Brenda Rodgers

Category: Reading

  • Ready to Read? The Ultimate eBook Bundle Sale is Here!

    Last week I mentioned that I have a slight infatuation with eBooks because they’re super cheap! Well, I just thought of another reason I love eBooks. Nowadays there’s an eBook on almost every subject you can think of. Sometimes I go through phases – like the whole foods phase – where I want to learn all I can on a particular subject, but I’m certainly not going to go out and buy a big, long book on it, so instead I just buy (or even download for free at times) an eBook about it.

    If that’s you, too, then the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is something you might want to check out, and the sale starts today! Now, there are a lot of books on “homemaking” type things, but there are several that are not.

    Here’s a list of the non-homemaking books:

    100 Days of a New Year

    21 Days to a More Disciplined Life

    5 Days to Budget Breakthrough

    A Heart Prepared – A Simple & Effective Scripture Memory System

    Advanced Penny Pinching

    Blog Planner 2014

    Cash Flow Your College: Knowledge in Your Head Without Being in the Red

    Christian Wealth Building

    Dairy Free 101

    DIY Natural Household Cleaners: How To Make Your Own Cleaners Naturally

    Equipped:  Because You’ve Been Made to Live On Purpose

    Feast! Real Food, Reflections, and Simple Living for the Christian Year

    Frugal Secrets of Real Foodies

    God Gifted Virtues

    Healing With God’s Earthly Gifts: Natural and Herbal Remedies

    {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks

    How To Manage Your Mouth – A 30 Day Wholesome Talk Challenge

    Just Making Ice Cream

    Learning to Speak Life: Fruit of the Spirit Family Devotional

    Life Your Way Complete Printables Pack

    Live for Him: A Grace-Filled Look at Planning

    Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Tutorial to Using PicMonkey with Professional Results

    My Simple Healthy Life

    Real Food on a Real Budget

    Set Apart: Becoming a Woman of Virtue in a Modern World

    Sewing School 101

    Simple Cooking to Save You Money

    Simple Natural Health

    Simplified Dinners

    The Best of Visionary Womanhood Volume 2

    The Blog Planning Kit by Kat Lee

    The Sweeter Side of Candida

    Your Retreat: A Guide to Giving Yourself a Personal Planning Day

    (To see the full list of eBooks, please click here!) 

    Plus, these FREEBIES!

    Dayspring – Free 10-pack of Cards ($19.99 value)

    Hope Ink – Free $15 Store Credit + Free Art Print ($39 Value)

    Redeeming Beauty Minerals – Choose any 3 eyeshadows for Free ($16.47 Value)

    Dizolve – Free 64 Load pack of Laundry Detergent strips + 64 Free to a food bank ($25.98 Value)

    Marie-Madeline Studio- Free $15 Store Credit ($15 Value)

    riLight Health – Free $15 Store Credit ($15 Value)

    Fit2B Studio – Free 2-month online membership ($19.98 Value)

    List Plan It – Free 90-day site membership ($15 Value)

    One a Month Meals – Free 2 Month Membership ($20 Value)

    Bulk Herb Store – Free digital download of “Making Herbs Simple: Volume 2” ($14.95 Value)

    The sale last from today, April 23rd, to April 28th at midnight. And yes, you can get a refund for up to 15 days after the sale. Read more of the fine print by clicking here

  • Do You LOVE eBooks as Much as I Do?

    So I have a slight obsession with eBooks. Mainly because most of them are free or really, really cheap, and they are literally with me everywhere I go – on my iPhone, iPad, or computer. (Nope, you don’t need a Kindle to read eBooks. Did you know that? There’s an app for that, and that’s all you need!)

    Last year when the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle went on sale, I said, “Yes! Me, please!” and received many, many books for just pennies (plus a lot of bonuses)!

    Well, it’s back! The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle goes on sale next week, April 23rd at 8:00 a.m. (EST) and will continue through Monday, April 28th at midnight (EST)!, and this year it’s even better because there’s an option to buy the Kindle versions of the books (last year it was just PDFs)! All I have to say is that makes me very, very happy!

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  • Coffee Talk with Jesus: Intimate Chats with the Savior {A Review and Giveaway}

    I have to tell you, I’m a full-on morning person. My very favorite time of day is 5 o’clock in the morning. I come downstairs, black still covering the pre-dawn air, my big overstuffed chair with tufted buttons waiting for me, and of course, the coffee already brewed.

    After pouring that first cup, and sitting deep into my chair, legs folded up criss-crossed, my chatting begins. I talk to Jesus, there in the silence, sometimes even out loud. Then I open my Bible. And He talks back. (more…)

  • When You Get Friendship Dumped {And a Review and Giveaway}

    Recently I’ve been friendship dumped.

    I don’t know the reason. I don’t know the cause. I don’t know what I did wrong. I don’t know what happened.

    All I know is that I had a baby. And things changed.

    Some of my closest friends called once, and never called again. Visited once, and never visited again. Didn’t ask how my baby was doing or how I was doing with no sleep, emotions flying high, and still trying to keep up with day-to-day life. They didn’t text. Didn’t like pictures on Facebook. Just didn’t . . . do anything.

    One of my pet-peeves is passive-aggressive behavior. The silent treatment doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t understand it. “Just say-it-already” is my motto. But they haven’t said it.

    Then again, I haven’t either.

    I’ve thought about being blunt and asking, “What’s going on?”, but secretly I think I know the answer, and it’s nothing I can fix. And I’m pretty sure I know the response. “Nothing. What do you mean? I’m busy, too. Just because you have a baby doesn’t mean you’re now special.”

    No, but it does mean that for this season, since this tiny new life moved into our home, I need you to be my friend. And maybe just a smidgen more of you than normal.

    Why-Cant-We-Just-Get-Along-e1374159736539

    During this time of being friendship dumped, I was given a book called Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?: 6 Effective Skills for Dealing with Difficult People by Shelley Hendrix.

    Oh. My. Goodness.

    I had never read a Christian book written primarily on female friendships, but, to be honest, I thought it would include the same advice given to me since middle school – don’t gossip, don’t act snooty, treat people nicely.

    However, it was nothing like I thought.

    Shelley starts the book not by focusing on how to fix all the relationships in our lives, but by turning the issues inward and focusing on ourselves as image bearers of Jesus. She doesn’t use canned answers from pop-psychology, but she takes God’s Word and unfolds it so that we can see how what we believe about God and ourselves affects how we respond or react in relationships.

    Shelley says, “When you know who you are, you’ll know what to do. When we don’t know who we are, we spend our time, energy, and resources trying to ‘fix’ the people and circumstances in our lives. We shift blame, we manipulate, we pout, we make concessions. Knowing who we are frees us from this damaging cycle and frees us to be fulfilled and active participants in the Body of Christ.” p. 28

    By starting with myself and Jesus, I reflected on my own friendship problems in a new light. Instead of staying in bitterness quicksand, I focused on the one person I can change and the one person I am responsible for fulfilling God’s call – myself.

    Shelley goes on in her book to unpack six effective skills to use when dealing with difficult people. Again, each of them were straight from God’s Word.

    This is where I gained new perspective.

    Yes, I have been very hurt by several friendships recently. I can get really angry about them if I think about them long enough. However, there’s nothing I can do to change another person – to heal her, change her opinion, or make her see circumstances my way.

    All I can do is be the friend I want her to be to me.

    So that’s what I’ve done. In the past few weeks, I have tried to be more intentional in my friendships to be supportive, encouraging, and prayerful. I’ve tried to ask my friends what they need help with, and I’ve tried to reach out to them more instead of waiting for them to come to me.

    To be honest, it hasn’t always been reciprocated, but as Shelley’s book has shown me, I don’t answer to my friends, I answer to God. And He wants to me to live friendships like He would live them.

    I am BEYOND THRILLED to be giving away one free copy of Shelley Hendrix’s book What Can’t We All Just Get Along? because I believe in this book so much! EVERY WOMAN NEEDS THIS BOOK! I don’t say that about every book, but I mean those words without any hesitation.

    This book is jammed pack of Biblical insights to help us live our friendships the way God intends. There is so much Biblical truth in it, and you can even use it as a personal or group Bible study!

    Now share with us, what’s your biggest struggle in female friendships?

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • What is the Real Crisis in Singleness?

    If you’ve ever been around single women you know there is one topic that is typically hot on the brain – singleness. I was no different. Whether at breakfast or a party or late night coffee, I engaged whomever I was with in analysis of “Why?” and “When?” and “What now?” questions. However, I’ve come to realize that the real crisis in singleness isn’t spending a Friday night alone or worrying about something stupid you said to that crush or even surviving a breakup.

    The real crisis in singleness is much deeper.

    Today I am honored to be a guest writer at Brooke-Nicole.net where I am sharing the real crisis in singleness. Please join me there to read more. And be sure to read the other posts in her singleness series.

    Fall for Him: 25 Challenges from a Recovering Single

  • All Dressed Up

    Have you read New York Times bestseller Don Piper’s amazing story 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Life and Death? Well, I am thrilled to introduce to you his wife Eva Piper’s new book A Walk Through the Dark. Read how her church community became the hands and feet of Jesus to her and her family during the most intense time in their lives. And be sure to visit her website EvaPiper.com to reserve your copy today!

    Eva-Piper-Book

    Every young girl dreams of being asked to their first dance. Our daughter, Nicole, was no exception. When a young man from her junior high school asked if he could take her to the school Valentine’s Day Dance she was thrilled. The plan was to go with several of their friends from school and church. One of the parents would drive them to the school and another would pick them up when the dance was over. I could hear the excitement in her voice when she called to tell me all about it and ask if it was okay to go. I knew the young man along with the other young people, so I gave my consent. As I hung up the phone my mind drifted back to my first dance and how special it had felt to be all dressed up. That’s when I felt the bottom drop out of my joy.

    Nicole’s dad as still in the hospital recovering from a horrific accident where he had been hit head-on by an 18 wheeler just weeks before. I had spent the past few weeks there in the hospital with him. Don had finally been moved from the ICU but his status remained serious. I felt I needed to be there in case something happened. Taking the time to go on a shopping trip was not possible.  How was I going to help Nicole get ready for the dance and still stay close to Don? Nicole never complained or asked for a new outfit but I wanted her to have one. Like any mother I wanted my little girl to have special memories of her first dance, new dress and all. I was torn between my roles of wife and mother. I wanted to be there for Nicole but I had to be there for Don.

    A few days later the phone rang in Don’s hospital room. I picked it up and said hello. On the other end was our pastor’s secretary. It was not unusual to have the church calling to check on Don’s progress so I prepared to answer all the normal questions. The conversation took a very different turn. One of the other secretaries had a daughter who was a close friend of Nicole. Apparently in talking the topic of the Valentine’s Dance had come up. I listened as this wonderful, sensitive, Christian woman volunteered to take Nicole to the mall to shop for a new dress. She knew I was spending all my time with Don and wanted to help. Once again our church family was reaching out to us by seeing our needs and reacting to them. I thanked her and hung up the phone knowing God had once again provided for a need that to some would seem frivolous. But to my mother’s heart it was significant.

    The next day Nicole was picked up at school and driven to the mall. Together this kind friend helped her pick out the perfect dress. She then insisted no outfit is complete without new shoes and jewelry so those were added. On the day of the dance Nicole was treated to having her hair done. She says she felt like a princess and when I look at the pictures from that night I have to agree. It was a fairytale come true complete with a fairy godmother.

    When asked what she remembers most about the time of her dad’s accident and recovery, this story is at the top of Nicole’s list. Our friend not only helped Nicole have a wonderful evening, she reached out to a young mother who was struggling. She stepped in to fill a gap when I wasn’t able.

    As I write in my book A Walk Through the Dark :

    That’s the way the Bible wants us to behave. Paul referred to the church as a human body on several occasions. He said that each member is important, and if one part hurts, the whole body suffers.

    For more than a year, I saw the constant flow of the spiritual body of Jesus Christ trying to take away our pain.

    Including a kind woman who saw a need and took a young girl shopping.

     

    Eva-PiperAbout Eva Piper:

    Eva Piper is a speaker and author with a unique insight into the trials of heartache and the triumph of overcoming. The wife of best-selling author Don Piper, Eva was the glue that held her broken husband and her family together. Don’s story, recounted in the New York Times bestseller, 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Life and Death, is Eva’s story too. A teacher of 34 years, she and Don now live in Pasadena, Texas. Visit http://evapiper.com/ to reserve your copy today!