Happy Summer Sweet Friends!!!

I stepped outside yesterday for a minute to look at our flowers and felt the warm (okay, some would call it ‘hot’) breeze blowing…it was 106 outside and I literally said to no one at all, “Ohhhh how I love living in Phoenix!”   Bring on that heat!! It’s dry and wonderful!!  The sun is bright, the days are a bit longer and the kids are loving being in the pool!

In April I excitedly wrote about Youth With A Mission’s special offer put together just for friends of Our Place Called Simplicity! That post is here.  It’s a screamin’ deal and just in time for summer!

Looking for your kids to stay busy doing things that matter during their summer?  Look no more!!  Have them read, read, read about lives that were lived with devoted love for the orphan:  sacrificially, powerfully and selflessly !!

In fact one mom wrote that her son has always said that the books they have in their home don’t interest him.  Then the special YWAM set arrived and he hasn’t been able to put down the George Mueller book!!  Yes friends – they are fascinating for both kids and adults!!

The special set offered includes five incredible orphan-loving biographies of people who changed the world – all for $30. – (media shipping included within the US).  How crazy-amazing is that??

And if that wasn’t good enough, they said they would donate, for each set purchased, $3. toward International Voice of the Orphan’s ministry to the orphan.

So the other day IVO received a check for $243 from all the sets purchased by you guys so far – which in simple terms translates to 992 meals being able to be fed to orphans because of your purchases!  I am giddy!! Thank you – thank you – thank you !  Guys – you and your families are reading life-changing books and orphans will eat and have medical needs met!!  Does it get any better than that?

 

Actually it does get better!!   YWAM wants to bless us again friends!  Listen to this!

First, YWAM loved your response so much that they put together an audio set of the same books!!  Traveling on a road trip and need some good books to listen to?  Working out and want to fill your heart and mind with worthwhile stories of heroes from the past?  Want to challenge your own faith but don’t have time to sit and read a book?  No problem!!  The same book series is now available in an audio series offered for $50. (including free media mail)!

The link to the Place Called Simplicity special offers is here:

YWAM Special Offer for friends of Place Called Simplicity – Books or Audiobooks 

Listen guys, these books are not just for kids!!  They have changed my life!  George Mueller’s biography challenged my faith like none other!  I wrote a blog post sharing how YWAM’s Brother Andrew book had radically changed the trajectory of our entire family…when we least expected it!! That’s just for starters!

Please don’t just let your kids read these books!!  Read them yourself!  Get some friends together and read them as a book club!  You will never regret it.

 

Second,

YWAM has created a special link that if anyone uses it to purchase anything (they have zillions of items to purchase!) they will send 10% of the total purchase to International Voice of the Orphan for orphan care!  So we added a little box on the right sidebar that says The Reader’s Corner (it’s below the link to Rescuing Ruby).   Just click on The Reader’s Corner and you are in YWAM’s site and 10% of your purchase goes to orphan care through IVO!!  How amazingly generous of them – we are blown away!!

YWAM has many books we have read over the years.  Don’t stop with the 5 book series – there are dozens and dozens written by Geoff and Janet Benge in the Hero Series!

The book Is That Really You, God? changed our Autumn’s life!  She also did a DTS (Discipleship Training) with YWAM in LosAngeles and then went with her DTS and served the orphans in Nepal and India.

The kids and I have used this Personal Prayer Diary for many years in journaling and personal Bible reading each day.  It’s an amazing little book chock-full-of information!

Each month there is a story about a group of people to pray for.  In February, if I remember right, they highlighted the orphans of Nepal for instance and shared specific prayer needs. Then each week there is a country highlighted and the greatest needs are listed.  Similarly each day there are scripture verses listed for reading and a specific people group to pray for!  It’s an amazing book and even though it’s June – it’s not too late to get one for the rest of this year!

If you or your kids aren’t in the habit of personal Bible reading, this is an excellent resource with real Bible verses listed to read each day, real needs to pray for and a space for your thoughts about what you read or prayed.

To be quite honest, I have been rather disheartened for years when I see some “devotional” books for children and/or adults.  It seems like so many are fluff with little scriptural reference and basically zero substance.  We can’t expect to truly know God by reading a shallow little story that throws in five or six words from a Bible verse and calls it a day!  God’s word is life-changing but only if we delve into it!  This journal is an excellent way to begin to dig in!

So there you have it friends!  Surprises that save you money and benefit the orphan – in my humble opinion, it just doesn’t get any better than that!  Win/Win/Win!!