Kickstart to Clutter Free - Day 4 and a book giveaway!

My 'home office' is more like a desk that I use to 'collect' items to be put away at another time. You know the place, the one where you say, "I'll just put it here 'for now' and put it away later." After lots of 'I'll just put it here for now', this is what my desk looks like:

And here is the funny part...today's challenge was to remove 50 pieces of clutter from your home office. Want to see what my desk looked like after removing 50 pieces of clutter?

You might be saying, "Well, that looks better." But I only cleared away about half of what was on my desk!! I really need a better system of handling all of this paperwork...

So, because I didn't want to leave this area half done, I continued on until...

YES!! Ah, NOW it looks so much better! I stopped keeping track of how much I cleared from my desk. It is kind of embarrassing that there were more than 50 items on my desk that needed to be somewhere else.

But fortunate for my readers, I did find a few items I have acquired which I have duplicates of. So I will be doing a few giveaways!

First up, a brand new copy of Hope Rising by Dr. Scott Todd. Just post a comment below and I will draw a winner on Monday, January 18th (giveaway limited to residents of the United States).

And if you are wanting to participate in this Kickstart to Clutter Free Challenge? You really need to purchase Kathi's eCourse. She is such a great motivator to helping you along this journey. I hope you consider it!

Hope Rising by Scott Todd: Review and Giveaway

Now, I know I have talked about before here on my blog that I really did not enjoy English class in high school. The thought of reading a book, then having to put into words a review of the book is enough to make me cringe. But a blogging friend of mine share with me a link to BookLook Bloggers, which is a book review web site which will give bloggers a free copy of a book in exchange for reviewing the book on your blog. I decided to take a peek and was excited to see they had the following book available for review:

As a Compassion sponsor and advocate, I was excited to see another book written by Scott Todd, who is the Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy for Compassion International.

Summary - The basic summary of this book is that God is doing a work around the world to end extreme poverty, but there is still work to do. Each one of us has been called by God to take care of our brother in need (1 John 3:17-18). As an individual, poverty is a big problem that seems really overwhelming to tackle on our own. But there are steps that each and every one of us can take to reach out to at least one person to make a difference.

My reaction - I loved the book!

1. This 193 page book is broken up into five parts with a total of 30 chapters, which makes it a manageable book to read in a short period of time.
2. Dr. Todd provides some alarming statistics on many topics, but also shares how we have been making strides in many areas to give us hope for ending extreme poverty in the near future.
3. The book is about giving each one of us hope, the hope that by doing something we can make a difference.
4. The chapter on 'Stewards of Power' was inspiring to me: "We are all stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, including the power we have to make things happen." God allowed us to be born in this country for a reason. He has given us many resources, talents, and gifts. In our own power, we are weak. But in His power, He can accomplish great things when we are willing to follow Him.
5. Dr. Todd shares that "if we don't tell them about Jesus, what will we truly accomplish?" Feeding the poor, building wells, and providing clothing is not going to save those living in extreme poverty. Teaching them about the love of Jesus, this is where their hope lives. And this is being done effectively through the local churches in many communities around the world.
6. We are reminded in this book that God wants us to care for the poor. Dr. Todd shares many Bible verses in this book about God's call for us to remember the poor. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you feel God calling you to make a difference for children growing up in extreme poverty in many countries around the world. I know that for some, this is not the call they feel God leading them to. But if you love God, you need to love His people. And sometimes loving His people means sacrificing a little of your time and/or money so that a child can live another day.

Giveaway! - Would you like to have a copy of this book? I happened to pre-order a copy of this book before I signed up to do a review, so I have one to giveaway! How to enter? Just comment below, 'I would love this book'! Yep, that simple. Be sure to leave a comment by Wednesday, May 28th at midnight PST. (Giveaway open to residents of the United States only.)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”