book review: "your heart's desire" by sheri rose shepherd

What caught my eye with this book was the cover. A good cover will definitely get my attention. Your Heart's Desire is written to several different groups of women. "For the married woman who desires more for her marriage. For the single woman who desires a godly man to love her. For the divorced woman who desires and deserves a second chance to find love again." Sheri spends fourteen chapters talking about some of the desires women have concerning love:

1. Desiring a "happily ever after"
2. Desiring a godly man to marry
3. Desiring to leave a legacy for my loved ones
4. Desiring God's design that me and my man become one
5. Desiring God to give me the power to remain pure
6. Desiring to give and receive love
7. Desiring to embrace my new life in Christ
8. Desiring to become a woman my man can lead
9. Desiring my son to grow to become a man of faith
10. Desiring a miracle to build a new foundation of love
11. Desiring expressions of love and romance in my marriage
12. Desiring to believe God can change a man and save a marriage
13. Desiring to glorify God by showing honor and respect
14. Desiring to surrender my whole heart to my Lord

Sheri also shares from her own marriage - the good and the bad. She does this in the hopes of letting God speak through her and help others. I read Sheri's book, His Princess: Love Letters From Your King a few years ago and was excited to find similar "love letters" at the end of each chapter in Your Heart's Desire. The only thing I would have liked was a little more attention given to single women, since that's the group I'm currently in. Overall, a book any woman can find something to apply in her life. 

I received a copy of this book from the Tyndale Blog Network for my honest review.

book review: "first things first" by kurt and brenda warner

Kurt and Brenda have one goal with their book “First Things First”: to let people know the “real” Kurt and Brenda and show that their life is fairly normal – or as normal as can be expected. Each chapter begins with Kurt talking about a subject and then Brenda gives her take on it. They wanted to take the time to clear up the rumors as to how they met, talk about how they run their household and how they make their marriage work. They both readily admit there’s not a perfect formula for how to be the best parents or how to have a happy marriage. But they’ve found out what works for them. Kurt and Brenda have rules for each other as well as for their children. One rule in their marriage is the importance of a weekly date nights and for Kurt spending time with his guy friends while Brenda spends time with her girl friends. Though they’ve had disagreements, their love for each other hasn’t wavered. He says when they have their date nights or take time away without the kids, he’s putting her first. “That’s what it means to love someone – it means to choose that person first over and over again.” Some of the Warner rules include sharing the favorite part of the day at dinner and having to hold hands with a sibling for ten minutes if unable to get along. Brenda shares her frustrations as a NFL wife and sharing Kurt with his fans. She talks about how when the family is out, Kurt is often approached for an autograph – it’s something she knows comes with the territory but she still struggles with. They talk about their faith and the role God plays in their lives. Kurt talks about what he’ll do after football and Brenda shares her hobbies outside of the home. Through it all, Kurt talks about how he wants Jesus’ love to shine through everything he says or does – with his family and on the field.

It was fun to take a peek into the lives of Kurt and Brenda Warner. I really liked hearing both of their sides on topics. I love how Kurt talks about Brenda – it’s so apparent how much he loves her. One thing he said stood out to me. He was talking about how he told her she was beautiful when her hair was a mess and she had on no makeup. “You’re such a freak,” she’ll say, because she’s always surprised that at the time she feels least attractive, I find her most beautiful.” It’s just so sweet to hear a guy make that effort. I also applaud his stand on his faith. He says, “I love that Jesus says we should love God so passionately. It’s not like some girly “let’s hold hands” kind of love; it’s full contact. Jesus wants us to love God with our entire being – our heart, soul and mind. That’s how I want to love him.” This was a really good read – made me laugh, made me tear up at times – definitely one I’d recommend.

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House and was not required to write a positive review.

book review: "lol with God" by pam farrel and dawn wilson

“LOL with God” is a devotional for women broken down into seventy-eight different “texts” from God to us. Each text begins with a scripture and ends with an “LOL” – a short real-life story to make you laugh. Some of the themes tackle singleness, stress and trusting God. One text titled “Connecting Dots” discusses the latter and really spoke to me in this season of my life: “We often get so focused on specific details that we can’t see the big picture. In our attempt to connect the dots of our circumstances, we may miss something more obvious that God is trying to show us…no matter our circumstances, God has a purpose behind each circumstance. We can trust Him because He knows how to connect the scattered dots in our lives.”

I enjoyed this book. It’s written with space for you to jot down thoughts as you read along. I felt as if each text was relevant to me and I could take something from each. I liked the humor incorporated throughout so it wasn’t too heavy of a read.

I received this book free from Tyndale House and was not required to write a positive review.

book review: "unburdened" by chris tiegreen

“I’ve often wondered what would happen if we followed their [Christian writers] counsel and simply let go of our concerns. Would the world fall apart? Would situations worsen because we aren’t stressed about them anymore? Would all of our dreams and desires fall into God’s trash pile if we were no longer pestering him about them? Why don’t we just “let go”? I don’t know. We would certainly lose a sense of control, but maybe that’s the point. Perhaps that’s our fundamental problem – our false sense of control. It’s an illusion, and it wreaks havoc on our sense of peace. But we desperately try to maintain it anyway. Why? Because we have a hard time trusting God.”

The above quote adequately sums up the message behind “Unburdened” by Chris Tiegreen. He attempts to tackle the issue of why we have such a hard time giving our “baggage” to God and being able to confidently leave it with Him. From the start, he admits that he’s the last person who should be writing a book about being worry-free and “at rest” with his life. “Apparently, God doesn’t think a discussion on “the unburdened life” is for people who are cruising. It’s for people who are weighed down and about to buckle.” Our lack of trust stems from our need for control. We have a hard time letting go and not trying to take it back. “Do you see the absurdity of our stress? We are very busy and anxious about the very things God has already said he’s taking care of. We are relentless in our pursuit of what he has already promised to deliver. We micromanage the concerns we’ve allegedly asked him to handle.”

I admit I’m one of those who pray about something and leave the issue with God but then try to go back and take it from Him. Somehow I’ve convinced myself I’ll do a better job of making it happen than God – an absolutely crazy notion I know but I’m not good at letting go. I like to plan and have things go the way I want them. God doesn’t have the same timetable as me and that fact is a little unnerving. But if I truly trust Him, I’ll be able to know His plans are infinitely better than mine. “Any stress about whether or not Jesus will take care of us is a stark rebuttal to his words. Somehow we got comfortable with being living contradictions: Christians who “believe” in the words of Jesus but worry anyway. That makes no sense.” So if we trust Him like we say we do, then we can leave it with Him. End of story.

To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.