‘Mornings with Jesus 2012: Daily Encouragement for Your Soul’ by Various Authors – Book Review and Book Giveaway

I can think of no better way to start your morning than to spend it with Jesus. ‘Morningswith Jesus 2012: Daily Encouragement for Your Soul’ offers a fantastic tool to help readers to grow closer to Him.

Here is the synopsis of this wonderful book:

        Invite Jesus into your Day.

“Be Still and Know That I am God” is one of the most beautiful verses from the Bible. But it’s not easy to practice in this busy world. Mornings with Jesus 2012 will help usher you into the quiet that you crave, where you can experience more of Jesus’ beautiful and powerful presence.

In a year’s worth of devotions, Mornings with Jesus 2012 offers a fresh perspective of who this Healer, Comforter, Good Shepherd and Son of God is, and gives a deeper understanding of what that means for you.

The warm and friendly voices of seven women reflect on the character and teachings of Jesus, and encourage you to draw near to Him and invite His presence, truth and relevance into your life. Each devotion includes a Scripture verse, an insightful reflection on Jesus’ words, wisdom, compassion and comfort, and a faith step that will inspire and challenge you.

Spend time with Jesus in the morning, and experience His nearness and peace throughout your day.

Here is a short biography of each author:

Judy Baer was born on a farm and grew up in the prairies of North Dakota. Judy is married, lives in Minnesota, and has two daughters and three stepchildren. She is the author of more than seventy-five books.

Gwen Ford Faulkenberry lives and writes in the mountains of Ozark, Arkansas. She and her husband, Stone, have three children. Gwen teaches English at Arkansas Tech University – Ozark Campus and is the author of two novels and three devotional books.

Tricia Goyer is a best-selling author who has written more than twenty-seven books. Tricia’s intention is to serve ordinary women by encouraging extraordinary things with God’s help. In addition to writing, she enjoys sharing Jesus’ love through volunteering as a mentor for teenage moms in her community and ministering in the Czech Republic on missions trips. Tricia and her husband, John, have four children and live in Arkansas.   

Sharon Hinck is a wife and mother of four, who loves spending mornings – and all day – with Jesus. She has a master of arts in communications and her award-winning novels explore ordinary women on extraordinary faith journeys.

Keri Wyatt Kent is the author of many devotionals, including Simple Compassion and Oxygen. She writes and speaks to help people slow down, simplify, and rest so that they can listen to God. She and her husband, Scot, live with their teenage son and daughter in Illinois.

Erin Keeley Marshall is the author of Navigating Route 20-Something and The Daily God Book. She was raised in Chicago’s western suburbs and graduated from Taylor University in Indiana. In her spare time, Erin enjoys exercise, outdoor activities, lake living, decorating, traveling, reading and hanging out with her husband, Steve, and their two children, Paxton and Calianne.

Camy Tang grew up in Hawaii and now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and her rambunctious mutt, Snickers. She is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads one of the Sunday worship teams. Camy has authored many novels.

I like to review devotional books by focusing on significant dates in my life – February 21 (my birthday), my anniversary (June 10), and my husband, Fred’s, birthday (June 12).

February 21’s devotion was written by Judy Baer and feature Hebrews 6:17-18. I love this paragraph:

In God there is no variation or shadow due to change. There are no discrepancies or inconsistencies in God. People are fickle, changeable and unpredictable, but God is exactly the opposite. He never changes or takes back His offer of grace and salvation. Difficult as it is to imagine this great generosity, we can hold it as true. God does not – cannot – renege on His promises. What a comfort that is. Our salvation does not depend on a fickle God but one whose promises endure forever. (p. 52)

That is one encouraging paragraph!

June 10 was written by one of my favorite authors, Tricia Goyer and features Luke 5:18-20, about the paralyzed man. This inspired Tricia to write about her friends and her Lord:

I know now that when I’m facing a struggle I don’t want anyone to know about, that’s the time I need to seek support from the people God has brought into my life. It’s hard to admit weakness, but true friends are those willing to carry us when we’re too weak to take a first step. (p. 162)

The Faith Step (which is included each day) for June 10 is very impactful – and wonderful advice:

Think of a private struggle you haven’t shared with your friends. Consider a way you can confess to them and ask them to help you find Jesus even in your weakness. (p. 162)

Tuesday, June 12 features Exodus 3:14: “I Am Who I Am” (NIV). Erin Keeley Marshall asks the question, ‘Who does God think He is anyway?’ She provides her answer to this question:

After spending thousands of years showing His awesome character, God the Father introduced His Son, Jesus, to the world. Jesus, in turn, proved that He is just like His Father – knowing exactly who He is and what He is about. He said He has the authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6), He would be in the grave for three days (Matthew 12:40), He commands angels (Matthew 13:41), He is the Messiah, the Son of God (Matthew 16:16-17), and He would rise from the dead (Luke 18:31-33).

Imagine if any Person of the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – were not wholeheartedly confident of His identity. What kind of God would He be? Not one we could trust, that’s for sure.

Today be confident that Jesus will continue to be Himself. (p. 164)

I love finding a worthwhile devotional book; ‘Mornings with Jesus 2012’ is certainly that. I encourage anyone to spend the rest of their mornings in 2012 with Jesus and this heartfelt and encouraging book.

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Guideposts and provided by them for review and giveaway purposes.

As part of the LitFuse blog tour, I have a copy of this wonderful devotional to give to one person! In order to enter, please leave a comment telling me if you’d keep for book for yourself or to whom you would gift the book.

Please make sure to leave your email address in this format – yourname at domain dot com.

The deadline to enter is Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.  The winner will be chosen by the Random Number Generator on Wednesday, February 29, 2012. The best to all of you!

‘God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway?’ by John C. Lennox – Book Review

One of the most important scientists over the last several decades is Stephen Hawking, who recently wrote a book, ‘The Grand Design,’ that has caused a stir. In his book, ‘God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway?’ Dr. John Lennox rebuts his arguments.

Here is a synopsis of this book:

“It is a grandiose claim to have banished God. With such a lot at stake we surely need to ask Hawking to produce evidence to establish his claim. Do his arguments really stand up to close scrutiny? I think we have a right to know.”

The Grand Design, by eminent scientist Stephen Hawking, is the latest blockbusting contribution to the “New Atheist” debate, and claims that the laws of physics themselves brought the universe into being, rather than God. In this swift and forthright reply, John Lennon, Oxford mathematician and author of God’s Undertaker, takes a closer look at Hawking’s logic.

In lively, layman’s terms, Lennox guides us through the key points in Hawking’s arguments – with clear explanations of the latest scientific and philosophical methods and theories – and demonstrates that far from disproving a Creator God, they make his existence seem all the more probable.

Here is the biography of this author:

John C. Lennox MA PhD DPhil DSc is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College. He has debated Richard Hawkins and Christopher Hitchens and lectured in many universities around the world.

Here is an interview with Dr. Lennox by Greg Clarke: 

In the Introduction, Dr. Lennox shares how God and science have been converging of late:

God is very much on the agenda these days. Scientist have made sure of it by publishing book after book, with titles like Francis Collins’ The Language of God, Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Victor Stenger’s God: The Failed Hypothesis, Robert Winston’s The Story of God, and so on, and on.

Some of these books have been runaway best-sellers. People obviously want to hear what the scientists have to say. That is not surprising, for science has immense cultural and intellectual authority in our sophisticated modern world. This is, in part, because of its phenomenal success in generating technologies from which all of us benefit, and in part because of its capacity to inspire, by giving us increased insight into the wonders of the universe as communicated by beautifully made television documentaries. (p. 11)

Dr. Lennox explains how many scientists deal with God:

Yet this is essentially what many scientists (and others) do with God. They define the range of questions that science is permitted to ask in such a way that God is excluded from the start; and then they claim that God is unnecessary, or doesn’t exist. They fail to see that their science does not answer the question as to why something exists rather than nothing, for the simple reason that their science cannot answer that question. They also fail to see that by assumption it is their atheist world-view, not science as such, that excludes God.

The scientists did not put the universe there. But neither did their theories, nor the laws of mathematical physics. Yet Hawking seems to think they did. In A Brief History of Time he hinted at this kind of explanation, suggesting that a theory might bring the universe into existence… (p. 39)

I love this point that Dr. Lennox makes to one of Dr. Hawking’s argument:

Hawking has signally failed to answer the central question: why is there something rather than nothing? He says that the universe was inevitable. But how did gravity come to exist in the first place? What was the creative force behind its birth? Who put it there, with all its properties and potential for mathematical description in terms of law? Similarly, when Hawking argues in support of his theory of spontaneous creation, that it was only necessary for “the blue touch paper” to be lit to “set the universe going”, I am tempted to ask: where did this blue touch paper come from? It is clearly not part of the universe, if it set the universe going. So who lit it, in the sense of ultimate causation, if not God? (p. 44)

Dr. Lennox makes this final comment:

Science and history are not the only sources of evidence for the existence of God. Since God is a Person and not a theory, it is to be expected that one of the prime evidences for his existence is personal experience. To develop this important matter, it would take us far beyond the intended scope of this little book. Nevertheless I wish to add my voice to the many millions who can and would testify to the profound and central role that faith in Christ as Lord has on our lives, bringing assurance of peace with God, a new power for living, and a certain hope based on the resurrection of Christ. Such a hope defies both the death barrier and Hawking’s bleak reductionist notion that we are nothing more than a random collection of molecules derived from stars. We shall, in fact, outlast the stars.

Hawking imagines that the potential existence of other life forms in the universe undermines the traditional religious conviction that we are living in a unique, God-created planet. I find it faintly amusing that atheists often argue for the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence beyond earth. They are only too eager to denounce the possibility that there exists a vast, intelligent being “out there,” namely God, who has left his fingerprints all over his creation.

Hawking’s fusillade will not shake the foundations of an intelligent faith that is based on the cumulative evidence of science, history, the biblical narrative, and personal experience. (pp. 94-95)

In the Conclusion, Dr. Lennox shares what he holds happens with this book:

I even dare to hope that, for some of you, this little book may be the start of a journey that will eventually lead to your coming to believe in the God who not only made the universe but also conferred on you the immeasurable dignity of creating you in his image, with the capacity for thought and the intellectual curiosity that got you reading this book in the first place. In turn that could even be, as it was for me, the first step in embarking on what is by definition life’s highest adventure – getting to 

know the Creator through the Son that has revealed him. (p. 96)

I really appreciated this book. Dr. Lennox points out the many flaws in Dr. Hawking’s argument that there is no need for God as Creator of the universe. I am so amazed at the hubris of some of these scientists, and pray that they learn the truth – and gain some humility – before they meet their Maker. I am glad that Dr. Lennox knows the truth.

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Lion Books and provided by the LitFuse Publicity Group for review purposes.

‘The Mountains Bow Down’ by Sibella Giorello – Book Review

One of my favorite book genres is Christian suspense. The latest book I have read in that category is ‘The Clouds Roll Away’ by Sibella Giorello.

Here is the synopsis of this wonderful book:

Everything’s going to work out. Time away always makes things better…. That’s what FBI special agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska. A land of mountains and gems and minerals, the Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who’s hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh’s vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship’s security chef tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh’s forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere onboard, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the RBI and receives her nemesis – handsome Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming onboard, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack – who might not be as arrogant as she originally thought.

And that’s only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a mystery so daunting that even the mountains bow down before it.

Here is the biography of this extremely talented author:

Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she began writing as a features writer for newspapers and magazines. Her stories won numerous awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. Her novel The Stones Cry Out won a Christy Award. She lives in Washington State with her husband and family.

Here is an Oasis Audio excerpt of this novel, wonderfully interpreted by Cassandra Campbell:

I love Sibella’s way with words! The book is written from Raleigh’s perspective. Here she is describing her mother, who is on the Alaskan cruise with her, as well as explaining why she ended up as an FBI agent:

Nadine Shaw Harmon, authentic Southern belle, might be politely described as “a bit touched.” Her bouts of paranoia struck with the sudden fury of August thunderstorms, and the torrential aftermaths kept me from telling her the truth about my job. Before becoming an agent, I spent four years in the FBI’s forensic lab, and both my dad and I agreed she didn’t need to know everything. My forensic work was in mineralogy; we told her I was a geologist. The was true. True enough. But one day somebody decided to shoot my dad, cutting him down in cold blood. His murder had never been solved, and I decided the most productive way to fill this gaping hole in my heart was to join the hunt for bad guys. When I graduated from Quantico, fatherless, with no mother in attendance, my personal life became one long covert op. (p. 26)

Raleigh seemed to have a love/hate relationship with her colleague, Jack Stephanson. This passage shows their relationship, as well as Raleigh’s at-times tricky relationship with herself:

         

       “Harmon, what’s going on?”

       “Just stick to the story, okay?”

       “But your mom thinks---”

        I picked up the pace.

But he stopped.

When I turned, he was standing in the hallway, looking genuinely

shocked.

“She doesn’t know,” he said. “Your mother. She doesn’t know you’re an FBI agent.”

Unable to speak, I headed for the elevators and kept my head down, sending more desperate prayers for forgiveness, wondering when God would get as tired of me as I was. (p. 67)

It is clear from Mrs. Giorello’s writing style that she has a background as a reporter; her attention to detail is keen. Here is an example; it also showed her sense of humor:

Possibly it was the best bread I’d ever tasted. The light golden crust melted on my tongue, followed by the bread interior that was light as a marshmallow yet as rich as butter. I wanted to hum as we walked down a long tunnel. The ship’s employees rushed past us in various stages of hurry. Some carried bags of rice the size of toddlers. Others pushed steel carts stacked with folded tablecloths and napkins – fresh from the laundry room, no doubt – while men in coveralls wheeled small Dumpsters, trailed putrid odors. (p. 150)            

I also loved her descriptions throughout the book of the beauty of Alaska. Here is one that was particularly touching to me:

The mile-wide tongue of blue-and-white ice stretched five miles back, reaching up to a mountain peak that pointed straight to God. I heard Jack gasp, then gasp again as the front of the glaciers snapped and a falling block of ice the size of an office building plunged straight down into the water. In the bright sun, the ocean glistened like jewels. (p. 186)

As she did in ‘The Clouds Roll Away,’ Sibella writes about God’s creation in a thought-provoking – and beautifully written - way:

Deep inside, I could sense the unfathomable certainty that life did not rise randomly. By its own laws of mathematics and physics, the natural world disqualified itself from statistical accident. Planetary splendor above and atomic structure below, a world operating with breathtaking genius and design, all of this implying necessarily a designer. Chaos came in the moment, from my paltry human perspective, and most important of all, when the monsters roared, when I flailed haplessly through swamps, forever asking outsized questions, somebody stood ready to provoke comfort. (pp. 226-227)

I really appreciated this novel for so many reasons, many of which I previously reviewed above. Mrs. Giorello writes with intelligence, humor, and suspense; she keeps her readers turning the pages. I certainly did not get many other things done after I started reading this captivating book!

A couple other side notes: 1) the book cover is simply stunning; that alone makes me want to make a trip up to our 50^th state; 2) I love the name ‘Sibella Giorello;’ how could she have not been an author with that name?!

I had the pleasure of reading the second book in the Raleigh Harmon series, ‘The Clouds Roll Away’ also; you can read my review here. I haven’t read the first book in the series, ‘The Rivers Run Dry,’ but, based on my enjoyment of these last two novels, I’d like to. Maybe someday I’ll have the time to go back to it!

The fourth book in the Raleigh Harmon series, ‘The Stars Shine On,’ will be released in April, 2012. There is no question that I will be reading that one, and hope the year passes quickly!  

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishers and provided by Thomas Nelson and the LitFuse Publicity Group for review purposes. I am happy to be participating in the blog tour with these others bloggers.

‘A Trail of Ink: The Third Chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon’ by Mel Starr – Book Review

One of the interesting things about historical fiction is that the novels transport you back to another place in time. Such is the case with 'A Trail of Ink: The Third Chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon’ by Mel Starr.

Here is the synopsis of this novel:

Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh's investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious suitor. As Hugh's pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate?

One of the stolen books turns up alongside the drowned body of a poor Oxford scholar. Another accident? Hugh certainly doesn’t think so, but it will take all of his surgeon s skills to prove.

 “I have never seen Master John Wyclif so afflicted. He told me later that it was as onerous to plunder a bachelor scholar’s books as to steal another man’s wife. I had, at the time, no way to assess the accuracy of that opinion, for I had no wife and few books…”

So began another delightful and intriguing tale from the life of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon in the medieval village of Bampton, near Oxford, and bailiff of Bampton Castle. Hugh sets his cap at the delightful Kate, who proves equally resourceful in the search for the missing books. Some very determined adversaries are out to stop him, permanently if necessary – but are they motivated by greed, or more personal animosity? Then the corpse of a poor scholar, who had tried to sell one of the books, is found in the river; but he had not simply drowned….

Here is the biography of this author:

Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren.  Mel has studied medieval surgery and medieval English. He lives in Michigan. He is also author of The Unquiet Bones and A Corpse at St. Andrew’s Chapel.

I found it charming how Hugh approached his courtship of Kate:

I left the stationer’s shop with both joy and apprehension. The joy you will understand, or would had you seen Kate and spent time in her presence. I was apprehensive because next day I must begin a thing for which I had no training and in which I had little experience. While at Balliol College I was too much absorbed in my set books to concern myself with the proper way to impress a lass, and none of those volumes dealt with the subject. Certainly the study of logic avoided the topic. Since then my duties as surgeon and bailiff allowed small opportunity to practice discourse with a maiden. And there are few females of my age and station in Bampton. (p. 14)

Being that this story is set in 14^th century England, there are a lot of differences in culture and language between their lives and ours. Fortunately, Mr. Starr shares a Glossary with his readers at the beginning of the book. It came in handy with this particular paragraph:

We stood between the yard-spinner’s house and that of the cobbler as we discussed ladders and walls. While we spoke my gaze drifted over the town wall to the water meadow to the south and the willows lining the banks of the Cherwell. Two figures walked there; a woman dressed in a long cotehardie of blue, and a man wearing parti-colored chauces, a red cotehardie, and a cap ending in a long yellow liripipe. The couple were two hundred paces from me, and walking away, so I could not see their faces. I did not need to. (p. 45)

I loved Hugh’s perspective on life; here’s a great example – he is inspecting a patient:

It was as I expected. When I put my fingers to Aymer’s collarbone I felt the fractured end move under my touch. And the shoulder was swelling, turning red and purple beneath the skin. Aymer gasped as the broken bones grated against each other. I had used hemp and lettuce before, with good result. God provides much for men to ease their suffering in this world. But he had provided nothing which will end all suffering. So Aymer’s pain was less than might have been, but was real enough. Pain is God’s way of telling us not to do some things again. Surely Aymer, when he is next upon a roof, will take more care. (p. 57)

I also love how Hugh called on his Lord in times of trouble:

The gloom of my spirit matched the gloom of my cell. No friend knew of my plight, and those who put me in this place would not tell them. No, this was not true. There was a friend who knew of my affliction. I knelt in the rotten rushes covering the dirt floor of the cell and called upon the Lord Christ to free me from my unjust captors. Perhaps, I hoped, He had already noted my misfortune and set a plan in motion for my freedom. But it would do no harm to remind Him of my trouble in case others matters had captured His attention. An unwelcome thought came to mind. If the Lord Christ loved and served me only so much as I loved and served Him, where then might I be? (p. 70)

He also made an observation to that end later in the book:

I believe I am like most men. I call upon the Lord Christ when in need, but forget to speak to Him when my life is smooth and pleasant. I treat the Savior like a lawyer; I call upon Him only when I am in trouble. I vowed to amend my ways and prayed that some escape might appear before Arthur and I were made food for worms. I told him of my plight, and pointed out that, unless He intervened, I was likely to die soon. I concluded this prayer with that thought that, although he was surely occupied dealing with all the troubles men brought upon themselves and others, it would require of Him little effort to see us set free. (p. 177)

I found the ending to be very satisfying – and there is a fourth chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon, in the works; its title will be ‘Unhallowed Ground.’  

To be honest, I didn’t ‘get into’ this book until about page 50. It is set in Oxford, England in 1365, and it was hard for me to gain sympathy for the characters at first. Gradually, Hugh de Singleton, his cohort Arthur and fiancée Kate drew my interest. It was definitely hard going at the beginning, though. It was interesting to learn that this story included actual locations and real people in history. Mr. Starr shared with his readers that some of the locations still exist, and some are simply piles of rubble.

As has happened in previous novels I have read that are set in a bygone era, this book made me grateful for the era and the country in which I dwell. It is good to be a citizen of the United State of America in 2011!

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Kregel Publications. I am proud to be participating in the blog tour through the LitFuse Publicity form with many other bloggers.

‘The Life Ready Woman: Thriving in a Do-It-All World’ by Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis – Book Review and Giveaway

Life offers so many choices that it can be confusing when navigating through this world. In ‘The Life Ready Woman: Thriving in a Do-It-All World’ by Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis provide a blueprint to help women make decisions that will be pleasing to the Lord.

Here is the synopsis of this interesting and practical book:

This is a great day to be a woman…even when you’re trying to balance it all! We have amazing choices and opportunities could never have been imagined. Yet we also encounter a whole new host of challenges.

Every woman knows the feeling of struggling to juggle everything, wishing there were more hours in the day. And every woman has also enjoyed the wonderful opportunities God provides that simply didn’t exist a few generations ago. The trick is knowing how to manage this crazy, modern life. For those of us who follow Jesus, the challenge is even greater. How can we live a modern life from a biblical perspective?

 The great news is: there’s a way to do this! There is a way to be “ready” for life that leads to peace and enjoyment rather than stress and regret. Within the ancient words of the Bible we can find a road map that applies directly to our lives as contemporary women: an encouraging , life-giving blueprint you can look to for clarity about the unique design, callings, balance, choices, relationships, and direction that God has for you.

Becoming “Life Ready” involves thinking purposefully about subjects you may never have thought through before. It involves courageous steps of faith at some points, and waiting for open doors in others. But the end result will be that you not only survive but thrive in our do-it-all world. Being a “Life Ready” woman means you are clear about your life, bold in your faith, and able to find God’s best for you. No matter where you are – younger, older; single, married, divorced, remarried; stay-at-home mom or busy executive; no matter your ethnic background or even your personal faith beliefs or questions – you can start today to reach for it. The Life Ready Woman will guide you there!

Here are the biographies of these authors:

Shaunti Feldhahn is a former Wall Street analyst, best-selling author (For Women Only, For Men Only, For Couples Only, The Male Factor), national speaker, and regular commentator in the media. She and her husband live with their two children in Atlanta, Georgia.

Robert Lewis is the visionary leader behind the Life Ready series of video studies. He is a pastor, best-selling author (Rocking the Roles: Building a Win-Win Marriage), and the founder of the popular Men’s Fraternity Bible study movement. He and his wife have four grown children and live in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In the Introduction, entitled ‘Being Life Ready,’ the authors explain the situation women find themselves in these days:

It is a great day to be a woman. The choices and opportunities available to women in the twenty-first century are amazing – opportunities that could never have been imagined one hundred years ago. Yet we also encounter challenges that our great-grandmothers could never have fathomed.

Every woman knows the feeling of struggling to juggle and balance everything and watching our friends and loved ones do the same. Every woman has looked at the clock and lamented that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. And every woman has also enjoyed the wonderful opportunities God provides us that simply didn’t exist just a few generations ago. The trick is to know how to manage this crazy, modern life. And for those of us who are followers of Jesus, to know how to manage our modern life from a biblical perspective rather than an ever-changing cultural one.

The good news is: there is a way to do this! There is a way to be “ready” for today’s modern life in a way that leads to peace and enjoyment rather than stress and regret. There is a way to help other women do so, too. No matter how crazy your life is, there is a solid, encouraging, and empowering guide that we can find in the ancient words of the Bible that applies directly to our life today as contemporary women. (p. 3)

Shaunti shares how she has struggled to balance her life as an author, researcher, traveling speaker, wife, and mother to two small children:

And privately, for years, I have been town by how to balance it all, how to keep all the plate spinning. With this biblical blueprint, I finally feel like I have a clear and realistic model that I can look up to and respect as a modern Christian woman, something that can help me make the decisions that will lead to relief, delight, and fulfillment instead of regret.

That doesn’t mean those decisions are easy. For me it has meant a willingness to reexamine some professional opportunities in light of personal ones. For others it may mean examining whether you are fully using your unique God-given gifts for the impact He intends you to have. But once you make these decisions, they will fit. You will feel like you are finally functioning in the ways for which you were designed.

Be willing to be challenged, sister! The end result will be worth it. (p. 8)

Sounds good to me!

The first part of the book outlines God’s plan and purpose for all of us. He wants us to live the life He created us to live:

So how do you discover God’s best for you? Where is the help that can cut through the fog to help you decide how to live smart and well? I think all of us would agree that God wants us to find His best for us. He wants us to be what the Life Ready theme summarizes: women who are clear about our lives, bold in our faith, and able to find God’s best for us! But the question is how we do it.

Unfortunately, today there is a lack of discipline and “life coaching”(the kind mentioned in Titus 2) that offers trustworthy navigational guidelines to assist women in discerning which choices are best and which, however alluring, might be empty promises or tragic dead ends. All of this leaves women asking, “How do I know on the front end which choices deliver the most out of life? And how do I avoid major mistakes and lifetime disappointments? Such are the questions constantly circling around our lives today, especially whenever big life choices have to be made. (p. 16)

One chapter that I found really interesting is the one that defines womanhood, marriage and family from a biblical perspective. The authors also describe the biblical definition of a Godly man, embodied by both Adam and Jesus:

1.   A will to obey

2.   Work to do

3.   A woman to live and care for (p. 53)

Clearly, Adam did not live up to these responsibilities; Jesus clearly did.

We need to discover God’s design and calling for our lives. There are three types, which go from macro to micro:

·         Our Core Callings: our callings and design as human beings made in God’s image

·         Our Feminine Callings: our callings and design as women

·         Our Personal Callings: our callings and designs as unique individuals (p. 69)

Once we learn of those items, we need to take action:

You have seen how we need a biblical guide that will help us to be “Life Ready” and not only live but thrive in this crazy, modern world. When we prioritize and arrange our life around our biblical design and calling as people made in God’s image (the Core Callings), as women (Feminine Callings) and as individuals (Personal Callings), we essentially build that individual compass or road map that will lead us to God’s best for our lives. And then, of course, comes the most important part: we actually have to follow it. Not just think about it, not just agree with it – but actually take the steps that will allow us to thrive. (p. 85)

The second half of the book outlines how to get to God’s best for us. We need to learn how to live and react from the inside out – in other words, to be influenced and directed by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to the things of this world. The book goes on to explain how we are to accomplish that in the various seasons of life: among them – single, single adult, married with grade-schoolers, married empty nester, late-in-life widow, and glorified saint.

Mary, Jesus’ mother, is the great example for women:

Two thousand years ago, Mary stared at the angel, took a deep breath, and said something that changes everything: “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38 NIV).

Ladies, it is time for us to take these steps of faith. We need to be clear about our lives, bold in our faith, and able to find God’s best. We all want to thrive in this do-it-all world and reach the end of this earthly life with satisfaction instead of regrets. We want a family that loves and honors us. We want to be used by God to make an impact on our family and our world and pass down something precious from generation to generation. We want to be God’s servant.

Mary was like that. And we can be too. “Lord, may it be to me as you have said.” (p. 219)

I really liked this book – so much so that I was not able to finish this book as quickly as I needed to (my apologies, Amy!). I wanted to savor and digest it, and make it practical to my own life – and it requires time to work through and digest the content, and to allow the Lord to work in and through you. This book can be useful to women in all stages of life, and I heartily recommend it to all women (and to men to give to the important women in their lives!). I pray that this book will change the lives of many women – to help them to live up to their God-given potential.

You can order this book here.

This book was published by B&H Publishing Group and provided by them for the LitFuse Publicity Group blog tour for review and giveaway purposes. I am happy to be participating in the tour with these other bloggers.

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I have one copy of this book to give along; many thanks to B&H Publishing Group for generously providing the copy! 

There are several ways to gain entry:           

1) Leave a comment here on the blog, sharing your thoughts on how this book would be a helpful resource to you or to another. Please make sure to leave your email address in this format – sample[at]gmail[dot]com. 

2) Follow me on Twitter; if you are already a follower, that counts, too!  Please leave a separate comment to that effect.

4) Tweet the following on Twitter:

Enter to win ‘Life Ready Woman’ by @ShauntiFeldhahn and @BHpub from @andrealschultz. http://goo.gl/O9for #giveaway Please RT!

Please leave a comment with the link to your tweet. You can tweet up to once per day. Please add a new comment for each tweet.

5) Follow me as a Google Friend on this blog; if you are already a Friend, that counts, too! Please leave a separate comment to that effect.

6) Become my Facebook friend. Please leave a separate comment to that effect.

7) Follow this blog as a NetWorked Blog Follower after you’ve become my Facebook friend. Please leave a separate comment to that effect.

So there are numerous chances to enter and therefore win! Please limit one entry per option (except for the Twitter option), and don’t forget to include your email address, or, sad to say, the Random Number Generator will have to choose a different winner.

This giveaway is for U.S. residents only. The deadline for entry is Monday, March 14, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST. One winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 and will be contacted via email. The best to all of you!