The Help Meet Wife

I want to start off by saying that I am a big Francine Rivers fan. I have read her Mark Of The Lion series, The Scarlet Thread, The Atonement Child, and And The Shofar Blew and absolutely loved all these books. So when I saw the rave reviews for Redeeming Love, I knew it was one I needed to read.Redeeming Love is the story of a prostitute named Angel and a godly man named Michael. He marries Angel and "redeems" her. She then proceeds to leave him and come back - again, and again, and again, and again. About 3/4 of the way through the book I was so weary of the repetitive storyline that I had trouble finishing the book and was tempted to give up on it. At the very end Angel finally does come back for good, and then the next 60+ years are summed up in about three pages. I was less than thrilled with what felt like a dragged on story, then a rushed ending.The positives for this book is that it shows how God relentlessly pursues us, sinners, even when we keep running away from Hi...

Thirty Days Of Bible Study For Busy Mama: Colossians 3 by Pam Forster is geared toward busy moms. As a mom of four myself, it was definitely right up my alley! I was a bit skeptical of how any type of Bible study could be squeezed into five minutes, but Pam made a believer out of me! This Bible study is beautifully packaged and includes a foreward, 30 five minute devotionals, and four appendices with lots of helpful tips on studying the Bible as a busy mom. Basically, you read the entire book of Colossians for context, then Colossians 3 every day for the other days, focusing on different ideas and passages each day. I found this method of study very useful and definitely learned a lot that I had never really "seen" before in just basic Bible reading. I feel more equipped to truly dig in to the Bible now that I have learned more tips and techniques from this book. I highly recommend this Bible study. It will help you with your walk with God, and in just five minute chunks per...

Faking Grace by Tamara Leigh is one of those can't-put-down novels. I'm not usually too into chick lit, but the premise of this book sounded fresh and new - Maizy Grace, nominal Christian, takes a job at a conservative Christian publisher to pay the bills - and has to figure out how to act the part. All the while, her handsome coworker, Jack, seems determined to "out" her as a fake. First of all, the cover of this book is beautiful, eye catching, and very nicely done. I do sometimes judge a book by its cover, and this one is perfect! The storyline caught me in from page one. Seeing how Christians can sometimes be so cliche from the outside really spoke to my heart. This book made me desire to be a more authentic Christian. Pick this book up - you won't regret it. Lots of laughs, with a great spiritual message as well. I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron is a novel about Chase Falson, pastor of an evangelical church. When a young child in his church dies, he goes through a spiritual crisis (dark night of the soul), has a meltdown in the pulpit, and is put on a leave of absence. He decides to go visit his long lost uncle, Franciscan priest in Italy, to seek spiritual guidance. Uncle Kenny takes him on a spiritual journey learning about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. This book is half novel, half lesson. It is a fictional story, but it's also an informative book about St. Francis and modern day Christianity. This book is definitely heavily Catholic and at times can be critical of the modern day evangelical church. However, it is a good eye opener and helps you to search your own soul and reclaim enthusiasm for biblical Christianity. This isn't a super exciting, page turning book - it's more of a sleepy, comfortable story. Reading it made me feel homey and comforted. You will enjoy go...

As soon as Misery Loves Company by Renee Gutteridge arrived in the mail, I opened it up and started reading it. I was absolutely hooked from the first lines! It was so gripping that I read most of the night and finished it the next morning. This book was the perfect blend of mystery and suspense. There were so many twists and turns, I found myself surprised at the turns of events, even though I can usually guess the ending of books within the first several chapters. Pick this book up and read it - you will not be disappointed, I promise. I'm planning on reading her other books as soon as possible. I think I've found one of my new favorite authors! I received a copy of this book from Tyndale House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have been a fan of Amish fiction since I first picked up a Beverly Lewis book about 10 years ago, so I was happy to read The Winnowing Season by Cindy Woodsmall. I'll start by saying that I didn't realize that this was book two in a series, so I felt a little behind on the plot and characters as I was reading the book. However, she did include a brief synopsis of book one in the beginning of this book, so that was helpful. The Winnowing Season follows Rhoda Byler and Samuel and Jacob King as they begin a new Old Order Amish community and orchard in Maine. A love triangle and drama with the bishops provide interest to the drama. I am looking forward to book three as this one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. All in all, a good, solid, Amish fiction. I recommend picking up book one first, if you haven't already. I received a copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I recently read A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven by Chris Loehmer Kincaid. I enjoy reading books about missionaries and missions trips, so this book piqued my interested. This book follows the author's missions trip to Africa with her daughter, Val, and a group of many other people. I like how she divided the book into chapters based off the Scriptures in Ecclesiastes - I enjoyed how her trip paralleled these verses. I was glad the book included quite a few pictures - I always like to see the people and places I'm reading about, especially in a book like this. I could relate to her feelings of "How could God use me?" and feeling like she needed to constantly be DOING something while on her trip to Africa, and worrying that she wasn't accomplishing anything. I have the same type of personality, so it definitely hit home for me. Parts of this book made me laugh and parts brought me to tears. The plight of the African people touched my heart and really made me ...

Jesus, My Father, The CIA, And Me: A Memoir... Of Sorts by Ian Morgan Cron is one of those special books that will make you laugh hysterically on one page and cry on the next. As I read this book, I felt like I was reliving my childhood - I was raised Catholic in an alcoholic home, although the CIA wasn't involved! I could relate so much to the dynamics of his family and what he went through growing up. I appreciated his honesty in writing about his own struggles with alcohol and his sobriety - I could relate there, too. The title of this book is a bit misleading. The CIA angle of the plot line is thinly developed and doesn't play much of a role in the story. He doesn't delve into the details of his father's work in the CIA at all. Since "CIA" was in the title, I expected him to tell more stories about it, but he didn't. That was fine, the book was still great, it just wasn't what I had quite pictured when I picked it up. Overall, this was an amazing ...