Giving Your Words: The Lifegiving Power of a Verbal Home for Family Faith Formation by Sally and Clay Clarkson Book Review

 

In Giving Your Words, Sally and Clay Clarkson has written a helpful impactful book on speaking life giving words over our children’s lives. Sally explained how her own mother shared with her words that changed her life. These words were, “If God is for you, who can be against you?” This is a reminder that no matter what there is nothing that is bigger than God and His power. This book describes how we can create a verbal home in our house and speak life giving words. They begin by looking at how God speaks and spoke creation into being. They also looked at Moses and how he was given a word from the Lord, called the Shema. It covered Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and this state how we are commanded to love the Lord with all our hearts and soul. We are supposed to teach the word of God to our children all the time. The book explored the living words and speaking out the giving words. These words included words that are personal, loving, nurturing, believable, wisdom, and much more. 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book about speaking words over our children’s lives to every single parent or grandparent. This book has the potential to dramatically change our scope on parenting and benefit generations to come. One of my favorite chapters discussed love found in First Corinthians 13. I liked how they broke down the topic of love and how we are required to put on gentleness, forgiveness, patience, humility, compassion, and much more. They also revealed the ABCs of loving words and I immensely connected with the discussion of asking ourselves daily if the words we are providing to our children are loving or harmful. I also enjoyed how they shared the gifts found in life giving words. One of my favorites is the gift of explaining that our children are special and how they were given gifts from God and their personality was chosen for them. 

 

 

 

"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/Giving-Your-Words-Lifegiving-Formation/dp/0764235923/

The God Shot: 100 Snapshots of God’s Character in Scripture by Tara-Leigh Cobble Book Review

 

In The God Shot, Tara-Leigh Cobble has written a brand-new devotional. She chose to cover the New Testament. The goal of this book to help readers understand more of God’s character. Some of these included that God is peace, God of all nations, protects, joy, empowers us, patience, grace, saves, and much more. Each day directed us towards a name of God or an attribute of God. 

 

 

 

 

The first day discussed Matthew 6:25 and how we aren’t supposed to be worried about what we will eat or drink or what we will wear. She explained the context of the verse and how Jesus was instructing us not to be anxious about anything. Everything in this life is fleeting and is passing away and it will only be temporary. Our focus should only be on what is to come and how we will one day be living with God in His Kingdom. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome devotional on short God’s shots to anyone is seeking a quick devotional to read daily for 100 days. I loved the message enclosed and how each day pointed to key feature of God’s character. One of my favorite devotionals was about how love will never end. But prophecies will, tongues, and knowledge will all fade away. I immensely loved how instead we can remember that love is the only thing that will truly matter and it will last until the end of time. I loved the style of the book and how easy it is to read. 

 

 

 

"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/God-Shot-Snapshots-Character-Scripture/dp/0764240331

Soul Care for the Battle: A Guided Journal by Susie Larson Book Review

A Soul Care for the Battle is a new journal to go along with her book Strong in Battle. She begins the journal by sharing how when the storm rage how we first lose our sense of direction. This journal will assist us in taking inventory of our life and connecting with God on a deeper level. The book first explored the topic of trials and how we view them and what we tell ourselves impacts the warrior we are supposed to become. She encourages readers to write down the current battles that is pressing on us, most concerning, background noise but bothersome. Each section included scriptures, spaces to write down our thoughts, questions, and a wide variety of tools to grow in our walk with Christ.

 

 

I would recommend this awesome journal to anyone who is seeking one to help them prepare for battle and to stand strong. One of my favorite things was when she discussed faith declaration and this stated how we speak with authority, how we are blessed, how we will triumph over our enemy. Another favorite area she covered was the thoughts that don’t belong in our brain. We can do this by instead focusing on redemptive phrases such as Ephesians 2:10. I loved how helpful the book was in writing down your thoughts and growing in our faith. This is a great tool to use in strength training to prepare for battle. 

 

 

 

 

"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/Soul-Care-Battle-Guided-Journal/dp/0764241435/

 

 

 

 

My Review of Strong in Battle:

 

https://runningtowardschrist.blogspot.com/2022/09/strong-in-battle-why-humble-will.html  

The Florence Legacy: A Novel by Lauraine Snelling Book Review

The Florence Legacy is a novel about friendships and seeing dreams fulfilled. Jade and Breeanna met at a writer’s conference and they always had a dream to travel to Italy and they wanted to see David. Something would also happen and they could never go. Jade unfortunately passed away before that dream could come true. Breeanna received a hand written letter from Jade gifting her money to use on a trip to Italy. The whole group of three women each received $10,000. Her daughter, Jessica wants the money for herself because she is behind on car payments and then this will cause her to lose her job. She tried to guilt trip her mother out of following her dream and instead to bail her out of her problems. She was firm in stating that she would no longer be rescuing her since the last time. We get to see some of her past with her ex-lover Dereck and bailing him out of jail. Her daughter seems to have lots of excuses and using guilt as a tool to try and manipulate others. Eventually, Breeanna does decide to go ahead with her trip to Italy but not first without experiencing some of her friend’s going through a funeral. She meets Pierre-Rene Dubois a guy who has a big dream of opening up a coffee shop that will be geared to help vets. They share a few romantic moments in the book. 

 

 

I would recommend this amazing book filled with a wonderful story about friendship, love, and never giving up on your hopes and dreams. I loved seeing Breeanna dream come true and her getting to see Italy and it was interesting to read about her adventures. I connected with the story about Jessica and her using manipulation and guilt as a tactic to get help from others. This allowed her to never having to solve her own problems she could always depend on others if she ever got into binds. I know of one person in my own family that her story reminded me of and it gives me hope that maybe one day she can also learn to turn her own life around. I could see this novel one day becoming a Hallmark film. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Florence-Legacy-Novel-Lauraine-Snelling/dp/1478920122

Prophetic Forecast: Insights for Navigating the Future to Align with Heaven's Agenda by Joshua Giles Book Review

 

In Prophetic Forecast, Joshua Giles has written a brand-new book about prophecy and how we can prepare for what is to come. He opened up about how he began in prophetic ministry and how he saw visions and dreams at a young age. He begins the book by sharing how in 2015 he gave a prophetic message about how a rare virus would be coming that would change the world. He stated how doctors will be confused about if it was the flu or not. He told how God told him that it would require two tests to determine what it is. The virus will target the respiratory systems and he instructed them to pray for themselves and family members. He also went on about how the virus was man made and would come from a lab. He also shared how in 2019, he was told by God that a great change was coming again and it would affect every system starting with the financial and it start a collapse. It will open the doors to a great revival and a global reset. He devoted a whole chapter to the changes coming to the monetary systems. We aren’t far from digital currency and we will see the value of a dollar disappear around the world completely. He encouraged believers to not chase after the love of money but instead to seek the Lord. He explained how in scripture, Proverbs 13:22 it discussed how “the wealth of the wicked is reserved for the righteous.” He strongly believed that there is going to be a transfer of wealth to God’s people and He will be there to provide for us. 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book on prophecy to everyone who is ready to prepare for the end times. One of my favorite discussions was about Joseph and how he dealt with the famine. There is going to be a repeat coming. I liked how open Joshua Giles was in explaining the famine that is to come that will affect food supplies, pharmaceutical companies, housing market, natural disasters, spiritual, and much more. This book was very eye opening and I enjoyed reading about how he has predicted some of the changes that come to be from visions he received from God. I also liked how shinny the book design was and how they engrossed it to make it more appealing. 

 

 

 

 

"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/Prophetic-Forecast-Insights-Navigating-Heavens/dp/080076238X

Crazy Joy: Finding Wild Happiness in a World That's Upside Down by Mary Katherine Backstrom Book Review

In Crazy Joy, Mary Katherine Backstrom revealed the true meaning of happiness and how fleeting it is and how instead we can choose to follow joy. She explained in her book how she suffers from OCD, PTSD, ADHD, bipolar 2. She compared it to Pokémon cards and how you never know which one will you get. She went into detail about how one day she took on a politician over Twitter and he claimed to be a Christian. She tweeted to him how in 18 months she was running for office and going to take over his seat. It went viral and caused herself some backlash. Her business colleague called her in asking her about what direction her career was going to go. They were a faith-based publisher and they didn’t know she was going to go political. She also didn’t tell her husband and he wasn’t happy when he found out what she tweeted. A lot of stories in the book, she described it as a conversation with her therapist to relay the message. She explained how she was on a quest for happiness and the next toy that promises to provide with happiness. In the book, she wants to help readers to break through the cycle and to achieve crazy true joy. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book about happiness and discovering joy and contentment in our daily lives. I immensely loved her humor and how open she was in explaining that some days is feels like the different characters in Christopher Robin popular stories from Winnie the Pooh. I liked the story about Publix and the pecan pies and the trouble she went to at first to hid that she purchased one from there instead of making her own. I also enjoyed her sharing the story about D.A.R.E. and Scruff McGruff and how he discussed with kids in the 90’s about drugs, guns, and protecting yourself from strangers. She even described how she told on her father for drinking alcohol and mixed humor into the story. I also liked how she enclosed tour guide takeaways at the end of each chapter. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Joy-Finding-Happiness-Upside/dp/154601554X