Today’s post is written by Ralph Kunze on his experience with Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment.

“I read Ditch the Mainstream as a one-a-day devotion and found
them to be thought-provoking, stimulating and soul-searching. A fresh
approach to daily devotions.  I have begun the second time around. Thanks Cathi and Sandra.”

-Ralph Kunze

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Hi friends,

Here is another guest post from a reader on her experience with Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment. Today’s “short and sweet” post is written by Kim Caldarella. Thanks Kim!

“I read Ditch the Mainstream, and loved it every time I read it. The way it personally related to me was good for my heart. Sometimes it took more than a day to finish a section because I felt I needed the extra time to go back.”

-Kim Caldarella

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Today’s post is written by Debbie Canfield on her experience with Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment. 

“Ditch the Mainstream is an uplifting and thought-provoking devotional book. Packed with practical and relatable scenarios, this book creatively challenges readers to think about faith through the lens of ordinary life experiences. I have settled into a pattern of meditating on one each week. I begin the week by reading the new devotion and the corresponding Bible verses. I reread the verses on the following day and dig into the questions. Over the course of the week I am able to repeatedly consider the verses and topic to intentionally stay in the Word. It is a great opportunity to stay grounded in an often chaotic world!”

-Debbie Canfield

Hi friends,

Here is another guest post from a reader on her experience with Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment. Today’s post is written by Dolly Rice, who bought our very first copy from our website when we released our book. Thanks Dolly!

“I’m loving my copy of Ditch The Mainstream!  A light approach to deeper thoughts and considerations makes our hearts more willing to focus on subjects we might normally shy away from. Readers feel free to breeze over or delve into each subject as time and mood permit. Great way to start or end the day.”  

                       

-Dolly Rice

Hi friends,

Here is a guest post from Pastor David Belasic on his experience with Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment. 

Thanks Pastor!

“As you read, review and use Ditch the Mainstream it will provide encouragement, challenges, and guidance in discovering more personal contentment in dealing with many of the daily issues of faith and life.  Your heart and mind will re-think some of life’s past decisions and enable you to look forward with strengthened wisdom as you live out the values of your mind, heart and soul.  The variety of questions asked, and the real life illustrations given, will open up a new fountain of wisdom for daily life with family and friends.  Don’t wait, read it today!” 

-Pastor David Belasic, retired President of the Eastern District, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod  and current chaplain at the Niagara Lutheran Health System rehabilitation and retirement home, Lancaster, NY

Hi friends,

My sister and I asked some of the people who have read or been reading our new book Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment to write guest posts about what they think of the book or how they’ve used the book. The first one to respond with a guest post is below. It was written by Heide Edgington. I was so excited to hear about this creative and impactful way that Heide is using Ditch the Mainstream.

“I bought 2 books. One for me and one for my mom. We are close even though we live almost 500 miles apart. This book is bringing us closer because we’ve decided to do the studies together. We each do the study on our own and then twice a month we get on the phone expressly for the purpose of discussing the latest study. My regular conversations with my mom usually include my dad and husband too. But this is something special just between the two of us.

Thanks Cathi and Sandra!”

-Heide Edgington

Hi friends,

My sister and I asked some of the people who have read or been reading our new book Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment to share their thoughts on our book as guest writers for my blog. Many of our readers have responded that they would like to write something, but want some more time to dig deep into the book, which is really cool with me! So, I will just plan to post guest write-ups on the book as they arrive. The first one will be up in the next blog post.

In the meantime, happy reading!

Hi friends,

I’m interested to hear if anyone who has read our new book, Ditch the Mainstream: 52 Thought-Provokers on Discovering a Life of Contentment is interested in writing a guest blog post on it. I would love to hear your perspective and include it as a guest post right here. Please let me know if you are interested in doing this.

In the meantime, I hope you are having an amazing summer!

Guest blog posts requested

I look down at my jeans and see another tea spill from my clumsy sip. Not a big deal, right? Except there was cream in the tea, and the tea also got on my chair. And then I remember the time I spilled tea with cream on the front seat of my car, and how I forgot to wipe it up…until an unusually hot Spring day when my car started to smell like something awful! The cream I had forgotten hadn’t gone away, but had reminded me with a smelly vengeance that I should clean up spills right away. That clear memory comes back to me every time I spill my tea, and I instantly think, “Clean it now or I’ll regret it later!”

We do that sometimes, with our pasts. We ask God for forgiveness, He grants it (‘cause He’s amazing that way), and we go forward. But once in a while we turn around and start looking back.

“Why did I do that terrible thing?” we lament. “What could I have been thinking? How could I have been so stupid?” And we begin to beat ourselves up over our mistakes. God isn’t reminding us of our errors, we are. All by our silly selves.

Yet we are told in Psalm 103:12, “…as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” I am so thankful for that reminder. It’s time for us to stop bringing up the spills from our past and to remember the promise we were given for forgiveness through grace from our Lord. The spill is cleaned up and accounted for…we are clean in Jesus and His grace.