Not Another Dating Book by Renee Fisher January 29, 2012

Relationships are complicated, especially when it comes to dating and marriage. Renee Fisher is the author of Faithbook of Jesus: Connecting with Jesus Daily and new release Not Another Dating Book: A Devotional Guide to All Your Relationships. Renee has a passion for 20 somethings and knows first hand about trying to pursue God and living a life that honors Him while waiting for His promises to be fulfilled in her life. Her new release Not Another Dating Book takes relationships to a whole other level… a Christ-centered level. Not Another Dating Book is packed with short devotions that are not only filled with scriptural knowledge about dating/relationships, but Renee’s honesty and truth about her own relationships allow readers to connect with this book on a personal level. I love that she is not afraid to discuss the difficult relationship questions that so many young adults deal with on a daily basis. One of my favorite parts of this book is that Renee includes a prayer at the end of each devotion and extra scripture reading with a place to journal your thoughts. God designed us to be in community with one another so whether you are dating, married or just friends, this book is sure to make an impact on how you view the relationships in your life.

Check out Renee’s website.

*I received a copy of this book for review, but the opinions stated above are my own.

31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo September 14, 2011

Have you lost your blogging mojo, or maybe you’re like me, and never had it, but wish you did? Then, 31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo is just the book for you. Bryan Allain combines humor with knowledge that will help you get your mojo back on like Donkey Kong. What is that you said? You can’t possibly find an opening in your schedule to read some self-help book about blogging. No worries, it’s only 101 pages long, and part of that is the table of contents. Plus, you can read at your own pace… 31 seconds for all you speed readers out there or 31 days for the rest of us. At the end of each chapter you’ll find Today’s Mojo Action, which helps you put the knowledge that your brain just soaked up to the test. I’m not sure my review can give justice to all of the awesomeness and humor that Bryan has packed into this book so check it out. You, your blog readers and your momma will thank you. Get the pdf version here or the Kindle Edition here.

*Disclaimer – I received a free pdf of 31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo to review, but it in no way, shape or form forced the outcome of my thoughts and opinions above.

Fresh-Brewed Life: A Stirring Invitation to Wake Up Your Soul by Nicole Johnson August 18, 2011

Fresh-Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson is an invitation to wake up your soul in 3 major area of our lives. First to God, then to yourself and lastly to others. This book shows us areas of our lives we are sound asleep, and wakes us up from that deep dark slumber. Nicole shares her journey of living a fresh-brewed life and gives insight on how other women can have that same fullness in their lives.

This book is great for your morning time coffee/tea and devotions. It has a study-guide in the back which is great, especially if you are wanting to make this into a small group study for women. Each chapter has a journal assignment which allows you to think about the topic in that chapter and really get to the heart and soul of living a fresh-brewed life. The journaling takes you out of comfort zone and on an adventure to revive you. This book would be a great gift for any woman who wants to dive deeper into their their relationship with God, themselves and others. This could be a great mother’s day, birthday or thinking of you gift for a special lady in your life that needs a little inspiration to wake up her soul. I highly recommend it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Couples Who Pray: The Most Intimate Act Between a Man and a Woman by Squire Rushnell & Louise DuArt March 7, 2011

“Couples Who Pray: The Most Intimate Act Between A Man and A Woman” by Squire Rushnell and Louise Duart shares how prayer brings couples closer together, especially intimately and physically. This book challenges couples to pray together for at least 5 minutes a day for 40 days. It shows examples of ordinary and celebrity couples who have tried this and have been successful at praying together.

The concept of the book, which is praying together, is a much needed in marriages, but this book seemed to be more of an advertisement to get what you want by praying. It left me a little skeptical of their goal. I believe every couple should pray together, but this book made it seem like if you pray together then your marriage would be fine. Many celebrity couples who pray together are used as examples in this book, but many of their accounts seem unrealistic. I felt like they focused more on the wealth and “physical” intimacy they gained than on how it brought them closer to God and each other.  Again, I think the concept is right on, but it fell a little short.

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible, NKJV By Max Lucado February 1, 2011

The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible, NKJV Inspirational Applications for Living Your Faith by Max Lucado is exactly what the title implies. It is a Study Bible that gives practical advice about life lessons as it relates to scripture through the use of devotionals, which are written in the sidebars. Also, this Bible uses Christ Through the Bible sidebars that go along with the scripture reading for that day.

What I like about this Study Bible is that it not only gives us side notes about the passage, but it also shares life lessons through devotions. I really like that it gives a brief blurb about each book and who wrote it so that you can have an idea of the historical time line and setting. This Bible uses the NKJV, which is an understandable version, and the hardcover seems very durable. I believe this would make a great gift for those wanting to delve deeper into the Scriptures and learn how they relate to us today. One criticism that I have though is that the typeface seems a little small and very scrunched together. I would still recommend this Bible to others, especially for gifting purposes.

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Musica Urbana January 27, 2011

Recently, I started going to Zumba at my local community center with my friend. If you’ve never been and wonder what it’s like, it’s really, really intense dance-type exercise to latin/pop music or Musica Urbana, which I now listen to at home when I need cheering up. In my opinion, it is UH-Mazing! My instructor mentioned that doing Zumba for 3 hours burns about 1500 calories. Whew, now that’s a workout! That’s like a whole days worth of calories! One of my goals for 2011 is to lose 10 lbs so that’s gonna be a whole lot of zu Zu Zumba-ing. Oh, and did I mention that I have two left feet so I may just improve my rhythmically challenged self in the process.

*Funny side story -  I once slept-sang (not an actual word) in my sleep. I went to Zumba one night, and afterward, I went home and fell asleep. Bill came running in the bedroom because he heard me loudly singing some Enrique Iglesias song that I had just Zumba’d to. Did I mention I was asleep while all of this was going on?! Hence the made up word slept-sang sort of like slept-walked, but instead of walking in my sleep, I was obnoxiously singing in my sleep.

Lead Like Ike Ten Business Strategies from the CEO of D-Day By Geoff Loftus December 8, 2010

The premise of Lead Like Ike by Geoff Loftus is to show how Dwight D. Eisenhower’s leadership strategies during D-Day operations can be translated into today’s business setting.

This book is packed full of history, but it lacks practical advice on the how-to part of leading like Ike. If you’re not a history buff, then I recommend you stay away from this read. It seemed more like a daunting history lesson, and although it was full of facts it seemed to never get down to the core issue, which was to show us how to be better leaders. I don’t doubt that Eisenhower was a great leader, but I think the author could have cut out a lot of the useless stuff and had better points. In this case, I think less would’ve been more.

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Punkin Chunkin Fun October 25, 2010

 

Billy, my sis-in-law (Tiff, left), my nephew (he's the one hiding under the blanket), my niece (Savannah, middle) and I ventured over to Williams Orchard for the day. We successfully battled our way through a corn maze.

The most impressive thing though was this contraption they call a Punkin Chunkin Machine. This thing is the coolest. It can shoot a pumpkin 1/4 of a mile... maybe more.

This is one of my favorite photos of the day! Bill and our niece on the Punkin Pickin Bus.

Our trip to Williams Orchard is my kind of love language. My heart was giddy all day! I love that my man is always up for new adventures.

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley October 19, 2010

In the book The Grace of God, Andy Stanley describes the true meaning of grace and how it cannot be earned, bought or even be deserved, but it is a gift given freely because of God’s love for us. Andy shows us that grace didn’t begin with our Savior dying on the cross for our sins, but the grace of God was in the beginning and is part of who God is. We make grace out to be so complicated, and end up showing no grace at all, but a graceless religion is the one thing Jesus despises. The book describes how we often see law and discipline as something to keep so that we can earn grace, but in actuality it’s often an expression of grace.

This book inspired me to stop and think about how I accept grace with little to no hesitation, but when it comes to giving grace I struggle and fail regularly. Andy chronologically points directly to biblical passages where grace is extended  and to the most unlikely of characters. You don’t have to be good to be given grace. If that was the case, then no one would receive it. Andy’s writing is always so refreshing and inspiring, and this book is no exception. It’s packed full of scripture evidence and quotes that show us just how awesome God’s grace is.

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Ghostly Encounters October 17, 2010

This weekend our friends invited us to go on a ghost hunting tour of our city, Bluefield, WV. I get easily freaked out in the dark so add paranormal to the mix, and it makes for a long night of panic attacks and literally begging Bill to take me home. Did I mention I was the only one among our friends that was totally freaked out! They pretty much laughed at me the whole time.

Our guide was a true ghost hunter nut of 30 years. He had some device that allows “spirits” to talk to you, some motion censor thing and an EMF reader. It was really hoaky, especially when one of his ghost catching devices that catches unusual sounds broke, but our guide kept using it. What pushed me over the edge was when some lady got totally into the whole thing and literally hunkered down in a darkened bathroom to “play” with some ghost child. Abandoned buildings, crazy people and crazy darkness make me freak more than the possible ghost encounter which I think is a scam anyway!!

What’s your take on “ghosts”? Real or fake?