Little Book of Great Dates by Dr. Greg & Erin Smalley (Book Review)

Disclosure- I received a free copy of the book from Tyndale House Publishers via the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

I think that anyone in a relationship, especially in a marriage, knows how important it is to give each other our time. When we add kids into the mix, that becomes super hard and sometimes gets put to the side. Our children need to see us have a good relationship with our spouse, and I think it is particularly important that they see us try to have time as husband and wife without the kids in tow. Working on our relationship with our spouse should be a good example to them of how a marriage should work and important part of a marriage is keeping connected with one another.

Sometimes it is hard carving out the time to just be together with your spouse one on one. Sometimes it is just mundane doing the same old dinner and movies date, so I was super excited to have the opportunity to read the Little Book of Great Dates by Dr. Greg & Erin Smalley. I thought it was appropriate that this was written by a husband and wife team, since it is meant to bring couples together. This little book (it's a pocket sized little treasure you could certainly keep on the nightstand) is packed with 52 creative date night ideas. Some are more creative than others, but all are designed to get husband and wife talking, reminiscing, planning for the future, enjoying each other's company and learning new things about one another. My husband and I do not have the means to have a date night every week at this moment, but some of these could easily be done at home and if not, I have dog eared many pages of the dates I found to be the most interesting. I plan to have my husband go through it as well and tell me which ones he would like to do the most! The book is intended to start at the beginning of the year with the first date idea and progress until you have come to the end of that year. I am excited to begin these dates with my husband, so I will probably start with the ones I am most interested in and then begin again with the first one in the book in January. I would highly recommend this little book full of great dates to any married couple seeking to stay connected and enjoy each other's company to the full extent. I don't want to give away the date nights here, so you will be surprised when you read the book yourself! I have to say with the holidays coming up, that this little book is the perfect size to fit in your spouse's stocking. :)

You can purchase a copy of Little Book of Great Dates on Amazon.com

Wait No More: One Family's Amazing Adoption Journey Book Review

There are over 130 million orphaned children worldwide, and not just in third world countries. There are over 107,000 waiting for families in the United States alone. There are over 500,000 kids in the foster care system in the United States in between homes.There are orphans everywhere, probably including near to where you live. The Rosati's felt led to help this orphans in the highest way- by adopting them. In Wait No More John & Kelly Rosati give us an uncensored look into going through the adoption proceess, not one, not two, not three, but four times!

I like that through this book the Rosati's give a true glimpse into the adoption process through the foster care system. It is not always sunshine and roses. Many times orphaned children come with physical, emotional and/or mental scars. Sometimes it takes time longer than expected to get through the adoption process, there can definitely be bumps in the road on the way to becoming a child's "forever family."

The start of the Rosati's adoption journey began in April in the year 2000. They were living in Hawaii as a result of John's airforce assignnment. This journey would continue on for years as they meet and fall in love immediately with each of their adopted children. Wait No More takes us along on this ride with all of it's emotional higs and lows. They adopted all 4 from right where they lived at the time- Hawaii.

May is national foster care month. I urge you to pick up this book and learn more about being a foster parent. I think many people that have a heart for adoption do not know that you can do so through being  a foster parent first, which can cut down on the costs of adoption and cut down a bit on the time it can take. I Care About Orphans is a website that can connect you to kids that need forever homes in your neck of the woods.

I know not everyone feels the calling to adopt or even be a foster parent, but I think all of us probably in some way feel the calling to help these helpless children. If you feel lead to help, check out Fostercaremonth.org for several ways you can help, whether it be by spreading the word, donating money or even just praying for these children .

*Disclosure- I was provided a free copy of Wait No More by Tyndale House Publishers. All opinions are 100% my own