Finding Grace: The Inspiring True Story of Therapy Dogs Bringing Comfort, Hope, and Love to a Hurting World by Larry Randolph and Jennifer Marshall Bleakley Book Review

 

In Finding Grace, Larry Randolph tells the story of how he founded Canines for Christ. Him and his wife, Susan was already at retirement age and doing so much to help the community around them. He recalls how God spoke to him and told him he needed to invest in therapy dogs. He didn’t even have a dog at the time. He remembered how he has a special dog, Gus before when he was in desperate need of a best friend. The economy had just fell and real estate experienced a downturn. He had to file for bankruptcy. His family gifted him Gus to keep him company during the day. The economy did recover but his marriage to Chris didn’t. They divorced and Gus helped him through all of the pain and all the difference in the world. Eventually, Gus did pass away and he hasn’t had a dog since. He shared how he felt led to again get another dog and start his foundation. He had their logo embroidered in gold lettering and this represented the gospel and the blood of Christ. They grew it to over twenty teams and they travel all of over to homes, hospitals, care facilities, and schools to provide comfort and to display God’s love to them. In the book, they shared some of the people they were blessed to meet and help change their lives. 

 

 

One of these touching stories was about Laura and Carl. Laura met them at a drug store. She wanted to meet later on with them and tell them her story. She explained how she was hit by an 18-year-old driver going 50 mph in a 35 mph. She was driving home from a meeting when she was hit and it just so happened that an off-duty fireman heard the crash. He thought she was dead but he was able to revive her. She was given a 2 % chance of surviving. She shared how God spoke to her and told her that this wasn’t her time to go. She had to leave her job and she spends her day with her own dog, Chloe. They became a part of their ministry. 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book on how this ministry has been able to make so much of a difference in people’s lives. This book is a wonderful example of sharing God’s love to a hurting world. It was inspiring to read the different stories and how they helped others. It was also touching to read about how Grace helped Larry when Susan faced health challenges. This book is a delightful read for any dog lovers with a mixture of positive lessons we can learn from dogs. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from Tyndale Momentum for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Grace-Inspiring-Therapy-Bringing/dp/1496473604/

See the Good: Finding Grace, Gratitude, and Optimism in Everyday by Zach Windahl Book Review

 

In See the Good, Zach Windahl has written a book about helping us to change our perspective and choosing to discover the good. We can learn to see that the world is in fact becoming a better place. In the book, he opened up about almost losing his own mother to cancer. When he was just four years old, his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She was given a 5% chance of living. He explained how difficult it was in witnessing her become skin and bone. Everything changed when a family friend reached out to her and reminded her about Jesus. She was eventually healed physically but over the years she still battled health issues until he was about age 15. He shared how he never saw her complain to God or have a poor me mentality. He begins the book by sharing how he created a poll asking people two questions about the state of the world. What he found out was that many Christians had negative outlooks on the world. In the book, he explained the importance of changing out views and perspectives and choosing our own story. He carefully described how we can bring Heaven to earth and we are all alive at this present time to fulfill our purpose. He explored the topic of negativity bias and how we need to show more gratitude and to be thankful. Neuroscientists have discovered that we are all born with negativity bias. When we face something dangerous, it registers into our brains and it tries to protect us from future harm. 

 

 

 

He also opened up about his personal struggle with anxiety. In school, he battled a constant struggle with throwing up. If he was around certain smells or environments this would bring it on. The majority of it was caused by great stress and he found out some of his family members also experiences simpler issues with anxiety. He was forced to eat in the classroom everyday instead of the cafeteria. His teachers would have to try and find volunteers to eat lunch with him. He shared a list of things people fear. He also shared how he was officially diagnosed with anxiety in 2014 after getting sick at work and having anxiety attacks. It was later discovered that it was humidity and he had to take nose spray medication to relieve the symptoms. He used this story to describe how we need to be extremely careful in believing what others have declared over our lives. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is ready to see the good in life and they are sick and tired of living negativity and feeling down. I really enjoyed the discussion on becoming more optimism and not living like the world is ending and getting worst. There is power in this book and changing our thoughts and focusing on the good in life. One of my favorite stories he shared was Moses and how Israel found their identity as being as children of God. They no longer were seen as just workers building bricks for Pharaoh. He used this story to remind us how critical it is to renew our minds daily and how challenging it is to do so. I really connected with him when he shared his childhood experiences with stress and how he was able to move forward. I also liked the style of the book and how spaced out all the sentences were and I think it made it more appealing to the young readers. 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/See-Good-Finding-Gratitude-Optimism/dp/0764241001

Lost and Found: Losing Religion, Finding Grace by Kendra Fletcher Book Review

About the Book:

The "right" homeschooling philosophy. The "right" brand of theology. The "right" meal-planning, home-managing, keep-it-all-together parenting.

Kendra Fletcher, homeschooling mom of eight, had it all "right," until it all fell apart. In the course of eighteen months, Kendra found her baby in a coma, ran over her five-year-old, and nearly lost her eight-year-old to a septic ruptured appendix. 

Lost and Found is the story of how God used those events to transform her family's self-righteous religion into freedom in Christ.

Fletcher's debut book is the gripping true story of how God used suffering to save her family from empty religion. As wave after wave of crisis hit, the Fletchers discovered that getting religion "right" wasn't a good substitute for a living relationship with a loving God. Through their suffering, they learned about misplaced identities and false hope, and they threw themselves wholly into the arms of Jesus-where they found the grace they needed.

Fletcher, a well-known writer and conference speaker in Christian homeschooling circles, addresses the quiet legalism that so easily infiltrates Christian communities and exposes the dangers of focusing our hopes on the "right" ways of worship, work, and family life. More than a memoir, 

Lost and Found invites all of us to give up the things that hold us in bondage and find our value, worth, significance, hope, and identity in Christ alone.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

My Review:

I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who is desperately seeking grace and they are tired of following religion and all the rules. I liked how open Kendra Fletcher was about her trials and her fears she experience in her life. Kendra’s suffered the fear of losing her young child to a deadly virus and eventually the baby went into a coma. She also ran over her five year old with her car and the amazing story about how miracle nothing was broken. Her eight year old had a rupture appendix. Not to mention, that all of this occurring in a two year span. All of this helped her to realize she didn’t have a close relationship with Christ. She placed her identity in the wrong things. She had to learn about the love of Christ and how to accept grace. I especially connected with the importance of receiving grace and finding our true identity completely in Christ. Kendra and her family went through a bunch of difficult situations and they had to learn how to rely on God and receive his grace through it all.    

“I received a review copy of Lost and Found  from Litfuse for this review.”

About the Author:

Kendra Fletcher writes on faith and education for a variety of publications, including her blog. She is also a frequent speaker at homeschooling conventions, but she spends most of her time with her very large family. The Fletchers reside in California, where they play in the Pacific Ocean as often as possible.

Find out more about Kendra at  http://www.kendrafletcher.com.

   

Read what others are saying:

http://litfusegroup.com/author/KFletcher