God Made Boys and Girls

So here's another series of God Made books by New Growth Press.

This first book is about helping children understand gender from a godly perspective, which is hugely needed in today's society considering the constant discussion around gender and transgendered persons.

The story starts revolves around a little girl named Maya who prefers to play sports like football at recess. She's also really fast. So fast that when they line up for recess, her classmate (a boy) remarks that if she keeps playing with boys then she'll turn into a boy. This sparks a discussion about gender and how it does not change because of what we do or how we act. Gender is a gift from God and even if you like to do things that are considered "boy-ish" it doesn't change that gift. Gender is what you're born with and it doesn't change. It's ingrained so deep in us, it goes beyond what we can physically see down into our DNA and cells.

Again!  New Growth Press does it again with another good book with a much-needed lesson.

This is definitely worth reading, especially those who may have children or even teens who are struggling with gender identity and as a parent, you want to take a God-honoring approach to discuss it. This book does that and points them back to Jesus.

{I received this book from the publisher, New Growth Press, in exchange for my honest review.}

Good News for Little Hearts: Gus Loses His Grip

Our third book in the series! Such a good series so far. Each one is just as good as the last. 

Each book takes place in Mulberry Meadow and introduces another animal family. We've met Henry and Tori, now we meet Gus. 

Now Gus is a going through a sneaky phase. It starts with disobedience, eating candy in his room, which is a no-no. Then it delves into stealing candy at the market. All of this falls around Easter.

When Gus confesses to his dad he says he just had to have it (candy). So when he was offered a piece without any supervision he did what the kids next to him did, took more than he was told he could. Gus also confesses to eating candy in bed and hiding the wrappers knowing it was against the rules.

But the best part? His dad's response. His dad acknowledged what Gus did was wrong then self-reflected that even he as an adult needs to practice restraint and self-control. Then his dad tells him to return the candy, confess to the shopkeeper and apologize. 

Parents, a book that deals with disobedience, lying, and theft in a godly manner? Win!

Again add it to your home library for when the situation arises.

{I received this book from the publisher, New Growth Press, in exchange for my honest review.}

Good News for Little Hearts: Tori Comes Out of Her Shell

So we started this new series of books, we have 3 of 5 or 6 in the series.

While the first book dealt with loss and how to overcome grief. This book covers shyness and feeling lonely. And more specifically moving and being the new kid at school.

I so wish we had this book last year when we moved from Texas to North Dakota and our children were experiencing what Tori feels in this book. 

Tori's family moves to a larger log home and with that comes a new school, new friends and a new church. She also lands in Henry's class with Miss Minnick. She struggles with fitting in as well as being afraid of falling and being laughed at. Then comes Miss Minnick who helps Tori see Jesus as that invisible friend who's always with her. Then at church the message repeats. And at school the following week Tori meets Gertie Gecko who wants to have a shell like Tori so she wouldn't be exposed when she feels lonely. Tori is then able to pass along the message Miss Minnick gave her . Tori also invites Gertie to church. 

This message: tugs at the heart strings! Having a friend who just picks you up and holds you close is every child's wish even if they never say it and especially so for shy children.

OK, two books in and I'm starting to think this is just a must-have series.

Highly recommend for those with shy children.

Also, the pocket bible verses in the back (perforated so you have take them out) is AMAZING!

{I received this book from the publisher, New Growth Press, in exchange for my honest review.}

Disciple Her

Discipleship, a fastly growing topic in contemporary Christian circles.

Kandi Gallaty addresses a very much needed and widely gaining notice topic. 

Discipleship is the act of teaching through life lessons another to be a disciple. But in order to make disciples, you first have to be a disciple. Jesus was able to tell the 12 to go forth and make disciples because they had first been disciples of His. And so Kandi Gallaty, who has discipleship groups at their (her & her husband, whose book will be one of the next books I review) church. 

Note that this book's table of contents is awesome. There is a breakdown of the topic of each chapter, which makes sharing the topic of the book that much easier.

So what makes this book great on discipleship is the fact that (as you can see below) Kandi Gallaty goes beyond talking about the need for discipleship but she goes into HOW to actually accomplish discipleship. She goes starts with the prep work that goes into starting a D-group (discipleship group). From prayer & planning to actually starting the group. She explores the elements of development, so you get an idea of what maturity looks like in your group. Then she does something else amazing: she breaks down the difference between a D-group and all of the other small groups that are in a church because yes there is a difference. 

This book has been an eye-opener and a welcomed resource for the next stage of life that God is preparing us for. I highly recommend, especially for those who are in ministry as I think it will definitely assist in your ministry work.

If you check out the excerpt below you will see the breakdown of each chapter. 

 {And as always I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Friendship Promises

We all have friends, right? And what particularly makes us a good friend? What would we tell others if they asked us this question?

So this is a new gift book by (in) courage, it is composed of devotions, prayer prompts, and journal prompts on the topic of friendship combined with beautiful Scripture art and graphics. I can easily see this book going from gift to interactive treasure as the devotions, prayers, and journaling prompts (along with the space to journal) invites us to linger and digest these lessons & promises on friendship. Then, as we marvel at the Scripture art, perhaps they are left blank without color so that we, too, may participate in making this book beautiful. 

The friendship promised this book offers are:

I promise to be Authentic, Present, Encouraging, and Rooted in Christ. The entire book is organized by these friendship promises. The reflections are drawn from Never Unfriended by Lisa Jo Baker and Craving Connection (another book by (in)courage). I mention this so that you have an idea of the authors of the book since other than this mention, there is no attributed author.

So for the exterior, we're looking at linen over the board. In person, it is the perfect shade of a coral/salmon color. And is the same size as Open Door Living (another gift book). The cover lettering & design is embossed with gold foil. There's also a ribbon marker the same shade of coral/salmon as the book, which makes me happy. 

I really like this book. I think that in this world of people being so easy to write each other off (and being proud of that fact) we need more resources on friendship. The beauty in friendship and knowing just what godly friendship looks like.

Highly recommend. I say buy in pairs. One for yourself and one for your best gal pal (or more for your best gal group of friends).

{As always, I received this book from the publisher (B&H) in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

God's Good News (children's book)

I love a good children's book. Why? Because my husband and I have five (5!) children and having a home library is so important to me. Books are a complete necessity in life to me.

So here's a new book by Billy Graham. (my first time reviewing a book by him)

So to start this book is very colorful. On average each story is about 2 pages long with some being longer. There are also short takeaways or devotions to go with each story, penned by Billy Graham. The great thing I like about this book is that roughly half the book is Old Testament and half the book is from the New Testament. Most children's books I've come across usually have a majority of the book come from the Old Testament and a smaller portion from the New Testament.

So far, We're reading select stories as my children point out who they would like to read about. However, I am pleased with what I have read thus far. In every story you see that it is quite close to Scripture and the love & grace of God is shown. And even though it is a children's storybook, I can see it being used to help someone with absolutely no knowledge of the Bible to ease into understanding what they read in the Bible.

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

Seated with Christ

At first, I was a wee bit skeptical about this book as it is the first I've read by this author. However, I can say it will not be my last.  It is TOO raw and it gets beneath my skin in a way that requires me to self-examine.  This book is organized by section and feature Sit & Savor questions at the end of each chapter. The Sit &  Savor questions take it from being a regular book to one that intreats you to highlight, study, and glean what is shared on the pages. 

So I've learned a few things while reading this book:

• To be seated in Christ is to be secure in who Christ says you are. He says that we are loved, that He has prepared a place for us in the heavenlies, that we are heirs with Him in the kingdom of God.
• As one who is seated in Christ, I am not striving for affluence or appearance or attention. I am resting in the Father, knowing that Jesus must become greater and I lesser.
• Once I accept that I am seated in Christ, it frees me to serve others and share the gospel. It frees me to do what God has called me to do. 

I love that Heather addresses the rat race to be rich. She realizes that God didn't call us to be rich on this earth. He called us to HIMSELF. And if He chooses to bestow riches then so be it but money is NOT an indicator of being within the will of God or salvation. 

There's also a section of the book on living at 60%. To live at 60% means we prioritize what's important and learn to say no to quite a bit so that we are not overextending ourselves. A lot of times as moms we are exhausted and snappy and overwhelmed because we take on too much. We live at 99% so when something does not go according to plan we lose our minds and snap. Our kids feel it and so do our significant others. I think the same can even be said of our finances. (Chapter 9)

Heather also addresses discipleship (although not directly in this term). She started a fitness night and walk to school tradition in her neighborhood which has opened the door for her to be available and to share bible with those within a 1-mile radius of her. (Chapter 9) It's an inspiration for hospitality and creating community. Something that the early church did so well.

A list of questions to ask yourself before making decisions.

I found this list of questions to be quite useful as I often like to rush headlong into decisions without stopping to question if the decision is good. And there is always the ever-present difference between good and almost good. But moreover, these questions allow me to put Jesus at the forefront of everything I do and to reject those things that would not bring Him glory.

quick excerpt

another quick excerpt

This book gets ALL thumbs up! Excellent writing, excellent organization, excellent message. A necessary message. I definitely will continue to recommend (already have done so on social media).

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

Little Critter Little Blessings Collection

Ok, as a mom I absolutely LOVE when we can receive these collections to review. It is an awesome deal to be able to get four full stories in one hardback book. Even better is when the books are completely God-centered. And these books are!

So the four books included in this collection are:

• You Go First, 
• Being Thankful, 
• It's True!, and 
• We All Need Forgiveness. 

Each one has a clear moral and lesson for readers to learn. In We All Need Forgiveness, Little Critter learns that he needs to be forgiving, however, he learns this the hard way after he has been unforgiving and unkind to his friends when they needed forgiveness THEN he becomes the friend who needs forgiveness and they all do no immediately give it. It is then that he realizes (with his Mom's help pointing to the Bible) that in order to receive forgiveness, he must also give forgiveness. And they mention God by name, eek! Even better!

And that is an awesome message for a book to provide to children. Because children can be irrational and selfish and even mean at times. But they have to learn early that just as they want to be forgiven when they make mistakes, they have to forgive when others make mistakes. 

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

Women of Influence week 2

This is the last week of the mini-study, Women of Influence, before a 4 week study for Easter on GMG.

(FYI, not all groups are doing this study)

Today's passage: Acts 16:13-15

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Lydia, a woman of influence. I can guarantee if you have a women's study bible there's something about Lydia in it. Why? Because Paul sat down and delivered a message to a group of women, Lydia was one of them. As the Lord opened Lydia's heart to receive this message, she left there a changed woman. So changed that she took the message home! Through her heart's reception of Paul's message, Lydia was able to influence her entire household to receive, believe, and be baptized. 

That's HUGE. How many of us receive God's word and yet have a hard time translating that into influencing our family into believing? I don't know how Lydia did it but she did. Maybe it could have been the way she lived her life. Maybe she shared the message with them. All I can think of is that I want to be like Lydia being receptive to God's Word so that I can be a godly influence in my family's life.

There are more than enough ungodly influences in society. We have to combat that by being the godly influence in our homes. It is detrimental to the spiritual health of our family, our children and husbands. This isn't to say shove God in their face. This is to say model a life of living like Christ, be generous and gracious. Be loving and kind. Be forgiving and humble. Read where others can see and maybe even hear, who knows they may listen or have a question. Play worship music softly throughout your house. And always pray for them. Pray for their spiritual health. Pray for God's Will. Ask the Lord to use you to reach them.

Be the Women of Influence our families are in dire need of. 

Ask God to open your heart to be receptive to Him.

~Kris

Intentionally Focused week 5 sum up!

Week Five in the Intentionally Focused study is on friendship.

I think friends are so important because many times they provide fresh perspective. They hold our hands when we're hurting. They pray for us and laugh with us. They relate to us and love us unconditionally.

And thus its important that we take time to understand our individual roles in our friendships. It is so easy to say I want a good friend, a godly friend, an honest friend. However the question to pose to ourselves is: Are we the friend we want in others? We have to self access, are we a good friend? Are influential in a godly manner? Are we honest? Are we unconditional? Do we love in such a way that our friends would have no doubt in us? 

Let me put it this way, have you ever had a friend in which you only scratch the surface with? You know the one, you never get too deep or go too personal. That means that's an indication of your friendship with that person as you don't trust them to share with them. I have certain acquaintances in which I don't go very deep with, we talk but we never touch on heart to heart issues. Why does this happen? 

But then we all have that friend that no matter how frequent or infrequent you talk, we you do talk the floodgates open and you both share everything . There's a certain level of confidence in that friendship.

My point is not really for you to try to categorize your friendships BUT for you to see how do you measure up. What type of friend are you? Are you the friend YOU want to have in others?

I have been evaluating who I am as a friend. As I have noticed, I am a better friend to others than I am to my own husband at times and thus I am making a conscious effort to be the BEST friend I can be to my husband because he's the closest to me. 

Yes, I love my mom. Yes I love my friends. BUT they are NOT closer to me than my own husband. And thus he deserves the best of my friendship, the best of my time, the best of my love. It requires actual work to be a friend. It requires developing your listening skills as people want to be listened to.

Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Granted most people associate this verse almost instantaneously with marriage. It can also apply to friendship as many are not married and need friends to be there for them. And even in friendship, God is to be apart of that friendship. 

So where do you see you can improve yourself as a friend?

~Kris