The Making of M.O.M.

I will begin this post by saying that I have not been financially compensated by Zonderkidz, Zondervan or any of its affiliates for any endorsement of their product. I heard through some webish grapevine that there is a new, boring law that could get me in trouble if I host a giveaway and do not disclose whether or not I have been financially compensated. I have not.

I wish I had. What a life, huh? Paid to give stuff away. Bring. it. on.

Mmmmkay. Now that those technicalities are outta the way...

I'm am SO STOKED!!! This will be a lengthy post where I overuse the italics feature and possibly too many exclamation points!!!!

Somehow, by the grace of God himself, I won several copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition. First of all, lemme just tell you what an incredibly, cool Bible this is. Then I will tell you how YOU have a chance to win 1 of 5 copies that I'm gonna give away, right here.

Oh yes people, I'm that fancy.

First of all, this Bible.

I LOVE it.

Yes, technically it is a Children's Bible.

Technically.

But I've never been one to classify myself by a mere technicality.

Our kids love this Bible, I love this Bible and Luke loves this Bible. It's fun to read, easy to understand and sparks some seriously great discussions with our oldest three children. It is beautifully illustrated and the author does an incredible job of taking every story in scripture and richly bringing it full circle, back to the miracle of Christ.

I'm tellin' you, that Sally Lloyd-Jones is magnificent.

Most times, when we read these stories to our children I get teary eyed. And that's just the plain 'ol regular version. You see, we've owned this Bible for some time now. My mom got each of the big kids their own copy a while back. It's been a frequent reading in our bedtime story routine for almost a year.

But this Deluxe Edition is something real special. It comes with 3 audio CDs where you can listen to this guy, who has an incredible accent by the way, read with passion and all those fancy voice inflections that your English teachers always wanted you to do in school.

It's superb. Just superb.

Check out the Jesus Storybook Bible's website to see samples of the stories and hear excerpts of the audio CDs. (I tried to steal some of their photos and such, but they've got it all copyrighted and blocked. Darn those big wig publishers and their fancy, schmantsy computer nerds!)

I promise you won't be disappointed if you check out their stuff. Some stuff, like downloads, are even FREE.

Okay, so onto the Giveaway, right?

Up for, er, giveaway are 5 copies of the Deluxe Edition Jesus Storybook Bible. Each copy includes:

1 Deluxe Edition Bible in Hardback
3 Audio CDs of the stories included in the Bible
1 case to store your new Bible treasure
1 promise from yours truly that this will become your new, favorite family Bible (and isn't that worth more than the other 3 combined? No? oh well...)

I PROMISE you will want to win one of these sets.

You have several options to enter the giveaway. Here they are, in no particular order.

Option #1. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, click here to donate $5.00 toward ending child sex trafficking and to support the International Justice Mission. Once you go to the Run 4 Revolution site, scroll down and click on "Sponsor" on the left side of the page.

For every $5.00 you donate, you get an entry. (For example, if you donate $15.00 that is THREE full entries.)

If you are thinking of going all in and purchasing 7 or more entries, you can simply click here and join Run 4 Revolution for the low, low price of $35. You'll get lots of cool stuff, support a great cause (one that is currently awaiting it's 501(c)(3) status) AND you'll get TEN whole entries for the price of 7. That's a bargain people, and you all know how I'm all about bargains.

And, the best part is, you DON'T HAVE TO BE A RUNNER TO JOIN. It's simple, really. So grab a donut and click away peeps.

Please be sure to put "Bible Giveaway" in the text box when you pay via Paypal. And it probably wouldn't hurt you to double up and shoot me an email me (beaverbunch (at) gmail (dot) com) telling me you've donated and how many entries you purchased. My friend Lindsey will be checking on the R4R side but just to be safe, email me too.

Option #2. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, YOU blog about Child Sex Trafficking AND Run 4 Revolution. You must link to the Run 4 Revolution website somewhere in your post. You'll get bonus sprinkles if you use the logo by swiping it from their site. Sprinkles don't count as entries. They just look good.

Come back and leave a comment giving me the URL address of your POST.

Option #3. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, put the Run 4 Revolution widget on your blog. You can see what it looks like by checking out my upper right sidebar. It's super cool and super easy. Simply go here, copy that funky looking text/code at the bottom of the second box and paste it into an HTML/Java Script Gadget in the Layout section of your blog.

Come back and leave a comment giving me the URL address of your blog.

That's it! Three incredibly simple ways to enter. You can gain an entry into the giveaway by doing EACH of the things listed above. However, you will only win one Bible. Sorry folks. If you don't have a blog, well, sorry. Looks like you'll just have to purchase your entries OR start a blog ASAP and get to bloggin'.

Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. Winners will be announced the following week.

The retail price for the Deluxe Edition Jesus Storybook Bible is $24.99 and can be purchased by clicking here or on your favorite retail site, such as Amazon.

Good luck! Let the RACE begin!

Y'all, I'm gonna be real honest here. I hate running. No, let me rephrase that, I HATE running. Don't get me wrong I don't dislike physical activity in general (despite my plump appearance), but running just isn't my thang.

I tried it about a year ago and I think it last about 2 weeks. You see, it's always been a strong dislike of mine. When I was in college I was on the volleyball team. In addition to our 2-3 hour a day practices, we'd also run 2 to 3 times a week. During pre-season, we were required to run a timed mile and in order to play, we were to run that mile in 8 minutes. I know, that doesn't sound like much to some of you crazy people who enjoy pounding your feet on the pavement. But volleyball players are not typically runners.

We would run our timed mile every-other-morning (at 7am) during preseason, each time with the goal of 8 minutes. EVERY time we had our timed mile my alarm would go off, I'd slide out of bed and the dry heaving would begin. I would dry heave as I got dressed, put my hair in a messy ponytail and tied up my shoes. The dry heaving would get increasingly dramatic as I walked the 75 yards across a portion of campus (it was a small campus y'all) to the track. As we ran our "warm up lap" I would dry heave further, sometimes making my team mates snarl their lips and run away from me.

Dry heaving continued until I was 3/4 of the way through my first timed lap. Then, I was fine. I'd push through and finish my mile, usually within the 8 minutes required. Truthfully, once I was into my 3rd lap, I was fine and knew that I was going to make my time.

So you see, I HATE running. But even though I had a profuse hatred of running, I bit the bullet and did it because I had a goal, a purpose even. Without making that 8 minute mile I was not allowed playing time. So, I ran because something depended on my running. As I continued through my 4 years of college volleyball, it became easier. Mostly because I knew that not making my timed mile was not an option.

A year ago when I started this whole, "I'm gonna run" bidness, my main goal was to just "get in shape." Well, then we got another newborn (Baby Girl) and ~~finding~~ making the time just fell to the wayside.

But now, I have a reason again to run, or, um....jaulk, as will be my case. My multi-talented friend Lindsey and my African Soul Mate, Lindy have founded a new organization called Run 4 Revolution. Run 4 Revolution is a worldwide running club that raises awarenss and funding for Child Trafficking. Seriously people, if there was ever a reason for this tub-o-jello to run, it's this.

When I first heard about it, I seriously thought, "Crap. I'll never be able to contribute to that. Ever. Afterall, I HATE running." But then, I read more about it. I was slowly getting reeled in and then I saw it...their tag line. It got me.

Run 4 Revolution

...Run like somone's life depended on it.

Wow. Back when I was running all those timed miles in college I used to joke that it would be so much easier for me to run faster if someone would chase me with a knife (morbid, I know). The truth is, running like your life is at stake makes running, well...easy.

Hopefully, I can begin walking now, then maybe jaulking, then once this baby gets here, running...just like someone's life depended on it.

Won't you try running or jaulking or even walking with me...because someone's life does depend on it. If you can't do any of the above, won't you check out Run 4 Revolution's website and consider sponsoring one of their already active team members who are running in half and/or full marathons.

For more info and/or to hear straight from the horses mouthes, check out Lindsey's blog or Lindy's blog.

Now, with all this talk of running, my gag reflex is in hyperactive mode. I think I'm gonna go grab a slice of pie or something and plan out my walking route.