June 12, 2015
A Friend in Me by Pamela Havey Lau
Young women long for connections with women further along their journey. Without realizing it we can sometimes tend to distance ourselves from those younger than us.
About A Friend in Me
Can we have close relationships with women who have different thoughts on church, different family experiences, and different ways of talking about God? Where do we start?
In A Friend in Me, Pamela Havey Lau shows you how to be a safe place for young women in your life to come to. She offers five patterns women need to internalize and practice for initializing relationships and talking about issues of faith, forgiveness, sexuality and vocation. She reminds us that there does not need to be a divide by generations. Together, we can have a global impact and experience a deeper faith.
My Thoughts
We all crave close relationships, it is just a part of human nature. We want to learn from each other, feel a connection, know we are important and that our feelings matter. Sometimes, it can be hard to be a good friend and it can be even harder to cross the generations gaps.
A Friend in Me teaches us how not only to build relationships with other women but how to cross that gap. For myself, I value my relationships with my older co-workers. When I need advice they are the first people I will go to and lay it all out for. They not always agree or understand my choices but they can provide me feedback and advice. This advice has been learned from being there and already doing it. This is why these relationships are so important to young women. We can learn and grow from these relationships, while realizing no matter what the age gap we are all the same and experiencing the same things. My favourite part of the book focuses on the tone of our voices, which I know I am guilty of. Are we relaying what we truly feel in the tone of our voice? How would this make you feel if someone spoke to you like this? Pamela provides plenty of real experiences to get her point across as well as provide opportunity for growth and education. This is a great resource for all women to come back to over and over again.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour page. You can purchase a copy of a Friend in Me here.
Rating: 5/5
About Pamela Havey Lau
Pamela is the author of Soul Strength and numerous articles. She has taught writing at George Fox University and speaks around the country at conferences and retreats. A graduate of Liberal University and Colorado State University, she lives near Portland, Oregon with her husband and three daughters. You can connect with her online and on Twitter.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
June 10, 2015
Introducing Your Child to the Theatre at the Shaw Festival
I love attending plays and this was a huge part of my childhood. My parents took us to Beauty and the Beast, ballet, Phantom of the Opera and so many more fantastic live shows. I love the architecture of the theatres, the thrill in the audience and the raw emotions from the actors. Sometimes I feel as though children are not encouraged to attend because they have shorter attention spans or they may act out. While this can be true at times, you should always encourage them to attend with you. These are social experiences that will last with them for a long time. One of the best places to experience live theatre is at the Shaw Festival!
Here are some helpful tips for your child’s first visit to a live play:
Arrive early and walk around the city. Niagara on the Lake is stunning in the summer months with the flowers and scenery, so take advantage of this with your child. Pack a lunch to enjoy in one of the parks or try out one of the fabulous restaurants that line Queen Street. This walk really helped our youngest burn a lot of energy while allowing us to see lots of beautiful architecture in the city as well as the lake.
Visit the local shops along Queen Street. We found so many unique shops and this one particular shop really caught the attention of both of our boys with the wind chimes. They fell in love! We spent twenty minutes in this store alone and they came home with a special chime just for them to remember the day.
Niagara on the Lake is rich in history and everywhere you turn there is a sign or flag to display that heritage. Why not really make it a day and visit Fort George for an hour or two? During the War of 1812, Fort George served as the headquarters for the Centre Division of the British Army. This was an important part of our trip as well as we were able to blend some education value into this stop as well as having fun walking around the site (and pretending to shoot cannons!).
The doors to the Royal George open an hour early, so make sure you get in there and take some time to relax in the downstairs lobby. Use this time to make sure your children go to the bathroom, get a small snack and maybe something to drink. The boys loved the mini stage and tables that were set around it. We enjoyed some cool, quiet time before the show started.
The play will make your trip so research what you will see and talk about it with your children. We attended Peter and the Starcatcher, which was fantastic and was a perfect fit for our family! It was full of humour, action and adventure. At one point our youngest was so involved in the action scenes with the Black Stache that he called out no when he was attacking Peter. It was adorable to watch how involved they were in the play and to me this is what theatre is all about, drawing you in to the raw emotions and feelings of the play. The actors in Peter and the Starcatcher did an amazing job drawing you and keeping you entertained throughout the whole two hours. We did not want the show to end!
End your day with ice cream! We stopped in at the Il Gelato di Carlotta, which serves the most divine gelato! I had the Dolce Vita and was in love at first bite. This was the perfect way for us to celebrate the wonderful day we had. Not only is their gelato delicious, they also source all of their fresh fruit from local farms (a win win in my mind!).
The Shaw Festival is the perfect opportunity for you to introduce your child to live theatre, which will be an experience they will not forget!
What other tips can you offer to parents taking their child to live theatre for the first time?
Disclosure: I received tickets to Peter and the Starcatcher. All opinions expressed are my own.
June 9, 2015
Celebrate Dad This Father’s Day with Raincoast Books Just For Him
I love a heartfelt book even more so when they can be gifted to a special person in your life. Raincoast books has put together a fantastic selection of books just in time for Father’s Day!
Raincoast books has put together a diverse group of books that celebrate the joys and struggles of Fatherhood, one of the most important roles a man will ever take on!
The Quotable Dad has become my favourite book and one that we have cherished with my husband. This book contains over two hundred unique quotations! The Quotable Dad shares thoughts, ideas, humour and advice from the best minds on the challenges that Dads face. It supports, encourages and sheds light on a role that is not always appreciated as much as it should be – being a Dad is tough work!
Rock, Meet Window is a funny memoir from blogger Jason Good who dives into the world of magic, falls, and the meaning of fatherhood. Here he shares the story of his Father, a charismatic and affectionate man who taught him to live and be a good Dad to his own two kids. The moment Jason learned he will lose his Father to cancer and the year that followed, inspired him to reflect on how an imperfect Father can be perfect in all the ways that matter in the end. Jason explores the highs, the lows and everything in between.
The Power of Dad encourages Fathers to parent their child with the knowledge they are vital to the future of their children. Michael Byron Smith discusses the impact of a fatherless home, the challenges of parenting and the hierarchy of fathers that exist. There are absent fathers, present but absent fathers, authoritative fathers, loving fathers, teaching fathers and many more. Any man can look at himself, see where he stands and make changes.
The Better Man Project is 2,476 tips and techniques all focused on men’s health. Men tend to take better care of everything else but themselves. Their own health scares them! The Better Man Project aims to stop this. This guide is a straight forward personal information guide delivered with humour.
Here is the basic training manual for the first three years of Fatherhood! And it was read by Prince William (caught your attention there, didn’t I?!). This guide is practical and contains field tested instructions for caring for new ‘recruits’. It includes how to prepare the home, how to develop sleep routines, feeding, burping and so much more!
The name says it all: How to Survive Anything, A Visual Guide to Laughing in the Face of Adversity. earthquake imminent? Stuck in a middle seat? This book will teach you how to deal with anything that comes your way.
Raincoast books wants you to win three of the above books just in time for Father’s Day! My Canadian readers can enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!
Disclosure: I received two of the above mentioned books free of charge. All opinions expressed are my own.
June 9, 2015
Niagara On The Lake #WW with linky
We visited the Shaw Festival this past weekend as well as toured the Niagara on the Lake region – talk about beautiful! Here are some photos from this weekend:
June 9, 2015
Return to Food Review
How do you identify real food? How do you figure out what is healthy for you? The Return to Food will show you how!
About Return to Food
Chances are if you are feeling flat, tired, or are experiencing chronic illness, you are not eating real food. If you want to jump out of bed feeling great, you must find out what is real food and what is not. This book challenges prescriptive approaches to diet, eating and food, with a new approach based on twenty years of research and working with clients. This approach has helped thousands of individuals develop a healthier and more sustainable approach to eating.
My Thoughts
I would like to start off by saying this is not a diet book! Get those thoughts out of your head right now. Sherry is anti diet for so many reasons but mainly because dieting introduces an unhealthy relationship with food. Instead she views food as a nourishment and the best way to nourish our body is with wholesome and nutritious food when our body needs it.
One of my favourite parts of the book, is when Sherry explains what real food is: can you find it? can you prepare it yourself? Definitely words to live by!
Sherry also includes some fantastic recipes for you to try out. All of them are simple ingredients and simple instructions.
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Chapters.
