Book Review: Love Letters to my Queen Bride

On February 14, 2012February 14, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Book Review1 Comment

I think this has been one of the most challenging book reviews I’ve written recently. The reason for that is that I can’t find enough words to describe this book, but I think it can be summarized as live changing.

When I started reading this book I had to stop myself, this is not a book you read in one sitting. This book has to be savor in bits and pieces, no more than a letter a day. Each letter is so rich with love, energy and spiritual enlightenment.

On a day like today where people have chosen to celebrate true love, I chose to celebrate the source of Love, and this book is a great way to understand the Love of God. Love Letters are letters that seem written personally by the hand of God expressing in simple English his love, his need for us, the way he sees us and his purpose for our lives. This book is bible based and it speaks so much truth. I recommend this book for every woman and if you have teenage daughters, this is an awesome gift to give them. It’s never too early to understand where real love is found.

Now let’s meet the author behind this awesome book:

Beth Walker has been married to her husband, Ben, for over 40 years. She is the mother of three adult children and seven grandchildren that she adores.

After raising her children she founded a Christian counseling center where she served as director and counselor for sixteen years. She also founded and directed in her home town Drug Free Clubs for high risk youth at 23 sites. For over eleven years she has led an interdenominational worship group. She also has served as a Christian speaker, Sunday school teacher, and Eucharistic minister.

Among the various organizations that she has served as volunteer include the Board of the Montgomery Mental Health Association for twelve years and the Montgomery Board of Women’s Aglow International.

She is quick to say only through the help of the Holy Spirit was she able to do anything and will be able to do anything in the future. Her passion is Christ. She says, soaking in worship and then listening to Him, after knowing His word is the only way to go.

If you want to obtain a copy of his wonderful book just click on the picture above, but even better; if you want to win a Free copy of this book, today is your last day to enroll in our Giveaway. Go at the top to the Book Giveaway page and leave us your email. The winner will be announced this Friday.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

WF: Unrestrained

On February 10, 2012February 9, 2012 By Naty MatosIn WorshipLeave a comment

Surrendering to unconditional love is scary, experiencing the true nature of it it’s amazing. Men (women) can fail, but God’s love never fails. How should we live in love?

The Word of God says that ”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails”. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

That’s the love God gives us, that’s the love we need to learn to give…Unrestrained

WF: Worship Friday

Talking about unrestrained love, remember out book giveaway “ Love Letters to my Queen Bride” by author Beth C. Walker. not going to disclose much about it because I have a treat for you. You can win one of the three copies of this wonderful book that will be given away on Valentine’s Day. All you have to do is go to the page that says “Book Giveaway” give us your name and email address (at least your email if you don’t want to give your name) and you can win a copy of this fabulous book in the format of your choice (Kindle or paperback)

Also remember that you can obtain a copy of Growth Lessons on sale for $1.99

I’m Not Perfect… I’m Priceless

On February 8, 2012February 7, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Inspirational Thoughts1 Comment

My dear friend Staci Stallings is visiting us today with a special message for us, without further delays I’ll let you enjoy this delightful read…

By: Staci Stallings

My almost-ten-year-old daughter got a little too much of her mother in her. What is it with this perfectionist gene? You’d think one generation would be far plenty for it to run its course and leave us alone. Alas, it has not.

My gorgeous, lovely, loving, wonderful daughter got this one in spades. I first knew this the year she took violin lessons and adamantly REFUSED to play for anyone she knew. When Grandma came over, we begged and pleaded and bribed… to no avail. She simply would not play a note lest she not sound just perfect and reveal to all the world that she was anything less than.

We battle this monster in school. She has all-A’s for now. And truth be told, I’m not looking forward to that streak coming to an end. (I still haven’t recovered from MY OWN three-week cry-fest when I got my first B in 5th grade. Don’t laugh. Trust me, it makes it worse!)

With the beginning of volleyball, we are wading once again into the deep waters of perfection psychosis, and I have to be honest with you–I would have thought that since I’d been through this one, it would be easy to diagnose and treat in my own child. Sadly, I was mistaken. The diagnosis has been easy, but wow is this thing hard to heal.

Tonight on the way to volleyball, my beautiful, kind, wonderful little girl spent most of the trip in tears. “Why does everyone think I have to be perfect?” “They don’t.” “Yes, they do. If I do one little thing wrong, they yell at me.”

Now, really. How do you argue with that? Because too often we do sound like we’re yelling. Our corrections sound to a delicate perfectionist like we don’t or won’t love them if they aren’t perfect. It’s such a vile, rotten trap.

On the way home later, we were hashing out the whole perfection thing again because this time it was the coach who yelled, “just because I missed one serve! I got all the others.”

I finally made this simple observation. “You know, you’re not perfect. You’re priceless.”

That stopped her. “What does that mean?”

“It means you are not perfect. You have chips. You have flaws. You make mistakes. But God and Mama still believe you are priceless, and no matter what, that will never change.”

Strangely she stopped arguing and crying at that point, and inside, so did I.

Maybe I’m not perfect, but God says I am priceless, and who am I to argue?

Thank you Staci for those wonderful words. Guys, don’t forget to enter into our Valentine’s book giveaway. Go to the top and give us your email address for a chance to win one of three copies of “Love Letters to my Queen Bride”. The winners will be picked on Valentine’s day and announced on Friday February 17th.

To add sweetness to the pot, you can get your copy of Growth Lessons for $1.99 until Valentine’s day (better than chocolate).

Find Staci online:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/StaciStallings @StaciStallings

Facebook profile:http://www.facebook.com/staci.stallings.author

Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spirit-Light-Author-Staci-Stallings/266593276699576

Where love starts

On February 6, 2012February 5, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Inspirational Thoughts1 Comment

February is the month with a heart. It’s the month that people dedicate to talk about love and the demonstrations of love. You can’t talk about love without talking about the source of love.

It says in Deuteronomy 7:9 says “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments” It is wonderful to know that our God has a covenant of love with us. A covenant is bigger than a promise, it deeper than words. It’s a permanent compromise to love us.

His love is unconditional. He gives us the freedom to love him back or not and even if we choose not to love him, he will still love us and receive us when we decide to come back.

Have you ever said that you forgive but don’t forget? Have you ever been told that you were forgiven but your transgressions were not forgotten? He who determines out eternity doesn’t measures us that way. “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”Micah 7:18

If you have been around for a while, you know that I like things to be plain, simple and down to earth. I ran into a book titled “ Love Letters to my Queen Bride” by author Beth C. Walker. This is not only a must read, it’s a book that has personally improved my relationship with Christ because it has really given me practical way too see his love for me… But I’m not going to disclose much about it because I have a treat for you. As a sign of my love for all of you my readers, you can win one of the three copies of this wonderful book that will be given away on …you guessed it…Valentine’s Day. All you have to do is go to the page that says “Book Giveaway” give us your name and email address (at least your email if you don’t want to give your name) and you can win a copy of this fabulous book in the format of your choice (Kindle or paperback)

Also remember that you can obtain a copy of Growth Lessons on sale for $1.99 until Valentine’s Day as well as a token of my love for all your support.

Have a blessed and loving day!

Naty

Don’t wait to say I love you

On January 27, 2012January 27, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Inspirational Thoughts6 Comments

I want to share with you a very personal story about one of my favorite Aunts. I have a huge family although it doesn’t seem so. I have cousins, aunts and uncles that I have not met and probably never will that’s how big my family is. We’re just not one of those close families, but if we decided to do a family reunion, we sure would need a stadium to hold it.

This particular aunt and my mother kept a close relationship telephonically as we were geographically ways apart. It was more than ten years ago and I was going through a very rough time and I needed to go away. I was at my mother’s house and she was talking to my aunt, to whom I had never spoken before and whom I had never seen before. I grabbed the phone and jokingly said, “I’m coming over”. She became excited and told me I was more than welcome to come. To make a long story short, I did make arrangements and went there.

It was funny when she went to pick me up at the airport, we had never seen each other, so we got on our cell phones until we were finally face to face. Although it was the first time we saw each other, I was home. I spent a week with her. She spoiled me rotten. After that week we kept in touch and she became the person I would go to when I needed encouragement. Even at a distance she became a second mom.

This past July I was supposed to come over to see her, but miscommunication made us miss the date and then I got so busy with the things around my new book that I never got around to make the arrangements to spend some time with her again. I had planned that this year I was going to make it there because I miss her, now its too late. She passed away this last Friday.

I do regret not having made a bigger effort to make that trip happen earlier. I do thank God for having given me the gift of knowing her and the love she gave me the time I had her.

Rest in peace, Juliana!

Whose fault is it?

On January 25, 2012January 25, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Inspirational Thoughts2 Comments

Look at the picture above. It is one of our favorite mental pictures. It is very easy for us to assign responsibility to others when things go wrong, but do we think what our part in the process was? If we look at the hand, there’s one finger pointing outward and three inward. If you’re doing the pointing there are three fingers pointing at you.

Some things are out of our control in life; I’m not negating that…but it’s not as many as we tend to think.

Have you heard yourself say things like: this person makes me feel (angry, upset, irritable) or made me (eat, scream, nag, throw something)…unless the person has a weapon and threatening your safety. Was is truly this person’s fault or did you allow yourself into the behavior or emotion? We also blame the circumstances around our lives. Most time we created those circumstances as well.

Sometimes we forget to take accountability for our own actions because it’s easier to blame others or the circumstances. The denial of our responsibility falsely releases us from having to address it or work on fixing it. By placing the responsibility outside of us, we convince ourselves that the answer is out of our hands, not realizing that is inside that fist, hidden behind those three fingers that are pointing at us.

Stepping out of that denial is not an easy thing. It makes us see ourselves for who we really are. It also finally addresses the issue that we need to work on, that’s true freedom!

So I just invite you to stop and think; every time there’s a situation in your life and you are ready to blame someone else; ask yourself, what part did you play for things to happen?

Be blessed

Did you enjoy this post? This is one of the lessons included in my book Growth Lessons , get your copy today! Do you already have the ebook and want my autograph…submit your request on kindlegraph and i’ll be honored to process it.

Book Review: The Elite of the Weak by Precarious Yates

On January 23, 2012January 23, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Book Review1 Comment

I admit that I’m not an “end of times” type of person, in terms of the biblical context. I do love movies like Armageddon and all the end of times things Hollywood puts out there. Maybe because somewhere inside of me I think that the bible version of it is the real deal, so it’s too real for me and Hollywood is not, so it makes me feel better just to see the meteors explode and that kind of thing.

Even then, I ventured to read the book “The Elite of the Weak” by my friend, Author Precarious Yates. This book has non stop action. As Christians we talk a lot about being in a war and being soldiers for the Lord, if you ever need a practical image of what that war looks like and what being part of the Army of God would mean, especially during these times; this is the book to read.

These characters show such passion for God in the midst of their own personal pain, their devotion, their worship was truly admirable. There’s a warm love story included, which is very sweet and it almost makes you forget the dangers of the war that was going on, but they quickly send you back into action. This book is the first of a series and the author is already in warning that the next one better be out soon.

Even if the end of times is not your thing, even when the book is classified as Young Adult (YA) in genre, if you have a love for the Lord and want to have an image of what it is to live a life that tries to see through his eyes and feel through his heart, this book is for you. And by the way, I totally think this book should be made into a movie and I would be the first one to be in line to see it.

Now what is the book about? I don’t like spoilers. I hate when I go see a movie with someone who has seen it and tries to tell me about it, but I know you need some information.

Hadassah is a very unusual teenager. Instead of learning how to bake cookies from her mother, she’s learning to become a spy, but not any kind of spy… a spy for the army of God. You will see the dangerous missions in which she’s involved and all the technology involved, very Mission Impossible type thing. She wants to become part of the R. S. O. (Revelations Special Operations- a CIA espionage type organization with a Christian mission) and she is accepted and that’s when the fun begins.

Have you read this book? If you have, let me know your thoughts on it. If you haven’t, this eBook it’s only 99 cents on Amazon. You have to get it and then come back and share your thoughts.

Author Precarious Yates- Born in Cambridge, England, I grew up under the shadow of Yale University in New Haven, CT. With my two older brothers, I spent my teen years living the rock & roll lifestyle. My dad, an Episcopal minister and biblical scholar, had a strong hand in leading me to the Lord when I was 20. Since the moment of my radical conversion, I’ve dedicated my life to the calling of the Gospel, going where the wind of the Spirit leads. After 4 years of church planting in Ireland, my husband, Logan, and I returned to the States to adopt our beautiful daughter. Today, we live in Texas and enjoy watching her grow into a young woman after God’s own heart.

I chose the name Precarious because a human heart is a precarious place to share the Gospel from, but that is what the Lord bids us to do. Yates is a family name.

Many blessings

Naty

WF: Blessed be your name

On January 20, 2012January 20, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Worship2 Comments

I don’t know how is it where you are… Where I am is cold, rainy and windy. After a short week for some, a long and arduous for others; we need to remember that God gave us each and every one of those days, the ones filled with sun, the ones filled with rain, the warm ones and the cold ones, the happy ones and the challenging ones…and in all of them let’s make the choice to bless HIS name!

Happy Friday!

WF: Worship Friday

Don’t forget, you only have a few hours left to take advantage of obtaining your copy of Growth Lessons for just $1.99.

Technology in our relationship with God

On January 19, 2012January 19, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Articles7 Comments

So I arrive at church, lighter than I usually do these days. I used to carry this big bag with my bible and my notebook, but not anymore. I sit no farther than the third row and see the person next to me with their Ipad getting ready for service…it’s a new world out there.

The reality is that technology has change the methods that we use for worship and bible study. I can’t deny that I have jumped into some of those wagons and I’m not sure that I could turn back unless I had to.

The internet has invaded out lives, which is not necessarily a negative thing. It has allowed us opportunities that we didn’t have before. You wouldn’t be reading this article if it wasn’t for your access to it. It has allowed people with physical challenges to be able to be ministered to, evangelism in other countries and yes easy access to the word.

Like I said at the beginning I was always carrying a bible around. I had my big bible by my nightstand (which I still use), then another one for church and a smaller one in my purse. Now I use the YouVersion app on my phone, which I admit has me spoiled because I can search for a scripture in whatever language I want and version I want within seconds. I also committed to read the bible in a year as one of my New Year Resolutions. My phone alerts me at the time I scheduled to do so and shows me the corresponding scriptures of that day, this means that I can do that if I’m on my lunch break, stuck waiting at a doctor’s office or sitting in my living room. Yes, I can do that with a paper bible, but not everybody carries one of those all the time and let’s be honest, our cell phones have become a limb in our lives.

It also allows me to give a scripture to a friend in need because it has a search option for those times where I know what the scripture says but not necessarily where I can locate it.

Is everyone on board with these methods? No. I still get weird looks when the pastor says “look up in your bible Ephesians….” and instead of a book I get out my phone. It makes me want to tell the lady two seats to my left, “it’s my bible, no I’m not playing Angry Birds or texting my BFF or even taking your picture to post it on Facebook, although right now it would be hilarious” Which by the way I don’t understand Angry Birds so I don’t play the game anyway even outside of church, but I digress.

Many churches have the ability to stream their services nowadays and have several campus where people are just gathered in a room watching a big screen and experiencing the same service. The ability of those streaming’s allow people who are sick, in hospitals, nursing homes, vacations or mission trips to be united with their congregation in a different way.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love my paper bible. I’m a romantic and to me sitting at the feet of my Lord to pray and spend quiet time with him means my big bible, my notebook and silence. At the same time the technology is catching with us and more and more we will see people utilize bible apps in gadgets for their needs.

As always I like to know your thoughts in this topic. How has technology changed the way you study the Word of God? Do you feel that it makes any difference for you to read the word from a screen than from a paper Bible?

Talking about technology, remember you can still grab your eBook of Growth Lessons for 1.99 just today and tomorrow. If you have an Amazon Prime account you can read it for FREE! If you rather have the paperback you are able to obtain it for $9.99 Grab your copy today.

Book Signing Lessons

On January 16, 2012January 16, 2012 By Naty MatosIn Writing Happenings10 Comments

As some of you know this past Saturday was my first official book signing for Growth Lessons. Needless to say it was quite an experience. As a new author I didn’t know what to expect. The great thing was that most of my attendants were not only pleased with the event but admitted to have never attended a book signing before, so I guess that helped with their expectations.

The preparation for this event was quite interesting and challenging, but it reminded me every step of the way that I’m just part of the plan and that the King has it all under his control; therefore all I had to do was show up and string along. I can tell you about things being delivered at the last minute, while I was attempting to keep my shreds of sanity but what really happened that day is what it’s worth mentioning.

First of all I have to thank all of you who attended and made the day a special one. I kept hearing, “this day is about you”…it wasn’t, it was about each and every one of you and the things that God wanted to share with you through me, I hope it made a difference in your life. I do have to publicly thank Five Spot Frozen Yogurt for opening their doors to me and for being so accommodating. They are fabulous and have some great yogurt worth eating even if it’s 15 degrees outside, so if you’re anywhere close to NE Atlanta, go check it out. Also my four angels : Dora, Marion, Dee and Tonya who put up with my craziness ( I can be just a little neurotic when it comes to events…although I have to say I did very good this time) and for making it seems all so easy. God bless you.

Now to the good stuff. So what happened during the three hours where we were sitting there with yummy yogurt and chatting away. Here are some of the highlights…

Relationships were rebuilt. Yes, there were folks that had not seen or talk to each other in a long time and unknowingly found each other there and reconnected.
Relationships were built- There was such a camaraderie with people who never knew each other and started talking to each other and finding things in common and exchanging information.
God touched some hearts- I read a lesson from the book to those present. We all felt the presence of God in that place and later on, someone who has not been following the faith was asking me information about the church I attend and the time of the services because they felt a touch from the Lord.
Friendships grew– I had the most pleasant visit from my friend Author Tracy Ruckman and her husband Tim. Tracy and I met online through being authors of Grace and Faith, but had never seen each other face to face. When we saw each other was like embracing my best friend and like we had just not seen each other in a week. She’s not only an amazing woman, but don’t believe what you see in her pictures, she’s way more beautiful than that; inside and out.
Love and laughter was everywhere– When the event was over I was so tired, but so happy. I received so many expressions of love, shared so many moments of laughter.

I want to share a small story that touched my heart. This little girl walked up to me with her mother as we were clearing our tables. She was attracted by the balloons I had. She saw the writing on the wall (literally) and asked me what was the occasion. I explained to her that I had written a book and had come to this place to share my book with other people. Her family, I discovered through the conversation are Christians, so I started a conversation with the mother about the book and Jesus. I gave the girl a balloon which was what had attracted her in the first place. The girl tells me, “ I sing in church”. I chuckled at her and said. “ I love praise and worship but baby that is not my gift”…she smiled back and said, “No, yours is to write books for Jesus” It just felt like validation from heaven.