Archive for the Recommendations
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Ask and you shall receive
I’m giving away some travel guidebooks over at Tell Me When to Pack. All you have to do is ask for one before anyone else does.
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Stocking stuffers for the ADDer you love
If an ADDer has been ADDed to your life, here are a few stocking-stuffer type items for that person you love. Different ADD brains work different ways, but things like these are helpful to me. This is a short list, just what’s at the front of my brain at the moment.
Carabiner key ring. This kind is even better than mine. I just have a plain ring and a cheap carabiner that I hang onto an outside loop on my purse (which means the ring could fall off the carabiner and be lost). Remember. Remember. Remember. Yes, I do have to remind myself to remember. But it’s pretty much a habit now, which is especially important in winter when there are way too many pockets to remember where I stashed my keys without thinking.
Journal. Once I realized I have ADD, a notebook became my almost constant companion. I “transcribe” conversations as they’re happening so I can remember and not misconstrue later. I jot down to-do’s and shopping lists–everything that I used to say “I’ll remember this later,” but didn’t. This size is the type I use. It’s large enough to scrawl more than one sentence on. It fits in the back pocket of my purse and weighs nothing to tuck under my elbow. On the light-colored cover, I can write the beginning date or info about what’s inside. Other styles will suit other people. There are a variety of sizes & covers.
Purse organizer. I’ve stuck an insert into my purse with specific pockets for specific items, so I can reach in without looking and find my chapstick or lozenge or whatever. I scavenged my insert from a backpack I used to have, but this one here looks like it would be a good one. I wouldn’t necessarily choose pink, but hey, it’s down in the dark depths anyway.
“Magic” gloves. I don’t know how many pairs I have of those inexpensive one-size-fits-all gloves. But I don’t think it’s possible to have too many. Somehow, even if I think there’s a pair in every coat or jacket pocket and in all the sofa cushion cracks, still I’m looking for gloves when it’s time to walk out the door. So, lots of inexpensive gloves.
Combination lock. One Noel ADD rule is: Arrange life so there are as few things as possible to hold onto within the brain. For me, one moment that particular rule comes into play is standing in front of the locker at the gym. I do not want the anxiety of mentally walking through every step that keeps me from locking the key inside the locker. I don’t need any extra hindrance to working out. My combination lock is a lot like this one–about the simplest kind possible. I never have been able to open the ancient-safe-door-ear-to-the-tumbler twirling number dial.
Pill organizer. One of the facts of life for many of us is medicine and supplements that make life work better. One of the ironies of ADD is forgetting to take the pills that help control ADD. And if I do remember, the tedium of remembering which bottles and how many pills and of all that opening and counting and closing makes me think, “In a minute.” A minute which never comes. I’m a sucker for organizers (forgetting for the moment that you have to keep on keeping them organized). But this pill box does help. I just fill it up once a week. The compartments are plenty large enough even for those monster fish oil capsules that are supposed to be helping my brain work better. When I’m traveling I fill as many organizers as there are weeks of being away from home.
Due app. Even with the pill organizer, I do need to remember to take the pills. That’s where my Due app has become one of my best friends. The kind of friend that won’t get off your back when you need a kick in the pants (or whatever mixed metaphor I mean). Due has too many good features for me to take time to list right now. Go to the Due website and see for yourself. I think it’s particularly for iPhone or iPad.
Books. I have the impression there are lots more books about Adult ADHD than there were even a year ago. Of the ones I’ve read I’d say they all have pretty much the same basic info about ADHD. The main differences between books would be how they branch out from the basics. I especially appreciate the ones that come at it from a personal point of view. Beyond the official list of symptoms/characteristics, lightbulbs kept flashing on as I read stories of how ADD works itself in daily life and relationships. Here are a couple of books you might consider.
You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy? The title alone sold me on this one. I’d say this one would probably appeal more to a woman with ADD than to a man.
Delivered from Distraction. If you were going to read just one book, I think this would be the one. (Just skip over the product promotion near the end of the book). Johnny and I read this one aloud together to try to grow together in our understanding of ADD.
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Disclosure: If you click on a link and purchase an item, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I only recommend items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I use personally or wish I did.
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
My favorite coffeemaker: 73% off, just today
12/13/11 — I just discovered that the discount is still really good, even though the one-day sale is past. Today it’s 62% off. I don’t know how long this lasts, but I wouldn’t want to let it slip past again.
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Hint: Here’s a gift idea for the coffee lover you love.
For just today, Amazon is selling at 73% off the coffee maker that’s my favorite of all the coffee makers I’ve ever owned (beginning with a percolator).
When my previous coffee maker died several years ago, I went looking for one thing in a replacement: a coffee maker that made hot coffee. Coffee that was still hot after I added milk. Coffee that I didn’t need to microwave before drinking.
My Brazilian daughter-in-law–the family coffee expert– told me her Cuisinart Grind-and-Brew was hot like that. She’s right. I’m sipping my morning coffee right now and it’s just right–doesn’t burn my tongue, but almost.
There’s even a button to push if I’m brewing 4 cups or less, so it’s heated up enough even though the process is shorter than for a full pot.
A bonus is that I could get rid of my coffee grinder, because grinding is part of the process. I’m always glad to clear some unneeded thing off my kitchen shelves.
Enough said. I’m going for my 2nd cup.
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Subscribe to NoelPiper.com by using the one of the Subscribe links to the right or by clicking here.
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Disclosure: If you click on a link and purchase the item, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I only recommend items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I use personally or wish I did.
Saturday, December 10th, 2011
For your Bible study group
Are you and your Bible study group scrambling to figure out what to do after the new year rolls in?
Thank you to Rick Morton for gifts that can be used by 5 small groups. How many people might that be in all? 20? 50? 100? Each gift to one of you may bless many more than just you.
Rick and Denise Morton were part of cofounding Psalm 139, an international orphan-hosting ministry.
He and Tony Merida are co-authors of Orphanology: Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care.
Orphanology is a practical response to God’s command to care for the fatherless told through the stories of families and ministries who are responding. . . . [and with] real-world ideas and illustrations for engaging in orphan ministry. . . . . Orphanology demonstrates how adoption, foster care, and other forms of orphan ministry are accessible to every believer and every church and introduces innovative approaches to orphan ministry including orphan hosting.
Here’s the gift. Five sets, including:
- Orphanology (book)
- Site license for 6-session Orphanology Bible study. This license gives an entire small group on-line access to the Bible study.
- Visit the Promise 139 website and look around a bit.
- At this post, comment once with impression(s) from that visit.
- One additional entry for following @rick_morton on Twitter .
- Comment once again at this post, to report that you’re following Rick.
- Another additional entry, subscribe to Rick Morton’s blog.
- Comment once again at this post, to report that you’re subscribed.
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
Where to find 2 free audiobook downloads
If you follow both my blogs, you’ll notice that my posts of ebook and audiobook information are usually over at Tell Me When to Pack. That’s because it’s my travel blog and the best way to pack lots to listen to and read is with downloads. Of course, all you NoelPiper.com readers are welcome to stop over and see what’s up.
Right now, I’ve posted the December offer from ChristianAudio.com–two free audiobook downloads.
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Some Christmas book ideas
Here are some Christmas book ideas in no particular order. Click through the links to get more info about each.
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Peapods update
Peapods! What in the world?
Hints:
- They have something to do with our grandtwins.
- I wrote about Peapods almost a year ago.
- The update is at Tell Me When To Pack.
P. S. In any case, this gives me an excuse to post a picture of the babies. It’s the first time I ever played double Trotsy-Horsey.
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
A Holy Ambition: free download
Many of you are familiar with Logos Software. Recently Logos launched Vyrso Christian eBooks.
Until December, Vyrso is offering a free download of A Holy Ambition, by one of the best authors around (if I do say so myself).
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Art by a Native American brother
Over our mantel hangs artwork of Turning Bear Mason, a Native American who is forthright in his desire to glorify God through his art: “God has given me a hunger to know Him through His truth, that is through His Word and His creation.”
I’m drawn into the moody, deep blue landscape silhouetted with sparse evergreens.
But in the late afternoon, when the blinding western sun glows through our front window onto the print, the brooding scene awakens. Now I realize there’s a teepee that had been hidden in the shadows. It’s as if the woman inside has lit her cooking fire and her home flares with life against the darkening sky. I imagine the Evening Prayer of her family, gathered in a circle around the fire, thanking God for the food he has provided.
Turning Bear Mason’s 2012 calendar is a very accessible way of enjoying 13 of his paintings and sharing them, as family or business Christmas gifts. This Thursday, December 1 is the last date to order. Here’s the info for ordering. Page down for a sample of the calendar art.
2012 Fine Art Calendar: Fine Art of TurningBear Mason
www.TurningBearFineArt.com
13 Month Calendar January 2012- February 2013
Pre Orders needed by Thursday December 1, 2012
Call 520-780-9547
or E-Mail Studio@TurningBearFineArt.com
Size: 17 x11 Folds into 81/2 x 11
If desired there will be a space allotted on the back of the calendar for your business label – Size 1 ¼ x 3 ¼
Cost: $19.50
$15.00 for orders of 300 or more
The Fine Art calendar will have 13 Oil Paintings printed on very nice stock paper.
Great End of Year Gifts for your business associates, friends or family.
Samples of paintings on the calendar: Saguaro National Park, Arizona Sunsets, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, some wildlife in landscape from around the Western Us and Canada.
The calendar is being printed by Arizona Lithograph, a premiere Fine Art printer in Tucson, AZ.
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
The greatest reason to celebrate. And yet . . . .
Advent–the weeks leading up to Christmas–is a time to look back and celebrate the coming of our salvation. God had been promising for centuries, and God’s people had been waiting and watching. God’s promises were fulfilled with the birth of Jesus.
Romans 8:22-23
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.
And yet we are still waiting. Our spiritual redemption came to us with the baby of Bethlehem. But still, as Romans 8 says, “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (verse 23). There is suffering and tragedy still, even for Christians. Someone we love is dying. We may be in pain. Sometimes we have trouble believing God’s promises. In other words, our redemption is not complete. We are waiting for the redemption of our bodies—waiting for Jesus’ second advent, for him to come again.
So here we stand in the middle. Advent is a season of looking back, thinking how it must have been, waiting for the promised salvation of God, not knowing what to expect. And at the same time, it is a season of looking ahead, preparing ourselves to meet Jesus at his Second Coming.
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Taken from my book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions. |
Monday, November 28th, 2011
What is Advent?
1 Peter 1:10-12
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
We are a people of promise. For centuries, God prepared people for the coming of his Son, our only hope for life. At Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of the promises God made—that he would give a way to draw near to him.
Advent is what we call the season leading up to Christmas. It begins four Sundays before December 25, sometimes in the last weekend of November, sometimes on the first Sunday in December. This year, it began yesterday, on Sunday, November 27, 2011.
1 Peter 1:10-12 is a clear description of what we look back to during Advent. For four weeks, it’s as if we’re re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God’s salvation, for Jesus. That’s what advent means—coming. Even God’s men who foretold the grace that was to come didn’t know “what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating” (verse 11). They were waiting, but they didn’t know what God’s salvation would look like.
In fact, God revealed to them that they were not the ones who would see the sufferings and glory of God’s Christ. “They were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven” (verse 12). They were serving us. We Christians on this side of Jesus’ birth are a God-blessed, happy people because we know God’s plan. The ancient waiting is over. We have the greatest reason to celebrate.
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Taken from my book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions. |
Monday, November 28th, 2011
Bible story books
I think Bible story books make great gifts for the children we love.
I really appreciate Justin Taylor for his frequent book reccomendations, especially because I usually agree with his assessments. So today’s post recommending his top picks of Bible story books is right up my alley.
I’ve already given some of them
on earlier Christmas days. But I hadn’t yet seen The Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments, by Marty Machowski. I’m looking forward to it. (Justin links to a great 72-hour discount on the book).
