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Sharpening Iron to Live Second

A Dog Toy Worth Its Bite (Review)

For dog owners, more specifically for large dog owners, a good dog toy is hard to find. There is an ongoing challenge in finding a dog toy tough enough toy for your dog to play with. Many companies tout that their toys are ‘indestructible’ or ‘heavy duty’. Some even provide a ‘limited’ lifetime warranty. Anyone that has owns a bigger dog knows that well most just are biting off more than they can chew. I have had and currently have a strong chewer. Meaning no little stuffed toys with squeakers or tennis balls will do. The only toys she is allowed to play with, used to be the black KONG Extreme Dog Toy. Then she figured out how to destroy those too. We have spent hundreds of dollars in toys only for them to get thrown out in days. We have a box (a large box) of toys that our non chewer can play with. And we have others like hard plastic toys and tires that I am not sure what the maker was thinking. If our chewer does not destroy the toys, she will bust her gums up trying. One day we were at their weekly puppy playtime at Happy Hound Dog Resort. I noticed that our chewer was going to town on this bright-colored ball. She spent several minutes trying to destroy it to no avail. I spoke with the owner of Happy Hound to find out what kind of toy it was. He gave me the info and I ordered some on […]

23 Blast – Inspiring Us to See Differently

Vision Comes From Within When you look for a movie to watch over the next couple of weeks the pickings are slim. It almost seems that family movies get buried behind movies like John Wick starring Keanu Reeves which people will go see just because it is Keanu. Then there is Ouija which no matter how you spin cannot turn out well for anyone. Buried among the weekends travesties is 23 Blast, a movie that everyone that likes inspirational true stories should see, yet many never heard of. We went to see it on opening weekend last weekend. Like many faith filled, feel good or family movies it was tucked in the back of the theater. for we walk by faith, not by sight Click To Tweet The movie itself was thoroughly enjoyable, it has a PG-13 rating due to football violence and some teen drinking. It carries a faith undertone unlike many recent faith-based movies. You are not burdened with cheesy scripts and a heavy message. The acting is actually top-notch compared to the budget. Being that the movie is based on a true story made it all the more enjoyable. Without giving away too much of the story, here is a brief synopsis. The movie is based on the true story of Travis Freeman (Mark Hapka) a high school football player that loses his eyesight his junior year. His football coach (Stephen Lang) talks him into coming back and playing for the team. Needless to say he comes back and plays and inspires […]

Album Review – Lately by Alice Summers

Lately by Alice Summers – A music Review As a music aficionado I am always on the lookout for new and upcoming artists with a new sound. I recently had the fortune to be able to preview the newly released album Behind the Noise by Alice Summers. Disclaimer Alice Summers provided the album “Lately” free of charge for review. So let’s dive right into the track list of the album that should be added to your play-list. For the Rainy Days – starts out with an upbeat almost country-like guitar and is a prayer of thankfulness. The song takes us through mistakes and missteps and yet finding the smile as it is His path not ours. The song of gratitude can make anyone’s bad day a bit brighter while it points us to Him. “A flower never grows if the Sun is all it knows.” This is Grace – A slower tempo song of reassurance through Grace. Alice’s beautiful voice is displayed with precise emotion in this song of God’s Grace. Under the Shadow – Possibly my favorite track on the album, Alice’s prayer to provide comfort through darkness and overcoming of fear. Under the shadow of His wings we are able to find peace through trusting Him to be our refuge. Rock of Ages – No this is not the musical , much better in my opinion, a beautiful ballad of redemption through our baptism and the age of life. May we find healing until our last breath through the cross. It takes the listener […]