Damaged but Not Destroyed: From Trauma to Triumph by Michael Todd Book Review

In Damaged but Not Destroyed, Michael Todd explored how he has been hurt and experienced trauma. He referred to it as H.O.T. (humble, open, and transparent). Even though we are damaged, we can still remember that we are not destroyed. One of the stories, he shared was about how he purchased a fancy car that he couldn’t afford. He made the month payments but couldn’t afford anything extra and he has no spare money if something broke. He let his insurance lapse while it was in the shop. The day it was fixed there was ice all over the road and instead of waiting he went to go pick up his ride. He accidently slid into another lane and hit a car. He got insurance back on the vehicle and then waited a few hours to call back and file a claim. He chose to lie and committed insurance fraud, which is a felony. It took about five years before it all was revealed and the hearings were completed. At this time, he was a youth pastor. He had to turn himself in and was booked and jailed. He did his time and paid the fines and worked in the community. He had to deal with the self-inflicted damage. In the book, he helped readers to heal and deal with their damage. God is able to restore and use everything good according to His purpose. 

 

Another favorite chapter discussed an analogy of the dartboard of damage. There are four common weapons that we all face and can leave a mark. These enclosed words, actions, exposure, and environment. Next, he goes into detail about the common domains of damage: disappointments, false teachings, ignorance, scarcity, abuse, neglect, rejection, and much more. “The darts (weapons of damage) and domains (the where of damage)”. This illustration was very eye opening to see where the darts and the wound and damage can occur. It included some examples of equations and open spaces where you can write down your own thoughts that lead to your damage. 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone is feeling broken, hurt, and damaged. This book will assist readers into realizing that they are not destroyed even if they feel that they are damaged. I immensely loved how he reminded readers that their name is unique and how God knows your name. You don’t have to answer to “addict, slut, felon, or failure”. This is incredible and powerful to remember that our value is in Christ. He also included a special section with verses describing our identity in Christ. 

 

 

 

 

I received this book free from Water Brook for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-but-Not-Destroyed-Triumph/dp/0593444884/ 

The Hopeful Movie Review and Giveaway

 • Buy tickets today to see The Hopeful in theaters ONLY on April 17 &  

18th! 

 

 

• Moms, buy tickets today to see this inspiring film with your family in  

theaters soon! 

 

 

• Synopsis: The Hopeful is the true story of a community whose lives were trans formed as they learn what it means to truly wait for Jesus. This sweeping drama, set in 19th century New England, invites audiences of all ages to imagine how hope can change the world. 

 

 

• Long Synopsis: William Miller’s faith is in ruins. After miraculously surviving a fierce battle in the War of 1812, Miller questions why God spared him. His search for wisdom leads to an astonishing prophesy — the world is going to end. The Hopeful unfolds as a story of a man burdened with the knowledge of Christ’s return. Miller’s message resonates with some—even as it is scorned by others. When a young woman named Ellen Harmon listens to one of his sermons she is transformed. And through her witness the message begins to take flight. The preaching grows beyond prophecy and develops into a more holistic vision for how Christians should live and worship.  We see blossoming the seeds of a new global movement of faith —the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Hopeful is the true story of a community whose lives were transformed as they learn what it means to truly wait for Jesus. This sweeping drama, set in 19th century New England, invites audiences of all ages to imagine how hope can change the world. 

 

 

My Review:

 

This movie is a film covering the life of William Miller and how he came in into his faith in God. He is revealed from God when the world is ending and he is instructed like Jonah to tell and warn others about the return of Christ. He boldly declared that the world was ending in four years. Ellen Harmon is a follower and began to have vision of the day Christ is returning. They were kicked out of their own church and this inspired Miller to found his own church. This movie was very interesting in learning about the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and how they believed that the world was ending. As we all know, the world didn’t end in the four years in the prophecy he announced. I was in awe of the visions that she saw and how she had an impact on the movement of the church. I also didn’t realize that they chose to celebrate the Sabbath on a different day and Ellen had a part in changing that. Another key element in the film was how women influenced Miller and how he encouraged to tell the truth about Jesus and His return. Women played a big role in moving this church and message along. They also showed Christ as a healer and that He is isn’t just a judgmental God. The movie provides watchers with a hope of Christ returning and we get to learn about some of the beliefs from this church. 

 

 

^• Buy tickets today to see The Hopeful in theaters ONLY on April 17 & 18th!

 

Website: https://thehopefulmovie.com 

Buy Tickets: Lhttps://www.fathomevents.com/events/the-hopeful/?utm_campaign=The%20Hopeful&utm_source=Fathom&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_content=2024_TheHopeful_Fathom_Press_PressReleaseINK 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QkLDug4d7s

Toolkit: https://collidemg.notion.site/The-Hopeful-Movie-Digital-Toolkit-039e3948387746f1a3e24934d89f7355#8fce5b78edfe473ca5c76fb659d2e1fd

Jean’s interview w/ Kyle (director of The Hopeful): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsI6LH7EsSQ&feature=youtu.be

Social Pages: 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/realhopestudios/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/realhopestudios

Disclosure:  

Many thanks to Hope Studios for providing a sample of the product for this review.  Opinions are 100% my own. 

 

 

Giveaway: $10 Amazon gift card

(Note: This is limited to US winners only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Speak the Blessing: Send Your Words in the Direction You Want Your Life to Go by Joel Osteen Book Review

 

In Speak the Blessing, Joel Osteen has written a new book about speaking out life giving words over our lives and unlocking the power in our mouths. He begins the book by sharing how his church begins every service with a daily declaration filling with everything they are in Christ. It referred to as “I Am”. Joel has seen how the power of your words can change your life. When we send out the words in the direction and way, we want our lives to go, we can witness our lives improving. He explained how if we are wanting to be healthy, we need to declare that we are healed this helps to release the healing in our lives. He shared how scriptures tells us to declare we are strong even if we feel weak. He opened up about his mother had to choose to declare that she was healed. She was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1981 and not given a good medical report and outcome. She would actively read and speak scriptures over her life. She would declare that she would live and not die and forty-three years later she is still alive and was healed. 

 

 

One of my favorite chapters discussed telling ourselves a new story. Our current story comes from how we choose to see ourselves. It can come from our past and how we were raised our failures. This is limiting ourselves and we are believing what we are telling ourselves. We can make a new decision and write a new story. God has declared that we are a masterpiece, a victor, and an overcomer. He can turn around anything negative that we have faced and cause it to work out for our good. He encouraged readers to take the pen back and rewrite a new story. He used this chapter to share the challenges he encountered when his father passed away and he had to step up and pastor the church. He was transparent in revealing how he thought he couldn’t ever get up and speak to the church and he had fear. He was more typically quiet then his father was. He had to do what he instructed readers to do. He had to tell himself a new story and that God has equipped him and he was anointed to do what he was called to do. 

 

 

 

 

I would this awesome book to anyone who is seeking a book about the power of your mouth. This book can assist you in speaking truth over your life and it can teach you on to send the words in the right direction. One of my favorite stories was about how our story may be limiting and Joel told a story about a bear who was forced to live in a cage and went they tried to resend her into the wild she wouldn’t go. She got out of the cage but the cage wouldn’t get out of her. This is a very insightful story about the story we tell ourselves can cause us to remain stuck in life. I loved how positive this book was and how it taught readers to prophesy their future and to stop cursing your future. The principles in this book can greatly change your life just learn to speak them out! 

 

 

 

 

I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Blessing-Send-Words-Direction/dp/1546005110/  

Someone Like You Movie Review and Giveaway

Buy tickets today to see Someone Like You in theaters starting April 2!

• Families everywhere are making plans to see this beautiful love story, based on Karen’s bestselling book by the same name.

• SOMEONE LIKE YOU has a message of God’s healing and hope, love and redemption.

And it’s Rated PG! So, you and your kids truly can enjoy a special movie outing together!

• Synopsis: Based on the popular novel by #1 NY Times Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, Someone Like You is an achingly beautiful redemptive love story. Shocking news hits after young architect Dawson Gage loses his best friend, London Quinn. Now in his heartbreak, Dawson is compelled to launch an impossible search for London’s secret twin sister, twins separated as embryos. But along the way, Dawson never planned to fall in love.

• Buy tickets today to see Someone Like You in theaters starting April 2!

My Review: 

 

Karen Kingsbury is back with a brand-new movie. What is interesting about this film is that her and her husband founded the production company and the resources and money to film this movie. They did in part where she could tell the story like she chose to and dreamed up the idea of the novel and film. This isn’t a film made by Hollywood executives. I was in awe and how you really couldn’t tell it was a self-made film. It was very high quality and crystal-clear images throughout the movie. The scenes and storylines all flowed together and made the book come to life. It wasn’t cheesy like some Christian films can be. I thought the film was excellent and was very well done and she bravely took you through all the different emotions in the movie. 

I loved how the film discussed IVF and embryos which is something that is probably rarely discussed in Christian films. The film is very heartwarming and has a great message of redemption, love, forgiveness, and hope. It was difficult in watching Dawson lose his best friend in a horrible accident that forever changed his life and her parent’s lives. This led to London’s parents in revealing the truth about a second embryo being donated to another unknown couple. He is determined to track her down and when he does their lives are changed and he realized that he was always searching for her. Andi is on a journey of forgiving her parents for not telling her the truth and connecting with her biological parents. There is also an impactful scene about a broken pot and the cracks and what they can mean for us. This is truly life changing and will resonance with viewers. 

The film feature characters included Sarah Fisher who played in Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist and Degrassi: Next Generation, Jake Allyn who plays in The Baxter’s and No Man’s Land. It also had Lynn Collins who played in Wolverine, Robyn Lively (Letters to God), and Bart Johnson (High School Musical and The Christmas Spirit). All of the actors and actress really brought this film to life and it’s definably a message watchers need to hear. I loved how she also had a program to let people to see the film for free and you can pay it forward for others who couldn’t afford to go see it. It’s really an awesome concept. 

Website/Buy Tickets: 

https://www.someonelikeyou.movie/

https://www.fathomevents.com/events/someone-like-you/

Trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=0HK3I1_DAO7vxGKl&v=wie1GDo7jbg&feature=youtu.be

 

IG: 

https://www.instagram.com/someonelikeyoumovie/

 

 

 FB:

 

https://www.facebook.com/someonelikeyouthemovie

Disclosure:

Many thanks to Karen Kingsbury Productions for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.

Giveaway: 1 signed copy of the book, Someone Like You

(Note: This is limited to US winners only.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do the New You: 6 Mindsets to Become Who You Were Created to Be by Steven Furtick Book Review

 

In Do the New You, Steven Furtick explored how we can discover our God given identity. He explained how God wants us to see ourselves as He see us. The goal of this book is to assist readers in aligning our mindsets with God’s vision for our lives. In the book, he explored six key declaration readers can declare over their lives daily. Some of these include, “I’m not stuck unless I stop, Christ is in me. I am enough, God is not against me, but he’s in it with me, working through me, fighting for me, and much more. He begins the book by looking at Jeremiah and how he became a prophet. God had to help him see how He chose him first and how He created him in his mother’s womb. God knew him before anyone else and He knew the real him. God appointed him and when Jeremiah began to believe that everything radically changed. 

 

 

One of my favorite discussions was about how Christ is inside us and we are more than enough. He stated how many us are spending our time wrestling with ourselves and doubting who we are. There are countless voices who are trying to make us feel less than and we’re constantly reminded of how we are falling short of someone else. We are accepting our insufficiency as our true identify. He explained how Christ is inside us and He told his disciples that we must realize that He is the Father and you are in me and I am in you (John 14:19-20). Jesus also goes on to teach a lesson about how He is the vine and we are the branches and how we can bear fruit. Steven reminded readers that we are sufficient in Christ and we don’t have to prove our worth. He encouraged readers to accept themselves and become the best version of you. He told a personal story about how his son, Elijah was taking a fishing trip with his friends. This brought back memories of how he would fish with his own dad but didn’t enjoy it. He never taught his own son how to fish and he felt like a bad dad for not showing him. He felt like he wasn’t enough of being a father. He had to be careful not to turn this into his identify. Instead, he had to remember that Jesus is enough and our identity needs to be in that. 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone is struggling with being themselves and they comparing themselves to others and feeling less than. This book is very powerful in helping readers to change their mindsets and align their thoughts to match Christ. I immensely liked how the story about the trading card and how he willingly fell for a trick from the owner when he opened up a Michael Jordan card. He didn’t know the value and worth of the card and he used this example to explain to readers how being inexperience and the dangers of not recognizing our worth. We can be handing over our character, confidence, peace, good reputation, and joy and missing out on God’s best for our lives. This book is very insightful and I believe is one of the best from Steven. The stories are relatable and if we would put into practice the principles we will see our lives changed! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Do-New-You-Mindsets-Created/dp/1546006826/

Mayo Clinic on Healthy Aging: An Easy and Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Your Body Young, Your Mind Sharp and Your Spirit Fulfilled by Nathan K. LeBrasseur and Christina Chen Book Review

 

Mayo Clinic on Healthy Aging is a new book about the biology of aging and what we can expect. They looked at the age lift span and how it has changed. In the 1900s the average life span was about 45 years old. Now people live to almost 80. This book is geared to try and help increase the age gap and to help us live longer. They looked at the brain, heart and lungs, immunity health, urinary health, and much more. They explored topics such as retirement planning, exercise, eating well, and vaccinations. 

 

 

 

The first part of the book explored the brain and how it ages. Our brain will shrink in size and this will in turn affect structures of the brain and we may have a decrease in cognitive function. We will lose our response time and it is 1.5 times slower than a young adult. One positive thing is that our judgement often gets better with age and this is because of knowledge and skills and experience. The book explained how researchers have discovered that we can control some of the risk factors to our brain health. One of the ways is keeping our brains challenged and boosting our cognitive. We need to address our physical activity, stress levels, tobacco use, blood pressure, and much more. One of the studies found if we have interrupted sleep, we are more at risk at developing dementia. They recommended following a plant-based diet to prevent dementia. They shared how helpful it can be to have a calendar and a task list to keep you focus and to help you remember. It’s important to perform one task at a time. There is mental aerobics we can use to stretch our brain and to keep it sharpened. 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who is ready to age better and they want to improve their quality of life. I loved how they covered the entire body and health systems. I liked how they discussed kidney stones since this is something I have experienced a few times. They shared some of the causes and how we can try to prevent them as we age. I liked how they discussed what to eat and the importance of maintaining physical activity and getting enough sleep. They covered a wide range of different topics that will assist people as the age and it was very informative. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from Mayo Clinic Press for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Healthy-Aging-Comprehensive/dp/B0BQYKS8ND/