For Such a Time as This by Ginny Aiken

 

Because this book was so enjoyable to read, I found it hard to put down. The characters were believable and struggled with many things that I've struggled with so that helped me to be able to identify with the characters right off the bat. This book takes place in the 1870's in Oregon and so has the "old West" kind of feel with the small town that has a General Store, bank and church and not a lot else.

The book starts with nineteen year old Olivia Moore praying that she can somehow help her family out since they've fallen on hard times due to droughts and grasshopper plagues. She certainly isn't expecting God to answer her prayer by allowing a pig to cross her path and some young boys falling shortly behind, but that is how God opens the up the way for her to become a nanny for one of the young boys and his older sister.

She starts working for the President of the local bank as his children's companion and due to circumstances end up entering into marriage as strictly a business proposal and she is to have no say in the bank. Meanwhile, her family is sent a letter signed by the President of the local bank stating that they have been foreclosed on and will be losing their homestead if they don't pay soon. Torn between loyalty to her family and her husband, she isn't sure what to do and starts wondering if God led her to that family for "Such a Time as This".

As I said earlier, I really did enjoy reading this book. The plot really wasn't complicated and so it made a nice easy read - something to take your mind off of things and to curl up to at the end of a stressful work day. I'd highly recommend this book if you enjoy "Old West" kind of books. There is just something about reading about other peoples' troubles that helps take your mind off of your own.

I received this complimentary book from Faith Words in exchange for an honest review. All of the thoughts in this post are my own. I was under no obligation to give it a positive review.

Unstuck: Your Life. God's Design. Real Change. by Arnie Cole & Michael Ross

As Christians, we often get in a rut with our spiritual lives. Hard times may come and we don't know why things are going wrong and we wonder if God even cares. We question why this is happening to us and sometimes we even wonder if it is worth following God. After all, if He truly loved us like He said He does would He allow this to happen to me?

I don't know the excuses for every believer, but I know my excuses. I know that I've wondered many times how do I live a life that is honoring to God. How do I have a passion for Christ - continually? There always seem to be questions and often it seems hard to get any answers.

When I saw that this book touched on the very topic of many of my questions, I jumped at the chance to read it. The answer is simple: read your Bible. As you read your Bible, God is able to communicate to you in a very real way.

For most Christians, I doubt this book is going to have a "new" solution for you. But their whole point is we don't know God and we don't know what He would have for us because we aren't reading His Words to us. It isn't a hard answer, though it can be a very difficult thing to do.

This book addresses many of the excuses that we give for not reading the Bible and goes into how profitable it is to read your Bible at least 4 days a week to see continual growth. Even though I'm telling you more about a book than I normally would, I don't feel that this is going to "ruin" the book and its contents for you.

The authors are very down-to-earth and share many stories of other believers who have been stuck in a rut and how the Bible has transformed them. They even include their own stories.

I really enjoyed reading this book even though it really wasn't eye-opening it was a good reminder of where we find the source of our life. This book would make an awesome study for an individual or for a Bible study group. The end of each chapter gives a Scripture passage to remember and a thought to consider. It asks questions to make you think about what is going on in your own spiritual walk with God.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody that is struggling in their spiritual walk because it had such practical applications.

I received this book for free through Bethany House and was under no obligation to give it a positive review. All the thoughts in this blog are my own. 

If You Have a Craving, I Have a Cure by Sheri Rose Shepherd

It seems every time I get super excited about a book being sent to me to review, I am always disappointed by it. Once again, this was the case.

This book was very easy to read as long as you are reading it as a book only, I read it in about an hour and a half. I can see how this book would also be easy to flip to each chapter as the individual "cravings" arise.

The "faith" aspect of this book seemed very shallow to me. However, there were a few good ideas that got me thinking.

The "food" aspect of this book seemed like recipes I'd never even try. Part of this may be that I'm allergic to many of the ingredients in the various recipes, but honestly I'm not into eating gluten-free and eating only "whole" foods. I'm sure this is a poor reflection on me and not necessarily on this book, but for someone who likes to actually enjoy the food they eat, I'll pass on these recipes.

Overall, this book was a big disappointment to me. I was really hoping that the recipes would be using what I consider normal everyday foods as the basis of their recipes so that it would be easier to incorporate and change my eating style, but when some of the ingredients are things I've never heard of, I'll pass.

If you like shallow spiritual books, or if you are just looking for a lot of "gluten-free" or "whole" food recipes this may be the book for  you. As for me, I'm going to have to pass on this one.

 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from Tyndale Publishers, I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All the thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.