A Book Review and Book Giveaway

I was recently given the opportunity to read and review The Repurposed & Upcycled Life~When God Turns Trash to Treasure by Michelle Rayburn.

Here is the review I posted on amazon:

Addicted to pinterest boards?  Have a creative bent towards turning yard sale finds into something new and valuable?  Ever wonder how your own life story fits in with either of these two?

The Repurposed & Upcycled Life by Michelle Rayburn addresses these things and more. 

 

The author has extensive experience with crafting and trash-to-treasure decorating.  She has been gifted with being able to see the potential in an object that may have first been someone else’s trash, and then able to craft it or “upcycle” the same item into something far better and more beautiful than it was originally thought of.  

But that isn’t necessarily what this book is about. 

Michelle Rayburn shows readers how God has used the same idea of trash-to-treasure decorating in her own life stories.

Each chapter begins with a personal story from Rayburn’s own life. All are relatable and give readers a glimpse into the real life of a woman who, on the outside may appear to have it all together, but on the inside shares some of the same struggles that women in this day and age face. 

Each chapter ends with a section called “Getting Personal.”  This part of each chapter includes three short snippets with a specific action incorporating an exercise in digging a little deeper in the reader’s faith, a creative project to do and how each fits in to everyday life.  This gave the book more of an interactive feel as opposed to just a good read. 

I really liked the personal stories shared by the author.  While I am not a crafty person, myself, I do have an appreciation for those that do and find the trend in “upcycling” fun to follow.  What appealed to me the most about the book is how Rayburn was willing and able to share some of her own “junky experiences” of life and let God turn it around into something new, different and better than how the story first began.  

It was also interesting to see how the author could take each aspect of faith, creativity and life out of their own proverbial boxes and weave them together into a story that is far more complete than viewing each of these three items on their own.  

I found the following excerpt compelling and a way to summarize the major theme in The Repurposed & Upcycled Life:  

When I feature a project on my website, I always show a before and after picture. If I didn’t show the before picture, it would take away from some of the wonder of the after picture. We like seeing a dramatic transformation. The better it turns out, the more we marvel at the change. That’s what God wants to do with our trash. No matter what it is, he can transform it—upcycle it—into something that points others toward his glory so they will say, “Look what God can do.” 

The only thing I did not like about this book was that it was hard for me to sit down and read each chapter in a short sitting.  I would recommend setting aside a half hour to read and absorb each chapter, and for me that wasn’t always possible.  But honestly, this says more about me and my schedule and how focused at the time I sat down to read than it does about the book.  When I go through the book again, I will probably read a chapter at a time, then set aside the next few days to dig a little deeper into the “faith, creativity and life” projects at the end of each chapter.  

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This is only the second book review I have ever written.  I really liked the process.  I was given a free copy of the book to read in order to write the review, but my overall positive review of the book is not a reflection of this at all.  

I did not mention this in my amazon review, but another reason I really really REALLY liked this book has to do with my own story.  I've got issues, experienced some proverbial garbage in life, and continue to face certain obstacles that I just cannot see how anything good can possibly come of it.   

The book was a reminder that God does have the "creative eye" that I do not have.  He knows how my own personal stories in life can come out better and more beautiful than they first began.  Certainly an "upcycled" version of what I may have or currently am going through.  

And sometimes, I really really REALLY need that reminder.

Perhaps you do to.

If you want to get to know the author better, visit her on her website:  www.michellerayburn.com

From there you can follow any of her blogs.  My favorite is the Faith, Creativity, Life blog.

I also want to offer to give away a copy of the print version of the book.  (I have the kindle version, too)

Leave a comment here on the blog and you will be entered into a random drawing for the book.   

1 commenter will also be entered into a grand prize giveaway from the author of the book.  

Just another manic monday....

It's another Monday morning here at home.

I wake everyone, including a 12-year-old who is only inches from my face when it is time to wake up.

She had a bad dream somewhere in the 1-2:00 a.m.-range of the night. 

We are all getting ready for the day....

...checking emails and facebook messages.

Good news right there from one of my sisters.  I don't know the details yet, but I do know that she is posting that she is happy with the judge's decision in Texas, regarding some potentially life-changing news for her and her son.  It is always good when the justice system actually works.  Especially when kids are involved.  I could go on and on about that...but we are calling today a good day.

**************************************

The Wildcat gets ready and we head to the University Hospital.

For what we are hoping and praying is our last appointment there.  Ever.

We met with our pediatric hematology/oncology doctor.

He gets through all the preliminaries of getting blood drawn, height, weight, blood pressure.

He argues a bit over what they tell him is his height.  He thinks he is 2 inches taller than what they tell him.

Clearly they don't know what they are talking about at the University Pediatric Oncology Clinic.  

She goes over Nathan's recent labs.

He has "baby red blood cells" she tells us.

This means he is producing his own red blood cells.  Properly.  Without further blood transfusions.  And there are enough of them.  

We are not offended by the term "baby" the way "we" were over the height-issue. 

Our doctor goes through things with us.  When Nathan was first presented at the University, every symptom could not be explained by anything that would appear to be a normal reason.  It was necessary to test the bone marrow.  Every indication was that leukemia was the cause of the symptoms. 

It was a rare virus that was the cause. 

Viruses can do that.

They can sneak in and attack you and mimic something worse than what it is. 

And we are so thankful that it was a virus. 

Even though it has taken months to recoup from it. 

Patience.

Apparently a lesson we needed to learn.

A lesson that is just a hair shy of causing mama a nervous breakdown.

So now the Wildcat is back to worrying about the Spanish test and world history project.  And it feels so good to have these worries.  It totally beats the thought of when the next bone marrow biopsy needs to be scheduled.  Which is what we were originally told to be ready for.

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While at the University, we got to stop and peek in on my newest baby niece.  Born  a premie.  She is doing great. The Wildcat and I both got to hold her.

I have never held a baby this small.

The Wildcat was actually about twice her weight when he was born.

I took pictures.

Then left my camera in the hospital room.

Of course.

We were in a hurry and "worried" about the spanish test.


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Also just got word that Brian's son may in fact be participating in the indoor track nationals.

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And right now I am making dinner for 30 people tonight.

....don't ask.  

oh-my-heavens-to-betsy

.....

so, I think that is slang for "oh my."

this is my oldest baby girl, Marz:

This is her after I did her hair and she is getting ready to go....
....to her confirmation.

Shouldn't it be a sin to be so beautiful for your confirmation?

That is "okay" she tells me.

Because after confirmation, she is changing into a different dress to go to the dance at the school.

 And she is most likely going to wear converse shoes with the even sexier dress (it hurts me to type those words) to the dance. 

So....okay.  Call me when the dance gets over.  I'll have some popcorn ready and we can talk all about everything I am really scared to hear about. 

Dear Marz,

Mama loves you.  

I am so proud of you.

I'm sorry that I can't be at the church while you are there.

 

But so glad that you will be here with your friends to celebrate when you are done. 

so here's how the proposal went down...

None of our kids were home last night.

And none of our kids had ballgames last night.

A rarity with us.

Brian asked me on Monday if I wanted to go out for dinner on Tuesday. 

I sort of knew something was up, but not because of the dinner-out-on-Tuesday invite....

....something was up because last week he started picking his dirty laundry up off the floor and placing it in the laundry basket located literally just a few steps away from the aforementioned pile-up that collected on the bathroom floor.

....but to me, this was a huge step.

and romantic, if I do say so myself.

hmmmmm.  something is going on here.  

So then we are driving into town and we go to the mall.  Not a place we shop at often.  But Brian needed a new belt.

I've been telling him he needed a belt for months.

hmmmmmm.....picking up the laundry AND finally making this purchase I've been telling him to make for a long time? 

I knew then that we were shopping for a ring.

We did.

I picked out a super gorgeous band that was a little wider than a traditional wedding band and had small diamonds in a design throughout  the ring.  I don't really like the traditional diamond engagement rings....at least not on my hand. 

But we walked around the store and Brian saw another ring.  It had a little more color in it.  I really loved it.  So much that I almost walked out of the store with two rings.  Not even kidding. 

I got the one that Brian picked out.  Which is funny because he wanted to shop for rings with me because he was nervous about getting just the right one.

So we go out to eat and we head home.

The ring is still in the box.  Because I know that Brian wants to propose marriage to me in his own unique and memorable way.

Like, in his t-shirt and underwear.

Sort of fitting, considering it was this type of laundry that first alerted me to the fact that something was going on. 

So I'm in my room, in my jammies, checking emails and he comes in and gets down on one knee and....after five short years of dating....he proposes.

I said sure!

And I cried.  And I went and got this letter that I wrote to him:

I love you.

And I love you and me together.  

You have been there for me when all is well:  the good days of parenting, the exciting times when something I have written makes it to publication, when I am feeling on top of my game and on top of the world.

You have been there for me on days of nothing special:  the days of going through the motions, we eat, work, sleep and wake up and do it all again the next day. 

You have been there for me in times of trial:  when good health wasn’t a guarantee, when kids veer from what we think is best, when money in the bank doesn’t exist, when motives have been attacked by those on the outside.

You have been there for me even when you weren’t sure you understood me:  you listen to my off-the-wall way of making sense of things, you don’t roll your eyes at me when my mouth doesn’t take the time to filter through things that should have stayed in my head, and month after month you put up with the emotional roller coaster ride that I drag you on.  (You should get a medal for that one)

The last five years have been full of life and everything that it means.  Fun, games, humor. Happy tears, sad tears, trials of many varieties.  Kids…mine and yours. 

The writer in me knows that every good story worth immersing yourself in takes the reader through ups and downs, with love, action and mystery.  One in which the reader feels connected with the words on the page.  Our story has not been the perfect fairy tale.  But it is our perfect story, a story that I am connected to on a soul-level, and one that is still being written.  It has taken us a while to figure out that the only thing that comes close to the perfect that we wish for is this: 

You and me together.  Living life with all of its ups and downs…together.

Yes, I will marry you.  I will proudly walk through each chapter of the rest of our lives together with you. 

 

This last weekend I got to be a part of the life of this young man:

Brady is Brian's 2nd born.  A freshman in college.  Throwing against Juniors and Seniors.

I loved being a part of this chapter of Brady's life every bit as much as I have loved the high school chapters I have followed.  And there is just something....something about this page in this chapter that tells me there is more to follow.....

....I'm a good reader that way.

Here are some more photos of the day:

This guy who is the number. one. fan. of Brady.
Watching every move.
Hoping to be an encouragement.
And thankful to be a part of it.
Because that is what dads just do....

This hot shot went along with us.
Marz was a great attribute to Jr. High track.
And she has hopes of being more in high school.

And in case you are wondering, after watching all of this action going on.....

...i'm pretty sure she has a new appreciation for what it means to not just be a high school athlete in college track,

but a new desire to be there....while she is in high school.

What's Your Story?

I have been working on and off with an instructor-turned-friend I met at a Writers' Conference a couple of years ago. We email regularly, but she's from Georgia and has a super-sugary-sweet accent, so I prefer to talk to her on the phone.

Her job is to mentor and help people start or build their business with a ministry focus.  (It's called "Profit from your Message."  If you want more information, check out her website: www.profitfromyourmessage.com)  One of the major starting points to this as far as writers and speakers go is developing a "platform."

I've been writing for years.

I've been a part of a couple of speaking gigs.

The idea of having a "platform" or a focus for my writing (and sporadic speaking) is not a new idea for me.

But actually having a single focus isn't something I seem to be able to nail down.

(can someone say ADD?)

I've written for parenting publications across the country with humor and help for moms of young kids.  I've written informational articles for a hospice care publication.  I've taken photos and written editorials for my local paper.  I've written human interest and news stories for a larger, daily newspaper.  I've written online articles for health websites, education websites and for Pampers.  I've written for fun.  I've written on serious topics like domestic violence.  I've kept an informal blog.  I've mentored young authors.  I've written poetry.  I've written a children's story.  I've been a ghost writer.  I've used my given name.  I've used a pen name.

In looking through my writing resume over the last 13 years, it is safe to say that I've been all over the place. (And I think probably drives my very focused-friend in Georgia a little nuts when she is dealing with me as a client.)

It appears as if my "platform" is my lack of focus.

But lack of focus isn't my writing story.

Or my life story.

I am blessed to be a character in so many stories.

For me, each day is a page in a chapter of a bigger story.  It is a chance for me to make a difference on that page of the story.  A chance for me to change my own story.  A chance for me to be a part of someone else's story.  And occasionally, I am assigned to write about that story.

It's been an honor.

And I'd like to do more of it.  Writing, that is.

So many of you have your own stories and passions.  Your own life "platforms."  Things that God has placed on your heart to be a part of, to share with others and invest in the lives around you.  Over the years, your stories have inspired me to live out my own, only better.

Not everyone is interested in every story that is my own or that I share with others.  But that isn't how it is supposed to work anyway.

I can't save the world.

I can't even save the population of people in the stories that deal with issues that keep me awake at night.

But I have a story and I can share it.  And I can make a difference to someONE's story that I enter into as a character.

And even if I don't change the world with my story, maybe I can help to create change in the world of that one person who needed me to share my story.

And you can too.

I'd like to hear your story.  What are the words behind the cover?  What chapter are you in?

What's your story?

What story are you a key character in?

How would you like to change the world?

"I tell you the truth,

whatever you did for

ONE

of the least of these brothers of mine,

you did for me."

~Matthew 25:40

16 Years

Who would have thought that the worst pain I have ever experienced could have brought me one of the greatest joys of my life?

That is exactly what happened 16 years ago.

23 hours, 1 broken collar bone and 10 lbs 8 oz. is how my motherhood story began.

It was a record-breaking-temperature type of day for January.

But I will always remember it as my first experience with watching my heart exist outside of me.

Happy Birthday, Nathan.
You are a true gift from God.