New Review: Adorned

So a fairly big name in the Christian arena of authors, especially those that write on upholding biblical marriage and womanhood is Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. A release of hers that I'm just getting to read this year is her first book post-marriage: Adorned.
Beautifully written and well thought out.

And yet it is not about marriage but about living out the gospel, per Titus 2 with the women around us. She gives the perspective of being both the older woman who seeks to exhort and the younger woman who accepts the exhortation.

The book is written in three parts with each chapter corresponding to part of Titus 2:1-5, 10. The end of each chapter has a section of questions for older women and one for younger women. It has the feeling of being read in a group or partner setting OR even used as teaching material for discipleship between women.
The first section focuses on submission to God and how that is fleshed out in a Titus 2 relationship. She starts with understanding that doctrine (regardless of what doctrine you adhere to) guides your beliefs and actions. She addresses teaching in the Titus 2 context, woman to woman, older woman to younger woman. I appreciate how she acknowledges that we are always in BOTH positions. Always in a position to learn and a position to teach. Even when we think we have nothing to teach, there is always some lesson you've learned that can be passed on to someone younger.
The second section focuses on being a woman under control. This is huge because we are in a culture where we have the liberty to do almost anything we want. But we have to understand and practice self-control; knowing that everything that I can do is not beneficial to us and much of it is harmful.
The third section focuses on our home. As we know part of Paul's advice is that older women instruct younger women in being wives and mothers. This is taking into account the older women are living in a manner that brings God glory and honor. And the last chapter focuses on tying it all together to be beautiful in God's eyesight.

So Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth's writings, in my experience, have always brought up some discourse or discontent from women, especially those who lean heavily feminist.
Generally, I enjoy the majority of her writing. And this book does not disappoint. It is very engaging and the questions at the end of the chapter beget us to sit still and reflect to see where we can improve. With her being a newly married woman, I will admit I was cautious in reading because there's so much she still has to learn but because she has spent much time in a Titus 2 setting and studying it, it gives her an advantage to be better prepared for marriage in a way that I was not.

I HIGHLY recommend for those who want to promote Titus 2 relationships among godly women, among the church. We need even the young women who are in college and pursuing God to reach back to the highschool aged women around them and help them pursue God as well so the younger generation sees that it is not just "old" women pursuing God.

{FYI: I received this book from Moody Publishers for free in exchange for my HONEST review.}

Made for This

Jennie Allen! Love her books! They get to the nitty-gritty of surrender. And morphed into IF: Gathering (IF: Table, IF:Local), a ministry that seeks to gather people together into groups of all sizes and demographics to study God's Word together. 

This book is 40 days and it has released right in time for Lent (also a 40-day event). The goal is to do this book during Lent (what Jennie is currently promoting). The book itself is broken down into 4 parts (check below for photos of the Table of Contents). It is the embodiment of Anything (2015) and Restless (2014) morphed into one interactive book. It challenges and inspires. It requires you to engage. It prompts you to make life-altering changes. Changes that exhorts you to draw near to God so that He will draw near to you.

Part One is completely Anything. Praying the Anything Prayer. I will go anywhere you choose Lord.  I will do anything You ask of me, Lord. ANYTHING Lord, here I am. And this is a BOLD prayer to pray. This is a surrendering of one's self and entire life unto God. And you need to mean it and be willing to follow through when God responds. 

Part Two, answer the call. God calls. He beckons. He points, He moves. And it is up to us to hear and to respond. I'll be honest, the first step to hearing is to spending time with God.

Part Three: Working out the details, the threads. There's a process of walking out the surrender. It will not be easy and it will require obedience to whatever God sets forth. Those threads are important, no matter how big or small.

Part Four: The future. It's okay to dream for the future and plan. Even if God throws the monkey wrench later, it is okay. How do we take what we learn about ourselves and about God in this 40 days journey and let it apply to the rest of our lives? Because that is the real goal, right? For lasting impact, not just to feel good or feel challenged in the moment then, write off once the 40 days are up.

Highly recommend. And if you have not read Anything and Restless. Please get them and read them while going through this book. It will make a HUGE difference.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

The Better Mom Devotional

The is the devotional follow up to Ruth Schwenk's novel The Better Mom (my review on it here) named after her blog, The Better Mom. And I must say it is quickly becoming my favorite devotional! It literally speaks to my often overwhelmed, sometimes weary mom heart. That part of me that questions just how well am I doing at this job. 

And on top of that, it is insanely beautiful. It comes as a hardback which means...longer lasting quality. HUGE plus. And the pages are of great quality, they're heavy enough to be read and turned many times without worrying about them ripping so easily. 

Each day starts with a bible verse/passage and ends with a prayer prompt and questions for pondering that I use as daily journal prompts. There are exactly 100 devotions, so that's just over 3 months of devotions.

Below are a few shareable images: 

THIS is one of the main themes of this devotional.

This is an often prayer of mine, that we are acceptable representatives of Christ in all we do & say. That people want to join His family when they interact with mine and feel God's love in action.

This one is such a HUGE truth that we have to remember daily as moms and wives. We are supposed to be a gift to each other AND an example to the WORLD of Christ's relationship with His bride, the church

Unwrapping the Bible

Honestly, I did not know what to expect when waiting for this book to arrive. 

However, when it arrived it turned out to be a literal workbook type of study book. Not just mere words telling us what to do but with questions and space to answer. This is the type of book I would think one may end up with in Seminary because it forces you to interact with it, to answer the questions, to build on what you learn and understand. 

Usually, we (or at least I) think Seminary only comes with Academic books that only requires you to read. But I think this book should be in Seminary, likely first semester, to establish a foundational base for new students. 

(The table of contents)

It covers what the author believes to be seven core foundational doctrines (God, humanity, Revelation, Christ, Salvation, Sanctification, and the Church). Then, those are further broken down into bite-sized sections. 

To me, the only thing that could have made this book better is if the book was a hardback with larger font.

I recommend to the new believer heavily. It can help with many questions and to help lay a base foundation from which one can build upon. I also recommend to the seasoned believer who may be in need of a revival of sorts or may be experiencing their foundation being shaken up.

FYI I did receive this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.

The Lifegiving Parent

There are some authors I instinctively turn to for parenting advice. Sally Clarkson is one of them. She has a remarkable way of showing parents, especially mothers how our motherhood is ministry work even if we never actually serve in a ministry at church. And here we come to the finale of a trilogy of books (the review for book 1 will come after this one). 

The Lifegiving series is one that seeks to transform the way in which we live, in how hospitable we are, and how we parent our children. It's not pushy as you must do these things but is more of showing different ways that she and her husband are doing it and have been doing it for decades. 

The Lifegiving Parent is a joint effort between Sally and her husband, Clay. Prior to reading, I thought it would be equal writing between them as I absolutely enjoy Sally's writing style. However, after reading, I realize that this is really Clay's book. Sally contributes at the end of each chapter little tidbits of momoirs of her take on what Clay has discussed in the chapter.

I'll be honest, it is a fairly good book when it comes advice on parenting. It has 8 touchpoints of ways we as parents shape and give life to our children. Each one is equally important to the parenting of our children and each one plays a huge part in who they will eventually become. And as parents, especially as Christ-following parents who want to be intentional about raising our children to have a strong foundation and faith in Christ, this book is a good point in the right direction for accomplishing that goal.

My only drawback is that I expected more of Sally's writing. Much of the promotion on this book is that it is a Sally Clarkson book, only to realize once you start reading that it is really a Clay Clarkson book and it banks on Sally's name to draw the audience. Clay is a good writer, however, for me, he doesn't have the charm and drawing in the reader quality like Sally does. Sally's words do more than tell a story and convey a message they illustrate the imagery she wants you to see and helps you to imagine the sights and smells that she's telling you about. Clay's writing does not quite have that effect and that's OK because it's what distinguishes him from Sally. 

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Creating a Vision Board

I see a vision board like a vision goal list. It lists the things I want to do, the things I entrust to God's capable hands. My expectations are that IF what I want to do is in God's will for me then it will happen and if it is not is God's will for me then that's perfectly fine as well. As my main goal is to be in the centre of God's will for my life, not my will or anyone else's but GOD's will. 

There are some negative connotations to the vision board and that often stems from 'The Secret' which follows the thinking that you can compel the universe to do what you want by simply visualizing it and that's not quite how it works. 

There are some things you need in order to create your vision board. First, think of the things in life you want to accomplish and entrust them to God's hand. Second, write them down (make the vision plain). Third, gather your supplies: poster board, magazines, markers, tape/glue/stapler. And lastly, create. You decide how you want to put everything up, do you have an organized way you want to put it up or perhaps you're adding as you go. There is no right or wrong way as long as it makes sense to you. Cut out photos and inspirational phrases that match your goals. Even add a prayer or two that you can pray over your goals and your tribe (your family/friends).

Check out mine below:

So this year I decided to do something I have not done in several years. Create a vision board and intentionally create goals (something I have not ever really done) for things I want to do in the future. It's nothing fancy or from Pinterest.

As you can see above, My vision board is not very large and has quite a few inspirational quotes and bible verses on it. But then there are the things I want to accomplish this year, such as ongoing on a cruise with my husband and children for our summer vacation this year. I also want to accomplish creating a stream of revenue for my family. One that is totally home-based so that after I have baby #5 this Spring I can be okay with staying home with him/her (we don't know the gender yet).

Also, you'll see my WORDs for this year: THRIVE, ENGAGE, and JOY. Most people usually stick to one word that they choose to emphasize in their life over the coming year. However, for me, I need these 3 words as they are very intentional and are related to one another. Apart of thriving and being engaged is to choose joy. I choose to be joyful in all things, no matter the circumstances and not to stress when I have a Savior who bears my burdens and offers me a lighter load of simply trusting Him.

Earth Psalms

Earth Psalms is a collection of devotions paired with beautiful photographs of nature. The devotions are meant to spark reflection and application. There are 52 devotions for weekly reading. This devotional is a collaboration between Francine Rivers and Karin Buursma. Francine knew she wanted to write a devotional with added photos of nature so we can see the beauty and work of God in the nature around us but she wanted the devotional to have a bit more depth so that's where Karin Buursma comes in at adding in the hymns, quotes, reflections, and applications throughout the devotional. 

The book is very well put together with hardback and nice thick pages with full vibrant color photos. Each devotion is themed with a color as can be seen below the second devotions pages all have deep teal color coordination. Don't get me wrong this is a beautiful devotional and is very good on content but also because of its beauty it can be put on a coffee table of sorts to spark interest and conversation with visitors. Because they'll see the beautiful photos then possibly read the devotional or at least skim the devotional that goes with the photos. 

I think this would make a great gift for the believer, new or old, who enjoys nature.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher, Tyndale, in exchange for my HONEST review.}

Redeemed

So this is literally a bible study and that is its full intended purpose. The tag line is "Grace to live every day better than before." The study is meant to be completed over a course of six weeks. There are also corresponding video sessions to go with each week (I do not have access to those to view). 

Week 1: When Love makes a promise. 

Week 2: When Love never fails. 

Week 3: When Love makes a way.

Week 4: When Love changes you.

Week 5: When Love breaks your chains.

Week 6: When Love leads you home.

Even though the word love is used, I can comfortable interject God in place of the it. 

The weeks are 7 days long, I point this out because many studies usually do a 5 day a week schedule. It is quite funny that Angela tries to immediately attack any reason why we would say we cannot do the study. And combat that with the reason we need to do the study.

This is the first page of week 1, of the study. 

 I haven't gotten through the entire study yet. However I think it is worth taking a look at and going through especially if you are even almost near an identity crisis. And to be honest, I have been in that place. Sometimes I revisit that place. And this is the reminder to walk away from that place that I am redeemed. That it only matters what GOD says about me and who GOD says I am.

{FYI: I got this book from B&H Publishers in exchange for my HONEST review.}

Do my children 'Believe'?

If you've been following along for the couple months, you will notice there are quite a few books by Randy Frazee in the 'Believe' series on here.

 

(This is the first book)

 

(This is the second book.)

 

(This is the one for middle aged children ,not quite teenagers yet not preschool or kindergarten)

 

Now there is the Believe Storybook.

 which we (hubby and I trade off) read to our preschool aged son, who absolutely loves the book. I mean, no one is allowed to touch the book without his permission (lol). As wife and mom it does my heart GOOD to see my children are passionate about the Word of God. They ask questions during our reading time. I love the illustrations inside the book and the fact that it is a hardback and very large. Like the previous books in the series, there are key questions, think section, act section, be section, and the Jesus Answer.

 

This is the Act part of Daniel's story, Total Surrender.

Here is an idea of how large the book is, that's a roku remote.

 

This is the think section before Abram & Sarah's story.

 

I think this book is great to start young children because of the way it is broken down. Believe doesn't just tell the stories of the bible, but it explains how those stories apply to us and how they relate to Jesus. And that's the baseline of everything, everything comes back to Jesus.

 

As parents, that's what we want to give our children a foundational love and belief in Jesus. Strong to last them through the rebellious and curious teen & young adult years of life. Strong enough to see them through the storms of life. Strong enough that they will share with their friends. Strong enough that God will be pleased with us for shepherding their hearts.

 

 

 

{FYI: I received this book from the Booklook Bloggers Program in exchange for my HONEST review.}