What Girls are Saying — Ericka

We think you’ll love Julia’s story as much as Ericka did!

Click here to check it out… (And then let us know what you think! We’d love to hear from you @info@MrRightSeries.com : )

Have  a great week!

What Girls are Saying – Tori

Here’s what Tori had to say about Julia’s story in the Mr. Right Series.

We’d love to hear from you, too! Email us your review at info@mrrightseries.com.

Have a great week!

Project Inspired Book of the Month! (and video message from Lisa)

Breaking Up

Breaking up is hard to do!

In novel 1 of the Mr. Right Series, Julia’s finds herself working through a painful break-up with a Mr. Wrong. In the chapter Girl Talk, her mother shares some valuable insights regarding relationships with the opposite sex.

As I have pointed out in previous posts, dating as we see it today often has little to do with finding and keeping a marriage partner. A dating mentality is typically about enjoying the moment with someone; a marriage mentality, however, is about building a life with someone.

Our society is full of couples who have experienced a devastating break-up (or are heading for one in the near future). Usually at least one of the people involved in a break-up ends up being deeply hurt.

When I was in high school, my girlfriends all had steady boyfriends. I didn’t. God was protecting me during a time when I was immature and vulnerable, but I didn’t understand that then. I just felt alone and forgotten.

Trying to help me, my friends fixed me up with someone to date. He was a nice guy, so even though I wasn’t all that attracted to him, I dated him for a while—just to have a boyfriend. When his feelings for me grew beyond what I could return, I dumped him, without any explanation.

While I came away from that relationship without any hurt feelings, I had broken his heart. I can think of one other time when I dated a guy for a while and then dropped him without ever looking back. My desires and feelings were all I considered as a teen.

I didn’t know how devastating a break-up could be until I married a Mr. Wrong at age eighteen and experienced a painful divorce at age 20. It was only then that I could look back and relate to the pain I had caused others to suffer. It’s never fun when the person being hurt is you.

Break-ups are hard on everyone involved and are nothing new. I remember a song that was popular when I was a teenager. It was first released in 1962, and then a slower version came out around 1975. Both versions were a huge success, which rarely happens. Maybe this song was so popular because people could relate to the message. I think it remains just as relatable in 2012. See if you agree after viewing the video at the top of this post. (The song, Breaking Up is Hard to Do, is sung by Neil Sedaka, the original recording artist.)

Did you notice the video (apparently from another country) had subtitles? Reading along, we see that the girl isn’t dating the boy she’s with in the car. Apparently, he is her neighbor, giving her a ride there. But because she is having a hard time with a breakup (did you see her duck in the car?), she drags this neighbor boy into the party just to make her old boyfriend jealous, to show him that she is fine without him now. She simply uses this new boy (calling him darling and hanging on to his arm) in order to hurt her old boyfriend.

True to Hollywood form, however, as this girl begins dancing with her neighbor (temporary fake boyfriend), she starts to realize that maybe she likes him better anyway. The video ends with the words a new love… a new beginning… It illustrates the mentality prevalent in our society: jump from one relationship into another, hoping it will turn out better for you this time.

But I want you girls to think differently. To think bigger than just what might be good for you only. God wants you to think of the other person, too—before entering a dating relationship.

Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. Philippians 2:3

There is so much more we could talk about, but hopefully, today’s post has you thinking…Continue reading Julia’s story in novel 2 and you’ll see how she decides to handle the feelings of others in relationships. (It might surprise you!)

So proceed carefully, girls, knowing that someone else’s heart is involved, too!

Love you,

Barbara

What Girls are Saying — Erin

We think you’ll LOVE the novels, too, just like Erin!

Check out our site to see what others girls are saying about Julia’s continuing story (novels 1, 2, & 3).

And once you’ve read the novels yourself, we’d love to hear from you!

Have a great week!

Pretty Impressive!

 

A music student from the UK just made this a cappella version of David & Nicole Binion’s song Heaven on Earth. That may not seem like a big deal (since people cover artists’ tunes all the time on YouTube), but when you watch the video and see that he’s singing all six parts, this gets pretty impressive!

Watching this got me to thinking…What are we doing with our talents? Are we being creative, developing our gifts, pursuing our passions, and filling our time with meaningful things? Or are we spending hours on the couch watching show after show? Or spending all our free time on Facebook & Instagram, living more in the virtual world than the real one? (Have you seen the Toyota commercial that makes this point? My favorite part is when she mouths so sad!)

Anyway, you might not be able to sing in 6-part harmony like the guy in the video above (I wish I could sing just one part that well : ), but God has definitely given you talents to enjoy and use for His glory. So take a moment and think about what you enjoy doing, what you are naturally good at in life. (It could be writing, designing, playing an instrument, playing a sport, cooking, acting, speaking, painting, drawing, researching…the list is endless.)

Carve some time out to not only do what you enjoy, but to develop that gift into something special. It may take days, months, and even years to develop your skills, but when you look back a few years from now, you’ll be glad you used your time to create something meaningful and lasting (rather than just stressing over Facebook likes or watching every episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. : )

Much love,

Lisa

 

Wanted: Your Reader Review!

Hey, everyone! We’ve gotten great feedback on our reader review videos—and we need more!

If you have read any of our novels and enjoyed Julia’s story, we’d love to hear from you! Just send us a 30-second video from your iPhone or smart device saying why you enjoyed a certain novel or the series. (To see what girls have already sent in, check out the videos already on this blog under reader reviews.)

We love getting your feedback, and videos selected could encourage other young women to give the series a try!

Remember: this goes on the Internet, so no personal info. except your first name. (You can even use your middle name instead, if you prefer). Let us know how old you are, and if you are under 18, we’ll need to have your parent’s permission before posting it. Also, the same goes for written reviews if video isn’t your thing but you still want to let your voice be heard!

Videos, written reviews, and parental permission can be emailed to us at info@mrrightseries.com.

Thanks for your help with this! Looking forward to seeing some great videos!

 

photo credit

Beautiful Dust

Do you feel beautiful? Do you know that you are?

So many times things in life make us feel less than. Things that have happened. Things people say to us. Even things we say to ourselves. But we have to remember that it’s what God says about us that matters. He is Truth.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.  2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (MES)

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)

So when feelings of “less than” come, push them aside and spend some time in His presence. Because the truth is you’re valued and you’re beautiful. And when you’re in His presence, it becomes more real than ever.

Hope this video allows you that moment with God today.

Love you!

Lisa

What Girls are Saying —Calyn

What Girls are Saying — Jessica