Trail Thoughts: A Daily Companion for your Journey of Faith by Eric Kampmann
Do you get caught up in life? Do you forget there is more to life than the day-to-day grind? I do. I am so worried about paying the next bill, what the next raise will look like, who hit whom first and many other distracting details I forget to step back and look at the big picture. I am also one of those Christians who really means to read the scriptures every day but only remembers when my head hits the pillow.
I think I have found a solution to my problem. Trail Thoughts is a beautiful compilation of scriptures and companion explanation to be read one at a time. There is a scripture for everyday of the year. If you're curious like me, yes, February 29th is included with a heading "Leap Year". I will keep this book on my night stand and get my daily scripture everyday from now on!
Trail Thoughts is elegant in its simplicity. It isn't long lectures telling you how things should be but rather an open door waiting for you to walk through and discover God's desires for you. Trail Thoughts is the perfect gift for yourself or anyone who needs five minutes to recenter everyday. (In other words, practically everyone on this earth!)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Identity Code
The Identity Code by Larry Ackerman
"You are stronger than you feel, wiser than you think, more powerful than you may care to admit, more courageous than you believe." These words from the back cover of The Identity Code are powerful and so very true but do you understand them? Do you understand yourself?
I thought I knew myself pretty well. I have always been rather strong willed and if you ask my husband, it borders on hard headed. The methods I have been using to define myself seemed perfectly adequate -until now. The journey of inner contemplation and self discovery through The Identity Code has opened my eyes to a whole new way to view myself, others and the world.
The Identity Code is based around 8 key questions that spark the mind. The most important part of these questions is not how insightful they are. They are common questions that most people have asked themselves. The important part is the explanations that expounds upon the questions.
For example, Who am I is the very first question to explore. The exploration goes deeper and beyond associating our selves to a group such as saying I am a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, Mason, Christian, African American etc. You are yourself not defined as someone's child, spouse or parent. The amazing part is The Identity Code has suggestions on how to figure out for yourself who you are as an individual.
I do need to stipulate, this book will not give you any answers. This book shows you were to look to find your owns answers. That is the main point though. We are all a unique combination of attitudes, histories, opinions and futures. One answer will not and should not cover everyone.
The Identity Code is a real eye opener and has helped me look at things from several different angles and let em choose for myself the way I look at myself. I don't think my journey to discover who I want myself to be is any where near complete. I think I'm just getting started.
Even those who are comfortable with themselves will find something new in the pages of The Identity Code. Everyone should buy a copy today!
"You are stronger than you feel, wiser than you think, more powerful than you may care to admit, more courageous than you believe." These words from the back cover of The Identity Code are powerful and so very true but do you understand them? Do you understand yourself?
I thought I knew myself pretty well. I have always been rather strong willed and if you ask my husband, it borders on hard headed. The methods I have been using to define myself seemed perfectly adequate -until now. The journey of inner contemplation and self discovery through The Identity Code has opened my eyes to a whole new way to view myself, others and the world.
The Identity Code is based around 8 key questions that spark the mind. The most important part of these questions is not how insightful they are. They are common questions that most people have asked themselves. The important part is the explanations that expounds upon the questions.
For example, Who am I is the very first question to explore. The exploration goes deeper and beyond associating our selves to a group such as saying I am a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, Mason, Christian, African American etc. You are yourself not defined as someone's child, spouse or parent. The amazing part is The Identity Code has suggestions on how to figure out for yourself who you are as an individual.
I do need to stipulate, this book will not give you any answers. This book shows you were to look to find your owns answers. That is the main point though. We are all a unique combination of attitudes, histories, opinions and futures. One answer will not and should not cover everyone.
The Identity Code is a real eye opener and has helped me look at things from several different angles and let em choose for myself the way I look at myself. I don't think my journey to discover who I want myself to be is any where near complete. I think I'm just getting started.
Even those who are comfortable with themselves will find something new in the pages of The Identity Code. Everyone should buy a copy today!
Big Ideas to Big Results
Big Ideas to Big Results by Michael T. Kanazawa and Robert H. Miles
As a big fan of Dilbert comics, the premise of Big Ideas to Big Results interested me. There are so many jokes about managers and the big picture, idea buy-in and reorganizations it is interesting to look at the other side. How frustrated must higher level leaders get when their brilliance is met with blank stares?
Michael Kanazawa and Robert Miles wrote Big Ideas to Big Results as a way to combat the tendencies of companies to have a great idea and vision but never execute. The book is laid out very logically with common sense steps and points out several issues that are regularly mocked but seldom fixed.
For example, the second chapter addresses the issue of gridlock. Gridlock happens when several good ideas are implemented at once. No one can address several big changes all at once -especially if some are in conflict with each other! The authors bring up how some mid level managers routinely ignored memos about change unless someone followed up later. The mid level manager is not to be faulted because he or she only used a survival tactic when dealing with overload.
Some other issues brought up are high level management's tendency to dictate instead of engage in dialogue, how to make your goals understandable, how to engage employees instead of zoning them out, getting momentum in your company, empowering leaders at all levels of the company and how to keep momentum even after the adrenaline rush from the big launch has worn off.
In our Dilbert world, Big Idea to Big Results is a powerful tool for eliminating the sarcastic, critical responses from employees jaded by the mistakes of the past. This book will help corporations makes effective change and limit the amount of pain involved in it. This is definitely recommended for anyone who leads a group of any size!
As a big fan of Dilbert comics, the premise of Big Ideas to Big Results interested me. There are so many jokes about managers and the big picture, idea buy-in and reorganizations it is interesting to look at the other side. How frustrated must higher level leaders get when their brilliance is met with blank stares?
Michael Kanazawa and Robert Miles wrote Big Ideas to Big Results as a way to combat the tendencies of companies to have a great idea and vision but never execute. The book is laid out very logically with common sense steps and points out several issues that are regularly mocked but seldom fixed.
For example, the second chapter addresses the issue of gridlock. Gridlock happens when several good ideas are implemented at once. No one can address several big changes all at once -especially if some are in conflict with each other! The authors bring up how some mid level managers routinely ignored memos about change unless someone followed up later. The mid level manager is not to be faulted because he or she only used a survival tactic when dealing with overload.
Some other issues brought up are high level management's tendency to dictate instead of engage in dialogue, how to make your goals understandable, how to engage employees instead of zoning them out, getting momentum in your company, empowering leaders at all levels of the company and how to keep momentum even after the adrenaline rush from the big launch has worn off.
In our Dilbert world, Big Idea to Big Results is a powerful tool for eliminating the sarcastic, critical responses from employees jaded by the mistakes of the past. This book will help corporations makes effective change and limit the amount of pain involved in it. This is definitely recommended for anyone who leads a group of any size!
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Secret in Phantom Forest
The Secret in Phantom Forest by TJ Perkins
Two young girls Kim and Kelly go on a camping trip with their school group. Kelly didn't want to go, she is a city girl all the way but Kim decides she wants to try camping at least once and talks Kelly into going with her.
The forest has many tales linked to it and all of the girls talk about them right away. Some of the tales are witches high on the mountain because there have been strange lights seen at night. Also there is said to be a phantom that takes people away forever.
While hiking to their camp ground, Kim and Kelly find brand new twenty dollar bills. Then, one by one, the girls start to disappear. Not sure what is actually going on, Kim starts her detective work. When Kelly comes up missing, Kim goes into full motion to find her best friend before anything else happens.
Fantasies are Murder
Fantasies are Murder by TJ Perkins
Do you ever think about being a detective and solving murder mysteries? A lot of people dream about being a detective. Kin and Kelly are two young girls who love playing detective. They watch mystery movies, read the books and love to play the game clue. Kim is really good at solving the crime when playing the game but can they solve a real murder?
Their parents, who are good friends too, decided to take the girls to a weekend resort that runs a murder mystery for its guests. The resort has actors for all of its staff and they will drop hints as if a real murder was to take place.
The girls loved the resort and enjoyed having the freedom to walk all over the place on their own to figure out who done it. That is until they find out there was a real murder. Playing a game is one thing but can they handle the real thing or will it be the last thing they do?
This was a good book to read. It kept you guessing until the end. I recommend this book for all
One Small Victory
One Small Victory by Maryann Miller
I could never imagine losing one of my kids to a car accident and hope I never have to go through it. However, this is exactly what happens to Jenny. Her oldest son Micheal dies in a car accident when his friend Brad is driving while on drugs. Brad lost control trying to drive to fast around a corner, killing Micheal almost instantly.
Through her grief, Jenny decides to join the drug task force that the police have formed to stop the drug trafficking in the small town. The task force is not meant for civilians so she had to push her way onto the force by proving she could handle it. As soon as she was excepted on the force she was informed that she is to be a secret informant. That meant she could not tell anyone, not her kids, not her mother and not her best friend.
Jenny had a hard time not telling anyone. She always believed in honesty and having to lie to everyone tore her up. Her son, Scott, because suspicious when she started going out almost every night dressed in slutty clothes. Scott started to call Jenny's ex-husband, his father, to complain and when he threatened to take action to take the kids from her, she started to wonder if she is doing the right thing.
I enjoyed this book. The fight that a mother takes to try to make her town a little safer and to keep drugs away from the kids she has left. I read this book in two days and stayed interested till the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who has kids and to all that like a good suspense book.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer by The Goldman Family
OJ Simpson is a household name still among those alive during the 1990s. Not really for his sports although he was a very accomplished athlete, but instead because his estranged wife and a local waiter, Ron Goldman, were brutally murdered and he underwent trial for those deaths. The pursuit by the police and the three-ring circus that was his trial were national media for weeks. Even the lines of politics were mild disagreements compared to the debate whether he did it or not. When the verdict came back not-guilty, the nation rocked as those in support cheered and those opposed to the verdict gnashed their teeth at the injustice.
The details lost as the media moved onto the newest hot topic was the aftermath for Ron Goldman's Family. I knew they had sued civilly and won for wrongful death but not much more. I did not know that OJ has been dodging that verdict and shuffling money around so he didn't have to pay. The Goldman family won the rights to If I Did It as a way to prevent OJ from making money off the deaths but it also manifested itself to be the only way to recoup some of that money owed to them.
I know The Goldman Family have been walking a fine line by publishing this manuscript and have to be careful not to libel OJ and risk a lawsuit. After reading If I Did It, I am sick to my stomach over the whole affair. The book, it turned out, is not what I thought it was about. I thought this book was about how if OJ had done it, it would have been done a different way. You know, a wood chipper into a lake so the body would disappear with a lot of bleach following to prevent blood evidence. You know, something smart that is hard to trace . . .
Instead this book fills in details that only the killer would have. The text of the book contains the back story to OJ's life and how horrible the marriage was. The whole time up to the death, it felt like OJ was justifying his behavior and putting Nichole's fate on her head. I'm not saying Nichole was an angel. She definitely made mistakes that are sad and depressing. The issue I have is the sob story OJ gives. He could have been matter-of-fact but the tone of the book is almost like a child wanting acceptance and absolution from his little oops.
I know the media spin after the book was condemned by the general public was that the book was a piece of fiction written from the imagination of a ghost writer. To rebut that, the prologue is written by the very ghost writer that worked from audio tapes and notes from interviews with OJ himself. Those are all destroyed now as per the agreement with OJ's lawyers. In the prologue, the ghost writer asserts that OJ checked the manuscript and changed details in it at least three times. It may still be fiction, but it was from OJ's mind, not he ghost writer's.
The most interesting part of reading this book, to me, was discussing it with my husband who is a member of law enforcement. When he was in the academy, they actually showed a tape of the officers interviewing OJ. They showed the tapes as what NOT to do in an interrogation. They actually show the exact moment where most professionals think OJ was about to confess but the officers are so star struck they unintentionally steered him away from the confession. I think the bottom line is just because a jury couldn't find him guilty without a reasonable doubt, that doesn't mean he's innocent.
So now we get back to the fact that the Goldman family has published a book about their son's death that was written by the person they believe killed him. Many people would consider that greedy as though they are trying to benefit from the death of their son. I honestly don't think that is the case. As they state, they believe the book is OJ's confession. They want the world to hear it.
I can't say without doubt one way or the other about OJ's innocence. I wasn't there. All I can say is while reading If I Did It, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I think it was definitely a bad move for OJ to do this project! Even without the prologue and afterword, the book is suspicious.
OJ Simpson is a household name still among those alive during the 1990s. Not really for his sports although he was a very accomplished athlete, but instead because his estranged wife and a local waiter, Ron Goldman, were brutally murdered and he underwent trial for those deaths. The pursuit by the police and the three-ring circus that was his trial were national media for weeks. Even the lines of politics were mild disagreements compared to the debate whether he did it or not. When the verdict came back not-guilty, the nation rocked as those in support cheered and those opposed to the verdict gnashed their teeth at the injustice.
The details lost as the media moved onto the newest hot topic was the aftermath for Ron Goldman's Family. I knew they had sued civilly and won for wrongful death but not much more. I did not know that OJ has been dodging that verdict and shuffling money around so he didn't have to pay. The Goldman family won the rights to If I Did It as a way to prevent OJ from making money off the deaths but it also manifested itself to be the only way to recoup some of that money owed to them.
I know The Goldman Family have been walking a fine line by publishing this manuscript and have to be careful not to libel OJ and risk a lawsuit. After reading If I Did It, I am sick to my stomach over the whole affair. The book, it turned out, is not what I thought it was about. I thought this book was about how if OJ had done it, it would have been done a different way. You know, a wood chipper into a lake so the body would disappear with a lot of bleach following to prevent blood evidence. You know, something smart that is hard to trace . . .
Instead this book fills in details that only the killer would have. The text of the book contains the back story to OJ's life and how horrible the marriage was. The whole time up to the death, it felt like OJ was justifying his behavior and putting Nichole's fate on her head. I'm not saying Nichole was an angel. She definitely made mistakes that are sad and depressing. The issue I have is the sob story OJ gives. He could have been matter-of-fact but the tone of the book is almost like a child wanting acceptance and absolution from his little oops.
I know the media spin after the book was condemned by the general public was that the book was a piece of fiction written from the imagination of a ghost writer. To rebut that, the prologue is written by the very ghost writer that worked from audio tapes and notes from interviews with OJ himself. Those are all destroyed now as per the agreement with OJ's lawyers. In the prologue, the ghost writer asserts that OJ checked the manuscript and changed details in it at least three times. It may still be fiction, but it was from OJ's mind, not he ghost writer's.
The most interesting part of reading this book, to me, was discussing it with my husband who is a member of law enforcement. When he was in the academy, they actually showed a tape of the officers interviewing OJ. They showed the tapes as what NOT to do in an interrogation. They actually show the exact moment where most professionals think OJ was about to confess but the officers are so star struck they unintentionally steered him away from the confession. I think the bottom line is just because a jury couldn't find him guilty without a reasonable doubt, that doesn't mean he's innocent.
So now we get back to the fact that the Goldman family has published a book about their son's death that was written by the person they believe killed him. Many people would consider that greedy as though they are trying to benefit from the death of their son. I honestly don't think that is the case. As they state, they believe the book is OJ's confession. They want the world to hear it.
I can't say without doubt one way or the other about OJ's innocence. I wasn't there. All I can say is while reading If I Did It, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I think it was definitely a bad move for OJ to do this project! Even without the prologue and afterword, the book is suspicious.
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