100th post

A funny thing happened on my way to this blog...

Just as I was about to click the button to create a new blog post, I noticed that the post count was at 99, which makes this my 100th post on this blog. The funny thing? I was coming here to post that I will no longer be posting here. How is that for a 100th post celebration?

Obviously, if you are one of the three or four people who might actually read this blog then you realize that very rarely actually post here. When I do post, it tends to be a book review. And let's face it, I am not actually doing any of those authors much good by posting reviews on a blog that seldom gets updated and almost no one reads.

I will still be blogging, I will just be doing it all over on my other blog now. So, if you are one of the rare readers of this blog, please click on over to Life With Meechi and follow me there. I promise you'll get much more excitement and a lot more blog posts over there.

down, down, down

I am so down right now. No, that does not mean that I am down in the pounds. I am just emotionally down. I don't even know what it is about, I just feel so..... blah! I have so much in life to be thankful for and to make me happy. But still I am just down.

With this feeling of blah comes the laziness. I am always just a slug when I am feeling down. I have no emotional energy and that zaps away my physical energy. All I want to do is just lay about. I know that getting up and moving would probably help to spark my emotional energy level along with my physical energy but I have not been able to do it.

Right now I would love to have a couple of days to just curl up in the bed, buried under a pile of blankets and just hide away. Just give me some bottled water, some good spiced chai and a ton of pudding cups and pop tarts, hand me the remote and leave me alone.I just want to hide away from all the issues in my life. Yes, I know this is not a healthy attitude but it is where I am at right now. It just feels like it would be easier to hide away then to actually deal with it all.

Book review and giveaway: Forget Me Not by Vicki Hinze

I love a good mystery, especially ones that keep me guessing. Forget Me Not by Vicki Hinze managed to do just that. I truly could not guess how this one would end. For me, that is what a great mystery is all about. Of course I don't mind a nice love story thrown in, and this book delivers that as well. What I got with Forget Me Not, that I don't find in the average mystery, is a look at how faith can help someone through even the toughest challenges. These three things combined, made for one really good book that I didn't want to put down until the end.

about the book:

Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He’d failed to protect his family. Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace. The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?

Would you like to win a copy of Forget Me Not? I am giving away a free copy! Just leave a comment on this post for your chance to win. Want extra chances to win? Tweet about this giveaway for an extra entry. Blog about this giveaway for another entry. Follow/subscribe to this blog and earn TWO extra entries. All entries must be received by midnight April 25th. Winner will be announced on the 26th. Please leave a comment with links to your tweet or blog post or to let me know you subscribed for your extra entries.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Gifts

Failing to use our gifts disappoints God, and we deny others the opportunity to enjoy God's blessings with us

I read this in a devotional (that i now cannot remember where i saw it exactly) and it really resonated with me. I am pondering on this one for awhile. I believe it to be an incredible message. Failing to use my gifts is something I am guilty of doing myself, but I've never really thought about how I might be denying others by doing so.

Trials

I have developed a new perspective on the name of this blog. I had originally started this blog as a place to post product reveiws, and so Trial By Jury simply meant that I was trying things and passing the word onto my readers about them. That is why the blog address is actually "try all by jury" After I started the blog, I sort of lost interest in that idea. Then I lost interest in the blog. I then came across the blogging for book program which offers Christian books for me to read and review. It got me back into posting on the blog. More than that though, it renewed within me the desire to learn and know more about Christ.

That desire has been there for a few years now, but I always managed to find a way to squash it down and concern myself with worldly matters. Lately this blog has become more about my personal trials. The struggles of self, of heart, of soul. So, while the blog is taking a different turn from what I had originally intended, the name still fits perfectly. Just one more of those "His plan, not my own" lessons in my life.

Walk With Me Wedensday in a whole new direction

I am beginning daily devotionals. I will admit that until sometime in the past couple of years I had never heard a devotional. When I did begin to hear people speak of them I didn't know what exactly they were referring to. I did notice that these devotionals seemed to help them in life and in their path with God. It was something I wanted for myself, so I have decided to look into what exactly a devotional is.

The dictionary defines it as:

a short religious ceremony

I have also seen it defined as:

A devotional is short one-page writing about a topic related to the Christian faith and life.

I think that it is more than that though. I believe it is a way to grow closer to God, a way to enrich your life and your spirit. That is something I could truly use, and so I made the decision to start doing daily devotionals.

I probably won't post them all on this blog, but I am sure the ones that hit me most significantly will appear here. When I do post I am making them my Walk With Me Wedensday posts. Originally I had designated that as a way to post about exercise and actual walking, but now it feels more right to make it about walking the path to The Lord. Since today is my first day, and because the message of today's devotional comes at the right moment in my life, I am sharing a bit of it.

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (NIV)

this devotional is from Here is the Way Lynn Cowell

"You see, we can't in fact follow our heart. Our heart can't be trusted. Our heart will lie to us and tell us things we want to hear instead of the truth we need to hear. It will convince us that what we want is the right way, even if that way is not God's way. I know; I've listened to it before.

When we find ourselves at the crossroads, the first place to turn is God's Word. So many of the questions we ask can be answered there if we are willing to hear the wisdom the Bible provides."

prayer:

Dear Lord, I've grown so used to trusting my heart. In fact, it is all I've known to do most times. Please help me discern Your voice behind me and give me the discipline to read the wisdom You have already provided in Your Word. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Found what I've been looking for

I attended a new church this past Sunday. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now. I've made plans over and over again to give a new church a try, and then Sunday comes along and I find one excuse or another not to go. I didn't let that happen this time.

Now, honestly, if I had planned to go on my own I likely would have backed out again. I hate to do anything alone. (that is a post for another monday) This time I made plans to attend with my sister-in-law. We were talking a few days ago and realized we had both been wanting to try a new church, but neither of us had wanted to go alone. It turned out perfectly, as we were both finally able to do something we'd been wanting to do and we did it together.

I wasn't real positive which church I wanted to attend. I had considered going back to one I had tried in the past. There were aspects I liked about the church, and others I didn't. There was another church I had been considering, and yet never really felt a strong enough pull to actually go. My SIL actually had a specific church in mind that she'd heard great things about, so we decided to give it a try.

Let me just say... I loved it!
My SIL also really loved it, and best of all little Meechi did fantastic in the 4/5 year old group. Seriously, they raved about it. I had several people tell me how sweet he was and he good he had been. When I picked him up, he was having a good time and was actually playing WITH other children. Praise God! That in itself can be miraculous.

People went out of their way to make us feel welcome without also making us feel awkward at being first time visitors. Love that! They serve refreshments in the lobby area before service which provides a nice time to socialize. I think that is awesome! The service started with Christian rock being performed as people were entering. Love that too! The message was not only a great message but was given in a way that was interesting and even entertaining. An hour long church service felt like half that. Not your grandma's church for sure!

We had a great experience there and I plan to go back. So does my SIL. I admit to feeling awkward starting to attend a church at Easter time. I know that it is a time of year that casual church goers make an effort to attend. That is not what I intend to be. I truly want to get involved and become a part of a good church family. I sort of feel like people might get the impression that I am one of those casual church goers due to the time of year, but as I continue to attend then that appearance will drop away. I am actually excited for their Easter service. They handed out a flyer that says it will be a 3D experience. Cool! That will be the first time for my teenagers to attend since they were at their dad's house this past weekend. I think having their first time there be in 3D will help get them into the idea of attending.

Oh! I also have to mention that pretty much everyone there was wearing jeans. I know some people don't agree with that type of casual dress for church, but I am not one of those. I love that I can wear jeans to church. I really don't think God cares whether I am wearing a dress or a pair of blue jeans.