If you read Pete Wilson’s Plan B or read Jon Acuff’s, Stuff Christians Like, you might remember the phrase, “The Gift of Going Second”.  In a nutshell, it is when one person confesses to a struggle and then another feels the freedom to share their same struggle as well.  It’s a gift.  In fact, after I read Plan B, I posted Me Too.   If you take that concept and blow it out into a full book, I think that’s what Permission to Speak Freely is getting at.  Many times we keep our struggles and sin hidden for fear of anything from a disapproving look to a job or marriage loss.  And many times the fear is not unfounded, particularly in Christian circles.  However, the freeing benefits of confession can far outweigh any risks involved.

In the first half of Permission to Speak Freely, Anne covers her personal struggles and finding her way to confession with others and help herself and others to unload their burdens.  The last half covers the confessions of Adam and Eve and the Prodigal Son and then on to the Gift of Going Second.  I read the first half with rapt attention, excited to see where it was going.  While moving into the scriptural tiebacks, I was nodding my head.  She finished with the gift of going second and maybe because it was not a new concept to me, I felt like it dragged on a bit.  I wholeheartedly believe in it, but felt like it was drawn out, possibly a little stuffed for word count.

I also don’t think the book ever tackled the answer of the original question.  Or at least not head on.  I feel that she tackled confession on a personal level, not public, which is what my expectations from her original question were.  Many of her examples were confession between two people but didn’t address church members openly discussing taboo questions or struggles.  I felt like maybe there was just one more chapter that needed to be written.  And maybe that’s what we’re supposed to go off and write on our own.  What does speaking freely look like to us?  Or maybe my expectations were a bit misguided.

The book is absolutely gorgeous. I  love the size, the graphics, the artwork both in and outside the book.  It’s a book you want to pick up and read simply from the aesthetics.  I believe the confessions given in the book are worth the book itself.

All in all, I walked away with a better understanding of Anne, whom I respect so much.  More importantly I’m walking away with another ounce of courage to always be authentic and share my struggles, questions and even hope.

I have two copies of this book and would love to give one away.  If you’d like to receive a copy, please leave a comment below.  For extra entries, you can tweet it.  Please come back here and let me know you did!

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Muslim holy book. The church insists the event is "neither an act of love nor of hate," but a warning against what it calls the threats posed by Islam.

At the gym this morning I watched as CNN interviewed the pastor of the church in Florida about the upcoming burning demonstration.  I was going to blow this off as another misguided attempt by Christians to get their point across but by the end of it I was in tears on the treadmill. 

The first question posed to him was doesn’t the Bible ask you to turn the other cheek?  Isn’t this act of hate doing the opposite of what Christ asked for?  He said it was not an act of hate.  They welcome Muslims to America.  They don’t oppose the Mosque.  In fact, they believe moderate Muslims should agree with them.  Plus, Jesus got angry too.  He overturned tables and called Peter the devil.

And that’s when I knew I had to say something.  Jesus was righteously angry at HIS PEOPLE.  People that called themselves followers but weren’t acting a thing like that.  The only thing Christ ever offered to unbelievers was love, hope, salvation, healing and a second chance.

And why would moderate Muslims go along side this?  They admitted it would be offensive and that he was offended when the flag or Bible was burned.  I’m sorry, I don’t care what you stand for, moderate or radical, if you burn the Bible, I can’t support you.  Why would they do the same? 

If that weren’t enough, he said he was aware of the warning from military and US officials that this could cause imminent danger to troops in Afghanistan.  His response?  Yes, but we’re set on what we’re doing, but we’re praying about it.

So here’s my thing.  I pray too.  I pray to the same God he does and He wouldn’t tell us different things.  Maybe I’m wrong, call me out, but let’s at least get on our knees and pray.  I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here and saying this shouldn’t happen. If you hear the same thing, email them and let them know, as a Christian, you oppose this demonstration.

I used to have everything piled in the big bucket but it was terrible trying to dig through it all to find anything. After organizing the Barbies, I moved the clothes and shoes into bags of their own. What’s left is just the house sets they use when they play. Love it!

Posted via email from Amy’s posterous

This week has been quite the rollercoaster.  Many highs and lows for me but not much in between. 

At work we closed down processes that have been in place for years.   It’s amazing how you can get attached to a set of code.  I can buy into the saying that coding is art and also the part where it’s the only one that fights back.  On the flip side, new process have come to fruition after months of meetings, coding, discussions and testing.  It feels much like the presentation of a new piece of artwork.  I mean, I think.  Not that I’ve ever debuted artwork.  It feels good, ok?

I gave up the full reigns on OTHBlog and gave up NBCPhd.  On the flip side got some great feedback and planning new stuff for iHeart with Danny’s management.  Announced a new partnership for this blog with NC Blog Buzz which I’m psyched about.

Personally saw some low lows and high highs.

It’s definitely not been a status quo week.  I feel a little drained and more than ready for the long weekend.

But through it all, I’ve been so thankful for friends with whom to rejoice on the hills and shed a virtual tear when it bottomed out.  God has covered me in peace this week.  We are not meant to go through it alone and I’m so thankful.

Toy Story 3, the record-breaking #1 movie in the world, is so hot it’s cool as everyone’s favorite toys take to the ice in Disney On Ice presents Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3! An award-winning creative team and a cast of world-class skaters are bringing Woody, the pull-string cowboy; space ranger Buzz Lightyear; Jessie, the yodeling cowgirl; and the rest of the gang to fans and families around the country in this brand-new live ice spectacular produced by Feld Entertainment. This fast-paced and witty tale of friendship will make a stop in Charlotte at the Time Warner Cable Arena, Oct. 6 – 10.

Check out more information over at the Time Warner site and let me know if you end up going October 6 – we’ll be there and I’d love to say hi!

I received this opportunity including 4 pack of tickets to the opening show because of my participation in the NC Blog Buzz network. I have pledged to give my honest opinion of the product/event.  All opinions are my own.

Let me point you over to OneTreeHillBlog.com this morning where I’ve made a big announcement for the site.  There is a lot of training and planning going on behind the scenes and that’s what I’ve been absolutely swamped with lately.  It’s amazing how much I’ve been doing on autopilot for almost 3 years.   Putting what I do into words and instructions has been fun (I love CamStudio!) but quite eye-opening.   I’m really excited for this step and loosening my grip is already quite freeing.

While we’re on the topic I’ll say that Kaitlin and I have closed NBCParenthood.com for the foreseeable future.  I think we’ve decided that the audience just doesn’t have a fan site presence at this point.

Yesterday I had an exciting meeting with Danny Gokey’s manager and looking forward to the future of that site.

And I guess I can’t leave out our FNL site.  The fifth and final season will be starting next month and then we’ll have to say goodbye to that show.  I’m going to enjoy the last leg of that ride.  Texas Forever!

Through all this I’m looking forward to putting more time and attention into THIS site.  So if you’re reading this THANK YOU.

1. SO excited for “Cam” from Modern Family for his win as well as the whole cast and crew for winning Best Comedy
2. Very sad for Kyle and Connie for not winning their categories but a little surreal seeing them in the crowd!  So happy the show at least got recognized.
3. The LOST song that Jimmy Fallon performed was hilarious.  “At least I tried.”
4. George Clooney’s bit with Modern Family was gold.
5. So many gorgeous dresses but these are my top 3

So basically this is what I look like nearly every fall.  Jeans and a sweater.  Cool shoes and some jewelry if I’m lucky.  I’m so looking forward to jeans!  I would wear them year-round if it weren’t so hot!

Sweaters and Jeans, Oh my by bennettaj featuring old navy jeans

I knew there was one more thing for my list today.  This deserves it’s own post anyway!

I have been saying for years that my friend Dani needs to start a blog but we could never quite settle down and get to it.   I finally wrangled her to my office and thus, MotherofFashion.com was born.  We’ve been working several late, Starbucks-laden nights (why yes, I do work for coffee) working on the design and I’m super happy at how everything has turned out.   Dani is a fashionista at heart and always looks her best but just under those cute clothes is one of the biggest hearts I know.  Through the site, she wants to share her fashion secrets to help us all look and most importantly feel our best.  The best thing I can liken this to is a Mommy version of What Not to Wear.

She’s just getting started but has caught the blogging bug and has lots of plans oozing out of her creative mind!  I simply can not wait to see where this goes!  So hop over there and first tell her welcome and second, give her a big Happy Birthday message for today!

Love ya, Dani!