids Bible stories.  When talking about the fall, the author only mentions Adam eating from the tree that God had declared off-limits. It said, "Adam failed."  No mention of Eve.  I lowered my expectations and was ready to be disappointed with the rest of the book.  I have to say though, as I kept reading, I liked the book more and more.  After finishing the book, here are some of my thoughts.

*I LOVE how the authors weaves each Bible story together to show the big picture themes.  Humans fail and sin over and over, but God always keeps His promises.

*This book would be great for kids who know some of the stories in the Bible already, to show the big picture.  It doesn't share a lot about each story.  My suggestions is to always go back to the Bible to dig deeper.

*I can tell that a lot of time was spent making the illustrations.  They are very detailed.  My opinion is that you will either really like them or think they are distracting.

If you are interested in buying this book I found it here on Amazon.

Want to WIN this book? One reader will win a copy of this book.

To enter: All you need to do to enter is answer one simple question.  You will need to sign in below to enter, but once you do rafflecopter should recognize you for future giveaways. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"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 a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Pizza Ranch Living Hope CD Review and Giveaway

We are big Pizza Ranch fans so I am very excited to get to share this great restaurant with you all and to also share a the LIVING HOPE CD they have available right now.

Here is a little background about Pizza Ranch:

"Adrie Groeneweg had a dream that started in Hull, IA, in 1981, when he was just 19 years old.  It was simple.  Why does everyone have to drive out of town to get a pizza?  With just six specialty and single topping pizza recipes developed by Adrie's mother, Lorraine, Pizza Ranch was born.  Pizza Ranch's vision and mission is to glorify God by positively impacting the world and to give every guest a legendary experience.  They have 190+ locations across 13 states including Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado." 
   
     My husband and I usually get the buffet when we go to Pizza Ranch.  We like that they have many choices of pizza.  If you don't see your favorite on the buffet line they will make it up for you and bring it to your table so you can take many pieces as you like before they put the rest out for others to try.  My husband's favorite is the Bronco pizza and I always choose the California Chicken.  Yum!  If pizza isn't your thing, no worries, they also have a salad bar and another section that has great mashed potatoes and fried chicken.  The people are friendly at our Pizza Ranch and I love that they place Christian music in the restaurant (at least ours does).

   Pizza Ranch has released a CD called Living Hope.  It has 12 songs from many popular Christian artists including Francesca Batistelli, Colton Dixon, Sidewalk Prophets,  Ellie Holcomb, Michael W. Smith and Mark Schultz.

   This CD rocks!  The music is catchy and meaningful.  I find myself listening to it often and singing along.  I love that the theme is HOPE.  So many people need the hope of Christ in their lives.  I really enjoyed the music for myself, but also could see myself buying one for a friend who is struggling and needs encouragement in their life right now.

The CD is available to purchase for $5 (plus tax) exclusively in Pizza Ranch restaurants or you can download it at pizzaranch.com/livinghope through August 31.

From Adrie Groeneweg, President & CEO of Pizza Ranch, Inc.:  "This album has a very special meaning for Pizza Ranch.  Although Pizza Ranch is not in the music business, many things have been happening, conversations have been taking place and doors have been opening for this album.  Through these events, I believe it was obvious that God has been behind this for His specific purpose and putting it on our hearts to collectively create this project.  As such, we call this our miracle album, Living Hope."

Want to WIN this CD?

One reader will win this CD.  For a chance to win I would like you to leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite singer or band.  You can also earn an extra entry by "liking" Jen's Stamp World Facebook page.  Just leave me a comment letting me know you "like" the page.  This giveaway will be open until August 5, 11:59 p.m.   

 

"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 a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Love Inspired book set review and giveaway

**Giveaway Closed**

When I was a kid I loved summer because it gave me more time to read.  The school I went to would give us a page to write all the books we read over the summer.  I would go back in the fall with pages filled in.  I would read everything I could get my hands on, all different genres of books.  As an adult I still love to read, but don't always have the time.  When I got the chance to review this set of books in the Love Inspired line, I jumped at the chance for an excuse to HAVE to sit down and read. :)  This isn't the first time I have read books from this line.  I actually enjoyed them before so I was excited to read new ones.

I tend to be picky these days about the types of books I will read and these books aren't your typical romance novels.  The biggest difference is that they are clean.  The story lines are great, but are more from a Christian perspective.  Sometimes the character's struggle includes a struggle with their faith, but not always. I also like that the books are pretty easy reads.  Fun to read, but not super deep.

"The Love Inspired product line is a series of 6 books that are released every month and only have a shelf-life of one month."  If you see one you think you would like you have to grab it quickly.  I like that they are always coming out with new books.  I read all 6 books for this month.  My favorite was A Firefighter's Promise. Not all of them were ones that would go on my "gotta have this" list, but the fun thing is that next month there will be 6 more books out, all by different authors!

Want to try these books out for yourself?
For more infö about Love Inspired books check out their Facebook Page HERE
To purchase these books check out the website HERE  You can only purchase the May set until May 28.

Want to win the set of the 6 books from May?

I feel like people have been having trouble entering my giveaways through Rafflecopter so I am going back to comments for this giveaway.
To enter leave a comment on this post and tell me the most recent book you read. 
Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win.  This giveaway will run through Saturday, May 16.  Giveaway only valid in US & Canada.

"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 a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

gMovies Review and Giveaway

     Our family enjoys watching movies, but sometimes it is hard to find a family friendly movie.  Even as an adult I try to be careful what kinds of things I watch.  That is why I was so excited to get to review this great family friendly movie website called gMovie.  gMovie is a subscription based site (similar to Netflix) that gives you "instant access to almost 300 faith friendly feature films of every genre, in addition to animated stories, television series, and biblical documentaries."
 

     I have to say that when I tried it out I was impressed.  First of all there are many options.  I had fun searching through movies and television series to decide what to try first.  When I did choose a movie to watch on my iPad, I couldn't get the sound to work.  Sound worked for everything else and I could not figure out what I was doing wrong.  I emailed the company to see if they could help.  gMovie emailed me back quickly to help me find a solution.  Great customer service!
     All around I would definitely recommend trying out gMovies.  And here is the great news.  Because you are a reader of my blog you get a special code to try out gMovies for free for 2 weeks!  Pretty cool, right?!  Try it out and see what you think.  Be sure to come back and let me know. :)

All you need to do is Click this link: gMovie and enter the code  FREETRIAL65 


Not only do you get a 2 week free trial, but one reader will win a 6 month subscription to gMovies!
All you need to do to enter is answer one simple question.  You will need to sign in below to enter, but but once you do rafflecopter should recognize you for future giveaways.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway valid only in US and Canada 

"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 a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Welcome Sign

 My husband and I moved to a new state this summer and have been busy getting settled into a new area, new jobs, and a new (to us) house.  One of the exciting things about moving to a new place is getting to decorate!  I had fun decorating our old apartment and will use some of the things I made there at our new place.  I am also having fun trying out new decor to fit our house.

Our new house has a fun 3 seasons room/enclosed porch and I wanted to make a welcome sign to welcome our guests.  I am so happy with how it turned out.

Here is what I did in case you want to make your own. :)

I had a 1x4 lying around, but the wood wasn't weathered, it looked too new.  Since I was trying to keep the budget low I decided to make my own stain.  I went with a mix of steel wool and vinegar, coffee and tea.

 I put a piece of steel wool in a jar with vinegar and left it for a few days.  I made the tea/coffee right before I was ready to use it.  I used what I had on hand so I made a mug of Keurig cup sleepy time tea that we had gotten as a sample.  I added a spoonful of instant coffee to the tea.   I then brushed the vinegar/steel wool mixture on the board first with a foam brush.  When that dried I brushed on the coffee/tea mixture.  The wood came out a beautiful color.

I would recommend cutting the wood before staining, but I wasn't sure my stain would turn out so I cut after.  My husband actually did the work of cutting the wood with a hand saw for me.  After he cut it I attached 2 small pieces of wood on the back with screws to hold the boards together.

There are different ways to paint on wood.  I used my Silhouette SD to make a stencil out of vinyl and painted with a foam brush and acrylic craft paint.  (Font is Bickham Script Pro Regular)  Once the paint dried I peeled up the stencil.  Done!

One step closer to making our house a home. :)