NatanAway Again!

Woo hoo! It’s about to be a fun week on the bloggy, y’all.

Remember that “natan” means “give” in Hebrew, so we are having a “natanaway” because, clearly I like to make up words. In fact, I jove made-up words.

Last time we did a package giveaway, but this time you have a chance to win one of six prizes! Can you even believe it?

So, here are the prizes up for grabs in no particular order.

• The book The Promise by Chaim Potok. This is a novel about a guy named Reuven who lives in New York and is studying to be a rabbi. It’s a story about friendship and faith and all things Jewish. It’s really well-written, and it’s a national bestseller so you know it’s good. Just like the Twilight series. Seriously, though, it is good. You’ll love it.

• A $10 gift card to Starbucks. This doesn’t have really anything to do with Judaism, but the CEO of Starbucks is Jewish, so that counts, right? Also, who doesn’t love some delish coffee? No one doesn’t.
• A mezuzah from Israel and a vintage Jewish anniversary card. This is my favorite prize, but that’s probably because I’m weird. A mezuzah is a little piece of parchment encased in wood or metal that contains Scripture from Deuteronomy. It’s the passage about loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength. You affix the mezuzah to the doorpost of your house or your bedroom, and it reminds you to follow these commands to love God with all that you are. This tradition comes from Deuteronomy when God told the Israelites to love him and to keep his commands on their hearts, to talk about them all day long, to teach them to their children, to think about them when walking on the road or lying down to go to sleep for the night. They were even to write them on the doorframes of their houses — hence the mezuzah. The vintage card is just cute and it has some Hebrew on it, so it is cool.

• The book Secondhand Jesus by Glenn Packiam. I’ll be honest — this one is mostly because I just discovered I have two copies of it. However it’s also a cool book. Glenn Packiam is one of the founding worship leaders and songwriters for the Desperation Band, which means you probably already know a lot of his songs. Also, this book is about wrestling with God and finding out who he really is. Our faith does not come to us secondhand — we are not grandfathered in. This book is about truly discovering Jesus’ mercy and grace and walking in it.

• The Book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. OK, I lied. I may actually be most excited about this one. This book is such a great intro into understanding the Jewish roots of Christianity. It explains Jesus’ parables, miracles, religious celebrations and relationship with his disciples through the lens of Judaism — the way the people who followed him while he was on earth would have understood him. It’s so awesome. It’s eye-opening and beautiful. You’ll be hooked. I want you to win this one.

• A $15 Amazon gift card. Fine, I’ll let you pick out your own book. Although, I suggest Lauren Winner’s new book. Or you can pick out some music (suggestion: Avett Brothers). Or get a TV series (I demand that you choose Friday Night Lights or Lost). OK, I’ll back off. $15 gift card to spend as you please!

You guys, have you ever even seen a better giveaway? I have. But I’m not The Pioneer Woman with free KitchenAid mixers to give away every day. So this is what we get.

To enter the drawing:

1. Post a comment in this thread telling me which prize you’re most excited about.

2. Post a link to this blog post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. You can even snail mail it to your grandma. Just spread the word!

Remember, you have the chance of winning one of these six prizes. Six winners in all! The combined value of all these prizes is somewhere around $350 billion. Take that, Pioneer Woman!

You can enter the drawing until 11:59 p.m. MST on Friday, February 10. I’ll announce the six lucky winners and which prize they won next Monday, February 13.

Woo hoo! Enter away!