How Far Are You Willing To Walk?

Dinesh Chand, from Forefront Mission, came and spoke briefly at our church on Wednesday evening.  He is a missionary in India with his wife, Rachel, and their four children.  Dinesh said something that really struck home for me.

Dinesh said that it was his goal to have a church within THIRTY minutes walk of everyone in the area where he’s a missionary.

Before church, it was getting close to 5 PM, I realized that I didn’t want to walk the approximately FOUR minutes to my parent’s apartment to catch a ride with them to church.  Instead, I texted my dad and told him that I’d love him forever ( ) if he’d come and pick me up.  And he did.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go to church; I love going to church and can’t imagine missing service.  It made me think about the people that have to WALK MORE THAN THIRTY MINUTES to get to church.

I felt ashamed of myself.

Product Review – NEW Lysol® Touch of Foam™ Antibacterial Hand Wash

I had the opportunity to try out NEW Lysol^® Touch of Foam^™ Antibacterial Hand Wash free through BzzAgent.  The scent I received Creamy Vanilla Orchid.  I have to say that I am not a fan of the scent.  However, that is the only downside of this product.

Lysol^® states that the rich lather works on contact to kill 99.9% of bacteria and offers 10x more germ protection than the leading national competitor.  They say that the antimicrobial properties are built in to protect the hand wash pump and resist odor-causing bacteria.

The Lysol^® Mission for Health has new mom programs, healthy habits initiatives in schools and disaster relief efforts, and they are dedicated to doing more for health. Their mission is fueled by passion and backed by their expertise in killing germs.  They offer coupons and special offers.

The soap I use at work is very tough and drying on my hands.  When I used the NEW Lysol^® Touch of Foam^™ Antibacterial Hand Wash it left my hands feeling soft and smooth.  I didn’t feel like I needed to turn to my lotion bottle to re-moisturize my hands.

If the Lysol^® Touch of Foam^™ Antibacterial Hand Wash has the antimicrobial and antibacterial properties that it claims, then it’s a great product to have wherever you wash your hands.

The Passionate Mom – book review

I had the awesome opportunity to review Susan Merrill‘s book “The Passionate Mom: Dare to Parent in Today’s World” (click here for the Kindle edition).  The opportunity came from the author herself, whom I had the privilege of meeting at a friend’s wedding last year.

I have to assure the men that while this book is “The Passionate Mom“, this book is for the dads as well.  I think that every parent should read it.  Perhaps it should be renamed The Passionate Parent?!

Susan uses the book of Nehemiah as a guide for parenting.  She talks about Nehemiah and his request for permission from the king to go repair the wall surrounding Jerusalem.  She has 10 P’s that title each chapter.  The first P is Perception.  When I was reading this chapter, I thought about how sometime I am so busy perceiving other peoples issues that I fail to perceive my own child’s issues.  To truly get what’s going on with our kids, we have to spend a lot of time just watching and listening.  What we actually do is talk to much and lecture and we miss the real story.

Susan’s fifth P word was Patience.  Patience just happens to be a weakness for me as well as evidenced by it being my word to focus on for 2013.  Let’s just say that I get her issue with patience, because I have my own.  Our kids need for us to be patient.  They are fairly new to this thing we call life and we can’t expect them to be as on the ball as those of us that have been around the block a few times.

Susan touches on every imaginable topic that a mother (parent) needs to know about when raising children.  I’m sorry I didn’t have this book when my now 19 year old son was younger.  I think it would have helped me through some of the tougher times he faced as a tender-hearted child.  The good thing is that he is doing well, making friends, and growing up to be a fine man.

So, go get the book, because it’s fabulous.  It goes on sale Tuesday, 4/16/2012.  Susan is such a vibrant woman, wife, and mother.  She and her husband Mark (of Family First & All Pro Dad & iMom fame) are raising children with various personalities.  I can’t imagine her not hitting of most situations that touch every family.  And, while she writes from a Christian’s perspective, non-Christians can learn from the examples she gives from her own experience in difficult or different times.