Sunday, August 3, 2008

Book review "A Pocket Guide to the Bible" by Scott Hahn

I was lucky enough to get included in a book review program sponsored by The Catholic Company . I heard about the book review program on The Catholic Moments podcast hosted by Lisa Hende. Catholic Moments is a talk show that is a part of the SQPN network. I listen to almost all of the podcasts put out by SQPN and love them all!

I was excited to receive my first book "A Pocket Guide to the Bible" by Scott Hahn. I had heard about books that Scott had written from The Catholic Hack podcast and the Into the Deep podcasts (check them both out on itunes, they are worth it). I hadn't read any of his books yet and was excited to get started!!

The book really lives up to the title "a pocket guide" in size, its a 4x6 book! My first thought was, how is this tiny book going to tell me what I need to know about the bible? The bible is huge and can be intimidating and this tiny book is going to explain it all to me? Ok so I'm a skeptic, but that didn't stop me from reading.

I am definitely impressed with the content of the book. In 78 pages, the book efficiently explains the contents of the Bible and why the information is there. I am a lifelong Catholic and learned more than I expected to from this book.

My two favorite chapters where chapter four and chapter eight. Chapter Four "What belongs in the bible" laid it out the best for me. This chapter explains the Old and New Testament and what belongs in each and why. It is easy to read, to the point, and make sense! Chapter Eight "The books of the Bible" ties it all together outlining the books and the prophets. The last chapter is a "where to find" chapter for stories that appear in several places in the Bible.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick and thorough explanation of the Bible. It is an easy read and is a great reference book. I also think this book would be a great gift for someone who is new to the Catholic Church or a long time member like myself.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on A Pocket Guide to the Bible.

Friday, August 1, 2008

No spend day 1

Don't worry, I won't be recording my daily troubles with cutting back on my spending. But I did want to write about my first day because it was......well....harder than I thought it would be.

The first thing I did wrong today was I did not plan for my day. I'm in the car a lot for my job so sometimes I stop at the gas station to get a little snack or treat. I told myself I would not do this anymore and guess what I stopped today! I needed a water and wanted some turtles. Strike 1. What I should have done was had a water bottle with me that I filled up at work and brought another snack from home like fruit or string cheese. Ok so note to self, plan better next week.

I had a NY&CO coupon for $10 off a $20 purchase. I wanted to use this coupon today. I thought well $10 out of my monthly budget was not to bad to spend on clothes. So I went to the store, found 4 sale items and proceeded to take them to the register. The cashier started taking the clothes off the hangars and I gave her my coupon. Ooops she told me, can't use the coupon on the sale items. I said ok then I don't need the clothes. And I left! Yay me. One bad spend and one small victory makes me even for the day.

I knew lunch would likely be a problem for me since I'm not always in the office and its hard to plan. I bought lunch for a client today so I was saved by that one because I get reimbursed for business expenses. Ok good deal. Next week I will have to try to pack something in a cooler. Will that work in this 100+ degree weather? I don't know. We will see I guess.

This weekend is the no sales tax weekend in the state of Missouri. You have to give me huge brownie points here because I am not going to let this lure me out to possibly buy something and blow the budget!!!! I do need to make a trip to get a few groceries but I should spend under $10 on that as everything on the list is on sale.

So all in all I think my first day went ok. It was definitely harder than I thought but really and truly made me realize how I am more tempted than I thought to spend money each day. The thought of paying off my car 14 months early is what keeps my wallet shut!!!!