Books!

As the holiday season hustle comes to a close it's time to start reading our first book, Traveling Light! The local libraries have a few copies. But if you would like to purchase the book for yourself you can check with Books-a-million in Gulf Shores or there is even a Barnes and Noble in Malbis. Amazon.com has copies available for $10.00 plus tax. Kathy at church will be ordering herself one from there possibly this Friday, Jan 2ND. Shipping will be free so this will get you a cheap easy copy. Get with me or Kathy by Friday, if you would like a copy ordered for you from Amazon in the group shipment. I hope you are as excited as I am to get started. I hope you have a great New Year and stay safe!
-Amber
abookjunkie@gmail.com

To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.

Glory to the Newborn King!

I just got done attending the wonderful candlelight service at Swift. It was amazing as it is every year. If you missed it I hope you are able to attend next year. I pray you take a moment in the chaos of today and tomorrow to remember why we celebrate this wonderful holiday and Thank God for his gift of Jesus Christ our Savior. But may we say a prayer everyday and give thanks as we prepare ourselves for the day when he shall return. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas! God Bless You!!
-Amber
To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.

Christmas Is

Just to let you know I hung up information about the bookclub in the hallway at Church when you walk in the side door. There are flyers there for you to take. Please take one to a friend or family member you think may be interested. I know right now it is a very busy time of the year and the last thing you are probably doing is thinking about this book right now. Like me you are probably going down your mental checklist of last minute groceries to pick up or things to do before next week hits. A new Christmas song came out this year by one of my favorite artists and is now one of my favorite Christmas songs. I have heard it on Power 88 alot and if you haven't you should check it out. The name of it is called "Christmas Is" by Mark Harris and his daughter Maddison. Mark's website is http://www.markharrisonline.com/ and you can listen to the song on his main page. I really enjoy the lyrics plus dad and daughter sing very nice together. I think this song does a good job of combining the real meaning of Christmas plus all the other parts we enjoy too. It's a very sweet song and I just wanted to share it! Hope you are having a nice start to your weekend!
-Amber
To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.

Many Thanks!

Thanks so much for all the great feedback I am getting about the blog. I of course did not come up with all this myself so I must give credit where some credit is due. Let me give you a quick summary of how this came about. Thanks to Jody Beth, Jessica and Pastor Keith for tapping and trusting me to organize this because I LOVE it! Phil Melton was the first one who said something about a chat online somehow for the book club and instantly Jessica and I were, "yeah we could start a blog!" Someone made the background and the layout and I just put it all together how I liked it. I had a little advice from my friends Courtney and Amy who have blogs of their own. You can visit Courtney's at http://cooklikeachampion.blogspot.com/ where she features recipes her husband and her like to try out, lots of Yummy treats. And Amy's at http://studioaphoto.com/blog/ where her husband and her own a photography company and they do an awesome job, (there actual website is http://www.studioaphoto.com/). Many thanks go to everyone who suggested names but the winner went to my friend and office manager Donna who had the idea for Serendipity. Thanks to Heather for the "bookjunkie" name, how fitting. Thank you Kelli for your constructive criticism as I figured out all this stuff. Thanks Valerie for looking at it real quick last night on your way out to Choir because I was dying for feedback. Thank you Jody Beth for putting up with all my phone calls and thank you in the future because I have a feeling you will receive more.Thank you Kathy and Stevie for helping me get the information out there. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone, Sorry for the long list... you would have thought I was accepting an oscar or something crazy but I can't take all the credit... if I did forget, I'm sorry and Thank you!

I hope you will share in my excitement as we start this new year with our book club. Please tell everyone about it even if it is someone who cannot attend meetings we would love for your feedback and participation through the blog. It is perfectly fine to jump in and out as we read books you may want to read or not want to read. Please post comments as you read the book and any questions you may bring up. Christy Canady will participate from Georgia and we are so happy to have her. Most of all we must remember to give thanks to God for providing this book club, may it be a blessing to you in some way.
-Amber
To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.

Traveling Light in the New Year 2009

Hooray! Our book has been chosen for our very first meeting in January. We will read fiction and non-fiction Christian books throughout the year but our first will be a non-fiction work to start off the New Year. With so many wonderful books and authors to choose from it was a difficult choice but it is fitting to choose something that will help us as we start a new year.

Traveling Light by Max Lucado
Releasing the burdens we were Never Intended to Bear: The Promise of Psalm 23.

Odds are, you did this morning. Somewhere between the first step on the floor and the last step out the door, you grabbed some luggage. You stepped over to the baggage carousel and loaded up. Don’t remember doing so? That’s because you did it without thinking. Don’t remember seeing a baggage terminal? That’s because the carousel is not the one in the airport; it’s the one in the mind. And the bags we grab are not made of leather; they’re made of burdens. The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. You drape a duffel bag of weariness on one shoulder and a hanging bag of grief on the other. Add on a backpack of doubt, an overnight bag of loneliness, and a trunk of fear. Pretty soon you’re pulling more stuff than a skycap. No wonder you’re so tired at the end of the day. Where do we turn for help? How about looking to an old friend, the twenty-third Psalm....The Lord is my shepherd... Using the verses of the 23rd Psalm as a guide, Max Lucado walks us through a helpful inventory of our burdens. (The above is from the back of the book cover.)

To refresh your memory here is Psalm 23: 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23 (NIV)

I am very excited about this choice and hope you will be too. This book came across my path this summer. I decided to give it a shot, checked it out from the library and couldn’t put it down. I eventually purchased it later to have for myself to be read again. I will give more on my comments of this book another day so I hope you will come back for more!

Our first meeting will be Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 8:30 in the morning. The place of our meeting will be announced at a later date. Please comment or e-mail me (abookjunkie@gmail.com) and let me know if you are interested and plan on participating so we can have an idea of how many to expect. The local libraries have copies of this book and if you need help in obtaining one, let me know! Please comment as you read the book as this blog was provided so that we can all discuss the book throughout the month! I would love to know your thoughts good and bad!

-Amber

To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.

Brand New!

Wow! So much to figure out in starting this blog. We are working on the details of our book club as I write this. Information will be available this week sometime on the who, when and where of everything. I am so excited about this and hope you will be too. Stay tuned for final details!

To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.