Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for this review. The words and opinions are my own.

I have enjoyed reading Nancy Guthrie’s books in the past and was excited to get an opportunity to read another of her works. Her latest book, “Abundant Life Day Book”, is a devotional book. There is a short reading for each day of the year. Each day begins with a scripture passage and the reading that follows is written as though God is speaking directly to the reader. She follows up each reading with a prayer of her own to apply the passage to the heart.

This method of writing, as though God is speaking directly to the reader, is intended to help the passage come alive. I like this style of writing and found that the passage does take on more meaning this way. The devotional’s focus is on God’s blessings for His people. Each devotional leads the reader to see the great blessings given us in Christ. In fact, as you flip through and read the title to each devotional, you are in essence reading a list of blessings we’ve been given. This book is gospel driven and grace saturated. Every page shouts of God’s love for His people. Each devotional truly is a blessing to read.

“From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.” John 1:16

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for this book review. The words and opinions are my own.

When I was a child, I didn’t have many pets. But I did have a gerbil. Gerbils like to run on a wheel that’s placed in their cage. They run on the wheel over and over, yet never get anywhere.

The author of the book, It’s Your Kid Not a Gerbil, points out that many families in America live like gerbils on a wheel. We run from one activity to the next, always feeling tired and stressed.

After I had my first child, I took him to every activity our community offered: story time at the library, gymnastics, mommy and me music, play group, etc. My baby was definitely on the activity wheel from day one! Over the past year or two, we’ve slowed down significantly. As they’ve gotten older, we’ve realized that they need down time at home as a family. It’s one thing to have a little one go to one outing a day, it’s another when they are in school all day and then have an activity each night.

The author, Kevin Leman, believes we need to get off the activity wheel and spend time with our kids. “Activities are like ice cream. They’re great for an occassional treat, but they don’t make for a healthy diet.” Kids need a close relationship with their family, much more than they need involvement in any activity. In the end, it’s not important how good they are in sports or how many clubs they were a member of, but rather who they are inside. It’s our job as parents to invest time in our children to help them grow in their character.

One activity per semester is all Dr. Leman suggests for each child. And for larger families, the children may need to take turns doing activities throughout the year. This book really gets at the heart of our American culture and what’s really important when it comes to families, activities, and the time we invest in our children. He cautions parents to curb their own tendency to work too much or get themselves busy with too many of their own activities.

This book hit home for us. We’ve been debating whether to get involved in team sports and how much involvement we want to have. Some sports require 2-3 practices a week and games on the weekends. We just don’t want that for our family. We’ve wondered if we were doing the right thing by limiting our children’s activities. Reading this book helped us answer those tough questions. If you’ve ever wondered if you are doing too much as a family or thought you should do more, you might want to read this book.

I have a voucher for a free copy of this book. When you leave a comment, your name will be added to the drawing to win the voucher (be sure to leave a link for your site in case you are the winner). Drawing will be held one week from today.

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I recently had the privilege of contributing to a new e-book titled, The Desires of my Heart. Written by Heather Bixler, this book is based on the verse from Psalm 37:4, “Delight Yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Have you ever wondered why God hasn’t given you what you most desire?

Have you ever wanted something that was a “good thing” and still God didn’t make a way for it to happen?

Have you ever struggled with your own delight in Him?

In Desires of My Heart, the author shares the journey she experienced in learning just what it means to delight in God. She explores the heart issues that keep us from truly delighting in him. Myself and two others contributed our own faith stories to the book. Click here to view more details about Desires of My Heart. Free copies of this book are available to the first 1,000 visitors by visiting the Desires of My Heart site.

Do you have your own faith story to share? Perhaps about how God has worked in your own heart? You can share your story at the Desires of my Heart site.

I received this book from the author in exchange for this review. All words and opinions are my own.

As moms, life gets very hectic. I don’t think I can count the number of showers I missed when my kids were little:) Not only do our physical needs often get neglected, but our spiritual needs do as well. Prior to receiving this book to review, I was unfamiliar with this series of devotions called “Women’s Devotions to Go.” Each book has a different theme and this one, written by a dietician, is fruit themed and titled Fruit Lovers Devotions to Go Each day’s devotion has a scripture verse and a couple of pages of reading which focuses on an aspect of fruitfulness found in scripture, including the fruits of the spirit. There is also a fruit recipe included with each reading. (There’s a cantaloupe recipe I’m anxious to try-I know my boys will love it.)

The book is pocket-size, making it perfect for “on the go.” (Great for car line reading, by the way.) I found the devotions to be relevant to the life of a mom, manageable to read and each one gave me something to think and pray about. And since the author is a dietician, there were also dietary suggestions and discussion about the many benefits of fruit.

Interested in making your devotional time more fruitful? To learn more about this book and others written by Beth Reinke, visit her site at https://bethbencereinke.com.

I received this book directly from the author in exchange for this review. The thoughts and opinions are my own.

Do you remember as a child dropping a penny in a fountain, making a wish and really hoping it came true? How about blowing out the candles on your birthday cake and hoping that wish came true?

A Wish and a Prayer is the story of a young boy named Jason who loses his pet parakeet. Taking the advice of friends, he wishes on various things, including a birthday cake in the hopes of his parakeet returning. It’s only after a discussion with his mom who points out to him that objects don’t have the power to make things happen, only God does, that Jason prays for his parakeets return. And the next day, he does!

This book was a cute, well illustrated story that both my kids enjoyed listening to me read. In a culture like ours, where superstition abounds and there is strong belief in our own power to make things happen, the importance of and power of prayer is an important topic to teach our children.

To see more of this author’s book, visit her site at www.bethbencereinke.com.

Have you ever felt like marriage was a battle field? I love the title of the new book I am reviewing, “Love and War” by John and Stasi Eldridge. Since this year will be fifteen years for my husband and I, the title of the book intrigued me.

The authors point out how the bible starts out with marriage and ends in marriage. The marriage relationship is a significant metaphor in scripture for God’s relationship with his people. “God is a great lover, and he created marriage to play out on this earth a daily, living, breathing portrait of the intimacy he longs for with his people.”

We often forget this fact and get focused on the purpose of marriage as something that is supposed to make us happy. Everyone comes to marriage carrying their own baggage and this baggage often creates problems. We expect the other person to make us happy and when they don’t, those issues we brought with us into marriage comes between spouses. The authors describe us as “broken cups” and say “Two broken cups cannot possibly fill one another. Happiness flows through us like water through a volleyball net.”

They also point out that few couples realize how much Satan tries to influence their marriage. He uses our past experiences, issues from childhood, feelings of shame and abandonment to start battles with one another. It is important for spouses to join together to fight against the enemy. Instead of wielding our swords against each other, we need to stand back to back and fight against the real enemy.

In summary, the top three things the authors prescribe to help marriages is this: “1. Find life in God, 2. Deal with your brokenness, and 3. Learn to shut down the spiritual attacks that come against your marriage.” I found this to be a beneficial book on marriage and recommend it to anyone who has been married for a while and is facing trials and challenges in their marriage.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The opinions are my own.

I’ve become a fan of Amish fiction these past few years. Because it’s such a popular genre, the writing is sometimes quite poor. I liked the title to this book by Cindy Woodsmall and thought I’d give it a try. Like a warm cup of the apple cider I recently had in Amish country, this story of an Old Order Amish woman warms the heart. Hannah Lapp returns to her hometown after being gone over two years. Having left because of a painful ordeal where her Old Order Amish family rejected and disbelieved her, Hannah’s return was full of emotion and heartache. Yet this story of heartache and loss shows the forgiveness and redemption that happens when the soul mends. This book was not only well written but also realistic. The characters were easy to identify with because they experienced feelings, thoughts and situations that we all face. While this book was the third in the series, I was able to quickly catch on to the plot and the multiple characters. This moving story that brings a young woman from deep pain and trial to healing and peace, kept me engaged and enthralled to the end. For anyone who likes Amish fiction, I definitely recommend “When the Soul Mends.”

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The opinions are my own.

I have enjoyed books by Randy Alcorn in the past and was excited to have the opportunity to review a new book by him titled, “90 Day’s of God’s Goodness.”

It is a book of devotions designed to show you the goodness of God during the difficult times in life. Each devotional starts with a passage of scripture followed by a two to three page reading. At the end of each reading is a prayer written by the author.

Randy Alcorn’s wisdom and love for God shines through as he uses scripture to provide encouragement during the trials and difficulties of life. He uses examples of real people who have been through real personal darkness and shares how their faith in God brought them through.

One thing that really stood out to me was his belief that Christians should prepare for trials before they actually come. When life is calm, take that time to deepen and strengthen your faith to prepare for the challenging times ahead.

“Studying about evil and suffering doesn’t equal facing it, but it can go a long way in preparing us for it, provided we see it in relationship to both the goodness and greatness of God. This will provide a reservoir of perspective from which we can draw. It will minimize disorientation and panic when we plunge into life’s turbulence…We shouldn’t wait until suffering comes to start learning how to face it any more than we should wait until we fall into deep water to start learning how to scuba dive.”

To read an excerpt from the book, click here.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The opinions are my own.

The following is a book review for a new book by R.C. Sproul titled, “Abortion: a rational look at an emotional issue.  Copyright information: © 2010 by R.C. Sproul, Published by Reformation Trust Publishing. All Rights Reserved.  I receive compensation for a fair review in the form of a copy of the book reviewed.  The opinions stated below are my own.

It’s been 20 years since the first edition of this book was published.  It has been updated to reflect recent politics and thoughts on the subject.  I never read the first edition and am honored to be asked to review it for Reformation Trust Publishing.  Abortion is an intensely emotional, highly debated issue in our country.  Dr. Sproul has written a fair, reasoned, and biblical response to the arguments for abortion.  He is a trained philosopher and theologian and in this book he thoroughly discusses both sides of the topic using biblical texts, laws of logic and natural and civil law.  He includes important historical information showing the development of the pro-abortion and pro-choice views. 

For someone who is not quite sure of what they believe concerning this controversy, this is an excellent book to read.  He addresses each argument in support of abortion in a considerate manner.  Dr. Sproul argues that the debate about abortion can essentially be boiled down to one question: “When does life begin?”  He believes that the majority of people, once they are convinced that life begins at conception, will in turn see abortion as wrong.  His arguments are mostly directed not to militant pro-abortionists but those who call themselves pro-choice-those who say “I wouldn’t get an abortion myself but I wouldn’t want to restrict someone else’s freedom in getting one.”  The ethical arguments directed toward those persons are logical and thorough. 

An excerpt from the book: