​As an official Book Crash book reviewer, I read, review, and tell others about books that are coming out or have come out recently. The book I just finished was absolutely riveting. My husband was even intrigued with the portions he heard me read. He plans to read it next.

The book is titled, Dying in Islam, Rising in Christ, Encountering Jesus Beyond the Grave. It told of the genocide in Rwanda, an imam and sheik in the Muslim faith, and how Jesus is greater than drug addiction and physical death. For anyone, no matter your faith, this book is a must read. 

The first hand account of historical Rwanda, its factions along with the genocide, social ills, and finally hope will leave readers fixated. The Prologue held me in suspense and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next and the series of events that led up to it.

Reading this book, it felt like the author was at my dinner table telling me his life story. I was captivated by his drive and ambition, inspired by the hope he found, and energized by his faith. This story would make a great movie and I pray it will be in production soon.

I hope you will include it in your library soon. It is found online and possibly a bookstore near you. (http://pembrokestreetpress.com/)

Here is the synopsis that captured my attention:

"As a young Muslim imam and apologist against Christianity in Rwanda, Swidiq Kanana's entire life changes suddenly when a blood disease leaves him dead. In death for twelve hours, he is tortured by demons until Jesus personally sets him free, sending him back to his body just before burial. From the moment of his return, he boldly proclaims Jesus as Lord, often in the face of Muslim attempts on his life. Baptized as Cedric, he now risks his life a pastor and sought-after evangelist. This is a story of Islam in East Africa, the deliverance of Jesus Christ, and the power of Christ's kingdom in ways we might never imagine."
​
#dyinginislam #risinginchrist #bookreview #mustread #riveting #hope
​#angels 

The middle of the week around here is known as "Wonderful Wingsday!" in angel speak. In honor of this midweek point we wanted to share some signs we recently saw when browsing the aisles at Hobby Lobby. If you ever want a little "pick me up" go down the aisles and read the signs. You are sure to find a few that make you smile or laugh.

Here are some of our favs:

"Silence is golden, unless you have kids, then silence is just suspicious." lol! so true...so true (but I must admit when it does get quiet at my house it's because my kids have their noses in a book or are fixated with building something - legos, kinex, etc.)

"Behind every retired man is a wife wishing he would go back to work." (get 'em out of the house!!!)

"Success is a ladder it cannot be climbed with your hands in your pockets." (my hands and feet are on the rungs!)

"I would challenge you to a battle of wits but I see you are unarmed." (ouch!)

"Beware of wife (kids and pets are also shady) husband is cool." (hmm...)

"I only do what the voices in my wife's head tell her to tell me to do." (I could see my hubby saying this tongue in cheek.)

"Glam-ma a glamorous woman with grandchildren who is far too fabulous to just be called grandma." (what I want to be called when my kids have kids!)

"Sometimes when I open my mouth my mother comes out." (that's funny right there)

Hopefully you got a chuckle out of some or all of these and they made your Wingsday a bit brighter.

#funnies #magnets #sayings #wingsday #angelsmakeitbetter #angels #whereisyourangel #angelwatchingoverme  #angelbooks #kidsbooks

Did that get your attention? We all love free stuff. My husband used to believe that nothing was free until he married me. In fact he would ask on occasion as we got something for practically nothing, "Is that legal?" My response was, "Yes, it is!" Our family gets so much free stuff (legally) it's fun and rewarding. Would you like to know some tips too so you can get free or almost free stuff?

One of my favorite things is the local library. I don't know where we'd be without our local library. When my kids were babies they had story times and as they got older there were crafts and as they continue to grow there are free computer classes and contests.

When introducing the angel concept and building upon it we think of all demographics and ages. The activities you will find on our Kids page has something for the littler ones and for the older ones. There are the coloring pages. Who doesn't like coloring an angel? It's relaxing to color in the wings, the robe, and smiling face. The other coloring pages offer different illustrations from the books so you get to be the illustrator.

One of my favorite activities growing up when my Highlights books came in the mail was the "Finding the Differences" pages. So we here at Where Is Your Angel?™ combined both a coloring page with a find the differences page. We didn't want to leave you hanging so we have even included a separate "cheat sheet" so you will know how many differences there are.

The weather is starting to get nicer so you will find a Scavenger Hunt so you can get outdoors. Remember to take your angel with you and capture the moments on photos. So whatever your mood or age, check out our Kids page. Adults are allowed ​even though it is kid friendly. We're sure you will find something divine to do!

#angelactivities #allages #angelbooks #kidsbooks #kids #adults #fun #divine #whereisyourangel #angelwatchingoverme 

​My mother-in-law swears by this one item to kill any bug. Hands down she said she's been using it for 50 years and it has worked every time. The first time she used it was kind of a fluke. She was in the bathroom doing her hair and there it was. A bug on the wall. Actually it was a cockroach on the wall. She did what any sane woman would do in that moment. She screamed.

I don't think bugs can hear us. Their hearing is probably different than ours because anytime I've screamed it does not phase a bug. Not one bit. And that's kind of a good thing because I don't want a bug running off. I want it dead.

So my mother-in-law is screaming in her bathroom and grabs the first thing she can to kill this cockroach. She grabs her can of hair spray. She sprays the roach and then she sprays it some more. According to her, it was not moving or going anywhere. In fact, she sprayed it so much it stuck to the wall! 

She said she was so impressed with her newfound insect killer that she still uses it to this day. Fifty years later it still works like a charm. Her statistics say it is foolproof.

So the next time you are primping and happen to see an undesirable in the bathroom with you, break out your hairspray and have at it. I love a good product with multiple uses. Don't you?

#doubleduty #bugkiller #hairspray #motherinlaw #deadbug #roaches #helpfulhint #angels #whereisyourangel #angelwatchingoverme #kidsbooks #elf #everytime

Have you ever had a moment where you thought God told you to do something and you did it and then He confirmed it in a wonderful way? Well, let me tell you a “God story” about the second book in the Where Is Your Angel?™ series.

After writing the first story, it became evident there had to be a second book to follow up. I had enough material left over from the first book to start on the second. One night I sat down at the computer and wrote the second story. My husband was in bed when I was done. So I came over to him and read him the story. He gave his approval and kudos.

The next morning we went to a Donor/Scholarship Breakfast at the YMCA. The emcee there started talking about angels. He said lines directly out of the second book that I had just written the previous night! My mouth dropped and my eyes got wide. He said how Santa has his elves and God has helpers too. The first line in the second book is, “You've heard how Santa has his helpers. God has helpers, too. Angels are what we are called to watch over all of you.” I looked at my husband and said, “Was he in our bedroom last night?” My natural mind could not believe what I was hearing. My spiritual mind was saying, “Amen!”

A year after being at that breakfast I ran into the emcee at a YMCA Prayer Breakfast. We happened to be sitting at the same table. I then proceeded to tell him the above story about the second book. He laughed and his eyes were wide in wonderment. “You see,” he told me, “I wasn't planning on coming to this breakfast. I was tired and just didn't feel like it. But at the last minute I decided to come.” He went on to tell me that story encouraged him. He needed to hear that story because it affirmed him and what he was doing.

Sometimes in life God gives us a God story. Sometimes He gives us a God wink. But every time, it's a God thing.

What's your God story? Tell us and tell someone else. Who knows, it may just be the encouragement they need to hear today.

#godthing #godwink #godstory #angels #hishelpers #angelbooks #elf
#whereisyourangel #angelwatchingoverme #angelonthemantle #shelf
#gottagetmyangelstory #ordinarydivininary #kidsbooks #encouragement

"What's so "yay" about Monday?" you may ask. Well, I have an absolutely yummy, lick your plate clean dinner recipe to share with you. Oh, I forgot to mention, it's easy to make too!

One day I was foraging through my cupboards and fridge to answer the "What are we going to have for dinner?" question. I found a little bit of this and a little bit of that and then a light bulb moment came. I could make a quasi enchilada/Mexican bake. So I put on the counter top everything we had and made some culinary deductions. The results were a keeper!

So here is what we had:
A partially used bag of corn tortillas
Chicken
Yellow rice
Can of diced green chiles
The remains of a triple cheddar cheese mix
Can of chicken cheese enchilada flavor soup (which I bought intentionally one day to use to make enchiladas)
Bird Eye frozen bag of southwest corn mixture

This is how I made it:

Sprayed the bottom of a glass casserole dish
Covered it with the corn tortillas
Sliced the raw chicken into strips (or what resembled strips) and put on top of the corn tortillas.
Sprinkled on top of the chicken garlic powder and cumin. (I'm heavy handed on the garlic so I put about 2-3 T. of garlic powder on my chicken strips. About 1-2 T. of cumin.) You want to lightly dust the chicken, not saturate them.
Then mixed together in a separate bowl the green chiles, soup, and corn mixture.
Poured the mixture over the chicken. Covered and baked for 25 mins. at 375 degrees.
While the chicken was cooking, I cooked the yellow rice according to package directions.
Then sprinkled with the cheese and baked uncovered for about 5-8 more minutes until the cheese melted.
Please make sure your chicken is fully cooked to the recommended internal temperature of 165 degrees.
I also took pictures for you because I thought you guys would appreciate seeing the stages and finished product.
Please note in one of the pictures, there is one product I did not use. It went back in the fridge. Here is your assignment, if you choose to accept it. Which item in the picture did not make it into the recipe? Send your answer to [email protected].

This is what we called it:
Divine Mexican Concotion
(we may even add it to one of 500+ Angel Recipes our Pinterest page)

Viola, dinner's done! Happy Monday, yay ya'll!!

#goodeats #yayitsmonday #easydinner #yummy #licktheplate #cheese
#praybeforemeals #angels #angelwatchingoverme #whereisyourangel
​#kidsbooksonangels #angelmeal #delicious

As a society we are so overstimulated with distractions and noise it can be hard to pay attention to the quiet calm. We multitask to get more done. Some of us even have multiple tv's on in different rooms of the house on different channels - from the time we wake to the time we go to bed. Noise is all around us.

A couple weeks ago my kids were playing in their room and I was in another room in the house. I was calling for them to come but they did not answer or come. I really didn't want to yell to get their attention. So I whispered. It wasn't so soft that they couldn't hear but it was an audible whisper. A whisper that makes you think you are about to miss something if you don't listen real close.

To my surprise, they heard me and came almost right away! I couldn't believe it. When I remembered and did it again, the same results. Amazing. I am even practicing whispering to them while writing this blog. And guess what?? It is still working. Sometimes I will even whisper something like, "Who wants dessert?" We call that a hearing test around here.

Last week my husband and I were listening to a Focus on the Family broadcast with Bill and Pam Farrel. She said in that broadcast she would whisper to get her kids attention. My mouth dropped. She went on to say that when we get our kids attention with a whisper we are training them to listen to that still small voice which generally happens to be God. God is not usually in the noise. He is best heard in the peace and quiet. What a correlation that hadn't crossed my mind!

Another bonus of whispering to get my kids' attention is that it takes less energy on my part. Parenting can be exhausting at times. Let's bring more peace into the mix by whispering more and yelling less. Do you hear me?

#whisper #listen #stillsmallvoice #hearingGod #canyouhearme #angels
#peaceloveangels #whereisyourangel #calmparenting #lessnoise