Fierce Woman: The Power Of A Soft Warrior | Book Review

Want a better marriage.....Here's the book for that.

What do you think about when you hear the word fierce?  To me things like annoying, aggressive, and intense come to mind.   Does fierce have any place in a Godly woman’s life?  I didn't think so but, contrary to popular belief it does and in her book, Fierce Women: The Power Of A Soft Warrior, Kimberly Wagner shows us how fierce can work in your life to make you a strong woman of God and how it can go drastically wrong.

When thinking about being Biblical, I think about being a doormat, church mouse or just otherwise non-extant.  Biblical never equaled fierce, in my opinion, until now.  Wagner shows us how we can be a Godly woman, help our husbands the way we were intended to, and still be fierce.  Sounds great to me and it is.  Now, there are some drawbacks or should I say words of caution.

Wagner informs us there is a right and wrong way to be fierce.  There are what she calls “The Deadly Three” and “The Life-Giving Trio.”  These are the three character traits that can either make you a destructively fierce woman or beautifully fierce one. 

Through the sharing of her own life story about her marriage she shows us how to become a beautifully fierce woman and turn away from our old ways, casting off the three deadly traits so that we may help our husbands be the men of God that they were intended to be. 

At the end of the chapter Wagner has questions for you to get you thinking about yourself and your marriage.  I love what she has named them.  They are called “Heart Issues.”  She couldn’t have picked a better name for those.  They really do touch your heart and make you reflect on what kind of fierce woman you are.  Reflection upon our hearts is what can really change us.

Becoming amazing women will teach our future generations that it's ok to be Godly and still be strong.  We need to show our daughters that we can still be strong women but, know when and how to be fierce.  If there is one thing that I can do for my daughter it will be to teach her how to be a beautifully fierce Biblical woman.  I pray that this book can help me to do that.  Marriage has taken a wrong turn and, with this book as a guide, we can put marriage back where it belongs...A top priority!
 
*I received this book complimentary from the publisher for the purpose of this review.*

The Respect Dare | Book Review

I am all for new books that can help improve my marriage but, The Respect Dare by Nina Roesner wasn’t on of them. 

Roesner has a great setup with this book breaking it into 40 chapters where you read a chapter a day.  Inside each chapter she starts off with a Bible verse then communicates what the purpose of this day is, offers up a relevant story, and finished with questions to help you with further introspection.  With the chapters being a few pages long this book is a quick read.  It’s not meant to take up a lot of your day. 

The basic premise of this book is that…you require love from your husband and he requires respect.   This fairly easy to figure out but, when you are getting caught up in all the stories that she includes it’s easy to get bored.  I feel that the stores, while showing an example of what Roesner is trying to say, are a little over done.  There is a new story for each day.  If they were just sprinkled throughout they would be less distracting.

While the personal stories are an issue I have with this book, there is one more item that makes this a book I won’t be reading again.  Roesner is constantly talking about a group called “Daughters of Sarah.”  This group is run by the author and costs quite a bit to enroll.  I felt like Roesner was just trying to sell me on enrolling in her group the whole time. 

This book might be right for someone else but, it just wasn’t a fit for myself and my marriage.  When I am looking for a book to keep my marriage strong and faithful, I don’t want it to be a sales pitch. 

* I received this book complimentary from the publisher for the purpose of this review.*

Parenting With Scripture | Book Review

Parenting With Scripture by Kara Durbin is a wonderful resource book that every Christian family should have. 

I know there are times when I want to teach my children about a certain subject and I am not quite sure which Bible verse I need, this book makes up for the lack of knowledge that I have in that area.  Durbin has written the book so that it’s easy to find what topic you are looking for by offering them in alphabetical order.  

Each topic starts with a definition of the topic you are looking up.  She defines the topic so you don’t have to get a dictionary out and look it up if your child doesn’t know the meaning.  Then she goes on to offer numerous Bible verses that are related to the topic. 

What I love about this book is that after you get the definition of the topic and the Bible verses to help reinforce it Durbin doesn’t stop there.  She offers you discussion points and questions that can start a conversation with your kids or just get them thinking.    She then offers a “Take Action” section to implement the teaching you and your child just learned.   Occasionally there will be parenting tips along the way. 

I feel that this book is going to make teaching my children about the Bible and God’s teachings a little easier since it’s just a page turn away from having the right scripture verse to use in ANY situation. 

*I received a copy of this book complimentary from the publisher for the purpose of this review.*

Emmy Rossum Sentimental Journey | Album Review

Emmy Rossum is a woman of many talents.  Not only is she an incredible actress (staring in the Showtime series Shameless with William H. Macy.) but, she has a wonderful, whimsical, voice.  Her new album, Sentimental Journey, released on January 29th, is a collection of classic covers that takes us through the American Songbook. 

There are 12 classics on this album, with my favorite being Pretty Paper.  The album has a 1940's feel.  I felt like I was sitting in a club listening to the beautiful singer up on stage and I loved that about this album.  The songs go from slow ballads to quick, up-temp, get up and dance. 

Rossum was taking the tracks of her "passion project" and corresponding with each month of the year.  They had to feel right and fit with that time of year.  Sometimes they weren't a literal fit.  

"Each song needed to either lyrically or emotionally reflect the corresponding month," Emmy explained. "Some songs were obvious fits, like Summer Wind for June, and Pretty Paper for December. Others songs were less literal fits. I chose Nobody Knows You (When You're Down and Out) for September because, to me, the plaintive melody and lyric emotionally reflect the cold weather creeping in and the sense of melancholy we can get in the fall months."

 If you would like to see the music video for "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" go here.

Sentimental Journey Track Listing:

    “Sentimental Journey” (Les Brown, Ben Homer, Arthur Green)
    “The Object Of My Affection” (Pinky Tomlin)
    “I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover “(Mort Dixon, Harry M. Woods)
    “These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)” (Eric Maschwitz, Jack Strachey)
    “(I’ll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time” (Albert Von Tilzer, Neville Fleeson)
    “Summer Wind” (Heinz Meier, Johnny Mercer)
    “Many Tears Ago” (Winfield Scott)
    “All I Do Is Dream Of You” (Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed)
    “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” (Jimmy Cox)
    “Autumn Leaves” (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert)
    “Things” (Bobby Darin)
    “Pretty Paper” (Willie Nelson)

To buy this album

iTunes

Amazon

I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

5 Days to a Clutter-Free House: Quick, Easy Ways to Clear Up Your Space | Book Review

Everyone knows of the show “Hoarders.”  Houses full of stuff that never gets used and just piles up creating a chaotic life.  Now, we don’t all have the chance to have a team full of people to come clean and organize our houses for us in a matter of a few day but, thanks to Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims and their new book, 5 Days to a Clutter-Free House: Quick, Easy Ways to Clear Up Your Space, we can come as close as possible to the show without the camera crew.

Now, I am not saying that everyone that has a disorganized house would need to have a show crew come and clean their house or that your house is even that bad.  I am saying that this book works along the same lines.  At least on the “team” part.

Their plan is simple and the name is catchy.  Felton and Marsha call their organization plan Mount Rushmore Method.  As they say in the book:

 “The ‘rush’ indicates that the plan calls for the house to be cleared up quickly, in five days of activity.  The ‘more’ part of Rushmore indicates that it takes more than one person to execute this plan.”

So…there you have it.  Clean house in 5 days and a team to work with.  Sounds like your own reality TV show minus all the cameras. 

The method is easy to understand as they break the house up into different sections for each day.  They compare these sections to parts of the body.  On day 1 you would work on everything in your house from the feet to the knees, meaning that anything from the floor up to the low surfaces of your house.  Day 2 would be from the knees to the shoulders, which is anything from low surfaces to the height up to your shoulders, slowly working your way up to throughout the 5 days.

Now that you know the method and how it works you will need to assemble your team.  They even offer you help with that.  There is a sample invitation included in the text and a few pointers to help you find the team that is right for you. 

The book doesn’t stop with just getting your house clean and organized.  The last few chapters offer help with keeping it that way.  The chapters include information about time management, taking care of your family and, of course, taking care of your house. 

This is a great book for starting off your spring cleaning.  There are checklists and tons of tips throughout the book and stories from others that have accomplished what you want to.  So, get ready to get ALL of your spring cleaning done in just 5 days.  Start planning now!



Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

*I receive a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review*

Beautiful Girl:Celebrating the Wonders of Your Body | Book Review

Beautiful Girl: Celebrating the Wonders of Your Body by Christine Northrup with Kristina Tracy is a wonderful book to help our young girls see just how special they are and counteract everything they are constantly seeing modern day media.

Christine and Tracy add another glorious book to their resumes with this story that will teach young girls that they are special. She begins the book with a letter to the parents.  I love this for the simple fact that she addresses why she wrote this book and how it will help raise girls.

Today's society always tells us what is wrong with us and as a mother of a girl I am always trying to show her what is right about her.  Especially when it comes to her body.  Christine, in the letter to the parents, talks about how she has spent her career helping other women but she has realized that "...the most important part of a woman's health is her attitude about her body."  Now, I know I can totally relate to that sentence.  The things is...I don't want my daughter to be able to relate.  I want to stop that issue before it ever becomes a problem.  Thus enters, Beautiful Girl.

They start the story by talking about how lucky you are being born a girl and that you possess special gifts. They go on to talk about how a girls body changes and blossoms into something greater.  They compare a girls body to a garden and how everything in nature is perfect and will bloom in its own time.

I like that they don't discredit boys in this book even thought its all about how special you are as a girl.  They say that boys have their own special gifts as well.

As my daughter is still young I feel this book is a little too much for my girl.  She is just above preschool age but, this would be a wonderful book for a girl approaching her tween years.  Wonderful book for a school age girl just starting to become more aware of her body.

This would make a wonderful gift for your daughter for Valentine's Day.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.*

God Gave Us Easter | Book Review

The true meaning of Easter....

Kids are so used to having the Easter bunny, egg hunts and all the candy involved with Easter.  If you are a Christian family then you also have the TRUE meaning of Easter...Jesus' resurrection.   But, where does Easter come from???

In Lisa Tawn Bergren's new book God Gave Us Easter she explain to children where Easter comes from.  

Little Cub is back to celebrate another holiday.  This time it's Easter.  To help him along his journey on where Easter came from is his papa.  Of course like every little kid, Little Cub loves all the secular things about Easter...the Easter eggs, Easter bunny and candy.  Papa explains how all those things are to show us the happy surprises in the morning.  Like the resurrection of Jesus.  

Little Cub and Papa go on a hike and while they are traveling along they are talking about various aspects of Easter such as the death of Jesus (fallen tree), his resurrection (new baby trees), and how Jesus & God keep their promises (a rainbow.) Papa was also talking about how he talks to Jesus and Jesus talks back.  Little Cub couldn't understand how Papa could hear Jesus with his heart and not his ears but learns to listen with his heart along the way and goes to bed with a new found feeling of love.

This book is a wonderful addition to the God Gave Us series and I think it has to be my favorite one.  Bergren talks about some very touchy issues that are hard to explain to children.  I actually fear talking to my children about the resurrection of Jesus because He died and death scares children.  This book will make it a lot easier to start that conversation with my children since Little Cub and Papa were talking about how Little Cub was afraid of death.  I feel that they will have a feeling of understanding, knowing the main character of this story is feeling exactly how they are.  

I HIGHLY recommend this book to families of children preschool ages and even though 5-6th grade. It's perfect for all.  It might help start a conversation that would otherwise be hard.  The conversation about death.  

*I was given a complimentary copy from the publisher for the purpose of this review.*