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Monday, December 12, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
"The Blessing" by John Trent, PhD with Annette Smith
****I received this book, “A Place Called Blessing” by John Trent, PhD with Annette Smith, from Booksneeze for free under no obligation to provide a positive review.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I got the book “A Place Called Blessing” by John Trent, PhD, in the mail several months ago, sometime in June 2011 to be exact. I wasn’t extremely excited to read it, though I don’t have a specific reason why. I wish I would have picked up the book right away because as soon as I did a couple of days ago I had a hard time putting it down. It’s one of those stories that can change your life. Although an AVID READER, I’ve only read a handful of books I can say that about.
This book is based on the elements described in a previous book, “The Blessing” by John Trent, PhD. It is in story form, which is what I love to read. The main character is a young man who grew up in foster care and children’s homes until he is shoved out of the system at 18 years old. It tells his tear-jerking childhood story as it leads into a relationship formed with a mother and son in his early twenties.
The story teaches about how to pass on blessings rather than curses through relationships you have. The five elements include (1) a meaningful touch, (2) a spoken message, (3) attaching high value, (4) picturing a special future and (5) an active commitment.
Even though the main character faced multiple tragedies and a painful childhood, he grows to learn about forgiveness, self-worth, loving himself and loving others through the example of his “mother” and “brother.”
Though this book is written from a Christian perspective and teaches Biblical values, I imagine a “non-believer” would enjoy and learn from it. It is a powerful story I plan to pass along to many of my reader friends.
Monday, June 20, 2011
"Daddy Dates" by Greg Wright--A Booksneeze Review
*I received this book for free from www.booksneeze.com and am not obligated in any way to provide a positive review.
The book "Daddy Dates" by Greg Wright was a pleasure to read. It gave practical ideas on how fathers can "date" their daughters in an attempt to know their dreams, hearts and personalities. This book is subtitled "Four Daughters, One Clueless Dad, and His Quest to Win Their Hearts." Part of his goal of "dating" his daughters was to model to them how they should expect to be treated as they began dating other men as they grew into women.
I appreciate Greg Wright's insights as to how he approached his daughters as they began their "dating" relationship. He sat them down to explain what he wanted to do to get to know them on a more personal level. Then he calls each of them on the phone and asks them out on a date. He lets them know what time he will pick them up (and comes to their door and rings the doorbell, he does not just sit in the car and honk) and what activity they will do together so they know what to wear. He tries to think of "dating activities" that are individual to each daughter, according to what she is interested in.
He makes sure to show his daughters "gentlemanly" things like bringing flowers for them and opening the car doors for them. He wants his daughters to learn to expect to be treated as the special women they are as they enter into the "real world" of dating.
I love this father's ideas and creativity about connecting with his daughters. I also love that this father loves his daughters so much that he is willing to invest so much time building a relationship with them. His daughters appreciate it too. The daughters state in the book their friends wish they had a relationship as close as theirs.
Although this book is geared toward fathers developing a relationship with their daughters, I would recommend this book to any parent. Mothers can use some of the same concepts while building a relationship with their children as this father did with his daughters.
If you have the opportunity to read this book, take it.
The book "Daddy Dates" by Greg Wright was a pleasure to read. It gave practical ideas on how fathers can "date" their daughters in an attempt to know their dreams, hearts and personalities. This book is subtitled "Four Daughters, One Clueless Dad, and His Quest to Win Their Hearts." Part of his goal of "dating" his daughters was to model to them how they should expect to be treated as they began dating other men as they grew into women.
I appreciate Greg Wright's insights as to how he approached his daughters as they began their "dating" relationship. He sat them down to explain what he wanted to do to get to know them on a more personal level. Then he calls each of them on the phone and asks them out on a date. He lets them know what time he will pick them up (and comes to their door and rings the doorbell, he does not just sit in the car and honk) and what activity they will do together so they know what to wear. He tries to think of "dating activities" that are individual to each daughter, according to what she is interested in.
He makes sure to show his daughters "gentlemanly" things like bringing flowers for them and opening the car doors for them. He wants his daughters to learn to expect to be treated as the special women they are as they enter into the "real world" of dating.
I love this father's ideas and creativity about connecting with his daughters. I also love that this father loves his daughters so much that he is willing to invest so much time building a relationship with them. His daughters appreciate it too. The daughters state in the book their friends wish they had a relationship as close as theirs.
Although this book is geared toward fathers developing a relationship with their daughters, I would recommend this book to any parent. Mothers can use some of the same concepts while building a relationship with their children as this father did with his daughters.
If you have the opportunity to read this book, take it.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Booksneeze Review: Unsinkable by Abby Sunderland and Lynn Vincent
*I received this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program in exchange for my unbiased review.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book "Unsinkable, A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas" written by Abby Sunderland and Lynn Vincent.
Normally, I prefer to read fiction, however, I enjoyed this book cover to cover. The authors wrote it from three different "voices" as indicated by icons (described in the authors' note in the beginning), Abby's voice, a Narrator's voice and those involved in Abby's rescue effort's voice.
While reading "Unsinkable" I appreciated the Sunderland family's faith and that prayer was a regular part of their daily lives.
Although Abby is a teenager (just 16) she showed great maturity before and during her attempt to circumnavigate the earth. I was constantly amazed at her positive attitude and "get it done" attitude throughout the book. During one particularly hard night of sailing, she described the situation this way:
"Whenever frustration started sniffing around inside me, I shut it off like a light switch. I am where I am and this is what it is, I told myself. You can either suck it up and work the problem or hand steer to the nearest land."
I also appreciated Abby's attitude toward handling the publicity and media attention her trip gathered. She handled criticism without bitterness or anger towards those who said it. I appreciated her answering questions from reporters with honesty. Abby realized she could not please everyone and did not try. She chose to focus on what she was best at: sailing.
Throughout the book, Abby speaks about her family and parents with great respect. It sounds like she has a great relationship with her dad and mom. Her parents raised her to be independent and hard working.
I loved this paragraph towards the middle of the book:
"It seems like people my age are over-protected today. Even to the point where a lot of parents refuse to put their kids in the position to make important decisions, to aspire to great things, because they don't want to put them in a position to fail. I mean, there are all these minivans driving down the road with bumper stickers that say, 'My child was Student of the Week at Smith Elementary,' or whatever. But guess what? Every child gets to be student of the week. It's like we, as kids, aren't expected or required to reach higher, to be different, to do anything special in order to get some kind of warm, fuzzy award. It's just weird."
I love that type of attitude toward raising children.
When Abby comes home, she realizes, "I am not the same person who set sail from Marina del Rey on January 23, 2010." She learned from her mistakes and grew up during those months at sea.
She goes on to say, "Alone with myself at sea for months, I learned who I am. I made some mistakes, but survived them and learned. I am twelve thousand miles wiser, twelve thousand miles more resilient, and I have twelve thousand miles more faith in God."
Thank you Abby Sutherland and Lynn Vincent for sharing this story with the world. Thank you for showing that young people can do amazing things and that God can use their stories to impact people all over the world. Even though Abby's attempt at circumnavigating the world solo unassisted was not technically a success, she is proof that God can use even those "failures" for good.
I would highly recommend this book to any reader. Although this is a book about a Christian girl raised by Christian parents, it is not "overloaded" with religious talk. Her faith shines through as she describes her days at sea, but not in a way that even a non-believer would find offensive.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book "Unsinkable, A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas" written by Abby Sunderland and Lynn Vincent.
Normally, I prefer to read fiction, however, I enjoyed this book cover to cover. The authors wrote it from three different "voices" as indicated by icons (described in the authors' note in the beginning), Abby's voice, a Narrator's voice and those involved in Abby's rescue effort's voice.
While reading "Unsinkable" I appreciated the Sunderland family's faith and that prayer was a regular part of their daily lives.
Although Abby is a teenager (just 16) she showed great maturity before and during her attempt to circumnavigate the earth. I was constantly amazed at her positive attitude and "get it done" attitude throughout the book. During one particularly hard night of sailing, she described the situation this way:
"Whenever frustration started sniffing around inside me, I shut it off like a light switch. I am where I am and this is what it is, I told myself. You can either suck it up and work the problem or hand steer to the nearest land."
I also appreciated Abby's attitude toward handling the publicity and media attention her trip gathered. She handled criticism without bitterness or anger towards those who said it. I appreciated her answering questions from reporters with honesty. Abby realized she could not please everyone and did not try. She chose to focus on what she was best at: sailing.
Throughout the book, Abby speaks about her family and parents with great respect. It sounds like she has a great relationship with her dad and mom. Her parents raised her to be independent and hard working.
I loved this paragraph towards the middle of the book:
"It seems like people my age are over-protected today. Even to the point where a lot of parents refuse to put their kids in the position to make important decisions, to aspire to great things, because they don't want to put them in a position to fail. I mean, there are all these minivans driving down the road with bumper stickers that say, 'My child was Student of the Week at Smith Elementary,' or whatever. But guess what? Every child gets to be student of the week. It's like we, as kids, aren't expected or required to reach higher, to be different, to do anything special in order to get some kind of warm, fuzzy award. It's just weird."
I love that type of attitude toward raising children.
When Abby comes home, she realizes, "I am not the same person who set sail from Marina del Rey on January 23, 2010." She learned from her mistakes and grew up during those months at sea.
She goes on to say, "Alone with myself at sea for months, I learned who I am. I made some mistakes, but survived them and learned. I am twelve thousand miles wiser, twelve thousand miles more resilient, and I have twelve thousand miles more faith in God."
Thank you Abby Sutherland and Lynn Vincent for sharing this story with the world. Thank you for showing that young people can do amazing things and that God can use their stories to impact people all over the world. Even though Abby's attempt at circumnavigating the world solo unassisted was not technically a success, she is proof that God can use even those "failures" for good.
I would highly recommend this book to any reader. Although this is a book about a Christian girl raised by Christian parents, it is not "overloaded" with religious talk. Her faith shines through as she describes her days at sea, but not in a way that even a non-believer would find offensive.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Booksneeze Review: Eat Your Peas Daughter by Cheryl and Mom Karpen
*I received this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program in exchange for my unbiased review.
This is an adorable book that takes 5 minutes or less to read. The cover is bright pink and yellow, and screams "pick me up!"
Just like the subtitle says, "A little wisdom and a lasting promise!" this book looks to be a great way to communicate to your daughter what she means to you.
Each two page layout features simple yet pretty artwork by Sandy Fougner. And a simple message, usually a couple of sentences long, written in beautiful script-style font.
A few of my favorite pages include messages like "May I always know when to give you room to wander and wings to fly," "Life is filled with choices. Choose carefully," or "Whether on the sidelines or in my heart, I will always be the one cheering the loudest for you."
The back of the book has a few pages for explaining the reason the author originally wrote the series. The "Eat Your Peas" collection includes the following titles:
Eat Your Peas for Mom
Eat Your Peas Faithfully
Eat Your Peas Girlfriend
Eat Your Peas Faithfully, Love Mom
Eat Your Peas for Young Adults
I could imagine giving this book, or others in the collection as gifts to special people in my life. It is a sweet little book that anyone would enjoy receiving.
I especially appreciated the artwork and cute fonts the sentiments were written in.
This is an adorable book that takes 5 minutes or less to read. The cover is bright pink and yellow, and screams "pick me up!"
Just like the subtitle says, "A little wisdom and a lasting promise!" this book looks to be a great way to communicate to your daughter what she means to you.
Each two page layout features simple yet pretty artwork by Sandy Fougner. And a simple message, usually a couple of sentences long, written in beautiful script-style font.
A few of my favorite pages include messages like "May I always know when to give you room to wander and wings to fly," "Life is filled with choices. Choose carefully," or "Whether on the sidelines or in my heart, I will always be the one cheering the loudest for you."
The back of the book has a few pages for explaining the reason the author originally wrote the series. The "Eat Your Peas" collection includes the following titles:
Eat Your Peas for Mom
Eat Your Peas Faithfully
Eat Your Peas Girlfriend
Eat Your Peas Faithfully, Love Mom
Eat Your Peas for Young Adults
I could imagine giving this book, or others in the collection as gifts to special people in my life. It is a sweet little book that anyone would enjoy receiving.
I especially appreciated the artwork and cute fonts the sentiments were written in.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Booksneeze Review: Seek Me With All Your Heart by Beth Wiseman
*I received this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program in exchange for my unbiased review.
This was an excellent book about Amish life. I love fiction and this one did not disappoint. It was filled with humor, love, faith and family.
There are times when books about Amish life seem so "unrealistic" to me. Probably only because I know nothing about Amish life personally, only what I read in books. The thing I really appreciated about Beth Wiseman's book was that I could imagine these families as real people. People who were trying to live out their faith in their daily lives. People who love their families and friends. But even more, I could picture them as people who have struggles just like me. Or people who face difficult situations or are forced to make hard decisions. Just like me.
In the book two of the main characters develop an unlikely friendship with an "Englischer" that is encouraging and enlightening. The characters are faced with issues such as relationships with difficult people, romance, death of a loved one, rape and health issues.
For me, there are times when books about the Amish make the people in them seem almost inhuman. Like maybe because of their lifestyle they don't face the issues that other "real" people face.
Not so with this book. I found it's story refreshing and enjoyed it from beginning to end. I look forward to reading books by Beth Wiseman in the future.
This was an excellent book about Amish life. I love fiction and this one did not disappoint. It was filled with humor, love, faith and family.
There are times when books about Amish life seem so "unrealistic" to me. Probably only because I know nothing about Amish life personally, only what I read in books. The thing I really appreciated about Beth Wiseman's book was that I could imagine these families as real people. People who were trying to live out their faith in their daily lives. People who love their families and friends. But even more, I could picture them as people who have struggles just like me. Or people who face difficult situations or are forced to make hard decisions. Just like me.
In the book two of the main characters develop an unlikely friendship with an "Englischer" that is encouraging and enlightening. The characters are faced with issues such as relationships with difficult people, romance, death of a loved one, rape and health issues.
For me, there are times when books about the Amish make the people in them seem almost inhuman. Like maybe because of their lifestyle they don't face the issues that other "real" people face.
Not so with this book. I found it's story refreshing and enjoyed it from beginning to end. I look forward to reading books by Beth Wiseman in the future.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Booksneeze Review: Fasting by Scot McKnight & Phyllis Tickle
Fasting
The Ancient Practices
By Scot McKnight, Phyllis Tickle
*I received this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program in exchange for my unbiased review.
Though I hate to admit, I struggled my way through this book, cover to cover. Not necessarily because of it's content, but because I am a lover of FICTION. So,anytime I read anything but fiction, it is a struggle for me to complete it.
I requested this book because I feel very uneducated on Spiritual Fasting.
This book did a good job of explaining some of the different reasons people fast,and how sometimes those reasons are not why it was taught in the Bible.
The recurring statement in the book "Fasting is the natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous sacred moment in life," made complete sense as the authors explained different elements of fasting.
I appreciated how the author explained the difference between "abstinence" (the choice not to eat or drink specifice items even though one is still eating and drinking other items) "fasting" (the choice not to eat or drink for a specific period) and "dieting" (the choice not to eat or drink various items for heath reasons).
I also appreciated how the author made it clear that fasting should be a response to a certain event (such as sin, death, impending disease, the lack of justice). The author was clear that Biblical fasting was not about trying to get something from the fast. "fasting isn't a manipulative tool that guarantees results." (page xix) "Fasting is a response to a sacred moment, not an instrument designed to get desired results." (page xix) For example, fasting for the health of others is not about showing God that you really "mean" what you are praying, but responding to the grievous event (the disease).
In the beginning of the book, the author also spent some time explaining that fasting is "whole-body stuff." He explains that Westerners sometimes have a hard time with dualism. Dualism can occur when we don't see a connection between our physical bodies & our spiritual bodies. "Biblical fasting is about joining the material to the immaterial, the body to the sould, the body to the spirit in a unified, organic act," (page 17). I liked how the author explained that "Fasting is the expression of the whole person, and when the whole person is united within itself, fasting is natural," page 18.
All in all, this book was informative. It was a little above my head at times, and used terminology that wasn't always easy to understand. Personally I don't see it as a "pick up & read in a night" or "couldn't put it down" kind of book. However, as a tool to study about what the Bible says about fasting, this book hit the mark.
The Ancient Practices
By Scot McKnight, Phyllis Tickle
*I received this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program in exchange for my unbiased review.
Though I hate to admit, I struggled my way through this book, cover to cover. Not necessarily because of it's content, but because I am a lover of FICTION. So,anytime I read anything but fiction, it is a struggle for me to complete it.
I requested this book because I feel very uneducated on Spiritual Fasting.
This book did a good job of explaining some of the different reasons people fast,and how sometimes those reasons are not why it was taught in the Bible.
The recurring statement in the book "Fasting is the natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous sacred moment in life," made complete sense as the authors explained different elements of fasting.
I appreciated how the author explained the difference between "abstinence" (the choice not to eat or drink specifice items even though one is still eating and drinking other items) "fasting" (the choice not to eat or drink for a specific period) and "dieting" (the choice not to eat or drink various items for heath reasons).
I also appreciated how the author made it clear that fasting should be a response to a certain event (such as sin, death, impending disease, the lack of justice). The author was clear that Biblical fasting was not about trying to get something from the fast. "fasting isn't a manipulative tool that guarantees results." (page xix) "Fasting is a response to a sacred moment, not an instrument designed to get desired results." (page xix) For example, fasting for the health of others is not about showing God that you really "mean" what you are praying, but responding to the grievous event (the disease).
In the beginning of the book, the author also spent some time explaining that fasting is "whole-body stuff." He explains that Westerners sometimes have a hard time with dualism. Dualism can occur when we don't see a connection between our physical bodies & our spiritual bodies. "Biblical fasting is about joining the material to the immaterial, the body to the sould, the body to the spirit in a unified, organic act," (page 17). I liked how the author explained that "Fasting is the expression of the whole person, and when the whole person is united within itself, fasting is natural," page 18.
All in all, this book was informative. It was a little above my head at times, and used terminology that wasn't always easy to understand. Personally I don't see it as a "pick up & read in a night" or "couldn't put it down" kind of book. However, as a tool to study about what the Bible says about fasting, this book hit the mark.
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