Have you ever had the experience of something happening to you, and you just couldn’t offer any human explanation for it?  I love hearing and reading about these types of things.  I love experiencing them in my own life and sometimes I refer to them as “God winks”, but at other times, these experiences in life work out in such a way that I know it was a miracle, something only God himself could make possible.

Use Me, Lord by Helena Ohmen is a book I recently had the pleasure of reading.  Her book is a collection of stories based on her own personal experiences, and she tells them so well.  She has such a distinct writing style that makes you feel as if you were sitting right across from her, taking in her stories in person.  In each story she tells, one thing is for certain, and that is that she follows the will of God wherever it takes her.  I admire that so much in a person.  How often have you felt the Lord telling you to do something, but you make excuses (Jonah, anyone?) and try to go about your life doing your own thing?  I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn’t work out so well.  One thing I have a hard time with is relinquishing control, but it’s something I’m working on daily.  I want to be able to say, “Use me, Lord”, too, and really mean it and follow through.

That’s one of the very reasons I found this book so inspiring.  It proved with every story she told that following the will of God always brings about the best intended outcome.  It may not be convenient or comfortable, but God never promised it would be so.  For instance, if you heard the Lord telling you to pick up house and home and move your family thousands of miles away from everything you were familiar with, would you do it?  Ohmen did, and her life has been richly blessed for it.  Thankfully, she has shared with the world her experiences with leading others to the Lord, the power of prayer, and the amazing miracles God is performing everyday.

Use Me Lord has inspired me to intentionally spend time in prayer everyday, to really be still and listen to the Lord, and to be brave enough to do what He asks of me.  Being still and quieting my mind is very difficult for me, but I can’t tell you how much better my day goes when I’ve started it off in prayer.  Hearing the voice of God is also sometimes difficult for me, so I’m learning to listen more carefully.  I’m not perfect and I know without a doubt I will always make mistakes, but I am so thankful my God is a loving and forgiving God.

I would really encourage any of you reading this who want a deeper walk in your faith to get a copy of Use Me, Lord.  It will make you want to aspire to the kind of close relationship that the author shares with God and to look for the extraordinary in the everyday ordinary.

Right after my husband and I got married, one thing I discovered to help us save money on our grocery bill was couponing.  Back then, saving a few cents made me happy.  Since then, I’ve learned that I can significantly cut our grocery bill down to a much more affordable amount just by re-learning how to shop with coupons.

How to Shop for Free: Shopping Secrets for Smart Women Who Love to Get Something for Nothing by Kathy Spencer is definitely a must-read for anyone who is serious about slashing their grocery bill.  This book can even teach you how to get just about anything else for free, too.  Love clothes shopping?  You can even learn how to get those free, too.

Kathy Spencer is definitely a pro at couponing, and she can teach you some great shopping strategies, which stores have the best deals and steals, and when to cash in on these items.  She has even whittled one of her own grocery bills down from $267.22 to ONE PENNY. 

So does her advice work?  I had the opportunity to get a look at a review copy of this new book, and it was so good I read it all in 2 days.  Just to test out her advice, I tried a few of her tips this past week when I went to the grocery store.  I normally spend at least 120.00 a week on groceries, and this includes things like cat food and household cleaners, etc.  I try to do all of my shopping at one store just for convenience, which is definitely not a strategy you want to use if you can help it because different stores have different sales. 

I took stock of what I had already to make meals with at home and made a plan for the meals for the upcoming week.  One of my big problems was that we have food at home, but eating out is just more convenient, so food is sitting there going to waste in some cases.  With my meal plan made, sales papers looked over, and coupons in hand, I made the trek to a local grocery store.  Planning this shopping trip took a few hours out of my day, but my final total at the register was $40.00.  That’s a savings of $80.  This is a small victory compared to the couponing pros, but to me it was amazing, and my husband was seriously impressed.  I can’t wait to fine tune my couponing skills even more.

This book was a pleasure to read, a real teaching tool, and one I would highly recommend to anyone who is serious about saving money.

I received a copy of this book for review purposes.  No other compensation was given for this review.