Girl Talk

What better way to dispel some of the teenage angst than with a daily meditation and devotion? Girl Talk by Lois Walfrid Johnson is a book of weekly devotions, with daily questions and thoughts to ponder. 

What makes this devotional different than other teen devotionals is that each week you will read a story about a girl who may have situations, thoughts, and feelings just like you. You will then learn ways to process those feelings, the best ways to react, and how to follow God's word in these situations. 

We found that these real life situations make this devotional more relative and easier for pre-teens/teens to apply the week's lesson to their own life. I've decided that this will be part of our religious ed lessons.

This book was given to us by BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.
 

R E S P E C T

October is Respect Life month. It's a month before elections and a good time to bring up these issues. What I've come to realize is that debating the issue does not help. You are either on one side or the other and someone telling you their opinion doesn't typically change your own.

It was only 2 days into the month when on Facebook I saw someone complaining about a group holding up pro-life signs at the side of the road. The comments below got heated fast: some people agreeing with the pro-life activists and others telling them they should mind their own business...that abortion is a choice. It's ironic that they didn't see that it is also a choice to be against abortion and that these protesters have just as much a right to stand up for their convictions as pro-choicers do for theirs.

It became disheartening on how quickly it became vile - insults being thrown, crude language, horrible judgements - on both sides. 

It's ironic that in a month that is for respecting life, debating the issue showed little respect for others. 

October is also infant and pregnancy awareness loss. It was sorrowful to see people arguing whether a baby was just cells and not human yet and then seeing other posts where women were sharing their pain with the loss of their pregnancies/infants. That was ironic in the most dismal way. Our words have power and we need to think before we speak (type).

So what can we do if we feel strongly about something that we feel is wrong/right? I once heard, "If you can't change something, you need to stay neutral." I think there is very little, if anything, that we can't change in this world.  

 It's important to stand for something, because those that don't fall for anything.  There ARE things that should be fought for, there are things in life that need to be changed. If you are pro-life you should be fighting for what you believe in and if you are pro-choice so should you.

I don't mean fight in the literal sense. It's not okay to verbally attack someone who has a different view than you. All it does is alienate you and your cause. 

THIS is what I've found works the best. If you're against abortion - pray, donate to crisis pregnancy centers, support the mothers who do decide to keep or put their child up for adoption, and go ahead and picket but do it in a non-hostile way. If you're pro-choice donate to organizations that provide birth control, vote, and hold your own picketing in a non-hostile way.

In the end, we aren't going to change everyone's mind but we can do our part to support what we feel is right. In a respectful way.
   

Why Not Me?

I loved Mindy Kaling in The Office and really enjoyed her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? so was excited to read Why Not Me?. 

There were several laugh out loud moments as I read this book. I just didn't like it as much as her first. I still found it an enjoyable read because Kaling's humor matches my own so closely.

I think the only flaw I saw in the book is how Kaling mentions how different she is from most female comedians because she doesn't talk about sex. Then she goes ahead and sticks sex into this book - in a way that didn't even flow. I felt like she sold out on that one as the book could have been perfectly fine without her having to stoop to a Chelsea Handler level. Stay original, Kaling.

This book was given to me by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.