U.S. Cellular's Family Protector Plan

FTC disclaimer:  While this is a sponsored post, I only endorse companies and products I feel strongly about their value to my readers.

Suppose your teenager is out and you don’t know where she is, and she’s not answering her phone?  What do you do?  Immediately start worrying?  Maybe not.  For some parents the answer lies as close as their computer.  If you had Family Protector from U.S. Cellular, then instead of calling your teen’s friends, you would simply log on to U.S. Cellular and you could see at an instant where your child is!

Sound like science fiction?  It’s not!  The GPS in the phone allows you to monitor where your child is at all times.  I can remember in high school one time a couple of my friends took a car and drove to the next town.  Neither had driver’s licenses.  If they had phones and knew their parents could track where they were, I doubt they would have done that.  As it was some neighbors saw the girls, called their parents and they got in trouble.  But what if your child decided to do something like this and no one told you?

In addition, you can lock down the phone for certain hours.  Don’t want phone calls or texts made after 10 pm on school nights?  You can easily set it up so that at 10 pm the phone will not be allowed to be active again until the next day. 

Have you forbidden your teenage daughter to have contact with a creepy older guy in the neighborhood who has charmed her?  You can also set up her phone so that she can’t text or call him. 

The Pew Research Group said in 2009 that 15% of teens have received sexts (sexual text messages) and up to 17% have sent nude or nearly nude photos of themselves over text messages.  While the Family Protector app from U.S. Cellular can’t prevent sexting, your teenager knowing you have access to all their texts and photos will make them think twice about what they send and receive.  You can even block certain websites!  It seems U.S. Cellular thought of everything when it comes to this app.

Smart phones are here to stay, and with them comes responsibility.  Sometimes teenagers just don’t have the reasoning to use phones properly, and with this app can come better family moments.  Haven’t there been times you would have loved to have prevented your child from texting during family gatherings so you can enjoy better moments with family?  Now you can!    Think of a text-free holiday at Grandma’s.  It’s something out of the 1980s right?  No longer! 

Obviously, phones are a tool.  Used properly they can create better family moments.  At places like a shopping mall or amusement park, phones are a great tool so that the family can split up and do what interests each of them the most, but yet you are never more than a phone call away.  I know recently I was at a science museum and having cell phones allowed us to split up and see exhibits that interested us.  It was great not having to stick together

This app takes that one step further of protecting your child when you aren’t able to be there.  You don’t have to worry about afterschool activities and reaching your child as if your teen is like most, their cell phone will be attached to them at all times.  The fact you are setting limits is a tool used for their protection.  This would also be fantstic to schedule homework times each evening if your child’s grades are falling.  You could even restrict all numbers but emergency contacts to ground your teen. 

While this app is geared towards parents of teenagers, if you have an elderly parent who wanders off, this would be a great tool to help locate them as long as they had their phone with them.

An app like this could also be used to locate a missing or stolen cell phone. 

A service like this sounds like it  would cost quite a bit, doesn’t it?  Well, it’s surprisingly inexpensive.  You can receive a 30 day trial free from U.S. Celluar just by clicking here:  http://goo.gl/KTmfs

After the first 30 days, it is only $9.99 a month for up to five smart phones.  Don’t have that many children?  Why not register your phone and your partner’s phone so if they are lost or stolen you can locate them by seeing who is being texted and called as well as the current location of the phone.

With so many things around us these days to distract us, phones need to be a tool and not something that discourages family togetherness.  How do YOU encourage responsible cell phone usage in your family?  Do you set limits?  Monitor texts?  How would you use this app?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

What I've been Reading This Week

Magazines:

I recently bought a huge stack of magazines at a book sale.  Many of them are from the 1940s and 1950s.  I'm really enjoying those.

Blog posts:

Ten Reasons to Get Married and Have Kids Young

A Daddy's Letter to His Little Girl About Her Future Husband

When You Have Bible Baggage

An older post I stumbled upon as well:

More Than You Can Handle

Book Review: The Lamb's Supper The Mass As Heaven On Earth

The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


FTC disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.  The opinions are my own.


Anyone who has been to church has been curious about the book of Revelation in the Bible.  Growing up, I remember timelines across Sunday School classrooms that showed when the anti-Christ would make his appearance, when the Church would be raptured, and when Jesus would begin his 1,000 year reign on earth.  I’ve heard sermons saying the Revelation of St. John was fulfilled in the first century.  This apocalyptic book of the Bible has not only often remained an enigma, but is often requested to be taught on in Sunday School and Wednesday night Bible studies in Protestant churches.  Many times doing so, materials are supplemented with recent newspaper articles.

But think about the what ifs.   What if we have it wrong?  This is an interesting book because author, Dr. Scott Hahn, grew up Protestant and then became Catholic.  He studied the book of Revelation as a scholar in both Christian traditions.  Within this book, he puts forth his conclusions. . .  Revelation is simply a Biblical telling of Mass.

Not only does he give Scriptural support for this, he makes a strong argument.  Will everyone agree with him?  Absolutely not.  Do I agree with him fully?  No.  Does that mean this book shouldn’t be read?  By no means!  Anyone with an interest in end times should read this book for another perspective.

Obviously written in the 1990s as it makes reference to the upcoming change of the millennium, this is one book that is still as relevant today as it was when it was published in 1999.  This book will be relevant 30 years from now.  How many books based out of Revelation can stand the test of time like this?  Very few as most set a timetable for certain events to happen.

This is a relatively short book, 163 pages, but that doesn’t mean it’s short on information.  It was a book I kept looking forward to picking up and reading the next chapter both to see his interpretation as  well as the fact Dr. Hahn is an interesting author who held my attention.  This is well referenced, and I believe should be an addition to Protestant’s library who studies end times because he does have a unique idea of how the final book in the Bible should be read.  I believe it should be a part of every Catholic’s library because I believe it will enrich your experience in Mass every week.

Rate my review:

You can purchase this book here:

You can read the first chapter here:

   The Lamb's Supper; Experiencing the Mass by Image Books

Book Review: Francis Man of Prayer

Francis: Man of Prayer by Mario Escobar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


FTC disclosure:  I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Who is Pope Francis?  Prior to March, many in the world had never heard of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, or if they had, it was only in passing, and now he’s an extremely influential leader.  Even more interesting, how did a man of religious orders, especially a   Jesuit become pope?  Elected pontiff from Latin America, he’s the first in that as well as well as the first Pope Francis.  How did he decide on the name of Francis?   This book answers these questions and more.

The first part of the book is about the man himself.  Did you know he asked a girl to marry him and told her if she didn’t he would become a priest?  Her decision not to accept his proposal changed the course of his life -- and history.  A humble man, asking for prayers of the people upon being introduced as the leader of the Catholic Church, this book takes a look at his life and ministry.

The second part of this book gives a background on where the Catholic Church is in terms of change.  Is this a major transition for the Church?  How so?  One can only speculate, but author Mario Escobar gives his opinions of what may be in store as well as another theory behind Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. 

This was an interesting book as I’m fascinated with Pope Francis from the few stories I’ve heard in the media about his humble and frugal ways.  He seems to put people first, and I wanted to read more antidotes about him, but unfortunately this book was more factual instead of the things I’ve read in the media about the man you would love to know and see as you are out grocery shopping.  While I understand giving the background of where the Catholic Church is currently is an important part of grasping the WHYs of a Latin America pope, as well as one from the Jesuits, I would have preferred a book with more about the man Pope Francis is.   I realize that this book is one that had to be put together quickly to already be on the market, yet I was still hoping for a little more than this book delivered.  It has given me a good background on this leader from Argentina, and I look forward to reading more about him. 

If you are looking for a good overview, I recommend this book.  If you want to learn more about Pope Francis and his interactions with others with fascinating stories, look elsewhere.  Still, it was a good book, and I’m glad I read it. 

You can purchase this book here:

What I've Been Reading This Week

Books:

The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth


and
 
Francis: Man of Prayer


Blog posts:

I love the emphasis these days on how the church can create too much emphasis on virginity.  Here's another great post on the topic called How Purity Can Become a Problem.

Latina Fatale had a great post about How to Talk to Little Girls.

The Good Life posted a great article How To Behave on Facebook.

What I've been Reading This Week

Book I have been reading:

The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth

Blog posts:

A fun and touching post about Kindergarten graduation.

A post called For the Youth Group Kid Leaving Home said a lot of things I would have liked to hear at that age.

A great article about putting God first in marriage entitled What I wish I knew before I got Married.

How to make salads in a jar.

Very sad post entitled The Only Thing My Double D's Ever Got Me Was Kicked Out of Church.
Isn't it time we embrace everyone in church even if they are more endowed than we are?  There's only so much covering up a girl with large breasts can do.

Great post from PerthNow (yes, Australia) about The Oversharing Parents Who Wrecked Facebook.

Finally an article about the increase in number of valedictorians in high school.  :  Is 21 Valedictorians too many?

Why I love U.S. Cellular

*Please note this is a sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.*

When I first signed up for a cell phone in 2007, I didn't have much choice of carrier.  If I wanted to receive coverage at my home, U.S. Cellular was my only option.  I've grown to love my carrier, and I never plan on switching!  I remember a party I had at my home a few years ago and one of the ladies said she was using her U.S. Cellular phone in an elevator.  That was back when most phones couldn't get reception in elevators and people asked her what carrier she had because they were so impressed.

U.S. Cellular has always treated me as a person, not a number.  Obviously, a company is made up of humans, and humans make mistakes.  When I switched to the Belief Plan a few years ago, the man who switched it forgot to put it through the computer correctly.  Even though I was told I had unlimited texts I was charged over $20 for texts on my next bill.  I was amazed at the ease and how quickly this got straightened out.  When I called customer service, I received people located in the United States, and that's a huge plus to me!  Whenever I go into my local U.S. Cellular store, I'm greeted with a smile, and the employees are friendly.  It feels like a neighborhood cell phone provider rather than a large corporation.  It's no wonder that U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Champion in 2012 for the second year in a row. In 2013, the company also received their 15^th consecutive J.D. Power and Associates' award for "Highest Network Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In The North Central Region." 

U.S. Cellular carries a great line-up of devices backed by their high-speed network.  I've been told they have the highest call quality of any carrier in the nation and I don't doubt that.  I've traveled with my phone from Florida to Michigan, California to Texas, and the only time I've had call problems were one evening in Texas.  I was roaming, so I blame that on another provider's towers.  Also, if I am in the tube connecting an airplane to the airport, I have very poor data reception, but to me that's still fantastic to receive data in that metal contraption!  I even had reception during the huge blizzard we were hit with as part of Hurricane Sandy.  In fact, my U.S. Celluar phone was literally a life saver!  My mother is on dialysis and a power line was down over our driveway.  We had no electric so that meant we had no land line, and I was not just enjoying my U.S. Cellular phone, but RELYING on it to help us get out of the house so my mother could get the treatment she needed.  

I love U.S. Cellular and I'm so happy they have asked me to be part of their blogging team.  With no complains and me having been a customer since 2007, I can't help but sing their praises.  My only question to you is, why haven't you switched to U.S. Cellular?    It's rare I have such high praise for a company, and I think you will, too!