The Quiet (Crazy) Easter Day

I love these padded books. They are sturdy like board books yet have good story like a picture book.

And this is one that we enjoyed so much!

So as you can see its bright and colorful, which will hold any toddler or preschooler’s attention.

I like the story because it incorporates animal sounds which encourages my little audience to join in the story. They often get a good laugh from me making the animal noises as I read the book. And there’s almost a request for an encore performance. It’s a fun book to read to little ones who may not yet understand the full impact of the resurrection, but this book is a gentle introduction to our savior’s story. (They also have one about Jesus’ birth which is just as fun and colorful and full of animal noises to act out). 

I really like that this book takes the perspective that perhaps the animals were excited or maybe they somehow understood what was going on. And even if they did not, perhaps they were excited for God. As the Bible says that everything that has breathe worships Him, all creation worships Him. And animals are just as much God’s creation as I am. And they aren’t biased like humans are. So surely they worship God as a default. Their very existence is worship. And during those days, those who were sacrificed worshipped God in their death as well.

As always I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion. And I am not required to write a positive opinion.

Interview with Barb Roose, Author of I’m Waiting, God

Here's another author interview, this time its Barb Roose, author of 4-week Bible study I'm Waiting, God. I hope you enjoy the following interview with the author and make sure to pick up your copy of I'm Waiting, God.

Do you ever feel like God is taking too long to answer your prayers? Have you ever taken matters into your own hands, only to discover that you’ve made the situation worse?

In her new four-week Bible study, I’m Waiting, God, (Abingdon Press) Barb Roose invites us to explore the stories of women in the Bible who had to wait on God. If you’ve felt anxious, angry, discouraged or depressed because God isn’t giving you what you want, their stories will breathe fresh hope and practical next steps in your life. As a reforming control lover, Barb mixes in her personal stories of learning how to wait for God during long seasons of unanswered prayers, family difficulties, and challenging times in ministry. Together readers will discover that there is goodness and blessing to be found in times of waiting, including a closer relationship with God than they’ve ever dared to dream.

Q: Which women from the Bible do you use as examples for women who grappled with unanswered prayers?

·         Hannah wondered if God loved her or had forgotten about her.

·         Ruth’s life took a tragic and unexpected turn.

·         The unnamed bleeding woman suffered for over a decade with an embarrassing medical condition.

·         Martha prayed, but God said “no” to her prayer.

Q: What would you say to encourage someone who feels as if God has forgotten her or doesn’t love her because her prayers have gone unanswered?

First, I would sit down with her and ask to give her a big hug. Living with unanswered prayer is hard—especially when we’re praying for good things, like a baby, a spouse, a clean bill of health or for a struggling child to get back on track.     

Rather than give advice or tell someone to “buck up,” I believe an overwhelmed, discouraged woman needs what Tim Keller calls “the ministry of presence.” When someone feels the pain of unanswered prayer, she doesn’t need advice, but rather listening, love and reassurance.

Some of my favorite go-to encouraging statements when hanging out with a friend who is struggling are: “Tell me how you’re really doing,” “I know that you are doing the best that you can!” and “You are loved and you aren’t alone.”

Q: What are some of the reasons the Bible gives for God not answering prayers?

The Bible reveals numerous reasons God delays in answering our prayers. Some of those include:

1. God might not answer because of our unforgiveness, secret sin, pride, or wrong motives.

2. God wants to protect us from harm or heartache down the road.

3. God is allowing more time to pass so that we’ll have the chance to see His power on display in our lives.

4. God allows a delay to teach us to trust Him in the hard place and develop persistence in prayer.

5. God may delay the answer to your prayer because He’s working in someone else’s life first.

Q: When an unexpected event throws life off course, what do you pray for when you don’t know what to pray?

A few years ago, my dad got sick. In just a few weeks, he’d lost more than 30 pounds off his athletic frame. A biopsy revealed advanced metastasized lung cancer and doctors told us that Dad only had a few days to live. At the time, I’d been on the road speaking and half-way through writing a new book, but the news that I was about to lose my beloved dad upended my entire life.

In devastating moments, I rely on praying God’s promises. In the hardest moments, I don’t know what to say, but God’s promises give me life and hope—even when I’m numb or not even sure if I can believe them in the moment.

In the study, I’ve included one of my favorite rituals, a tool that I call the “God-Morning/God-Night Technique” that’s gotten me through a lot of hard and heartbreaking days. Basically, I repeat five of God’s promises before I open my eyes and begin the day. By starting with a “God-morning,” with his promises, I can beat back the feelings of fear, uncertainty and impatience by reminding myself that God is with me and for me no matter what I’ll face that day.

Q: How can we protect ourselves from bitterness during our wait?

In I’m Waiting, God, I explain bitterness like this: “Bitterness is the story that blames God for the pain in our past. Better is the story that believes God will be faithful in the future.”

Bitterness always begins small, but the more we repeat the stories of how God or others hurt or betrayed us, we begin to believe that is the story of our lives—and the story of our future. I watched my grandmother nearly die of bitterness after my grandfather’s affair when I was a little girl. She spent a lot of time in the hospital before finally confronting her bitterness and changing her story.

For me, gratitude is the antibiotic that kills any little bitter roots in my life. Each day of the I’m Waiting, God study features a gratitude exercise. Just taking a moment to reflect on God’s blessing not only kills little roots of disappointment, rejection or regret that could grow into bitterness but also uplifts our hearts and gives us joy, even as we’re waiting for God to answer our prayers.

Q: Is there ever a time to let a prayer go? How do you know when it’s the right time, after weeks, months, or maybe even years?

This is a hard question because there’s no easy answer to this question. On one hand, we’re instructed to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but we also know that there is a starting and ending to all things (Ecclesiastes 3). The point of prayer is to authentically connect ourselves to God so that His Spirit can lead and guide us. However, as circumstances change, there are times when it is no longer safe, wise or life-giving for us to pursue certain situations.

For many years, I prayed for God to save my marriage. I’d made a commitment before God over 25 years before, and I believed God could do the impossible. I fasted and prayed for years for God to restore a relationship that addiction had destroyed. Even after I had to move out of my home because of the issues, I still kept believing and praying for restoration and healing.

It’s hard to pray for years when nothing seems to be happening. I received some great encouragement from a wise friend: “You pray until you sense God releasing you from that prayer.”

I continued to pray until I realized that it was no longer safe or wise for me to go back into that situation. I didn’t give up on God, nor did I stop believing in his almighty power. But I did realize that it was time to shift from praying for what I wanted to praying for God to help me let go and trust His plan for my future, even though it wasn’t what I wanted.

To help me let go of the pain, disappointment and anger, I use a tool that I call my annual “funeral.” This is fully explained in the final week of the study, but it’s a tool to help me let go of my anger, disappointments and fears. This funeral process helps me surrender my unanswered prayers to God so that my heart and hands are open for Him to bring new direction, opportunities and blessing into my life.

Q: How is I’m Waiting, God: Finding Blessing in God’s Delays, your new Bible study, set up to be used? What other resources are available?

As a Bible study teacher who loves creating experiences for women in every season of life, I’m excited that I’m Waiting, God is designed with a flexible format to fit everyone’s schedule. This is a four-week study, and each week offers three days of Bible study homework, plus two optional days for more personal reflection to be enjoyed as time or energy permits.

I believe that application is a key component of effective Bible study, so I’ve created weekly personal reflection exercises and practical tools. Additionally, each day’s study includes a daily gratitude exercise and lots of life-transforming scripture to set readers up to experience a-ha moments so they can see and experience God’s blessing, even as they’re waiting on God to answer their prayer.

For those who like video, there is a separate teaching DVD for each of the four weeks. Best of all, anyone can lead a group study because the facilitator’s guide is been included in the study workbook.



One more bonus! If readers would like additional encouragement, they can sign up for “The Patience Path,” a 30-day email devotional that I’ve created to go along with the study. To sign up, go to barbroose.com/patiencepath.

On Bended Knee

So if you know me, I love to review a good bible study and I love being on launch teams!

And this spring I got to do that TWICE.

The first was on Crickett Keeth's On Bended Knee. 

This is one of the very few bible studies I've come across that tackles prayer like this. She doesn't focus on one specific prayer or one specific person but she covers many prayers across both the Old and New Testament. 

So above you'll see the Table of Contents where each week the author takes on a new prayer and guides us through that prayer. 

She starts off with THE prayer by Jesus (you know the one: Our Father....). 

Then we go into intercessory prayer by Paul in Ephesians (and even get to cover one in Colossians). Next is Job's prayer in his despair and Hannah's prayer as she was longing to have children (the prayer that brought forth Samuel). 

By week 5 we get to David's prayer in the Psalms of Lament where we find how to be sad & hurting and yet still trust God to be God. 

Then there's Asa's prayer who was seeking God and trying to turn the people towards God. 

Then Jehoshaphat, Asa's son and the monarch after him, who is depending on God for his decision making.

And we end the study with Nehemiah whose prayer was very bold, especially for someone still in captivity in Persia. 

Then at the end, there's this section with MORE prayers found in the bible that we can study and replicate in our own prayer time: Jacob, Moses, Solomon, Elijah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, as well as others by David and Paul.

And if you choose to do this study in a group there's also a leader's guide in the back.

I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed this book when I read over it during the launch and even more so now that I am taking my time going through it, studying the prayers and praying them over friends and family. I highly recommend as a good study on prayer that's not warfare praying (which is not covered in this study).

{FYI: I did receive this book for FREE as a member of the launch team.}

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

God's Blessings Day By Day

If you knew me personally and could view my home bookshelf, then you'd know I love kids devotionals. Why? Because usually, kids have a shorter attention span, so giving them the Word in nuggets each day works SO much better and easier until their attention spans get longer and they're ready for full on bible studies.

So a couple of things to note about this devotional. First, it is of course for kids. Second, it is a compilation of devotionals written by people from around the country. There are 52 weeks of devotions, with devotions for Monday-Friday and then one for the weekend of each week. Each devotional starts with a focus bible verse, which can be easily used as a daily memory verse (make it fun with treats or rewards for actually memorizing) and then has the actual devotional. Ending each devotional with a prayer or praise prompt.

This book is hardback with solid pages, not too thick yet not too thin that they'd easily rip.  I definitely recommend this for kids, up to around 9 years old. After that, it may seem babyish to them and they may require a pre-teen devotional.

(FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST OPINION.)

The Daniel Key

So here is Anne Graham Lotz's latest book. I was quite excited to dig into this book and completely devoured it. It is my first time reviewing a book by Anne Graham Lotz.

I really enjoyed her writing style. It's not overly personal and incorporates a friendly tone. The book is about 20 short chapters (160 pages). It has MANY nuggets to treasure. Each chapter is about a choice that Daniel made in his determination to remain faithful to God in spite of his circumstances. We read about his worship and faith, his forgiveness and humility. We read how daily prayer time makes a HUGE difference in our lives, even if it means going against the grain (like it did for Daniel). She points out much of Daniel's life that we can use in our own lives to strengthen our faith.

I think the main thing I dislike about this book is how she refers to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah by their pagan, Babylonian names (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) rather than referring to them by their Hebrew/Israelite names. I think if the goal is to glorify God, then we need to use their Hebrew names that identified them as belonging to God than using their pagan names, which were given in the hopes of wiping out their loyalty to God.

Other than that, no complaints whatsoever. I do recommend to others, especially those who may be struggling with identity and even discipline.

I am found

So I am so excited about this bible study it is in a series of bible studies by Moody Publishers just for women. The first one, An Unexplainable Life, I also reviewed here. 

This bible study is about me, about you. Women are trying to be seen and known by God but when we sin and are ashamed we tend to hide. For me when I am ashamed I literally hide out in my bedroom. 

I love this study for that very reason it is challenging me to stop hiding from God, from my husband. It is also teaching me to stop "not being bothered" with other people. It is nothing personal against them, I just often prefer my own company to that of others. 

The blurb is: 

I Am Found summons us from the shadows and into the light. This 6-week Bible study on shame and freedom explores: why we hide from God and others, why God’s love frees us to come out of hiding, what it looks like to live like we’ve been found, and how to cultivate relationships that encourage vulnerability

And that is exactly what this study does. It has encouraged me to turn to GOD when I feel ashamed, when I have sinned. It is encouraging me to stop hiding from my husband when we have disagreements. It is encouraging me to not hide from people outside of my home when they may offend or insult me.

Here are some fun things I found on the Moody Publisher's Women page to go with this study. Also if you go on the page, you will find a study tool (Download Excerpts) from Moody Commentary which allows you to read the commentary to go with the the Scripture found in the study. (AWESOME.)

Moody Publishers also allow ministry leaders the ability to receive a FREE copy of this study to use with their study groups, which I think is pretty awesome.