Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? By Paula Faris Illustrated by Bhagya Madanasinghe Book Review

Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up is a new children’s book from award-winning journalist, Paula Faris. She was also a co-host on ABC, The View. This book is about Lina and how she getting prepared for career day and a fun project. Mrs. Garcia went around the room and began asking each student what they all wanted to be when they grew up. Lina was busy drawing in her stretch book and not paying attention in class. She was telling her friend about golden retrievers and how they are excellent guide dogs and how smart they are. They make the perfect companion friend and they are great at finding hidden things. When the teacher asked her what she wanted to be. She told the class she wanted to be a golden retriever and the entire class laughed at her response. She still had another chance to try a different answer on the actual career day. At dinner, her parents tried to help her up with things she was good at and things she loved to do. Her mother explained how she was very curious and liked to ask questions. 

 

 

 

In the book, she shared how on career day she wanted to be like a golden retriever and shared their different characteristics and traits and how they benefit and help others. The book revealed how we can teach our kids to focus more on who they want to become instead of just what they do in life. At the end of the book, Paula wrote a short closing about how we need to instead ask who do you want to become when you grow up. She broke it down to three questions we can teach our kids to get them started. One of these was, “what’s important to you?” 

 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this outstanding children’s book on who we want to become when we grow up. We live in society that we focus on what jobs we do and not enough on who we are. This small book contains a powerful message to assist our children in concentrating on character qualities and asking ourselves the most important questions. This book is truly remarkable and if we will take the time to go over the three critical questions with our children, then we can help them to figure out who they want to become in life. The illustrations are also beautiful and help to craft the story. This book would be a wonderful book for children aged 4-9. 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Who-You-Want-When-Grow/dp/1546003762/

Better Than Okay: Finding Hope and Healing After Your Marriage Ends By Brandi Wilson Book Review

In Better Than Okay, Brandi Wilson has written her personal story about her openly divorce to mega church pastor, Pete Wilson. He was the pastor of Cross Point in Nashville. In 2016, he decided to end their marriage after being together for a total of 23 years. He also made the decision to quit his church after 14 years and he told everyone publicly that it was because he was tired and burned out. This led to her losing her church family and her entire family dynamically changed dramatically overnight. She explained how her story was being written as a to be continued after her divorce. It has taken her 6 years for her to be ready to write a book to help others who are going through a divorce and provides them with hope for the future. 

 

 

 

She looked at Anna who was a prophetess in the Bible and not many are probably familiar with her story. She had been married for seven years and a widow for 84 years. She would stay at the temple and worship God regularly. She explained how she choose worship over feeling bitterness from losing her husband. She was hopeful for the future and she recognized the Son of God right away. We can learn a deal in our suffering and rediscover our hope. 

 

 

 

She also shared how she was able to see her scar after her failed marriage but she was still able to re-heal and move forward after her divorce. She compared the beauty to the scar when she recently had two skin cancers removed from her bicep and her doctor decided to stitch her up in the shape of a cross where it would become a beautiful scar. The book also looked at the grief she felt and knowing that she wouldn’t get to keep her three boy’s full time. She would have to share every other weekend and holidays. One of my favorite quotes was, “part of the grief process is grieving how you allowed yourself to be treated.” 

 

 

She also chooses to discuss dating again after a divorce. She shared a complete list of green flags to look for in a relationship. She did it a little different than others. She wants us to focus on what we are wanting in a relationship and not making a list of just red flags. She enclosed some tips she has learned in her own dating experiences with dating apps since they are become more of the norm of meeting people. I really like how she clarified how important it is to be honest and that we don’t need to ghost people. If we aren’t feeling it kindly tell then ahead of time and don’t waste their time. She also shared how we need to have the preceptive that they are lucky to get to spend time with us and learning to love yourself. It took her about five years to start dating again exclusively. So even after many failed first dates, she was able to keep trying and she revealed how she dates with a family first dating mindset.

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book about finding hope again after a divorce. I’m not married and I’m currently still single but there were still helpful lessons I can learn by reading this book. It is more written for divorced readers but everyone can benefit from reading this book. I have heard of her husband being a pastor and was curious to read her side of the divorce. It was inspiring to read about her story. It liked the chapter on gratitude and how her choosing to display gratitude it helped her to have resilience and find happiness’s again. I really connected with her sharing that she had a choice to make to either be “humbly grateful or grumbly hateful”. She chose the path to freedom. This book will assist you in re-finding joy after a divorce and healing from the heartache. 

 

 

 

 

"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/Better-Than-Okay-Finding-Marriage/dp/0764241419/

Master Your Mindpower: A User Manual For Your Mind & The Ultimate Guide To Mental Toughness by Stéphane Schafeitel and Shalee Schafeitel Book Review

 

In Master Your Mindpower, Stéphane Schafeitel and Shalee Schafeitel have teamed up to write a book about strengthening your mental resilience and mastering your mindpower. They are founders of Success Training Co. and they regularly coach others. They also opened up about some of their clients they have helped. Some of these included a mortgage company tripled their net worth, executive who was fired three times eventually learned to stay at the same company and has gotten promoted, and much more. They break down the 3 pillars of mindpowers: Foundation, Mental Toughness, and Habits throughout the book.

 

 

 

 

In the book, Stephane explained how he experienced a dramatic event during his college days. He was hit square in his right eye by a line-drive golf ball. He was instantly knocked out cold and went he was taken to the hospital. They stated he was lucky if it would have hit him just one inch more to the right, he wouldn’t still be alive. They told him there was internal bleeding and they would more than likely have to remove the eye. He asked for a more opinions- three to be precise. He shared how he used mindpower to get healing and to regain his vision. He explained how powerful the body is and how incredible healing powers it contains. He shared about neuroplasticity and how we can reprogram our brains and grow daily. 

 

 

One of my favorite chapters discussed how to bounce back from mistakes. They refer to this as the ICE method after you make a mistake. These enclosed, identity, change, and embrace. This will help us to learn from our mistakes and bring back active change. They explained how they had to use the ICE method when they made mistakes creating their first ever online course workbook. They stated how we need to have the goal to be about 90% perfect and strive to do our best but knowing that it would ever be 100% perfect. This will greatly remind readers how we need to deal with our mistakes and what we can learn from each experience. 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is ready to change their mindsets and to grow in their mindpower. I immensely loved how each chapter contained a mindpower exercise and they provided us questions to answer. I also enjoyed the different challenges presented and one of these included 100 wants and we can ask ourselves what we want in life. This is an important task they require every single person they coach to complete this task first. They want everyone to give and put in the effort to put in the work. This task is very eye opening to see what we want out of our lives. They will help you also to narrow it down to the top 3 you want to focus on for the next month. This book is an excellent manual to work on changing your mindset. 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Successful Training Publishing for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Mindpower-Ultimate-Toughness-ebook/dp/B08HPNTLFK/

 

 

Check out their official website:

 

 

https://stephandshay.com

I Cry in Corners: Embracing Your Feelings, Throat-Punching Anxiety, and Managing Your Emotions Well By Chari Orozco Book Review

In I Cry in Corners, Chari Orozco has written this book to assist readers in managing their emotions. The book title is actually a saying that she cries in corners was from a joke on Instagram. She used the saying as an answer to a question on how she manages her emotions. She shared how she is an introvert and was filled with insecure. She would isolate herself from her friends and family. She entered her marriage with extreme anxiety and was easily angered. At age 33 years old, she faced depression and considered taking her own life. She was suffering from an emotional breakdown. She admitted how she knew she needed Jesus’s help and she had to rely on Him to make her whole. In the book, she explained how she faced incredible amounts of fear when at age 30, she was told she couldn’t have kids. She felt grief, anger, and disappointment. She had this fear that she failed as a woman and failed her family because she couldn’t get pregnant. She thought she would be unloved cause she was barren. Her unmet expectation turned out to shift her desires towards loving others and helped her to beat out her fears. She wrote this book as a tool for readers to learn about how Jesus would manage His emotions in whatever He endured.

 

 

 

In the book, she also shared how she was learned to deal with her insecurity. One of the first things, she recalled was when in school she was a good writer and created a magazine for her school and how people loved it. She unfortunately had to move schools when her dad got a new job. The teacher proceeded to let her know that her writing wasn’t that great and that she would be moved to the disability class. She shared how her mother was already helping other students with disabilities. She decided to use a technique to get her confidence back. Her mother and grandmother teamed up and taught her scriptures about what God says about her. These include: I am a child of God, wonderfully made, bold, blessed, conqueror, gifted, and loved. Her helped her to get a new identity and it assisted her in gaining a new perceptive. In this chapter, she looked at the different ways in where Jesus discovered his identity and purpose. She also looked at the blessings and what we can learn from these teachings. 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is ready for some guidance in dealing with their emotions. They don’t have to them run wild and be untamed. I liked how she discussed her fears and how filling up on scriptures helped her to gain true freedom. I especially enjoyed how she looked at the life of Jesus and how He spend His time on Earth and what we can learn from Him on how to control our own emotions. I thought she did an excellent job in connecting and relating His teachings to how we can manage our fears, anxiety, being offended, disappointments, insecurity, betrayed, and much more. It was very eye opening to be reminded of Jesus heavenly perceptive and His disappointment would have an eternal redemption. This is a wonderful book to reread again to study and dig deeper again into our emotions and learn how to manage them daily. 

 

 

 

 

"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/Cry-Corners-Embracing-Feelings-Throat-Punching/dp/1546004238/

Life Counsel Bible (CSB): Practical Wisdom for All of Life Book Review and Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

• Whatever you’re facing, the Bible has something to say. The  

NEW CSB Life Counsel Bible contains articles from leading biblical counselors that will give YOU the tools you need to take action and FIND HOPE through all of life’s storms.  

Featuring over 150 articles on topics related to marriage, parenting, relationships, mental health, and so many more- this Bible is like having a complete biblical counseling toolkit in one resource! Check out www.lifecounselbible.com for a full list of topics and order yours today! 

 

 

• The CSB Life Counsel Bible features the highly readable, highly reliable text of the Christian Standard Bible. The CSB captures the Bible’s original meaning without sacrificing clarity, making it easier to engage with Scripture’s life-transforming message and to share it with others. 

• Have you ever felt stressed, or been anxious, or experienced grief? Have you ever wanted to know how to help a loved one through addiction, or marital conflict, or parenting challenges? I'm really excited to share with you an amazing new biblical counseling resource created in partnership with Holman Bibles and New Growth Press. The Life Counsel Bible provides practical wisdom for all, equipping readers with biblical truth and counsel on a wide range of topics and tough life issues. With over 150+ articles this Bible is full of useful tools and resources for life application and discipleship. It’s great for couples, parents, ministry leaders, and anyone who has ever struggled with tough life issues (yep, that’s all of us!). Check out lifecounselbible.com today to see a full list of articles and order your copy today! 

 

 

• LIFE COUNSEL BIBLE PRODUCT FEATURES: 

• More than 150 full-length articles from respected Christian counselors and scholars on topics like anxiety, depression, abuse, sexuality, marriage and divorce, parenting struggles, finances (full list available at  

lifecounselbible.com) 

• Callout quotes placed near each article provide truth, hope, and encouragement to apply to life 

• Over 100-word studies focusing on key words applicable to personal healing, growth, and counsel 

• Book introductions including “Circumstances of Writing,” “Structure,” “Contribution to the Bible,” and a special “Truth for Healing” section with an over view of key truths related to healing from each book of the Bible 

• Wide margins for notetaking and journaling 

• Robust page-end cross-reference system with over 25,000 cross-references connecting Scripture from Genesis to Revelation 

• Easy-to-read 9.5-point type size 

• Presentation page for gift-giving (this makes a great wedding/parenting gift! 

 

 

My Review: 

 

This Bible is a brand-new Bible for 2023 and it’s very unique in the fact that it is focused more on a counseling aspect. There has been an upward trend in how many Christian literature has been published on the topic of Christian counseling. This Bible includes helpful Christian literature that is geared towards exploring upon key issues we deal with on a day-to-day level. Some of these included, moving from fear to faith, sinlessness, controlling angry, addicted to porn, grieving a suicide, divorce recovery, homosexuality, stressed to the max, Alzheimer disease, self-harm, and much more. They are placed throughout the entire Bible to help us in understand more about the times we are facing. They are written from top counselors and scholars in the world. These included, David Powlison, Joni Eareckson Tada, Amy Baker, Paul Tripp, just to name a few. There are about 150 articles presented in the Bible. The book included word studies, maps, call out quotes, tropical scripture index, book introductions.

 

 

I will look at one article to go over. I decided on looking at the what we should do about anxiety. One of the first things, we should do when we are feeling anxiety is to take every thought captive. We need to ponder on whether the thought is coming from Christ or the father of lies. We can start by asking if God wants us worrying about what will happen next. The answer to this question is no he doesn’t. It’s important to fill our minds with the knowledge found in scripture and be reminded of His promises. It’s viral that we ask for forgiveness and keep ourselves free of guilty. This can be a leading cause of feeling anxious. Paying attention to what our internal thoughts and what if questions can help us to deal with them and to look into scriptures for guidance on who God is and how He truly cares for us. This counseling article encouraged readers to write down their thoughts daily to help you apply what scriptures instead declares. This article went over the physical symptoms you may feel when you are suffering from an anxiety attack and the solutions that will assist them overcoming them. 

 

 

I would recommend this splendid Bible to anyone who is seeking a new Bible that contains helpful advice and teaching from top counselors. I really enjoy reading the different articles and I appreciated how they covered the topics that are happening in days times. They didn’t shy away from looking at suicide, homosexuality, sex, abortion, and divorce. Most Bible’s I have seen don’t really like to discuss those topics. I also liked how they included two ribbons to keep track of your process and it made it easier to flip back and forth to study scriptures. It also had wide margins if you wanted to take some short notes and write down your thoughts and it was written in Black font. I also liked how it enclosed a concordance to make it easier to study certain topics. I liked the blue and green colors they used throughout the design of the Bible. It had a fresh new look. It would make a great gift to a fellow student, a new parent, or someone who is getting engaged.

 

 

• Order your copy of the CSB Life Counsel Bible today! 

 

 

https://lifecounselbible.com

 

 

 

Giveaway: $10 Amazon giftcard 

Note: This is limited to US winners only.

 

 

 

Disclosure:  

Many thanks to Lifeway Christian Resources for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Time by John Eldredge Book Review

In Resilient, John Eldredge helps readers to bounce back to get their strength back after feeling weary and worn down. In the book, he explained the roles of camels and how they have incredible stamina and strength. They can carry their passengers across the hot desert lands. They can go without for long periods of time. But when they choose to die, they simple kneel and die. He compared this to how human also hide behind the Achilles heel. We are good at rising above calamity until one day we no longer can. We burn out and struggle to keep going on. We are still dealing with the effects of Covid-19 and how this is brought its own traumas. He shared how he worked with his staff during this and asked them how their wellbeing was going. They admitted to only living their lives in about 30 % of their normal strength. He asked readers what they would do if we went through another one how would we respond to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

He explained how we need to have mental resilience and be prepared for the end of age. It is estimated that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled by the end of 2022 or a little after that. Scriptures declare that Jesus’ testimony will be preached in every nation. In 2015, it was estimated to have been about 1,400 groups without any Christians located there. All of this is supposed to be changed soon and God’s word will be shared soon all over the world. He shared how we as Christians need to be more concerned with reading scriptures and studying than watching social media. It is also so easy to get lure into watching the news daily and consuming ourselves with everything that is happening. He shared how we can keep the right perspective and focus on some key scriptures to help us in our journey. This included walking through the darkest valleys and knowing that God will protect us without any doubt. 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book about resilient and dealing with the emotional pain you are facing and choosing to rediscover joy again. I really enjoyed how he included two ways you can recover. The first way is reconnecting with our love and stating our devotion to Jesus again. The second is creating a space to let our soul breathe and let Jesus be at the center of our lives. I also liked how he shared that he designed an app named the pause app. This app goal is to help us to pause and refind resilience and get strength from Jesus in our day-to-day walk. This app is a great additional to this book and they do go together. I immensely was touched by the topic of how imperative it is for athletes to recover and how this is so important where we won’t injury ourselves. We can heal from our trauma by following this guide and pretend we are answering these questions to a therapist. I really believe this section was very powerful and it will assist us in dealing with our angry, fears, and hurts. 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Thomas Nelson for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Resilient-Restoring-Weary-These-Turbulent/dp/1400208645/