Easter Devotions and Activities for Your Whole Family

 

We're down to the final two weeks before we celebrate Easter and Jesus' resurrection. Do your children understand and grasp the full meaning of why we celebrate the holiday? Adventures in Odyssey and Odyssey Adventure Club want to provide your family with a week of meaningful, fun Easter activities to help make the holiday come alive this year. Simply head to this page and sign up to download your free PDF full of family devotions, egg wraps, recipes, crafts, and cards. Oh, and as a bonus, here's a free activity sheet from Focus on the Family!

 

If you're looking to dig into the Easter holiday more and want to build your kids' faith, consider signing your family up for the Odyssey Adventure Club (OAC). It offers safe and free content for everyone in your family. Membership to the OAC costs just $9.99 a month — or even less if parents make a six-month or one-year commitment. Enrollment provides more than enough content to keep kids engaged throughout the year:

• Access to exclusive content and first looks at books and select Radio Theatre dramas.
• On-the-go access to the OAC app for both iOS and Android users.
• 24/7 streaming access to nearly 800 AIO episodes.
• A new, members-only AIO episode every month.
• A subscription to Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse Magazine, and more.

To learn more about the Odyssey Adventure Club, visit www.oaclub.org, Facebook, Twitter. and Pinterest.

Expectant Blessings

Written from a mother’s heart and born out of a mommy’s desire to connect with her unborn baby, these powerful prayers, devotions and original poems will touch the heart of both mother and baby alike

My thoughts: This was such a fun devotion for me to read, especially with expecting a little blessing of my own soon. I appreciated Susanna opening her heart to expecting mothers. I could relate to basically all of the thoughts she shared! The prayers for one's unborn baby, experiences with sharing your exciting news with loved ones, and dealing with all the emotions that come with pregnancy. It's such a special time, dreaming of the new little one.
This would make a fun baby shower gift!
I received this book from Worthy in exchange for my honest review.

Sweeter off the Vine

A cozy collection of heirloom-quality recipes for pies, cakes, tarts, ice cream, preserves, and other sweet treats that cherishes the fruit of every season.

Celebrate the luscious fruits of every season with this stunning collection of heirloom-quality recipes for pies, cakes, tarts, ice cream, preserves, and other sweet treats. Summer's wild raspberries become Raspberry Pink Peppercorn Sorbet, ruby red rhubarb is roasted to adorn a pavlova, juicy apricots and berries are baked into galettes with saffron sugar, and winter's bright citrus fruits shine in Blood Orange Donuts and Tangerine Cream Pie. Yossy Arefi’s recipes showcase what's fresh and vibrant any time of year by enhancing the enticing sweetness of fruits with bold flavors like rose and orange flower water inspired by her Iranian heritage, bittersweet chocolate and cacao nibs, and whole-grain flours like rye and spelt. Accompanied by gorgeous, evocative photography, Sweeter off the Vine is a must-have for aspiring bakers and home cooks of all abilities.

My thoughts: I was thrilled to receive this cookbook, since my husband and I have added quite a few fruit trees and berry bushes to our little plot of land since moving here. Now that they should be producing more, I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed at coming up with ways to use all the fruit.;) So, I enjoyed looking through this recipe book and seeing the variety of fruits and recipes! I won't be making just jams and pies with our fruit.;) I love the frozen treat recipes especially, though I look forward to trying all of these recipes through the next year.
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Flirtation Walk

West Point History Comes Alive in this Warmhearted Romance

Trying to escape the shambles her con-man father has made of their reputation, Lucinda Curtis arrives in West Point, New York, determined to land a husband from the military academy. Campbell Conklin is first in his class and preparing to embark upon a storied career in the U.S. Army. Lucinda thinks Campbell will make the perfect husband . . . as long as he does not find out about her father.

Seth Westcott also has taken a liking to Lucinda. He's kind, smart . . . and working extremely hard to graduate last. Tradition states that the worst cadets are assigned to the cavalry out west. And west is where Seth must head to track the swindler who stole all of Seth's mother's money. Seth is smart enough to vie for the top spot, but life isn't fair and this is his chance to catch the man who ruined his family. It's too bad Campbell is all shine and no substance, but Lucinda will surely see through all of that, won't she?

My thoughts: I was thrilled to see this book come up for review, since I am a fan of Siri's stories! While this one took me a little bit to get into, it did live up to the expectations I had for it. I love that both the hero and heroine struggle with doing the right thing and changing who they are. Siri does a wonderful job of developing her characters as the story goes along, giving readers an interesting look at life as a West Point cadet in the 1850's, as well as the change in thought that could occur for a con man's daughter as she adjusts to a "normal" life. I liked the characters and how things played out in the end. This one is a great read to add to your "to be read" list!
I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Synced

Synced encourages you to emulate the way Jesus lived His life. With real-life stories of people walking closely with Jesus, finding themselves in the right place at the right time, readers are challenged to examine what staying in step with the Spirit looks like. National best-selling author and known prayer expert, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, uses the familiar passage of the Lord’s Prayer as anchor points to present the way Jesus lived His life in step with the Father through prayer.

Every moment is pregnant with purpose. Every moment is drenched in power. Prayer is no longer the means by which you attempt to get God to perform for you and becomes, instead, the means by which you connect with His heart and mind. A praying life is a life of peace and soul-rest. A praying life is lived in sync with the heart of Jesus.

My thoughts: I liked that the author starts the book by showing how Christ lived a life in sync with God, and how He is to be our example. Jennifer goes on to use scriptures to back up her chapters and points. I like that she also had several Andrew Murray quotes through out the book.;) While I didn't agree with everything in the book, over all it is easy to read and she had a lot of good points.
I received this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review.

Take ten: books on my Spring TBR list

I am so ready for Spring this year! The weather has been nice (for the most part) for a while now, but it will be nice to have Spring officially here.;) With the new season, comes a list of books I would like to read before it turns to Summer.

1. Letters to my Daughters

This book is just gorgeous! I admit that I already started it, since it was just too pretty to set in the pile.;) It will probably take me a bit to complete though!

2. A Haven on Orchard Lane

It's killing me that this book is on my Kindle and that I am unable to start it at the moment!

3. Expectant Blessings


4. On Lone Star Trail


5. From this Moment


6. Thy say we are Infidels

Quite interested in this one.

7. Finding God in the Ruins


8. Back in the Saddle


9. That's Not Hay in my Hair


10. Dawn at Emberwilde

The Hearts We Mend

For young widow Evie Bennett, moving forward will mean deciding what to leave behind . . . and what to keep.


Widowed at the age of twenty-five when her firefighter husband was killed in the line of duty, Evie Bennett has spent the last thirteen years raising their son, Cody, in the close-knit community of Banister Falls. As the women’s ministry director of her church, Evie encourages women to boldly pursue God’s plan for their future . . . while she is content with her memories of the past. But Evie’s well-ordered life begins to change when she meets Jack Vale.


As Evie gets drawn into Jack’s world—a world that isn’t as safe and predictable as the one she’s worked so hard to create—he challenges her to open her eyes to the problems in the community . . . but will Evie open her heart to love again?


Because even though Jack isn’t anything like her late husband, he just might be everything she needs.

My thoughts: Ever since, well, forever, Evie has lived life on the safe side. When Jack comes into her life, that world is turned upside down. No longer is she just content with her role as young widow and women's ministry leader in an affluent church. Jack makes her branch out of her comfort zone and embrace life and people from all walks of life.
I loved this book! While the first book in the series was incredible, I think that I liked this one even better, since I saw a little bit of myself in Evie. It's easy to get caught up in living a safe life and forget about the interesting people around us that come from different backgrounds. This book is definitely a new favorite! I love Kathryn's style of writing, and she does a fabulous job of making her characters come alive. I also love that she has a lot going on with the secondary characters, making their stories come alive. I look forward to the next book in the series!
I received this book from Lit Fuse in exchange for my honest review.