Not My Circus: Living with Courage, Conviction, and Compassion in a World of Chaos by Mark Batterson Book Review

In Not My Circus, Mark Batterson teaches readers how to live their lives with courage instead of fear and choosing to live above the typical status quo. He explained how we need to answer the call for nonconformity by choosing to live out our faith boldly and not in fear. He looked at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and how he took a stance against segregation and he didn’t care what people would think of him. He explained how the fear of man is false authority and he compared it to people bowing down to idols. Paul also warned us about conforming to the patterns of the world. The only true way to overcome what people think and the fear of what man could do is to have a fear of God. He has written this book to introduce readers to an important response to the fear of man and this is his rule of life. This saying is, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” We need to realize that we can’t control other people actions of reactions or their attitudes or opinions. We need to look focus more on our Father’s business and less on anything else which would be considered monkey business. This book is divided into three sections: holy courage, spiritual discernment, and amazing grace. 

One of my favorite chapters discussed do it scared. This chapter begin with a story about how in 1957, a Harvard researcher, Dr. Curt Richer conducted experiments on rats and to see how good of swimmers they were. He placed a dozen of rats into a 30 inch glass cylinder filled with water. They were made to swim until they gave up. They lasted 15 minutes until they all gave up hope. The next experiment he saved them right before they were going to drown. He let them out and let their heart rates go back down to normal. Then he replaced them back in the water and they lasted 60 hours. He explained how in this story how a little big of hope can dramatically change things. He used this story to encourage readers to keep on fighting the good fight. He explained the power in facing our fears and how failing at something can still provide us lessons that change our lives. He shared how he at first failed at planting a church but he choose not to give up. 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who is ready to give up the power of people pleasing and fearing what man thinks of you. I loved the principles presented in this book and how we can live with the mindset of not my circus in dealing with letting things we can’t control go.  

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Not-My-Circus-Conviction-Compassion-ebook/dp/B0GSJ4CZCK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FU0JIOPGSYWV 

I Think My Therapist Hates Me: A Memoir by Chris Olsen Book Review

I Think My Therapist Hates Me is a personal memoir from Chris Olsen. He is a social media star most famously on TikTok. He cohosted the red carpet at the Oscars. In the book, he wrote it like he was talking with his therapist, Lizzie. He shared about his childhood and how he learned first learned he might be gay. When he was growing up he would sit with all girls and hang out with them daily. He chose to play with Barbies, dresses, and he enjoyed the color pink. He opened up about in fourth grade he tried to become more manly and hang out with boys his age. He discovered that he had some athletic. He tried to get into rap listening to Drake and Lil Wayne like all the guys were doing. His room was decorated with gay posters like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. When guys were coming over he would careful roll them up and storage them where they wouldn’t be wrinkled. He recalled one time that she sister stole his High School Musical shirt and walked right in when he had a friend over. He was able to convince him that it wasn’t his shirt. He never invited that friend ever over again. He shared other events that led to him slowly letting people know that he was in fact gay. He shared about his first crush and later on his relationships ups and downs. 

His mother was an alcoholic and this led to wounds he at first didn’t realize they were there. He didn’t understand how come she couldn’t just stop drinking to beat the addiction. She went to rehab and attended AA meetings. He admitted to how he preferred the before rehab version of her.  He later went into detail about his own struggle with drugs and drinking and how they planned a intervention to try and reach him. They were all worried about could happen if he didn’t get the help that he desperately needed. 

This book is for readers who enjoy watching his videos and want to see more from the man behind the curtain. Before reading this book, I didn’t know much about him and his life besides seeing a few of his videos online. I liked how he wrote some of the book like he was speaking to his therapist and revealing the truths of his life the parts people didn’t see. A big part of the book is his journey to coming out and his experiences with what he faced. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Think-My-Therapist-Hates-Me-ebook/dp/B0GPJ4LDGP  

Even If: Trusting God Through the Fire (The Official Book for I Can Only Imagine 2) by Bart Millard, Shannon Millard, and Robert Noland Book Review

Even If is an incredible book about the story behind the hit song that in turn also got turned into another movie. This song appears on MercyMe’s ninth studio album. It charted faster than the hit song, “I Can Only Imagine”. Even if is a personal story about everyone longs for the greener pastures and quiet waters. We all tend to have to face at some point a walking through the difficult valley of the shadows of death. He compared it to Job and how he experienced trials and at least ten translations use the exact phrase even if. See Job 13:15, “Even If God kills me, I’’ll still put my hope in him”. 

The book begins with sharing about the Shannon and her brother, Chris and what he was dealing with. Bart had just returned home from touring and Sam their first son was upstairs sleeping. Chris came over experiencing a heartbreak at age 20 seeking his sister advice. Chris was also begging her for evidence that God was in fact real. They discussed and talked about God and faith into the night. She went to wake up Bart at 1:30 a.m. and Chris took it as Bart’s delayed response as he didn’t care about him. At around 3 a.m. Bart stated how someone needed to knock some sense into you. Before he got upset and left he told them to tell Sam that he loved him. Later on it was discovered that Chris has been involved in a car crash that took his life and he was thrown from the truck. Chris died right before Sam’s birthday and Bart admits to asking God why. He faced guilty over his comments and actions. This was also left out in the movie. They wanted to movie to focus more on a father and son’s theme. 

Another big part of the book was Sam and how he struggled with being a diabetic. It was discovered right after MercyMe won Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist at the American Music Awards. Sam started sweating profusely, acted aggressively, and a insatiable thirst. Sam’s blood levels was at 847 a normal two to three year old is about 80 to 100. They had to give him insulin to get his sugar to come back down. He had type one diabetes and they had to teach them how to use a needle and how to check his blood levels. He admitted how he wanted to declare war against satan and how he wouldn’t harm his family. In the book readers will get a glimpse from Sam’s perceptive and what he went through with dealing with diabetes. It also shows how Sam also went into music and part of this was in the actual movie as well. This story is a part of the inspiration behind, “even if”. 

I loved reading more about the new hit movie that was recently released. I enjoyed the first one and even read his first book. I liked how this book shared thoughts from the entire family and all his children. It was interesting to learn about Chris and what happened and how this affect their lives. Before reading this book, I didn’t ever know this part of the story. I first learned of Sam’s story in watching the film but this book takes the story into a great depth. Bart Millard story is very inspiring and readers will get to see the message and ideas behind the hit songs. Which comes from living life. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830791914 

Do the True You: Stop Faking It for Others and Find Out Who God Says You Are by Steven Furtick Book Review

Steven Furtick has written a new book encompassing about the importance of being your authentic self and not settling for what you have always known. We don’t need to be critical of ourselves or saying that we are a depressed person, shy, dumb, or not enough. These label often trap us into a negative cycle. He encouraged readers to be the true you instead. We can be the person God created us to be. This book was written to guide young teens and adults into seeing ourselves like God sees us and align our vision with His. The book also shared insights and personal stories from his children Elijah, Abbey, and Graham to assist other teens that may one dealing with the same challenges that they are.

He stated how Jeremiah was called to be a prophet. But at the start of it he was just a young teen. God reminded him that He created and formed him in his mother’s womb. He was seeing himself as too introverted, too weak, too young, and was too afraid to step out. God reminded him that he knew him before. God was trying to teach him to see him as He sees him. 

Steven goes on to helping readers to see how God knew us in the beginning and it was our true you. He stated how we need to see ourselves free from depression, us filled with peace no matter what happens to us, and overcoming bad habits and obtaining freedom. He shared mindsets that we can all live by throughout the chapters. These included, “I’m not stuck unless I stop, Christ is in me. I am enough, God has given me everything I need for the season I’m in”, and much more. 

One of my favorite lesson discussed do we really know and understand our worth. Are we valuing ourselves? Looking in the Bible we will discover our worth and how much God loves us. The Holy Spirit lives inside us. We are more than a conqueror. We have the mind of Christ. We are chosen and called. 

I would recommend this book mainly to any teenager or young adult but any age could benefit and learn more about being the true you. A lot of us struggle with our true identity and living in our authentic self. I thought this book was unique in also sharing lessons from his own children and what they have went through and learned growing up. I believe this will help other teens to realize that their struggles aren’t so much different. It helped to see their experience with their own identity and struggles with being who God created them to be. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Do-True-You-Faking-Others-ebook/dp/B0F6MNX899/ 

Kidney Stone Buster: The Quick Guide To Prevent Stones Fast by Anthony Dat Book Review

Kidney Stone Buster is a book written to assist readers in preventing from getting kidney stones. Kidney stone pain is one of the worst physical pain our bodies can go through. It’s excruciating and can lead to trips to the emergency center. It estimated that 1 in 10 people will suffer from having to deal with kidney stones. 50% of kidney stone suffers could have another episode within 5 to 10 years. Kidney stones are often called renal stones and they are made up of solid crystal stones that form from the kidneys. It’s basically waste products made up of acids, salts, and minerals. They look like a small zagged rocks and come in all different shapes and sizes. There are four types: calcium oxalate, uric acids, struvite, and cystine. Some of the symptoms are nausea/vomiting, blood in urine, frequent urination, fever or chills. 

Anthony Dat is determined to help readers to prevent them from occurring. He discussed hydration, diet and nutritions, and lifestyle habits. He strongly suggested readers to consume 2.5 - 3 liters (10 to 12 cups) of fluids daily. Your goal is to make your urine a light color. You could also increase drinking citrus juice such as lemon and lime this could help prevent formation of stones. In turn, we need to avoid any drinks that could make us even more dehydrated. He explored the diet aspect and how we need to aim for 1,000-1,200 mg per day of calcium from food only. Theses include salmon, yoghurt, low-fat milk for some suggestions. He gave a list of high oxalate foods such as spinach, beets, almonds, dark chocolate, sweet potatoes. If you do eat them make sure to consume them with a serving of low-fat cheese or something to bind the oxalate. Another important area was salt and how cooking from scratch and limiting processed foods. These were just some of the topics of this book. 

I would recommend this excellent book to anyone who is struggling with kidney stones and reoccurring stones. I personally have been dealing with stones for a few years now. I just passed a 7mm roughly about a month a go and that’s my biggest one so far. It also led me to having to have a trip to the ER. I still have three more to pass at some point and one is another 7mm. One of the biggest takeaways was probably learning to limit the amount of salt that’s in every single food. I realized how I also need to increase my water intake and add lemon or lime to try and balance out my body. I also need to increase my servings of vegetables and fruit to 5 like he suggested. This book is one to be reread and studied to try and prevent the dreaded stones from forming. 

Check it out below: 

https://www.amazon.com/Kidney-Stone-Buster-Prevent-Stones-ebook/dp/B0GDG6QFWD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3W4WPAEKTLQ8L

KJV Color Code Study Bible, Revealing God's Truth Color by Color (Purple Leathersoft, Red Letter)

This brand-new Bible is enclosed in a purple leather soft cover. It is soft to touch and easy to hold onto while you are reading the word of God. It is written in the King James Version. The Bible uses different colors to highlight seven unique topics of the Bible. They are God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, Salvation, Sanctification, Sin and Temptations, and Last Things. This makes it super easy to study the word and to see the many different truths. It also has red letting to show Christ’s spoken words. There is a monies, weight, and measures chart, a concordance, colorful maps, topic-by-topic articles. It has a ribbon also to hold your reading place in line. I liked how this Bible included colors to make the Bible more appealing to read and follow along with. The topic articles help you to grow and go deeper into God’s word and they are written by a pastor. One of favorites thing he discussed how he hopes that God has a video room that actually shows the Red sea, the stone rolling away from the tomb, Jericho tumbling, and creation beginning. He uses this to lead into how God created us and how we are His most prized creation. We are may in His image. This Bible is simple to read and follow along with and reader will enjoy using it as study Bible. 

To purchase:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400350972