God is With You Everyday: A Book Review

"Here's a reminder for anxious days, lonely days, struggling days: You are not alone.  There is One who is always with you, always available, always caring."

It feels like Max is a longtime friend of the family.  Mark and I have been reading Max Lucado books since college.  His easy to read writing style ushered us into the world of Christian non-fiction years ago.  His books line our shelves, and might be borrowed, but, unlike so many others, never land in a bag headed for Goodwill.

Lucado tells the story of every man.  Any illustration used is a story that could be my own, or that of someone in my everyday world.  He's profoundly relatable and tells Gospel driven stories in the most gentle of ways.  I never close a book of his without walking away having discovered something new about God, with some take-aways to apply that learning to my days.  He's a discipler of thousands.

His latest devotional, God is With Us Everyday: 365 Day Devotional is a welcome addition to my night stand.  When the days have been rough, or I need to focus my heart before the sun even comes up, this book always offers a short, one pager full of inspiration and challenge.   Lucado comforts me and prods me toward truth that I might or might not want to hear.

The focus of this yearlong scripture-based devotional is God's promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).   And that reminder?  It's one I need to hear every day of the calendar year.

**I received a promotional copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Hands Free Life: A Book Review

One of Rachel Macy Stafford's viral blog posts about distraction caught my attention about a year ago, and I found myself clicking onto post after post on her blog, Hands Free Mama.  It didn't take long to discover that she was on a similar pursuit as myself, the pursuit of living a more intentional life.  That less distracted, more eye contact and moment-making kind of life. 

Then, in November, I found myself teary eyed and moved as I listened to her speak at Allume.   As she spoke about fighting her way out of the grumpy manager mama mode in order to reconnect with her daughters, I realized it was time to take in the print version of her wisdom and encouragement.

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Stafford's book, Hands Free Life: Nine Habits for Overcoming Distraction, Living Better and Loving More, was just as grace and inspiration filled as she was in person.  I highlighted, starred, and exclamation pointed my way through to the last chapter. 

"I was born with the ability to spot tasks that need attention every second of every day."

Sigh.  She gets me.  I read this line in the first chapter and new Lucy Stafford was my people. 

"Today I will resist the urge to get 'one more thing' accomplished-instead I will engage in one activity that brings me peace and renewal."

These concepts are never ending struggles for me.  I see myself distracted, more disconnected from my family than I want to be, and addicted to productivity, and its just not who I want to be.  This book gives practical tips and a heavy dose of inspiration on how to move closer to living intentionally moment by moment.  It encourages me to surrender control, establish boundaries, see the good, leave a legacy, and give back.  All the best parts of living. 

"If I want my kids to value experiences rather than things, I must celebrate a spontaneous run through the sprinkler, good conversation, snowball fights, and crickets that lull us to sleep."

There is so much beauty around me and I just don't want to miss it.  I want to see it, hold it, share it and tell others about it.  This book reminds me to look up and into the eyes of my people.  It reminds me to breath deeply, seek joy and be gentle with myself.

"Now, more than ever, we must speak of remarkable things.  Now, when undivided attention is a rare and priceless commodity...now, when we too often choose glowing screens over shining sunlight...now, when digital notifications take precedence over soul-to-soul connection. Now more than ever, we must speak of the remarkable that make our heart sing..."

The type of life Rachel Macy Stafford describes is the kind of life I want to pursue and the kind of legacy I want to leave with my kids.  I usually give most of my books away, but this one I'll be keeping on my shelf just in case the future calls for another recalibration.  I recommend this one, friends. 

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Anything, A Book Review

"Anything."

Have we said this to God?  Maybe we think we have.  Maybe we'd like to.  But its so scary, isn't it?  If you have walked close enough with God to truly experience his movement in your life, you know what a risk that promise is.   We know that God is loving, but wildly unpredictable.  We know that he isn't as obsessed with our comfort and our plans as we are. 

In her book, Anything, author Jennie Allen, shares how making this prayer of promise has reshaped the life of her family.  This prayer released her hold on comfort and security and replaced itself with full surrender.

On several occasions, my family has said, "Anything."  And we learned that saying anything takes great courage, a flight powered only by faith and deep surrender to God.  Its a hard and beautiful experience that leaves allows an experience with God like no other. 

But saying anything everyday is an entirely different story, and I love the story that Allen recounts about how this prayer changed her approaches to her everydays. 

"He knows we keep chasing other loves until we love him the most. We spinning.  We keep searching, restless.  We keep missing all he has for us.  He'll always feel far away, drowned out by other louder rivers, until every other thing fades away, and he becomes the only thing."

"I could watch God stream through me, our out of me, move me and move others, and remind us all of something big.  Something real.  Something we could participate in that would actually last and matter."

"But God often seems unconcerned with helping us maintain same, simple lives where everything fits and works.

"Do we talk about God more than we obey Him? "  Talk about living for God, but than continue on with my every day, planned by me life. 

"While my prosperity is a gift, I am the dispenser of the gift."

Incredible, practical and deep study guide and conversation cards. 


"Wherever you are, there are people in need both spiritually  and physically.  Where does God want you to pour out?"


"We give our lives to him and he gives our lives away.  Nothing on earth is more fun and more full than being distributed by an all-knowing, compassionate God who knows exactly where our ridiculously blessed lives would be best spent."

Adopted child:  "We had seen more of God in two years than we had our entire lives."


*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Undone (A Book Review)

I nodded my head in agreement again and again reading this book.  It ranks among my favorite books read in quite some time.  It was real, raw, relatable.  When praising this work to a friend, I said it was "like she wrote my story with her details". 

Please read this book.  If your life story includes twists and turns, hurts and stretches, read this book.  It's a gift. 

In Undone, a heartfelt memoir by Michele Cushatt, the author tells the story of her undoing.  Of how God used hard circumstances in her life to draw her to Himself.  Of how she walked through a messy season, including a cancer battle and becoming a foster mom, when her life unraveled.  Her neat, ordered and planned life was replaced with questions, unknowns and soul wrenching struggle. 

"Once again I found my planned and scheduled self in the middle of a messy unknown.  No explanation or reassurances.  No dates, calendar of events, or three step plan.....
We seemed to be bouncing from one crisis to another, without reprieve.  I would have done anything for boring or ordinaryy.  But sometimes messy is the necessary beginning to the makings of extraordinary. "

This book is a call to dig in when life gets hard, purge your perfection habit and lean into God's presence.  To dig deeper to the faith we claim.  This is where the best stories are written. 

"Where is my faith?  In myself, more often than not.  Which is why an unexpected squall-every last one of them over the span of two years-unraveled me.  A boat anchored to itself is not anchored at all."

My copy of Undone is highlighted and starred.  The margins carry my exclamation marks and notes. This book with be recommended and read again.  This one touched my heart, made me laugh and spurred me on. 

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.**







"My addiction to comfort and control-for both myself and my circumstances-had become both idol and crutch.  It's what I pursued and reached for, with both hands and endless effort.  But all that striving came with a cost.  In my attempts to manage my life, I missed out on the vibrancy of it." 

"I never wanted nor promised a tidy life.  I want you.  And I promised me." 

Come Celebrate Easter, Sticker and Activity Book (Book Review)

 

I am so excited to share this incredible, interactive resource for teaching our children the Biblical account of Easter. The Beginner's Bible has once again done an excellent job of helping kids understand the Bible. 

 

Perfect for children 5-8, Come Celebrate Easter: A Sticker Activity Book, is filled with opportunities to learn about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Fun activities include counting, adding stickers to complete pictures, answering questions, finding differences, word searches, connecting the dots, mazes and codes.  Our kids will really enjoy all the fun tasks in this book, and I'm certain that learning in such a fun way will only add to their knowledge of the resurrection. 

 

I received a free copy of this book for the purpose of review, but will be purchasing a second copy, so that both my daughters can enjoy it. I recommend this strongly for leading up to Easter, or as an intentional addition to slip in next to the chocolate eggs in Easter baskets. 

 

**I received a free copy of this book to review. 

Scary Close (Book Review)

“I'm perfectly willing to be perfectly human.”  

 

Scary Close was easy to love.  Its a fast read with points that pressed into my thinking about the health of my relationships.  Author Donald Miller's tag line reads, "Dropping the act and finding true intimacy".  The book is about his quest to drop all pretense, step out of isolation, and be real with the people in his life both professionally and personally. 

 

He states, “I'm perfectly willing to be perfectly human.”   And that gets me.  I am closer to giving myself the freedom to be fully human-the real deal messy, flawed kind-but, I still have far to go.  I have made huge steps toward being vulnerable with others, but my weakness is me wanting perfection out of myself. 

 

“God is going to reveal me as a flawed human being as fast as he can and he’s going to enjoy it because it will force me to grapple with real intimacy.”  

 

Truth, truth, truth.  This is real in my life, and I am grateful for the way walking through the fires of hard times has burned away pretense in my life.  But here's why I enjoyed this book. I struggled a bit with Miller saying, "he's enjoying it".    I wasn't always sure I agreed, so the book forced me to think and process and not just read on. 

 

 

"Relationships matter.  They matter as much as exercise and nutrition.  And not all relationships help us reach our goals.  God doesn't give us crying, pooping children because He wants us to advance our careers.  He gives them to us for the same reason he confused language at the Tower of Babel, to create chaos and deter us from investing too much energy in the gluttonous idols of self-absorption."

 

 

This one got a hand in the air amen from this reader.  It pushes me to see my chaos through different eyes.  

 

"So I wrote.  I wrote as though God thought my voice mattered.  I wrote because I believed a human story was beautiful, no matter how small the human. "

 

 

Most powerful and thought provoking for me was his chapter, "The Risk of Being Careful", which focused on writing and creating.  Such important wisdom from Miller here on the barriers to creativity that we build in our minds.  His encouragement unleashes something in the writer in me. 

 

The last chapter closed and I'm still processing through how to move my relationships, the personal and creative ones, forward.  This is a book worthy of reading and endorsing.   

 

 



**I received a copy of this book from Harper Collins Booklook Bloggers.

Make it Happen: A Book Review

Chasing Perfect from Twenty-One Films on Vimeo.

 

 

Choosing purpose over perfect.  I want more of that.  How about you? 

 

I usually feel a fairly strong sense of purpose, but often get so caught up in waiting for my circumstances to be just right before I live out that purpose.  This book speaks to directly to that and doesn't allow me the excuse. 

 

"Life doesn't have to be perfect for you to take that grand leap of faith.  Your circumstances don't have to be just right.  Leaping is the act of taking the risk to propel yourself from one place to another-gliding above and through the past challenges-to somewhere better."  ~Lara Casey

 

Blogger Lara Casey has become the life planning guru of the blog world.  Her Making Things Happen Powersheets look like something I might need to invest in.  And her book title, Make It Happen, sent my antennas up because its January, and I am a shameless resolution maker. 

 

This book is part memoir, part motivational workbook.  The author vulnerably shares her personal story of battling with the struggles perfectionism, making marriage work, pride and eating disorders.  Her honest and personal setbacks give weight to her hard fought wisdom on how to life a life surrendered to the Lord, bravely saying yes to those out of your comfort zone callings.   

 

Dispersed within the chronicling of her life stories, are questions to journal through and ponder over.  The reader is challenged to face, and ink out, what fears, unrealistic expectations and resistance are keeping us from living lives of intention.   

 

Lara's personal journey, coupled with her prompts, make me look again at what purposes, what next steps, I am sitting on, waiting for perfection to come before I say yes. 

 

 

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.  

 

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet

 

A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
-Proverbs 27:7

"God was our story-the whole story, the only story."  In her book, Every Bitter Thing is Sweet, Sara Hagarty spilled her story, her faith, her deferred hope, and her heart so beautifully that I found myself whispering, "yes", again and again.  I nodded at the words on the page, I underlined, I highlighted, I starred and drew exclamation marks. 

The bitter parts of author Sara Hagerty's story, the unmet expectations, the loss, the struggle, the ways we wound each other, speak into the bitter parts of my own.    With true transparency, she shares her family's grief of infertility, the pain of growing together in marriage, and the labor pains that come with adoption. 

The battles in her life were relentless, but her God was too.  Though He allowed her family to walk through fire, His pursuit was relentless as well.   He spoke and He showed mercy, tenderly touching her chin and lifting her eyes up and onto Him.  He allowed her to become a hungry, interrupted soul, so that she might experience the kinds of sweetness that come only with the hardest kinds of growth.  Her story of faith reminds us that, "there is a dance to be danced in the valleys".   

I need to remember that God’s answer is not to lift me out of “the crisis of the moment” but to speak His word into it, and over it. I was made to find joy in relating to Him across the whole span of my day.

 

I loved this book.  She had me at Proverbs 27:7.  I closed the back cover touched and in awe of how God teaches the same lessons to different people through similar, yet beautifully unique circumstances.  Hagerty inspired me and challenged my pursuit of the One who redeems the hard stuff and turns it into sweetness. 

 

This is a hard story that you'll relate to even if you've never experienced infertility or adoption.  You'll be moved to take a second look at life's burdens.  You might even become more willing to accept the tougher gifts God might be offering you. 

And if you are an adoptive family?  By all means, read this book.  God has something to say to you, I promise.  Let these quotes regarding her adoption of four children from Uganda convince you...

It wasn't my effort and His.  It was His effort and my weak yes.  It was partnership done His way. 

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God would use adoption to Father me. 

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But this wasn't just about God healing them.  I would be the recipient of His work as well. The pain and hurdles of my most stunning quest-adoption-were also parts of my heart knowing hunger.  If hunger won out, I just might receive new perspective.  I just might grow. 

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The truth is nothing about adoption is safe.  We sign papers and write checks and make timelines as if any part of this process is secure, and then we're shocked when the battle waged in the heavens over these children's lives encompasses the natural.  The fields of the fatherless are war stained. 

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As with any calling, we dip our toes in the water of yes and hope to God that this is the biggest yes we'll have to utter, the biggest move our hearts will have to make with such trust, only to find ourselves submerged years later. 

 Yes, Sara Hagerty, yes.  Well done, I'll be following your work. 



**I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Tables in the Wilderness: A Book Review (16 of 31)

Pulling a chair up to the table requires us to pause for a time to serve and be served.  Unlike chairs placed side by side for conversation alone, a table is comfort, nourishment, community and a moment's rest. 

An aspect of my season of tending to the writer in me is reading spiritual memoirs.  Writing is such a part of my truest self, that it is spiritual.  So as I dive into what the Lord has called me to, I am grateful for this glimpse into Preston Yancey's wilderness experience, and His discoveries of who God is. His journey whispers into my own, nudging me to widen my perspective of the One who authors all stories. 

This book fills the belly with nourishment and the heart and mind with much to ponder. 

I trust that God speaks, but I often struggle to hear His voice. Sometimes my own thoughts get in the way.  Sometimes the world is too loud. Other times His voice is so gently soft that I have to stoop low to hear Him.  Spiritual memoirs are gifts offered the world.  They are testimonies that you gratefully lean in to hear because time is given to the filling in of details. 

In Tables in the Wilderness, Preston Yancy shares "his story of coming to terms with a God who makes tables in the wilderness, the God who is found in cathedrals and in forests and in the Eucharist, the God who speaks in fire and in wind, the God who is bigger than narrow understandings of his will, his desire, his plan-the God who is so big, that everything must be his." 

The more I know of God, the more mysterious He becomes.  The more I experience His love, the more I long for.  The more I hear his voice, the hungrier I get for His thoughts.  This is Yancy's exploration into the mystery of our big God who desires to walk through our days with us. 

I'll be sitting at the table with this one for some time, tasting its rich words bite by bite. 
 
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Let's All Be Brave (A Book Review)

Sometimes I'd rather not.  I'd rather hang out with my status quo and keep things nice and cozy, comfortable.  But other times, I long deeply for bravery.   The soul within me that takes the long view beyond the here and now knows God is calling us to live big and boldly for Him alone.  To set aside the temporary and the trivial, laying down the good for the best.  All of which requires a gut full of courage. 

For me that has meant everyday bravery like making a phone call, getting out of bed when I felt like snuggling in, saying no when I longed for the yes, or making a choice that made my friends scratch their heads.  Other times, being brave has meant leaving my kids and husband to serve in Zimbabwe, or saying brave yeses along our adoption journey, often times when I was certain my feet would fail. 

In Let's All Be Brave, author and blogger, Annie Downs, gets vulnerable, sharing her stories of courage, from the mini steps to the giant leaps.  She makes me giggle, but also spurs something on within me to take a second look at where I'm holding back.  I'm turning pages, and it feels like we most certainly already know each other.  As she shares about her mission trips, moves and mishaps, my own memory list marches through my mind of times when the Lord lead, and I followed, trembling in my knees.    

I've lived enough to know now that God never seems to be finished with the stretching process.   There's always something new around the corner that I need to say a brave yes, or a brave no, to, and I need nudge's like Annie's to  keep my feet moving forward.

**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. **

Moses Leads the People (Book Review)

My home is intentionally filled with baskets of books in every room.   With a young reader, an early reader, and two future readers, I want a well written book to be near their reaching arms at all times.  Much to my book loving self's disappointment, so many early reader books are just not good, underestimating little people and their ability to appreciate a great story. 

I also desire to be intentional in reading the Bible with my kids.  So, when given the opportunity to review "Moses Leads the People", a latest book in the I Can Read Biblical series by Zonderkidz, I jumped at the chance to marry two of my reading intentions with my kids. 

This book series is great to let kids read in tandem to actual reading of the Bible.  Its kid-friendly, chapter book feel compels kids to start reading stories from scripture on their own without being intimidated.   Additional Bible reading for the win! 

This particular story of Moses leading the people Israel, is a difficult, but essential one  told in the most delicate of ways.  It doesn't shy away from being accurate in including the Passover or plagues, but it is done so in a non-frightening way. 

I have high praise for this book, and the series.  We'll be purchasing more from the series for ourselves and as gifts. 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

Hope Rising: A Review

Walking with Jesus doesn't diminish the soul's hunger, it increases it a thousand-fold.  As you are drawn into His desires, you find profound joy and purpose, but you also encounter an unbearable, compulsive force.  Jesus feels what the poor feel.  He has solidarity with their suffering.  If we dare to abide in Him, then the intensity of His love for the poor will infuse our own souls. 
And it will cost us. 

 

 

 

I've served the poor in Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, and Zimbabwe and it has cost me. 

 

Fresh off the plane from a college mission trip to Juarez, Mexico, tears rolled down my checks as we drove through our middle class suburban neighborhood.  My eyes had seen new things, my heart stretched out, and I was newly uncomfortable in my former world.  I'd spent the week helping build a tiny home about the size of my back porch.  As we presented the new shelter, located amongst hundreds of shacks, the family shed tears of gratitude, thanking not me, but the Lord for His provision.  I didn't feel pride in serving.  I felt embarrassed and disgusted with myself for living in a comfy, oblivious bubble for the first 19 years of my life.   I'd met street kids with no shoes and witnessed families living in shacks made from rolls of cardboard.  I've been wrestling with that same discomfort since that week that changed my worldview all those years ago. 

 

Now, I have many more mission trips under my belt and I've seen poverty from Haiti to China.  And it costs me.  God has opened my eyes to the lost and hurting and I can no longer live my life unaffected.  I wrestle with purchases, ache for the orphaned and often feel a "WAKE UP" scream rising in me if I spend much time with people who's conversations never go beyond ourselves.

 

I've struggled with being judgmental of those who have not seen. I find myself driven to do more and more, trying to learn to balance God's call to serve with my own plans.  I have struggled over selling my life to move to the mission field and being content with my messy beautiful here and now.   

 

As much as I am passionate about serving, I have also learned to be careful about how it is done.  I've witnessed many well intentioned servants hurting those they so desire to help.  I myself have been on mission trips when I've wondered if I was a poverty tourist hungry for the good feeling service offers or a humble help believing in the integrity and ability of those whose foreign ground I walked on.  I've seen Americans start ministries with their American mindsets, helping some, but deeply harming many more.   Ministering to the poor is hard, long-term work.  Feeling jaded, I've been wrestling with my role, knowing what I know, having seen what I've seen.   

 

Then, along came Scott Todd's Hope Rising with its hopeful look at "How Christians Can End Extreme Poverty in This Generation".   This book challenges me to believe again.  To believe that ending poverty IS possible and that I as stay-at-home mom have a role to play in it.  To believe that though there is much to be done, that so much positive change has already occurred in eliminating the causes and effects of poverty, such as eradicating disease and ensuring clean water in remote areas of the world.  This book re-ignites my desire to serve, and challenges me to do it well. 

 

Scott Todd works with Compassion International, an aid and child sponsorship non profit serving the world's poor.  This book is his vision on how to eliminate poverty by 2035.  He explores the role of government, businesses, churches and individuals.  Pointing out our low expectations for what can be done to end poverty, he provides statistics on positive changes over the past 20-50 years as technology and medicines have improved and organizations have learned how best to meet needs.

 

Dissecting scripture on poverty, Todd charges us with believing that we can do what the Lord has clearly called us to do. It is an idealistic, but practical vision for eliminating poverty in the next generation.  This book is a short, yet challenging read.  Somehow both heavy and light, it must be read again.  With the end in mind, and my hope renewed, it is one I'll reread and pray over as I try to discern how my family might play a role in serving the world's poor. 

 

Prepare your minds with action. 

1 Peter 1:13

 

* I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.*

Adventure Bible NIrV for Early Readers: A Review

 

I'm constantly failing at reading the Bible with my kiddos.  We get in a great a pattern, then it  interrupted.  Then its weeks before we get back at it. 

 

The NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers is the first "real" Bible for Sophia.  Prior to this, our favorite Bible has been The Jesus Storybook Bible.  We've read that one MANY times, and will keep reading it, but our biggest girl is ready to move on beyond selected stories. 

 

The NIrV Adventure Bible is designed as a full NIV Bible for beginning readers.  We love that we can really start working on finding scripture and learning the books of the Bible.  Sophia's eyes lit up when this arrived in the mail, and we explained the step up that she'd be taking in learning God's word. 

 

Some of our favorite parts include, color illustrations and the "Live It" young reader friendly devotionals. Also, at the beginning of each book, there is a page explaining who wrote the book, why and where it was written, as well as "What can we learn about God?"    

 

There are pages included including "Questions Kids Ask" and "How to Pray" with scripture references. 

 

This is a "big kid Bible" that is very age appropriate.  Our whole family can learn much from this book.  Can't wait to dive in!

 

**Note: I was given a copy of this Bible in exchange for my honest review. 

Book Review: I've Never Been to Vegas but My Luggage Has

Author and blogger Mandy Hale's latest book is insightful, funny and filled with funny mishaps, almost perfect, but not quite relationships and lots of great advice.  She vulnerably shares her story as a single professional in a way that anyone, whether single or married can relate to and gain wisdom from. 

 

I needed a laugh at the time that I was holding this book, and it delivered.  The bumps and bruises life has left her with altered her perspective and made me think about my reaction to life's detours.  She shares with hilarious stories that make you want to hang out with her over dinner for a good laugh.   She is funny, optimistic, and has gained great wisdom and faith trough professional and personal successes and failures.

 

I reviewed this book with 3 out 0f 5 stars.  It is relatable, witty and an easy read.  

 

Disclosure: I received this book for free from publisher through BookLook Bloggers in exchange of my honest opinion. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Guidelines

Notes From a Blue Bike

"It doesn’t always feel like it, but we do have the freedom to creatively change the everyday little things in our lives so that our path better aligns with our values and passions."

 

Mark and I want to live as intentionally as possible.  We want to be purposeful in all the areas of our lives.  The small decisions we make each day about our money, schooling, food and entertainment add up to a bigger decision and a lifestyle.   Life in our world is fast, chaotic and much of it is outside of how we choose to live.  Our family needs to know what we believe and have a plan as to how to live that out. 

 

I have followed Tsh Oxenreider over at The Art of Simple for years.  So, her latest book, Notes from a Blue Bike was a must read.  This a memoir first, filled with stories about how her family got serious about living the life they wanted.  I can relate so much to the passions, lessons learned and changes of mind she relates as they moved from Turkey to Texas to Oregon. 

 

Tsh teaches through storytelling of experiences that have solidified her feelings on feeding her family, travel and schooling.  This is a read that feels more like a conversation with a friend.  Not a how to book, it simply is encouraging to me as someone on a similar trek to live simply.  Simplifying doesn't necessarily mean making life easy, rather is more of about focusing in and letting the rest go. 

 

Having learned much during her family's time abroad about eating and celebrating well, and focusing more on relationships than productivity, she struggles with incorporating these same principles into life when back in the US.  Her kids go to private school one year, then homeschool, then public school, and now plans to homeschool while travelling around the world.  I GET that.  We as families go through seasons, learning as we go.  The goal is to build our family life with intention, adjusting as we go.  

 

Tsh takes us on a bike ride, giving us time focus on our own families and what we value.  It challenges me to have a plan for how my family might live out lives. 



 

 

 

I am a BookLook Blogger and received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. 

The Blessing, A Review

I received a copy of the book, The Blessing, by John Trent and Gary Smalley, to review.

Each of us were designed to need the blessing of our parents. Some of us received that, and many others did not. This book is for adults who did not receive that important blessing, and for parents who now have an opportunity to give that blessing.

Based on the story of Jacob and Esau found in Genesis 27, the authors illuminate this important Biblical principle.  Communicated are  important truths regarding how to instill emotional well-being in our children through:

~meaningful touch

~a spoken message

~attaching high value

~picturing a special future

~an active commitment

This updated version of this book provides Biblical support for giving our children our blessing, and then offers practical ways to institute this type of parenting.  

Although I found this book to be inspiring, I did not find anything new as a parent.  I do love parenting books though, and always appreciate the opportunity to reflect deeply on how well we are doing with each of the five elements of blessing our children.  

Live Loved by Max Lucado

Again I have had the opportunity to review a book by one of our favorite authors, Max Lucado.  His books read like you are gaining wisdom from an old friend with the most familiar of voices.

Written in Max's warm and simple style, this devotional both comforts and inspires. Through short, but direct, daily readings, we are reminded that God's loves is a steadfast, perfect, wise and merciful love. Finally, we are challenged with the notion that God loves us so that we can love others.

This book would make a wonderful gift or serve as an easy and encouraging way to begin daily quiet times.   I would consider it "devotional light", meaning that each reading is intended to spur you on to dig deeper.  Each reading is an excerpt from one of the many books from the wide collection of books that he has authored. Each also includes a scripture and a prayer.

I can't possibly fathom the love that our Heavenly Father loves us with.  It is too deep and too wide.  If only we could bath ourselves in this love.  Never doubting, forgetting or wandering away from it. 

Conduct your lives in love. 

2 John 6 MSG

Reviewed for Book Sneeze. 

Book Review: Max on Life

We are old friends with Max Lucado.  His work has been a part of our lives since college, and our book shelves hold every book published.  While living in San Antonio for a few short months, when we were first married, we had the privilege of attending his church. 

His books are easy reads, like a conversation with a wise friend.  Lucado has the ability to challenge you through silly anecdotes and simple stories.  His gift has impacted our lives. 

When given the opportunity to review this book for Book Sneeze, I jumped on it, unaware that the book was such a different format from all else that he has written. 

In Max on Life, we get the opportunity to get Max's take on life's most simple and most profound questions.  It is a book of questions, sent to him over the years by readers and members of his congregation.  For me, this is a reference book, not one intended to be read cover to cover.  It is one that I'll refer to myself and for friends when we question.  When we are confused.  This book is not the Bible, it truly is "Max on Life". 

I found most of his answers to be right on and Biblically based, others I thought lacked some depth.  Overall, I am grateful at the opportunity to learn from this wise author's perspective on such a wide range of topics, and in such a succent way. 

I was given a free copy of this book for my review.

Love and Respect: A Book Review

I've read Ephesians 5:33 countless times.  The reality?  The words never jumped off the page or made a dent in my heart. 

"...Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

Love and respect within marriage seem like givens.  In my mind when I read this verse, I have always mentally checked it off.  I had that covered, right? 

After reading Emerson Eggerichs' Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs, I have realized that that is not the case.   I need to get intentional about my marriage.  How?  I need to step up how I demonstrate respect to my husband.  Do I respect him?  LIKE CRAZY.  Do I show him?  Maybe not as I should. 

Within the first few chapters of this book, my eyes were opened to how husbands and wives communicate.  What we communicate and what is in our hearts don't always coincide.  Life is tough.  It is packed with distractions that sometimes keep us from building into those we love.  Sometimes I think that I am communicating love, but I am might just be missing the mark. 

To Mark and I, our marriage is first behind our faith.  God, marriage, kids.  We believe that the state of our marriage is of the utmost priority.  It is easy to let two crazy toddlers take control of all things.  We get so distracted that we fail to take time for us.  Our lives are not perfect.  In fact, life in our house is pretty darn messy.   Parenting, the wild ride of international adoption, a job that requires travel, and a calendar with every box filled sometimes leaves us gasping for air.  To survive, we need to dig deeper into the partnership of husband and wife. 

This book is based on the simple scriptural challenge that men are to love their wives and women are to respect their husbands.  It is filled with lists of ways that we can demonstrate those things.  We FEEL them, but don't always show them.  Some of the book is very stereotypical of males and females.  Not every example fits us.  It doesn't meet our every need, but it will spur us on to deeper commitment to what we communicate to each other.  Overall, I am walking away with a profound new way to love my husband. 

I believe that the Bible has the answers for how to do marriage, and I am grateful at the opportunity to dig deeper.  Stay tuned for some fun ways that we plan to start shoveling!

**I was given the opportunity to review this book by BookSneeze.**