Book Review - Unglued Devotional

Unglued Devotional by Lysa Terkeurst was an enjoyable and easy read. Each day begins with a verse and a thought for the day, then followed by a short couple of pages of a related personal story from the author.

The stories were easy to relate to and great reminders that all mothers have 'those days'. One of my favorite days was Day 11 and I thought the thought for the day was perfect - Feelings are indicators, not dictators.

Though the devotionals were not overly deep, I would recommend the book for any other mom in the day to day trenches.

I received the book through Booksneeze's blogger review program in exchange for an honest review.

God bless!

Book Review - Fully Alive

Ken Davis's book Fully Alive is his journey to live fully alive again. He shares his personal journey of losing weight and investing more time in friendships and how along his journey he renewed his relationship with Christ.

There are bits of humor throughout the book as well as a healthy dose of inspiration. I found it to be an easy read, yet still did pull a few good nuggets of inspiration from it.

I like that he shared to start you just need to get moving and take it one step at a time...which can be hard for those perfectionists out there. After all, Jesus wants all His children to step from the wilderness of mediocrity onto the path of living fully alive. (pg 8)

I received this book from Booksneeze's blogger program in exchange for an honest review.

God bless!

Book Review - Heaven in Her Arms

I received Heaven in Her Arms by Catherine Hickem through BookSneeze's blogger review program. I received the book for free and the following opinions are my own.

To start with, I actually never finished reading this book. I wanted to like this book, but had a hard time getting through it. I requested the book thinking I would get more of a biography / inside look at Mary. The book is more the author's attempt to relate Mary's life to the modern mom.

Each chapter starts with a scripture reference in regards to Mary and then goes on to relate the scripture to today and real mom experiences. I felt like the author really tried to stretch the conection. I would have liked a lot more scripture and less of the author's thoughts. I had a hard time following the flow of each chapter. They seems to wander off the actual scripture reference at the beginning of the chapter.

God bless!

Books Anyone?

I'm attempting to do some clutter clearing around here and have started to go through my book shelves. I have a few books pulled out to go to new homes as of now. If you are interested in any of the the following, let me know and they will be yours. I'll even cover the shipping if needed.

Fresh-Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn

God Allows U-Turns for Women by Allison Bottke

The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson

The Lucado Inspiration Reader - Max Lucado

My First Read & Learn Bible


God bless -

Cookbook Review - Farm Fresh Southern Cooking

I love books in general, but am very fond of cookbooks. Farm Fresh Southern Cooking by Tammy Algood did not disappoint. It is chalk full of beautiful photos and what look like yummy recipes. I'm sure it would be more suited for the southern cook who would have more year-round access to fresh produce, but there are recipes for everyone in there.

I can't wait to try a wide range of recipes once I have more local fresh produce available to me. Some that I have marked to try include ~

Hot Bacon Dressing over Wilted Greens
Y'all Come Pecan Brussels Sprouts
Florida Sunshine Glazed Rutabagas
Divine from the Vine Tomato Sauce

Later this week, I'm going to make the Fall Squash and Sausage Soup...I have some squash from last fall saved away in the freezer.

Beautiful book that any home cook can find inspiration in.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Book Sneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

God bless -

Book Review - The Good Wife's Guide

I'm not sure how I originally found Darlene's blog - Time-Warp Wife - but I've been reading and gaining inspiration and help for some time now, so when I had the opportunity to review her new book I jumped at the chance. I received a PDF file of The Good Wife's Guide : Embracing Your Role as a Help Meet by Darlene Schacht from the author for an honest review.

I found the book to be a quick read and filled with great information and inspiration to better equip me to be a better wife to my dear husband. The first parts of the book deal with life issues and our own heart and the second parts go into practical applications in regards to keeping a home. All of this done with Biblical references and insight.

I loved the reminder in chapter 6 that God equips those He calls and that my calling is to be a keeper of my home. I don't have to be perfect but it's about being a gift to my family and my small sacrifices for my family and to the Lord should be done with a willing, cheerful heart.

It was also nice to see her cleaning schedules and deep cleaning checklists in the second part of the book. I had looked over her schedules in the past on her website, but the inclusion in the book was a great reminder that I need to be more mindful of keeping a better schedule in regards to some of those cleaning tasks.

I really enjoyed this book and love that Darlene is a down-to-earth mom, wife and homemaker like a lot of us. She is not perfect and she doesn't pretend to be.

A couple of points I found myself underlining as I read.....

Everything that I present to my family is a reflection of my heart. I can either show them I value them by giving of myself with joy, or I can do it begrudgingly because it's something that has to be done.


True love is giving without expecting return. It doesn't keep track of wrong doings. It doesn't expect perfection, and allows room for fault. It plants gardens where brick walls have once stood. True love is painful and pleasant, while perfect in every way. It's grace in action.


You can get your Kindle copy of The Good Wife's Guide on Amazon.com right now for just $2.99.  And it looks like a paperback version will be available in April.

Darlene's Blog - Time-Warp Wife
Darlene's Facebook Page - Time-Warp Wife on Facebook

God bless -

Book Review: Moments of Truth by John MacArthur

Day by day, MacArthur quotes Scripture and helps us apply it to our lives with eye-opening lessons and probing questions that are relevant to the season. (from the back of the book)

Moments of Truth: Unleashing God's Word One Day at a Time is a brand new devotional by John MacArthur. The book is arranged with daily readings and arranged in monthly themes. For example, January is Beginnings, February is Love, May is Parenting, and June is Marriage, etc.

Each day starts with a piece of Scripture, then a short relevant story and ends with a thought provoking question that relates to that day's reading. For example, May 8th's scripture is Matthew 19:13 - Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray. And the question after the reading is - How are you pointing your children to the Savior?

The daily readings are short, but challenging. If you are looking for a devotional that will both encourage you and challenge you, I highly recommend Moments of Truth. I enjoyed it and look forward to spending more time reading through the daily devotional.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Book Sneeze, book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

God bless -

Max Lucado: The Lucado Inspirational Reader - Book Review

I recently received Max Lucado's The Lucado Inspirational Reader ~ Hope and Encouragement for Your Everyday Life to review. I'm a Max Lucado fan and have enjoyed other of his books I've read and I enjoyed this book as well.

The Inspirational Reader was perfect for me...a busy mom. It was easy to read just a few minutes and get something out of it, but flowed well that you could sit down and read a few chapters too. It is a collection of passages from other Lucado books with some just being a few lines and some a few pages. It is broke up into topics like comfort, faith, encouragement and forgiveness.

The topical index in the back is perfect when you want to look up just the right section of encouragement you may need that day.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.


God bless!

Fresh-Brewed Life - A Book Review

Anyone that knows me well, knows I have a love for books and love coffee. So, I jumped at the chance to read Nicole Johnson's Fresh-Brewed Life...a stirring invitation to wake up your soul. The cover is beautiful and I figured coffee references would be right up my alley.

I was disappointed. It seemed to take me forever to get through this book. It didn't seem to flow well and the chapters seemed too long.

The author did have some good things to share. I liked her emphasis on journaling and how important that could be as you go through life...both good and bad. I did like the directed journaling portions in each chapter and found them helpful to think more deeply on what the chapter was about and how it personally would fit into my life.

There were some interesting things included and I did underline a few things, but I can't see myself going back to it at all.
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
God bless!