Here’s an important article every parent should read from the Active Christian Media website. Actually, this is an article that grandparents should read as well — because when your grandchildren are in your care, you should also take steps to protect them from internet predators.
10 Things You Can Do Today To Protect Your Children from Online Predators Who Want Them
Amanda of following an unknown path is hosting the Carnival this week. Our topic is “The Beauty of Flowers.” Very timely, don’t you think? What are the flowers like in your part of the world?
In thinking back to the time I lived in Japan, I remember how passionate my Japanese friends were about the plum and cherry blossoms. Everyone went to the park together to celebrate the spring flowers! I lived with a Japanese family for a year, and I remember being in awe that my homestay mother received a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers every week — delivered right to her front door.
She arranged them in a special alcove in the entrance hall, the tokonoma. She taught me that in the Japanese art form of arranging flowers, ikebana, the space between the flowers was just as important as the flowers themselves. That advice has always stuck with me. It’s the same as in music — the pause between sound is what makes the melody. I once attended a national ikebana exhibition, and I was amazed — not only at the flowers but at the people — they seemed to be in no hurry and would stop to stare at an arrangement, seeming to admire the perfect placement of every delicate petal.
I’m not very good at arranging flowers. I wish I were. My mom and mother-in-law have that touch of being able to make anything look pretty in a vase. I keep piddling around and make things look worse. I do have the knack for putting a small tuft of freshly pulled wildflowers in a vase on the kitchen table — I give myself grace since they look childlike. Those are the bouquets I enjoy the most around here. And like my Japanese homestay mom, they’re always delivered fresh.
Our spring is just beginning here in the Southeast U.S. We’ll soon have bright bursts of azaleas all over our hometown. The dogwood trees are popular as well, and maybe I’ll remember in a few weeks to blog about the spiritual meaning of the dogwood blossom. It has a lot to do with Easter.
Here’s a picture of some native azaleas and dogwoods. This little chapel is on St. Simon’s Island, off the coast of Georgia. Wouldn’t his be a nice place to sit and ponder the beauty of flowers?
True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God’s Word stands firm and forever.
Isaiah 40:8 (The Message)
I have a dear friend who has a heart for children with special needs. In fact, she’s hoping to start a blog soon to help connect parents who are raising exceptional children. She asked if I would share this website with you and see if there is ANYONE out there who might be able to offer some help.
There is a family with a precious 6-month-old daughter named Grace who was born last September. She has mysterious symptoms of turning a purplish color after she eats, and she has trouble breathing. She sleeps about 20 hours a day. Her parents have started a blog called Purple Baby with the hope that someone may recognize Grace’s symptoms and have suggestions for medical tests or point them in the direction of a diagnosis. When you see her sweet picture, you’ll be overwhelmed — please pray for them.
Here’s something I discovered yesterday that might be helpful for parents of babies or toddlers who aren’t sleeping all night on a regular basis. Do you have bags under your eyes from lack of sleep? Are you tired and irritable throughout the day because every night it’s the same old thing: as soon as you get to sleep, your baby wakes you up wanting to be fed or held?
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how having a feeding schedule can bring order and peace to your day — but here’s a post written by a DAD who has been there, done that, and has some awesome advice for the weary.
His one secret tip will change your life if you’re still getting up several times a night to care for a fussy baby.
I got an email recently from a woman who would like tips on how to publish her first children’s book. Since this is something I’ve never done before, all I could do was encourage her and pass along some great websites. I told her publishing is a journey that is different for every writer. The more you read other people’s success stories, the more you realize it’s an art, not a science.
Although there are people who write one book that gets published right away and sells millions of copies, most people find it a gradual process of taking small steps toward their publishing goals.
Here are a few places where you can find good information:
The Institute of Children’s Literature offers a free weekly e-newsletter, which is very helpful. The editor, Jan Fields, has a thorough inside knowledge of the children’s publishing industry. The newsletter contains articles from published children’s writers, question/answer topics with Jan, and interviews with writers and editors.
I love reading interviews with editors because you can glean details that will really help you stand out if you contact them in the future. In your query letter, you can say something like, “I recently read in your interview with Jan Fields that your publication is looking for stories about ___.” Don’t you think the editor will be impressed if you’ve done your homework and are sending exactly what has been requested?
Another site that is helpful for any writer is Terry Whalin’s Right Writing website and The Writing Life blog. He has dozens of articles that will point you in the right direction. If you read his blog regularly, you’ll see over and over again his advice that you start out writing articles or stories for magazines, then move into writing books.
For one thing, your publisher will want to know that you’re a professional. Also, he tells his blog readers a lot about marketing. These days, you can’t expect your publisher to do your marketing for you. When you send them your book proposal, you must also include a marketing plan — how will you help promote your book? Are you a speaker? Will you do school visits? Can you do radio interviews? I’ve been shocked to learn in the past year that most writers must also be speakers if they want to publish books. (Especially if you choose to self-publish!)
Another helpful resource is Mary Demuth’s website, as well as her blog. She recently posted about 14 ways you can improve your writing and line your pocketbook. She has a free newsletter that is packed with awesome tips, and she is a true Christ follower. I love reading her newsletters.
Today’s the day — 27 of us are all beginning this journey of learning how to live beyond ourselves. On March 27th. How cool is that?
How am I going to wait until Friday to start writing about this amazing stuff I’m learning? WOW! Did anyone watch the video yet? I tried downloading the video, but just can’t on my slow dial-up. (One of the joys of country living — no high-speed internet out here yet. By the way, my neighbor came over this morning to tell me to be on the lookout for his ten cows that got out of his pasture.)
Well, I was able to listen to the audio quite easily, and now I’m wondering what in the world everyone laughed so hard about when Beth said, “What self-respecting Texas woman would have hair like this?” She apparently couldn’t use her hairdryer on her recent trip to Kenya!
I’m already stunned at what I’m learning. And I did my first day of homework too, with kids playing NOISILY all around me. It’s spring break this week! Is this what they say in Deuteronomy about teaching the scriptures to our kids when we sit and when we rise? Well, I just read my homework out loud to them.
My kindergartener asked me in a hushed voice of awe, “Mama, did that lady’s voice on the computer give you all that homework? What happens if you don’t do it?”
I’m testing this new chart. Welcome to Karin, who’s joined our group. YEA!
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Sherry
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Tara
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| Heather | HolyMama! | Eph2810 |
| Christy | Jenn | Karin |
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This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published weekly, between Friday 8pm – Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word. |
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I know bloggers are supposed to wait until “Thankful Thursdays” to tell you what we’re thankful for, but I can’t wait until then. Today may read like a small-town society column, but I had a great weekend, and I don’t think I can function until I write about it! Plus, I found out my brother-in-law who’s married to my sister is a faithful Mom 2 Mom reader, and he said, “I like it when you write about personal stuff.”
So, the personal stuff is that my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary over the weekend. 40 years! My sister started emailing me right after Christmas about it. “What do you want to do for Mom and Dad’s anniversary this year?” We went back and forth, wondering if we should throw them some kind of big party. We finally decided to do a small, intimate dinner with just our family.
I can’t remember the last time we’ve shared a special meal together with only our immediate family invited. My mom can’t help but invite other people she knows to come eat with us — often it’s the lonely ones who don’t have anyone else to share a holiday with. She has a second dining table that sets up in the living room, so she can seat at least 16, and we usually have that many or more.
My sister ordered two dozen Tropicana roses — Mom’s favorite — and arranged them in vases around my parents’ house. We brought a two-tiered wedding cake, iced in buttercream frosting, with a bride and groom on top and tropicana-colored roses spilling down the side. (Thank you to our friends in the Publix Bakery!) My sister-in-law took over the heavy-duty cooking. She and my brother grilled shrimp and chicken on wooden skewers, as well as fresh vegetables, and potatoes. She also broiled the juiciest salmon ever, steamed asparagus, and prepared a cornbread casserole that was out of this world. My sister and I filled in with spinach salad, fruit salad, pasta and jello jigglers for the kids, and bread. (My sister also brought her special made-from-scratch, thrice-sifted pound cake, and her mother-in-law made us a million tiny chocote chip cookies!)
I have to say here how thankful I am for my sister — she was in charge of this whole deal, and it wouldn’t have happened without her, even though she lives the farthest away. She also brought a paper tablecloth and crayons which she put in little terra cotta pots for our kids to color while we ate. My girls and I put little chocolates in silver garden pitchers around the house like party favors. I forgot to say we’d been planning on hosting a “garden theme” party because my parents just added on a back screened-in porch with an outdoor fireplace — but it was TOO COLD to eat outside.
So, we all had a great time eating inside — and also the timing was perfect for me to give Mom the mother/daughter gift book I wrote. It was released last week from Nelson Books, From a Daughter’s Heart to Her Mom: 50 Reflections on Living Well. It’s like a huge-long Hallmark card celebrating how much a daughter is thankful for her mom. The photos, which I had nothing to do with, are absolutely stunning, highlighting moms and daughters around the world. What a joy it was to give to her — finally!
After our dinner, we of course had to get pictures of Mom and Dad cutting their wedding cake, and we also got a picture of Mom holding a bouquet of roses right next to her gorgeous wedding photo. Then we did something we always talk about doing, but never do — we set up the movie screen and watched my parents’ old home movies. Each reel lasts about four minutes, with no sound. It was so fun showing my kids how their grandparents looked when they were younger, bringing me home from the hospital, celebrating the milestones that make life rich — birthdays, vacations, Christmases, new pets, backyard picnics, etc.
We all spent the night, and the next day went to church together. We filled up the whole back pew in the church. During the service, our kids sat mysteriously still and looked cute — so this was another amazing feat for the weekend. Right before the sermon, we sang six stanzas of Amazing Grace, and I heard the words as I’d never heard them before. The fourth verse jumped out at me so much, I had to jot it down in my notebook!
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
than when we first begun.
OK, if you’re still with me — to top off the weekend, my husband and I met with a group of my high school classmates who are starting to organize our 20th reunion for next summer. We walked into the restaurant, and I was thinking about how everyone looked in high school. Then when I saw them at the table I said, “Hey, how come this is a table full of old people?” (haha). Really — I hadn’t seen most of the guys in 20 years. Only a few came to the 10-year reunion. The girls I’ve kept up with, but wait a minute — there are a few gray hairs on the guys and a wrinkle here and there. Of course, we had to pass around pictures of everybody’s kids. Our senior class president lives in California now, and so she “led” the meeting from a speakerphone PDA. We’ve all got a list of 25 people we’re going to start trying to find — and we decided we want to have a weekend-long reunion with several options for different budgets.
So, there’s my personal stuff — my weekend. I have to also add that my sister brought more clothes for my kids. She’s an amazing shopper, and she finds my girls the most beautiful smocked and embroidered dresses and outfits. I absolutely can’t shop like she does — she finds them at traveling wholesale stores and resales, all with the tags on them. I don’t know how she does it, but now our kids have classic Easter and spring outfits because of her.
So, if you’re my family reading this — THANK YOU, and I LOVE YOU! And if you have hung with me reading this, thank you too! It just feels good to share the blessings God has given me — friends and family — all because of His grace and love.
Venice … as Gunn says, is “the city that Italy wears proudly like a diamond-studded broach on the cuff of her tall boot.” From the very first page of this book, I felt like I was whisked away to the land of canals and chilled Italian gelato ice cream. It was almost comical how I could actually hear the sweet sounds of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” being played by an Italian violinist every time I opened the book. I hope I didn’t start waving my arms around like a conductor while I waited in my kids’ pick-up line (the best spot for reading).
The setting in the jewel of Italy is magnificent, and the characters captivated me as well. Jenna and Sue have been sisters-in-law for almost 30 years, yet their friendship has become tightly knit only in the last five. In exchange for cooking for a group on a retreat, the women are invited to stay in a 15th-century restored palace on a quiet Venician canal. The descriptions of this palace are breathtaking.
What’s even more fun is that Sue and Jenna decide to sleep on the roof of the palace, since the other guests need all the bedroom space. And we’re right there with them. Jenna narrates for us:
Once we managed to heave both mattresses onto the rooftop, I stood back and caught my breath. The evening air swirled with the scent of salt air and garlic. Accordian music floated our way from one of the alleyways where I could picture an Italian musician playing his or her heart out for locals who were making their evening commute on foot.
Not only do readers get to enjoy the scenery, we’re also gently pulled along into the author’s deep Christian faith. While on the rooftop, Jenna ponders her relationship with God. She remembers how He comforted her years ago when her husband left her, when her daughter was only a few months old. Even though she’d prayed fervently for her marriage to be restored, she was left alone, as a single mom. Yet God carried her through the years.
He didn’t give me any of the solutions I begged and bargained for. All God gave me was Himself. His presence. And even though I didn’t recognize it at the time, the grace of His presence was sufficient. His abiding Spirit was like the moon. A sliver of comfort and light rising even on the darkest night. This night, on the Venecian rooftop, His presence was more than sufficient. He filled heaven and earth.
I couldn’t get enough of this wonderful, faith-driven writing. And it’s laugh-out-loud funny too! Native Texan Sue brings humor to their excursions through Venice as she pronounces Italian words with her Southern drawl. I found myself picking up certain words and phrases from my reading and teaching my children how to pronounce grazie and prego. (I never knew the word Prego on all those spaghetti sauce jars means “you’re welcome!”)
I’ll keep the plot a secret so you can read it for yourself, but this trip is a season of awakening for these two women. Both have been through deep valleys — Jenna’s brother (Sue’s husband) has recently been through a horrific accident and will never fully recover. But their trip to Italy is the perfect salve to their wounds, and you can sense their refreshment as they both enter a new season of their lives. One that will be full of joy cut from the grooves of sorrow.
Now I’ve become a new Sisterchicks fan, and I can’t wait to read the other books in this bestselling series. They’ve sold more than three million copies worldwide (see — I am late to the party!). Other titles include Sisterchicks Say Ooh La La!, Sisterchicks Down Under, Sisterchicks in Sombreros, and Sisterchicks Do the Hula. Don’t they sound fun?
There’s no bad language or smut in these books. Author Robin Jones Gunn is the mother of two and has been married for 28 years. She makes her home in Portland, Oregon, and has written over 60 books in all genres! I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to discover Christian fiction. It’s so refreshing to read! I’m absolutely SICK of reading novels that have bad language — I bought a paperback at the grocery store a year ago in my ninth month of pregnancy — in complete desperation for a light-hearted distraction. I won’t say who — she’s a topselling author — but the language and immorality left me feeling defeated. In contrast, Gunn’s books inspire me and encourage my faith.
Sorry, I just discovered you’ll have to wait until May for this book to come out! But if you happen to read any of the other Sisterchicks novels, let me know what you think! Y’all know I love my armchair traveling these days. (sigh) Click here to see a cute picture of the author riding a gondola through a canal in Venice.
— Reviewed by Heather Ivester
This is a post to test Lauren’s fabulous design work — I don’t know if it will fit in my skinny ol’ blog, so I’ll test and see. [Edit: It fits!]
Right now, there are 27 of us signed up to study Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself, and there’s still plenty of room for you!
Click here, and you can sign up:
It’s really easy. I’m not techno-savvy at all, and I signed up in five minutes. I clicked another button and downloaded my first week’s homework.
Here’s what Lauren of Created for HIS Glory says we’re going to do:
On Monday we will each watch the video in the comfort of our own homes and then begin the homework. We will each be posting on an open topic; for example you might want to post on something Beth said that touched you or a particular truth that God is working on teaching you. Maybe you’ll want to write about an instance that happened during the week where you were able to apply the teaching. The posting should be between Friday 8pm – Saturday 8am. We will then have the weekend to read through each other’s posts and discuss the study.
She’s also graciously given us a blogroll for our sidebars (ooh … lots of bloggy talk here). That way, we’ll always know who is studying with us, and we can chat back and forth. Not everyone in our group has a blog — you’re welcome to jump in if you don’t have a blog. You can leave comments in anyone’s blog — and be a part of this group!
This will be interesting — has anyone ever done this before? What do you call this — a Blog study? Cyber-study? Cyber-club?
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Sherry
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Tara
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| Heather | HolyMama! | Eph2810 |
| Kim | Jenn | Christy |
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This is a list of the women participating in the study and links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published weekly, between Friday 8pm – Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His Word. |
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This is a reprint of a great article I read this week in the Hearts at Home newsletter. It’s written by Becky Wiese.
We females are a highly relational bunch. We are typically more expressive, emotional, and empathetic than our male counterparts.
That’s why friends are so important to us. We need the support, understanding, and encouragement from others who know what we’re going through.
For women whose career currently focuses specifically on caring for our children and nurturing of our family, friends are not only good to have around, they are vital to our survival and sanity. A professional mom’s friends are her co-workers, her peers, her colleagues.
They hold us accountable, encourage us, and celebrate with us.
Hopefully our husbands are at the head of the pack cheering us on, telling us we’re doing a great job, helping us with the parenting issues, but they are not always able to understand the issues we face in the same way another mom can.
It’s a lot like labor and delivery: Our hubbies are there to cheer us, coach us, coax us, and celebrate our accomplishment, but only another mom knows exactly what it feels like to give birth.
Similarly, only another mom can understand the emotion and commotion associated with the daily care and nurturing of children.
What’s interesting, given the importance of friends, is that often an at-home mom’s biggest challenge is dealing with isolation. While friends are vitally important to us, sometimes it’s hard to find them.
It can be discouraging to drive through your neighborhood and realize that you are the only one home during the day. It’s frustrating when you know no one with whom you can swap childcare duties — just so you can run errands in peace and quiet every so often. It’s difficult to feel that you’re a productive and valuable member of society when “all” you do is wipe noses, bottoms, and floors.
So how can you get past the isolation issue?
First, you have to get out of your house. The only at-home mom at your house is you! Go to the park, the library, the indoor play land — places where other moms tend to hang out with their kids. If your child attends school, volunteer periodically — you’ll find other moms doing the same thing.
You can also enroll yourself in a class that provides childcare during the meeting. Chances are many of the other women are just like you: Moms wanting to find other moms.
Find out if there are any support groups for moms, or babysitting co-ops, or other types of gatherings that would make it easy for you to meet other moms in your area.
Once you’ve found some friends, remember to nurture your friendships.
There is an old adage that says to have a friend, you have to be a friend. Be a giver, not only a taker, in the relationship. Be honest in your conversation, gentle in your response, and supportive in your actions.
Finally, remember there are different levels of friendship. It’s similar to the ripples made by tossing a rock in a pond. There might be one or two really close “sister” friends who are there with you “at impact,” a group of close friends who make up the first ripple, a larger group of “good” friends in the second ripple, a group of gals you know but don’t spend a huge amount of time with in the third ripple, and so on. All of these relationships are important and fill a specific role. Remember that not every acquaintance will end up being a “sister†friend, and that’s okay.
Friends help us through the ups and downs of life. There is much truth to the saying “(s)he who has found a friend has found a treasure.”
Find and treasure your friends — you’ll be blessed over and over for it.
Becky Wiese and her husband of twenty years, Mike, make their home in Bloomington, Illinois, with their four children. She is a frequent contributor to Hearts at Home publications and serves as the Director of Communications for the organization. In her free time, she enjoys sports, reading, music, and travel.
Copyright Hearts at Home 2006, used with permission. For more information about Hearts at Home: 309-888-MOMS or visit the website.
[Heather’s note: This article didn’t mention how great it is to find friendships among fellow women bloggers! I mean, how are we going to bump into a mom who lives in another country at the indoor playground? And to be honest, after a few years, my kids and I decided we’re allergic to the smell of socks at those places.]
P.S. I just can’t keep off my own blog! Stay tuned because NEXT week, we’re having an awesome lady come tell us all about the MOPS organization — Moms of Preschoolers. Here’s a great way to make new friends with moms who live near you — and if you don’t have preschoolers, she’ll tell us how you can become a mentor mom. You can visit their website and find out if there’s a group near you.
I’ve been alerted to the fact that my post this morning was a bit too bloggy for my non-blogging blog readers. I’m sorry about that. Someone who has NEVER ONCE left me a comment said my blog is “getting blogged down in all the blogocentricities of the blogosphere.”
OK … I can’t help it. This is just what happens. I’ve seen a slow evolution occurring in the blogosphere. Here are four things I’ve noticed happening lately:
1) Some people just get sick of blogging and quit. When you go to their site, you see a last post that says something like, “Good-bye, y’all. It’s been real.”
2) Some people enjoy the online journaling part, but not the whole bloggy comments thing, so they turn their comments off and say something along the lines of, “Please contact me by email only.” This is how I started out my blog because I was afraid I’d get spammed all the time. There is certainly nothing wrong with this, and it’s useful for many people.
3) Others will go commercial with their blogs and start accepting paid advertising. Why not? What’s the difference between a blog and a newspaper? How do editors and writers make a living? From advertising. Or the blogs become part of the person’s overall for-profit or not-for-profit business. (For example, to build up expertise or leadership skills.)
4) Some people just keep on going, year after year. I don’t know any of these people yet.
I enjoy participating in the Carnival of Beauty because I spend time thinking deeply about a topic and writing out my best. But if I did this every day, I’d have nothing left to submit for publication — to places that actually pay for writing. This is what I do “behind the scenes” of my blog — I submit articles and stories for publication. Once something is posted online, you can’t submit it for first rights anymore. So, your payment might be zero, as compared to several hundred dollars for first rights.
It would be easier to post all of my favorite ideas and stories online, but it would also be lazy of me. It’s hard to submit for publication because you have to seek out the exact editor who might want to buy your story, and you get REJECTED a lot. You get these nice form letters that tell you, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
People have to eat, you know. And our five kids have the stubborn habit of outgrowing their clothes and shoes. But I do love the people out here in the blogosphere — I’d miss out on an awful lot of fellowship if I only wrote for print publications.
Here’s a nice picture so my post is not all bloggy:
What do you call it when someone gets a new look for their blog? I guess I’d call it a “bloglift.” Does this word already exist? There are changes going on all over the blogosphere, so I thought I’d highlight a few recent ones.
Sallie has been making some changes to her blog at Two Talent Living that look great. It’s interesting for me to see — she and her husband run a home business together, and blogging is one aspect of it.
Carol at She Lives has a new header for her blog that really shows who she is — a mom and a musician at the foot of the Cross. It looks fabulous!
And I love Mama B’s new blogskin over at Confessions of a Busy Mom. Great design work by Kelly of Nello Design.
Now here’s another total transformation. Have you visited Mind & Media lately? Stacy just celebrated the one-year anniversary of starting her business blog. So I’ve heard this called a “blogiversary.” She’s expanded her site to encompass several different pages, packed with information, designed by Natalie Jost.
She sent out this press release:
Orange, CA (PRWEB) March 20, 2006 — Mind & Media, the very first online publicity company that utilizes the blogosphere to promote Christian media, including books, film, and music, has just completed our first year of business.
Using Christian and conservative bloggers, Mind & Media has proven that companies and independent authors realize the power of the blogosphere.
We have placed books for some of the top Christian publishers and authors in the industry, including Crossway Books, Bethany House, Tyndale House, and World Ahead Publishing.
If you would like to learn about how you can blog for books, or have your books, music or film promoted through Mind & Media we invite you to join us as we enter our second year of business.
But this morning I found out some more breaking news — Mind & Media will soon be undergoing a name change! I don’t know if this is public yet, so go visit her site to find out more details.
I’ve been reviewing books for Mind & Media since last fall, and I really enjoy it. I’ve been introduced to books and authors I never would have known about. And believe me, when I read a book I love, I don’t just keep it within the blogosphere — I tell everybody I know! In fact, a few people have referred to me lately as an “influencer.” I guess that’s what happens to bossy big sisters (which is what I was growing up). Shi kata ga nai! [for my Japanese readers.]
I think every blogger who likes to read Christian books ought to check out what’s going on over there. The requirements for reviewers have changed a bit in the past year. She wants you to have at least 1500 unique visitors (not hits) to your site per month. And there’s a nominal yearly fee for new reviewers — this is just to make sure she only gets people who are serious about writing reviews. (And she needs some more good writers who will post thought-provoking reviews.)
If you’d like to join and your blog is approved, then you get to choose which books you want to review — and they’re shipped to you absolutely free — no tax, no shipping, nada. There have been some great books on the list lately. I’ve signed up to review James Scott Bell’s thriller, Presumed Guilty, even though I don’t normally read suspense. But I did hear Bell speak last fall, and he’s a huge fan of A.W. Tozer, so I’m curious to see how he writes fiction.
Another bestselling author who has a new book on the list is Karen Kingsbury. Her website says she’s the “top-selling Christian fiction author of our day.” I remember reading an article about her in MomSense Magazine that she has six children — and three are adopted. I’ve signed up to review her new novel, Divine. Ooh … and I just discovered Karen has an online journal.
There are many other benefits for being part of the Mind & Media team. For example, last week Family Research Council announced a full-time web editorial position; reviewers were invited to apply, and we were given the name of the contact person. (I’m not looking for a full-time job right now, in case you’re wondering. I prefer part-time work that I can do from home.)
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are more professional positions opening up for bloggers. So if you think you might like to get paid to blog someday, remember that everything you write in your blog may be seen by a potential employer. Just a thought.
Mary Yerkes also has some information about blog evangelism that I found interesting.
