Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are review

I've read one of Shauna Niequist's previous books, Bread and Wine, as part of the Bloom book club and it was a great book. I'm not always a huge fan of devotionals though so I was somewhat wary of reading this one. I kept seeing this book, Savor: LIving Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are, pop up in my social media feeds, Instagram and Twitter, via some of my favorite Christian authors, so, after much hesitation, I signed up to review this one.

It's perfect. The devotionals are short and sweet, not requiring that you go to your Bible to read verses or passages. (Which is something that bugs me about some other devotionals since I tend to read books and my Bible on my Kindle).

Each day start with a bold word, a Bible verse that reflects that word, then a short passage, and a reflection question/task. Every few days, there is a recipe included.

An example page:

It's great, honestly. If you like devotionals, if you have ever read one of Shauna's books, and if you like to cook, it's seriously perfect. 

I received this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest opinion.

Christy Nockels "Let It Be Jesus" Album review + giveaway

This album has already been on my regular rotation in the last 24 hours, I can't even explain how much I love it. I actually was not at all familiar with her music when I agreed to review it (sorry!) but I'm always on the look out for new Christian music to listen to that grabs me but doesn't sound like it could just be any pop song on the radio. Her voice is fantastic and the music sounds eclectic, I don't think I could place it in any one music genre, folk, country, pop, acoustic. It's just beautiful worship music that's so full of love for God.

You can get the album on iTunes, and various Christian bookstores. I plan on finding everything else she has recorded because I am now obsessed!

Tell me your favorite worship album for a chance to win a copy of this cd.

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Learning freedom from Perfection

This has been a hard lesson for me, but I think it is for any woman. We are driven to be perfect for all kinds of reasons. To please our family, our friends, teachers, significant others, church, job. 

If you've ever studied Psychology, there is a theory by a Psychologist named Alfred Adler called the Adlerian theory of Family Therapy. In it, he has a distinct idea of how birth order effects a person and is driven based on if they are an only child, oldest, middle, and youngest. I am a classic oldest child. My parents divorced when I was young, and I have a biological younger brother, two stepsisters (via my dad) and three half-sisters (via my mom). I don't see the latter much, but I definitely feel like I have to protect them and guide them a bit!

Trademarks of an oldest child are as follows (from the Adlerian.us site): Dethroned by next child. Has to learn to share. Parent expectations are usually very high. Often given responsibility and expected to set an example. May become authoritarian or strict. Feels power is his right. Can become helpful if encouraged. May turn to father after birth of next child.

Yep, I hit all of those growing up! I had great grades, college letters took over an entire storage bin, was a total daddy's girl, my sibling's activities always took precedence over mine, anything they did wrong, I was blamed for because I was the oldest "I should be a role model," I was involved in church usually going three days a week. So I was an over-achiever in every way, rule follower, all of that stuff.

As an adult, I've had to fight against this ideal for myself. My partner is a classic youngest child, so he and I have butted heads a bit on some things and it's an interesting dynamic (my son thinks it's hilarious). I've had to really think about some things, like "Am I doing this because I want to or am I doing this because I believe it's expected of me?"

A lot of what has helped me overcome this has been reading the Word. I find passages that tend to remind me that I should be doing what God wants me to do not what other people expect of me. 

Holley's book have helped a lot on this one for me as well. I've read most of them and am currently reading her latest You're Loved No Matter What: Freeing Your Heart from the Need to Be Perfect. The chapter on guilt hit me. I apologize for everything. I swear, every 20 words out of my mouth is "I'm sorry." It's horrible! And it's generally  not even something that is my fault. My boyfriend is great at trying to help me out of this bubble I've put myself in. Having been around my family for a while, he sees why it's happening and tries hard to make me see that the weight of the world is not on my shoulders. And actually, moving 4 hours away from my family has helped a great deal as they stress me out tremendously. 

I'm learning that I don't have to be perfect. I'm allowed to screw up. I bought a fitmob membership to force myself out of the house and to try new things and I'm terrified but I KNOW it will help. I can't be perfect at things I've never tried and don't really expect to (now watch me freak out when I go anyway). It can't be fixed in a day, or a week, or a month, but I can start putting the puzzle pieces together with prayer and guidance from God.

2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

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Review: God's Story in 66 verses

Stan Guthrie took on the task of finding one pivotal verse than encompasses each book of the Bible.  No easy feat and even he says that it was a daunting task. However, as someone who has not finished every book of the Bible, I thought it might be nice to at least have a general idea, summary of sorts, of each book so I had some context and this book definitely accomplished that.

In God's Story in 66 Verses, each book of the Bible is first presented by one verse that the author believes highlights the overall theme of the book. Then he goes on to give a bit of background information, how it connects to other books, who the author might be, as well a brief outline of the book. I had never come across a book like this before and when I saw it available on booklookbloggers, I wanted to give it a shot. 

While I don't believe it takes the place of actually reading the Bible in it's entirety, I do believe it would be great for new believers, or maybe believers who just want an overarching summary of books of the Bible that they may not be familiar with...yet. It's almost like a puzzle, putting the pieces together and showing how the books connect in a concise format. 

Overall, I have really enjoyed it and I plan on passing it on to other's who might benefit from it's use. 

I was given the opportunity to review this book on my own. All opinions are mine! 

A Year of Living Prayerfully

Jared “Jay” Brock definitely has a twisted sense of humor (I LOVE IT!) and is intelligent, and adventurous. He mentions in a few sections how some physical ailments prevent him from doing some things that he wants to do, however, he tries his best to get by. This, I can relate to. I’ve been dealing with chronic pain that has become degenerative, for the last 14 years or so.

In A Year of Living Prayerfully, he's gone around the world learning, and seeking, insight into prayer. I love how far he went in going around the world, getting down to the roots of it, even when it’s not necessarily a part of it he agrees with (such as Catholicism). He visited with Jewish rabbis, attended the largest church in the world (South Korea), went through some blizzard conditions to get to various places, may or may not have snuck into some sanctuaries...

Obviously, this book isn’t a book to teach you how to pray, to give you a step by step instruction, but it goes give you some ideas. Jay went around the world, to China, England, North and South Korea, and to places in Canada (his home country), and the United States to ask men of faith, how they pray and what prayer means to them. He met and had lunch with the Pope in Rome. Went to a men's only monastery island. He spent a year trying to deepen his own personal relationship with prayer, finding new ideas and outlets for prayer, and learning from others how they pray and what parts might work for him. His wife tagged along for some of these adventures, and you can read in his words that half the time she was super proud and excited by the changes these trips and events had made, in other ways, she was probably sighing and shaking her head in a "Oh Jay is being crazy again." 

So will it teach you how to pray? No. But it will give you ideas on how others around the world pray, why they pray, when they pray, and has a list in the back of some ideas that he learned while going around the world for his year of living prayerfully. I definitely took some ideas from it, such as writing down a list of those in my life who have yet to come to Jesus, and pray that they might come to know Him. I thought this was beautiful, and a way to remember all of those who you wish would come to know Him like you/we do. 

I received this book from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Lessons from a rescue pup

This is Whiskey, our rescue pup. We adopted her from a shelter last summer. I was not too excited about it. I love dogs, but I had never had an indoor dog before so I was hesitant.

I promise she likes the sweater, she was just in shock from it at first. Now she gets mad when we take it off. Her fur is so thin that she needs it whenever it's below 60.

She was timid, had been horribly abused with deep scars. You could see her ribs, she shied away and hid in corners of the apartment for a few weeks when we first got her. She doesn't bark, as that was apparently beaten out of her (she has barked a few times but it's so rare).

Now, as you can see above, she's a pretty happy, a little bit spoiled, pup. She's around 3 years old, weighs 30 pounds, and is the biggest cuddler. Most of the time at night, she launches herself under the blanket to curl up with me.

Why am I writing about her on a blog that is primarily focused on faith? This pup, who has been through such heart ache, is incredibly loving. She's not at all the same dog she was in June of last year. She runs up to you when you get home wagging her tail in excitement. Her favorite thing to do is to curl up on the couch with you and just be near you. So many of us, when we have had something horrific happen to us, can find no way to recover. We pray, but maybe we just have trouble ever believing everything can be okay so we half pray, in disbelief. We have let the bad take away all of the good that is in our lives. 

This dog has shown me much about forgiveness and love and grace. I earnestly believe we were meant to have this dog and she has been so therapeutic for me.

But she has also taught me about perfection. Is she the perfect dog? For us, yes, but to the hundreds of people who skipped over her because of her timidity, her scars, her weaknesses, no one was willing to give her a chance. I believe that God led us to adopt this sweet girl. I was literally pulled to getting her and we actually waited a month in between seeing her the first time, and adopting her. We have never regretted it (though I'm sometimes a little ornery when she throws up in the car on long trips...)

Since we've had her, my faith has grown enormously, tenfold easily, and I am constantly amazed with her unconditional love for us. Even when we leave her all day, or scold her for trying to steal food from the table (she begs and those sad eyes make it hard!) she comes running back to us no matter what. I think God's love is like that towards us. We may leave Him, we may think we don't need Him in that particular instance, we may not pray for months, but when we come back, He welcomes us with open arms.

The Set-Apart Woman Review

The Set-Apart Woman by Leslie Ludy

Leslie her husband are largely involved in ministry. They have 6 children, some adopted, some biological (I think) and live in Colorado. They have written several books, though this is the first I have read by either of them. 

This book made me uncomfortable. Not in a content driven way, but in a way Mom lecturing you after you KNOW you did something wrong and you know you are in trouble way. In a  “I know I should be doing this but…” It made me cringe at myself, at some of my actions, and thoughts, and it made me want to praise God even more. It also made me wonder if it was too extreme. 

Should we be living in the way that will help us now or in the after life with God? Well, the answer is obvious but it seems impossible to do so. The author sort of pops your hand and says “yeah, you know you can do this and you should do this and here are ways I made these changes.”

There are some parts of this book that definitely seemed rather severe to me. Such as a section later on in the book discussing social media, that everything in our online communications should be to edify your readers and to build up their faith in Jesus Christ as well as encouraging them spiritually. To quote, “If you online communications serve no eternal purpose, they become nothing more than time wasters and distractions, not only in your own life, but in the lives of those you are conversing with." It seems like she's saying "no don't post a ton of pics of your kids, don't complain about anything." It doesn't seem that realistic for most of us. A lot of us live far away from friends and family, and social media lets us see that we all have good and bad days. 

While there are extremes, the good information definitely outweighs them! On the whole, there are definitely parts of this book that I will try to actively add into my life. Especially to get up before my family to spend time with God in prayer, or in the Bible courtesy of Psalm 63:1 “You are my God; early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for You.”

" In a culture that promotes busyness and self-indulgence, many of us have adopted a lackadaisical mind-set toward our relationship with Christ. Few of us possess any lasting spiritual passion. And we don’t pursue it, because we don’t think it is possible to find it."

I think this is true for a lot of us. We aren't sure what we are doing and feel as though, because we don't know where to start or find it, that we just give up and don't pursue, or put much work into our relationship with Christ. I definitely feel more inclined to try harder regarding my spiritual life. I want a life that is meaningful to God, that guides me closer to him. 

Now, is the book REALLY that extreme or am I just a scaredy cat? Maybe a bit of both and I think it's more of the latter. I would recommend this book to other women for sure and plan on looking into her other books. Our lives should be more focused on God, our relationship with Him, and helping others build their relationship with Him. We may not be able to do this to the extent Leslie is, but we can form our own path and work on it the way that suits each of us.

She frequently mentions a website they run, ellerslie.com, for more information and videos, discussions, that are relevant to information in the book.