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January 20, 2006

Last week, a friend emailed me and said she was trying to decide on a book for her Sunday School class to read together. She wanted to know if I had any ideas. Of course I do — I read a ton of great books!

Today, I’m writing some book reviews for Christian Book Previews, and I just realized I don’t think I’ve told you about this site yet.

If you hear about a new Christian book coming out, or you’re curious about something you’ve heard of, chances are you can find a review and even an author interview at this site. There are hundreds to choose from — and only the best books get picked for reviews.

Here are a few book reviews I’ve written — I highly recommend all of these books:

Little Lessons from a Big God, by Michelle Medlock Adams

Five-Star Families: Moving Yours From Good to Great, by Carol Kuykendall

The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted, by Gary Chapman

All in Good Time, by Debbie Williams

P.S. You can also sign up to receive a free newsletter — and if you love novels, there’s a Go Girl! Book Club that will keep you flipping pages in pure delight. (Just be sure you put your oven timer on if you’re baking while reading a novel — I speak from experience.)

By: Heather Ivester in: Book Reviews,Books | Permalink | Comments Off on Christian Book Previews



I’ve enjoyed visiting the blogs of those of you fellow FlyLady fans (Fly Babies) who are also working on reducing clutter in your life — including body clutter. That’s the term FlyLady uses — isn’t it wonderful and appropriate? I haven’t read the book yet but would like to someday.

I notice that some of you have posted your weight and height on your sites — wow. You’re brave. I know I couldn’t do that. For me, the scale is a personal thing — and it’s not so much about what I weigh, but how I feel. Some of you would look at me and say, “So what? Why are you even trying to lose weight?” But I know that I feel most energetic when I’ve reached a certain target weight.

There are a lot of things in life I have no control over — but I’m working on the few that I do. And one thing I did yesterday was deep clean my closet — and I FINALLY got rid of all of my maternity clothes. I really have been wearing them off and on for almost ten years. I’m too embarrassed to pass them along to anyone I know! So, now I’ve entered this twilight zone — what am I going to do? Throwing out my maternity panel jeans means now I’m much more limited in what I have to wear. But the time has come!

I’m taking baby steps, as FlyLady says, toward FLYing — which stands for Finally Loving Yourself. Yes, it’s all about love, isn’t it? It’s not about denying myself that extra-large pack of French fries. It’s about loving myself enough to want to eat something that’s better for me.

I appreciate the person who sent me the comment reminding me to drink plenty of water. After I read that note of encouragement, I did go drink a glass of water. And another. And then I got full and didn’t want to GRAZE on junk food. I’m still wearing my handy pedometer, and I’ve started to take two walks a day instead of only one. It’s amazing. There’s always something new to discover when I get outside.

But honestly, I don’t think it’s the pedometer so much as my dog that’s getting me out to walk — I love watching him sniff everything. And then one or two cats come along as well, prowling nonchalantly like they don’t want me to know they’re being extra sociable — and we usually have some good-hearted yipping and hissing.

I wish you all a happy Friday as you swish and swipe (your house, not your credit cards!) to get ready for the weekend. Behind the scenes of this blog, I’m working on my first real author interview — with Mary DeMuth, who is currently living in France. I’m finishing up her wonderful book, Building the Christian Family You Never Had, which will be released next Tuesday, Jan. 24th. She’s planning a Blog Tour, which will be held once a week for several weeks — she’s asked us to think up some quirky questions so we don’t all ask her the same thing. Check out her Relevant Prose website and blog here — she’s also a Christian novelist with a new book coming out called Watching the Tree Limbs.

Well, I’m going to “live it up” this weekend, the last weekend of my present age — my birthday is coming this Monday, January 23. Dwarfing that news is the fact that the new Super Wal-Mart will be opening that same day, about two miles from my house. I may have to go walk the aisles just to be sociable. Another spot on the planet that used to be woods and is now a parking lot. Hmmm…on that note, I better log off.

By: Heather Ivester in: FlyLady,Wellness | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (3)



January 19, 2006

Here’s a press release I just received and wanted to pass along to those of you who love books. (I’m not going to italicize all these titles because it didn’t come to me that way — and I don’t have time to make it look pretty.)

January 14, 2006 – The Board of the National Book Critics Circle today selected the finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards for the publishing year 2005 in the categories of fiction, general nonfiction, biography, autobiography (new this year), criticism and poetry…The winners will be announced on March 3 at the organization’s 32nd annual awards ceremony.

At the ceremony, the NBCC will also present the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award to Bill Henderson, founder of the Pushcart Press in Wainscot, NY and editor of the annual Pushcart Prize anthology.

In addition, the NBCC will award its Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing to Wyatt Mason, a contributor to Harper’s Magazine, The New Yorker and The New Republic. The award, named after a longtime supporter of the organization and an editor at the New York Times Book Review, is presented annually to a member who has demonstrated the highest critical standards in his or her work. The other finalists were Allen Barra, Katherine A. Powers and Carlin Romano.

The National Book Critics Circle is the country’s leading organization of book critics and book review editors, with some 500 members. It was founded in 1974 to honor book criticism in all media, and to create a means for critics, reviewers and their editors to communicate with one another about their profession.

Last year’s NBCC winners were Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead (fiction), Diarmaid MacCulloch’s The Reformation: A History (general nonfiction), Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan’s De Kooning: An American Master (biography/autobiography), Patrick Neate’s Where You’re At: Notes From the Frontline of a Hip-Hop Planet (criticism), and Adrienne Rich’s The School Among the Ruins (poetry).

The finalists are:

Fiction:

E.L. Doctorow, The March (Random House)

Mary Gaitskill, Veronica (Pantheon)

Andrea Levy, Small Island (Picador)

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (Alfred A. Knopf)

William Vollmann, Europe Central (Viking)

General Nonfiction:

Svetlana Alexievich, Voices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster (Dalkey Archive Press)

Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East (Alfred A. Knopf)

Ellen Meloy, Eating Stone: Imagination and the Loss of the Wild (Pantheon)

Caroline Moorehead, Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees (Henry Holt)

Anthony Shadid, Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War (Henry Holt)

Biography:

Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Alfred A. Knopf)

Carolyn Burke, Lee Miller: A Life (Alfred A. Knopf)

Jonathan Coe, Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson (Continuum International)

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Simon & Schuster)

Ron Powers, Mark Twain: A Life (Free Press)

Autobiography:

Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking (Alfred A. Knopf)

Francine du Plessix Gray, Them: A Memoir of Parents (Penguin Press)

Judith Moore, Fat Girl: A True Story (Hudson Street Press)

Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: Memories and the City (Alfred A. Knopf)

Vikram Seth, Two Lives (HarperCollins)

Criticism:

Hal Crowther, Gather at the River: Notes from the Post-millennial South (Louisiana State Univ. Press)

Arthur Danto, Unnatural Wonders (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

William Logan, The Undiscovered Country: Poetry in the Age of Tin (Columbia University Press)

John Updike, Still Looking: Essays on American Art (Alfred A. Knopf)

Eliot Weinberger, What Happened Here: Bush Chronicles (New Directions)

Poetry:

Simon Armitage, The Shout (Harcourt)

Manuel Blas de Luna, Bent to the Earth (Carnegie Mellon Univ. Press)

Jack Gilbert, Refusing Heaven (Alfred A. Knopf)

Richard Siken, Crush (Yale University Press)

Ron Slate, The Incentive of the Maggot (Houghton Mifflin/Mariner Books)

By: Heather Ivester in: Books | Permalink | Comments Off on National Book Critics Circle Awards



A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the schedule for the upcoming Franklin Graham Festivals, and I got a note back from a friend in the Philippines who’s planning on attending the one in Manila next month. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!

So, I was thinking today that maybe there are some of you in the U.S. who may be interested in attending another one of my favorite conferences. I’ve been to two American Christian Writers’ conferences, and they’re fantastic. I love going to a meeting where I can be around other like-minded people.

These conferences are shorter than many and are also relatively inexpensive. If you enjoy books and writing, there are so many fascinating people out there who share your same interests. It doesn’t matter what level you are, you can always learn from the experiences of someone else — and have a great time doing it.

Here’s what happened to me. I went to my first ACW conference a couple of years ago and heard author Carmen Leal speak. She makes her living as a full-time writer and told our group this: if you want to write a book, you need to start writing smaller pieces, like magazine articles. If you want to break into national magazines, you need to start with smaller, local markets. She told us how she broke into publishing by writing a funny story about her dog for a single parent magazine.

I took her advice by sending a query to a women’s magazine in my hometown and started a new column, “Mom 2 Mom Connection.” Sound familiar? I discovered that I love writing specifically to women, and from that I started this blog — which has given me a voice I never had. This all came as a result of God prompting my heart after attending four of Carmen Leal’s writing workshops.

The second ACW conference I went to, I didn’t go alone. I invited one of my high school friends, who is a great writer. If I compiled all of her letters to me (in the days we handwrote things before email!), I’d have a bestselling book. She came to the conference and was so inspired that now she’s sold several articles to parenting publications and is working for a newspaper! And we can encourage each other.

The speakers are great, and one thing I like about this conference is that Reg Forder and his wife Eleonore bring a bookstore with them. They pick and choose from thousands of the very best writing books and tools — and offer them to you at the lowest prices. I bought a new dictionary last summer — is it possible for me to say I’m in love with a dictionary? My other one was almost 20 years old. I also discovered several of my favorite writing books there — the ones that I loan out and then bug people about returning them.

Unlike workshops and retreats that are located in quiet, off-the-beaten-path locations, these are held right in a big city. So you can save the cost of the hotel and commute if you need to. That’s what I’ve done. They also allow you to attend only one day and pay significantly less. I’ve seen my tuition from this conference paid back many times over in the professional help I’ve received. And I can’t wait to go back this year and hear a new round of speakers.

Also, if there are editors in attendance, this is a great chance to meet with one and share your book proposal or article query. The editors who come to conferences are actively seeking good writing. For example, Len Goss of Broadman & Holman publishers came to one conference — and he told us what types of books he prefers. At another conference, Diedre Knight of The Knight Agency came. She explained to us that her agency only accepts one-page email queries — so you’d be wasting your time and money to ship off your entire manuscript. (Hey, I just discovered Diedre has a blog — how interesting!)

Here’s the 2006 ACW Schedule. Go to their website for more details and to see who the speakers and editors are. There’s also an annual ACW cruise held at the end of the year. Now wouldn’t that be a fun excuse to take a “working vacation?” (We’d all sit around reading books and getting sunburned together — and talk about how we’re having withdrawal symptoms from being offline.)

February 17-18, 2006 Dallas, TX Dallas Plaza Hotel

February 24-25, 2006 Oklahoma City, OK La Quinta Inn

March 10-11, 2006 Richmond, VA Wyndham Richmond Airport

March 17-18, 2006 Charlotte, NC Marriott Executive Park

March 25, 2006 (Saturday only) Pittsburgh, PA Holiday Inn Pittsburgh Airport

March 31-April 1, 2006 South Bend, IN Holiday Inn City Center

April 7-8, 2006 Fort Wayne, IN Holiday Inn Downtown

April 29, 2006 Memphis, TN First Baptist Church, Collierville

May 19-20, 2006 Atlanta, GA Comfort Inn Airport

June 2-3, 2006 Nashville, TN, Mentoring Opryland Radisson

June 9-10, 2006 Columbus, OH Midwest Hotel

June 23-24, 2006 Grand Rapids, MI Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel

July 22, 2006 (Saturday only) Louisville, KY Executive West Airport

July 29, 2006 (Saturday only) Indianapolis, IN Holiday Inn on Victory Drive

August 4-5, 2006 Minneapolis, MN Best Western Kelly Inn in St. Paul

August 12, 2006 (Saturday only) Springfield, MO Marriott Courtyard

September 8-9, 2006 Colorado Springs, CO Clarion Downtown

September 15-16, 2006 Spokane, WA Hampton Inn Airport

October 13-14, 2006 Anaheim, CA Desert Palms Hotel

October 20-21, 2006 Phoenix, AZ Best Western Grace Inn

November 18, 2005 (Saturday only) Orlando, FL Ramada Maingate

November 25-December 3, 2005 Caribbean Cruise Carnival South Caribbean

P.S. You know it would thrill me to find out that someone reading this post goes to one of these conferences — so don’t forget to let me know!
😉

By: Heather Ivester in: Writing | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (2)



January 18, 2006

Ellen has announced the Beauty of Hope Carnival on her site. I’m speechless, as I read through these entries. So much to love about these fellow bloggers! I’m feeling full of hope today, at least right now, though that might change in about 20 minutes. (Because I’m moody!)

If you love great quotes about writing, Sally at All About Children’s Books has collected some wonders. More inspiration for you.

On my homefront, a small victory in the world of us who are secretly wearing our “pep-o-meters.” I walked 8500 steps yesterday, on a rainy day. I wrote this in my comments that I walked back and forth in a flat spot in our backyard, much to the chagrin of our puppy (who hurt his paw on something and had to be carried inside, yipping with wet fur.)

I briefly considered making up the difference on my treadmill. Briefly.

Oh! One more thing I must record for all of posterity…the ice cream incident. I did not eat some ice cream yesterday that I normally would have — all because of my new weight loss goal. I ACCIDENTALLY put chocolate syrup on someone’s ice cream who ABSOLUTELY did not want chocolate syrup — and so that ice cream could not be eaten. If I’d been in my usual mode of let’s not waste food — if it’s not eaten by one of the kids, then I better eat it mode, I would have devoured it. But I’d worked too hard trying to walk my 10,000 steps to eat ice cream that I didn’t really want.

Slowly, I’m trying to overcome my habit of grazing…eating leftover food that I don’t want to throw away. I have this mental habit of eating for two…that’s why I weigh an extra two sacks of potatoes. (Got that?)

So, losing weight is not some big, huge task that you tackle all at once. It’s making decisions like I made — I will not eat that ice cream — over and over again.

Maybe one day I’ll actually be drinking water and munching on celery sticks for pure pleasure. I’m not there yet. Chocolate syrup on ice cream sounds pretty good to me. Back to my step-counting.

By: Heather Ivester in: Wellness | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (5)



January 17, 2006

My friend Nancy just sent this to me, and it was too cute not to add to my blog. I checked the web, and it looks like public domain — it’s on several websites, including Sweet Thoughts for the Soul (which actually has several funny poems and stories for moms.)

“If You Give a Mom a Muffin” is written by Kathy Fictorie, based on Laura Numeroff’s If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. I can totally relate to being easily sidetracked — in fact, that’s what I’m doing now, while I need to go start supper. Hmmm…maybe we’ll have corn muffins.

************************

If you give a Mom a muffin, she’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She’ll pour herself some.

The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.

She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.

She’ll remember she has to do some laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer, she’ll trip over some toys and bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan dinner for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.

She will look for her cookbook (101 Things to Make with a Pound of Hamburger).

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.

She’ll smell something funny.

She’ll change the two year old.

While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring.

Her four year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee on Friday.

Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.

She will pour herself some.

And chances are…Once she has a cup of coffee…

Her kids will have already eaten the muffin that went with it.

By: Heather Ivester in: Friendship | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (2)




I discovered some shocking news yesterday, which I thought I would work into this essay topic, “The Beauty of Hope.” My news? I live a sedentary lifestyle. I’ve denied it — but the truth was revealed yesterday in a $7 piece of plastic.

I’ve been trying to get motivated to start exercising again — lately I’ve done nothing for my health. I’m just too busy. Plus I’m sure I get plenty of exercise chasing kids all over the place. But I’ve finally admitted to myself that I’ve got to do something about my postpartum pounds. They’re stuck.

I thought maybe our scale was broken, so I’ve weighed myself about five different places — and those scales seem to be broken too. (How can our pediatrician’s scale be SO wrong? What a shame for all those children!)

Truth is — I’m 25 pounds heavier than I was two years ago when I felt like my old self. When I used to have energy! But I read in Alyice’s DM Writes blog about how she’s going to start riding her new exercise bicycle. And that encouraged me!

Then I read in the newspaper that 2/3 of Americans are overweight (yikes!), and I also read that a healthy, active person should walk 10,000 steps a day. Oh! Here’s a statistic I like — this is measurable, something I can relate to. I’m sure I walk 10,000 steps a day around here — don’t I?

So I invested in a pedometer — a little blue plastic thing that I attached to my belt loop yesterday. And boy was I active. MLK Day — no school. I had kids everywhere — at one point, we had eight kids over here and two moms talking about how tired we were. I was showing off my shiny sink (thanks to FlyLady) and clean countertops. And I loved knowing that every one of my steps was being tracked!

I went up and down stairs all day, transported clutter from room to room, prepared three meals and little snacks for small tummies, swept, washed dishes, changed diapers, refereed life-threatening battles, helped with homework, and cleaned up spills. To make sure I was EXTREMELY active, I decided I’d better take a walk.

It was drizzling, but that did not deter me — the active, many-steppin’ mom. I loaded the baby in the stroller, and two of my kids joined me in my quest for good health. My son also wore another pedometer I’d bought, so we enjoyed comparing notes — he was a few thousand steps ahead of me, but I knew I’d catch up!

Last night, when I finally got ready for bed, bone tired, I checked my pedometer and saw this: are you ready? I’d only walked 4,843 steps! Less than half of what an active, healthy person should walk! So, I’m considered sedentary. My heart is not getting enough exercise. The little pamphlet that came with my pedometer said a person who needs to lose weight should probably increase the number of steps to 12,000 per day.

I thought about jumping on the treadmill for a few minutes — but I can’t sleep if I exercise right before bed. So I hit the pillow letting my shocking discovery sink in.

And today I write with great hope. I’m going to do something about this! For one thing, my sporadic walks are going to become daily. Last week, I read in Ann’s Holy Experience blog … the most inspiring passage from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. She quoted this:

A junior devil’s excuse for a man choosing to commit to Christ:

“How did that happen?” roared the senior devil.

“Because he did two things that took him away from us.

First, every day he took a walk, not for the exercise but for the pure pleasure of it.

Second, he decided to read a good book, not so that he might quote it to someone else, but rather for the pure pleasure of it.

Between the walk and the good book, he came within [God’s] reach.”

That quote reminded me how we connect with God through getting outside and enjoying His world — as C.S. Lewis says, for the “pure pleasure.” Since I’m a multi-tasker, my pure pleasure of enjoying the presence of God can be shared with kids who like my company outdoors and a puppy that needs to be walked.

I’m reminded of that old Chinese proverb: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” My desire to lose 25 pounds and get in shape seems like a long road ahead. But at least now I’ve taken the first step. The first 4,843 steps. I have hope that I’ll be able to reach this goal. And along the way, I’m sure I’ll experience many truths as God speaks to me while I walk and come within His reach.

Would anyone else care to join me? Let’s start a Secret Pedometer Club. We can all wear our little plastic meters and check to make sure we’re getting our 10,000 steps in. The thought of other people joining me in this endeavor makes me feel very happy. And hopeful!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

By: Heather Ivester in: Wellness | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (14)



January 15, 2006


I read this prayer in Elisabeth Elliot’s devotional this morning and loved it so much I want to print it out and keep it in my Bible. Elisabeth shares, “A prayer written by Amy Carmichael has been my prayer as long as I have been a mother, and I pray it now for my grandchildren.”

I watched a parenting video once that featured Elisabeth and her daughter, Valerie, who is a homeschooling mother of eight children. I can safely say that God answered Elisabeth’s many years of prayer. For those of you who don’t know, Elisabeth was widowed at a young age, and was a single mother for many years.

I’m not going to italicize or block-quote it — so it will be easier on the eyes to read — but this is from today’s devotional, Early Lessons.

Father, hear us, we are praying,
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil
From the secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them,
Holy Father, save our children.

From the worldling’s hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Through life’s troubled waters steer them,
Through life’s bitter battle cheer them,
Father, Father, be Thou near them.

Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children.

And wherever they may bide,
Lead them Home at eventide.

Copyright© 1988, by Elisabeth Elliot
All rights reserved.

By: Heather Ivester in: Parenting | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (3)



January 14, 2006


Don’t forget that Tuesday at 3 pm is your deadline if you want to write up something on the topic of “The Beauty of Hope” for The Carnival of Beauty next week. If you’re new to my site and you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is a weekly gathering of posts from Christian women bloggers. You can read the guidelines here. It was started by Sallie of Two Talent Living, but she’s taking a break right now, so different people have stepped in to host it. This week, Ellen of MzEllen & Co. is the hostess. So, go to her site, get her email address, then send her your link and a brief description.

Here’s a great excuse to write something you’ll want to keep. Most of the time I blog, I just link around to other interesting things — but this Carnival gives me an excuse to really think about something, and write it. I tell my kids it’s like I have homework too.

Now the topic of hope — this is very important! How can we go through a day of life without hope? There’s nothing dearer to our faith. What brings you hope? What memories do you have that are full of hope — or what future dreams can you share with us? What are your favorite verses that offer you hope?

It would be great if Ellen gets 50 submissions this week — if you’re busy, write something short. One paragraph even! Let’s make this a true Garden of Hope that we can all capture the link to and return to visit when we need a dose of hope.

Ellen writes of this week’s Carnival:

Here are a couple of suggestions that we’re finding make things a little easier for the hostesses:
– send links to both your blog and the individual post.
– send a short description of your post (to have it in third person really helps!)

I’m discovering a lot of new blogs to read daily – I’m having to weed out my bookmarks. I’m also very glad I have firefox with the “open in tabs” feature!

Thank you all for participating!

Set your timer and write something!

By: Heather Ivester in: Writing | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (1)



For those of you who’ve kept up with this, Stacy wrote to say that Boswell came home yesterday! Her cat has been missing for 15 days, and she’s been so worried. She and her husband have had Boswell since they first got married, over 12 years ago. So, he’s a family member.

Welcome home, Boswell! (You can go see his picture here.)

Today is Saturday, so that means our prodigal cat will come home for the day as well. It’s the strangest thing. Briar Rose leaves us during the week, but she comes home to visit her siblings and nieces on Saturday afternoon. Every week. One of our kids will point out, “Look! There’s Briar Rose!”

She’s a white, fluffy ragdoll cat, and I’m sure she’s taken up residence with someone who gives her more attention than we do. She smells like perfume when she comes home. Now wouldn’t that be a fun children’s book to write? Briar Rose the Perfumed Cat. Where does she go when she disappears?

Briar Rose and Boswell are keeping some secrets from us!

By: Heather Ivester in: Cats | Permalink | Comments & Trackbacks (2)