Good Reads: Levi's Will

Levi's Will is the story of a man who is banned from his Amish community for something he did as a teenager. He goes on to make a good life for himself in the "English" world, but his Amish past is never forgotten. His life will never really be complete until he makes some kind of peace with those he had to leave behind in the Amish world.

I devoured this book over the course of a couple of evenings. The story drew me into the contrasting cultures of the Amish and English worlds without casting judgement either way. The message that "love is the proof of God, and forgiveness the proof of love" is one that will stick with me long after I've forgotten the characters who made up this beautiful story.

I'm a big fan of Amish fiction, but I was unfamiliar with author W. Dale Cramer before reading this book. It turns out that that's because Levi's Will is his only Amish work to date, and it's largely based on his own family's history. Levi's Will has won a Christy Award and several other accolades from various Christian organizations.

Bethany House provided me with a copy of this newly reprinted (10/09) edition of Levi's Will in exchange for my honest review.

Fight It! Friday: One Day, One Dollar

I'm not a fan of Black Friday crowds, or crowds any other time, for that matter. As much as I love a bargain, it's just not worth it to me to fight my way through crowded stores and stand in long lines.

This, though.... this is a real bargain. Fight It! Friday's "One Day, One Dollar" request seems so trivial when you consider how much money people will spend shopping today.

Fight It! Friday is a campaign by Diabetic Rockstar to help those families who are having trouble keeping up with the costs involved with this disease. Did you know that it costs an average of $14,000 per year for diabetic care? For a family without insurance, this can be devastating. The Fight It! Friday press release says, in part:

“Diabetes is an incredibly difficult disease to manage, and the financial implications alone can be a nightmare. We just wanted to find a way to help make this holiday memorable for some families,” says Christopher Thomas, founder of Diabetic Rockstar and Director of the Fight It! Campaign.

Diabetic Rockstar’s goal is to raise $4,000 with Fight It! Friday, or enough to cover the cost of living with diabetes through the holiday season for at least ten families. Recipients will be chosen from individuals who have applied for assistance through the Fight It! Campaign.

If you can donate a dollar today... or more... you will be helping out a family who truly needs your help.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Free Christmas Photo Cards

Have you seen the deal for 50 or 100 FREE photo Christmas cards from See Here? Check out the links on Keeping the Kingdom First and Freebies 4 Mom for details. You'll just have to pay a small shipping fee-- I believe it was $3.19 on my order.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affililiated with this company, nor have I used them before. I just placed my own order on Saturday (5x7), so I don't have the final product in my hands yet. But... when I signed up, I also received an offer for 100 free prints. So unless the prints are terrible (Money Saving Mom's weren't!) or something else goes wrong, it looks like this is my new favorite photo company! ;)

IComLeavWe

International Comment Leaving Week is November 21-28. Don't all bloggers enjoy a little comment love? :)

It's easy to participate by signing up HERE. Then, each day during the week, leave 5 comments on other blogs, and follow/comment on one comment that's been left on your blog. (That means that you'd be leaving six comments per day all week long.) It's easy, fun, and a great way to discover some new-to-you blogs that are out there.

Go here for more details and to sign up!

SwagBucks Mega Day

According to Bargain Briana, today is a SwagBucks Mega Day. That means that you can earn 10, 20, 50, or even 100 SwagBucks per search! If you're not a earning SwagBucks yet, today is a great day to start. It's easy-- just use their search engine in the course of your usual internet searches, and collect your rewards. Check it out!

American Diabetes Month

This month is American Diabetes Month. My daughter, M, was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes last fall at the age of 5. She receives 4-6 insulin injections and the same number of finger sticks each day. Nobody knows what causes this disease, and there is no cure.

Do you know the difference between Type I and Type 2 Diabetes? Most of the time when someone refers to diabetes, they are referring to Type II.

• Type I Diabetes is an auto-immune disease, and the cause is not known. At some point, often in childhood (hence the nickname "Juvenile Diabetes"), the pancreas simply stops producing insulin. ** It is a completely different disease from Type 2 Diabetes, which is the one most people know about. **
• Type I Diabetes IS NOT CAUSED BY DIET. (It's a pet peeve of mine that people assume we were feeding our daughter too many sweets and that's what caused her diabetes. Please, refrain from making comments... even jokes... about this when you are talking to a diabetic!)
• Type I Diabetics eat normal foods... including desserts.... because they have to have a dose of insulin for every single thing they eat. The diet recommended for a Type I Diabetic is exactly the same as the one recommended for the general population-- not too much fat, eat your fruits & veggies, etc. Almost any food eaten will require an insulin dose, so there's no reason that Type I diabetics can't eat the same foods as anyone else.
• Type I Diabetics will never completely have their disease "under control", no matter how careful they are. Highs and lows seem to come out of nowhere sometimes. Eating the exact same foods and doing the exact same activities on two days does not always equal the same blood glucose readings. Variables such as stress, hormones, growth, and illness make it a constantly changing challenge to keep blood sugars in a healthy range. (Asking a diabetic if they have their numbers "under control yet" is kind of like asking a someone on chemo about their blood work- despite our best efforts, these numbers may still be out of whack.)
• Children will not outgrow Type I Diabetes.
• Insulin is life support for diabetics.... it is not a cure. There is no cure. (Yet.)

The potential complications of this disease are always in the back of my mind, but, we try not to let any of that interfere with daily life. My daughter is a fighter. She rarely complains about any of it, and she certainly doesn't let it slow her down... and for that, I am thankful!

Love the Pie Party!

Who doesn't love pie? :) Tidymom is hosting the Love the Pie Party this week. Share your favorite pie recipe, and you'll also be entered to win great prizes!

My favorite pie is pumpkin. Specifically, the pumpkin chiffon pie my late grandma always made. I haven't yet gotten that recipe from my aunt, but I will!

The pie I make most often, however, is a very simple Strawberry Pie. It's a favorite of DH's grandma, and her favorite gift to receive for any occasion. She likes it made using the store-bought gel and a shortbread crust, which makes it really easy to whip one up for her. Personally, I prefer this recipe:

STRAWBERRY PIE

• 4 cups fresh strawberries (one grocery-store box)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 (.6 oz) package strawberry gelatin (also good with strawberry-banana flavor)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 graham cracker crust
• Optional: whipped cream for topping
  

Slice berries and place into pie crust. Stir together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, then add water, mix, and bring to a boil. Simmer a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Add gelatin and mix well. Cool the mixture a few minutes, then pour over top the strawberries in the pie crust. Refridgerate until firm, at least 45 minutes. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

One of these days I'm going to try this with a chocolate crust... or maybe with some sliced bananas added in.... yum!

Share your own pie recipe and find some new ones at the Love the Pie Party!

Sunday Scrappin': Meatball Subs Recipe Page

This is the 6x6 page I recently created for Sarah's freezer recipe swap at SCS. It was a quick and easy layout- perfect for sharing one of my family's favorite meals.

Show us what you've created recently over at Sunday Scrappin'!

Target deal: Wii games

Target has an awesome deal going on right now on Wii games. The games are on sale: buy 2, get 1 free. Then, you can go print a coupon (HERE- page 5) for $10 off the purchase of two games.

It breaks down like this :

• 3 games at $14.99 each= $44.97
• - 14.99 one free- automatically deducted at register
• = $29.98 subtotal
• - 10.oo coupon
• = $19.98 for THREE games!

Julia at The Frugal Find was able to get an even better deal by printing three coupons... but I could only get it to print twice for me. YMMV! (*Your mileage may vary!)

Since Santa has been saving his pennies to bring our family a Wii this year for Christmas, this was a great deal for us. The sale runs through Saturday!

30-day Giving Challenge

Have you heard about this wonderful challenge that Alyssa has issued? As soon as I read about it, I knew I wanted to take part.

The basic concept is this: keep a personal record of everything (not necessarily a "thing" thing) you give away for a month, and, also keep a record of the blessings you receive in that same time period. Gifts of time, talent, prayer, or material things... anything counts. It's whatever you feel God calls you to reach out and share with another person each day. Sounds simple enough, right?

I'll be keeping a private log and sharing the highlights here on my blog from time to time.

What about you.... are you in?