June has been spoiling us this week. It’s been sunshine and open windows and seventies with fifties at night, and we’re not even sure what to do with it!!! Some years, MANY years, June twelfth would find the thermometer hot and heavy with one hundred plus temperatures and the promise of combines soon droning through the wheat, if they weren’t already.
Two books today, reader friends! AND. Exciting news! We have a review and giveaway for the He Reads Truth Bible coming tomorrow! I’m super excited to share it. IF you can’t wait for a peek, hop over to my Instagram and you’ll find an inside look in my story highlights called Beautiful Bible!
{You can see my reviews of the She Reads Truth Bible in this post and it’s also in this post! 🙂 }
{affiliate links used in this post!}
{both books were given to me to read and review}
Let’s talk about this book first!
Shiny Things: Mothering on Purpose in a World Of Distractions
Calling all Mothers! Busy Mothers. Chapter 24 has this quote at the beginning.
“Every night I try to get eight hours of sleep in four hours.” ~ Anonymous
I totally had to laugh out loud at that. And then groan a bit too! Isn’t this all too true at some of our busiest stages of life? Perhaps you’re also thinking, “I’d love to pick up this book and read, but WHEN WOULD I DO THAT?”
Welllllllll….. here’s the deal. Good chance you’ll thank yourself for carving out space to read these pages. You’re going to make new friends with these women who’ve penned their words and shared their hearts and stories. Besides the above chapter is titled, “You Don’t Hear Me Saying Yes, Please To Stress.” Who of us doesn’t relate at LEAST a wee bit to a title like that? 😉
Know what else is fantastic about this book?! The chapters are short. Three to five pages short. It’s like the authors knew busy mamas would be reading it, or something and they did it on purpose. Wait. That’s EXACTLY what they did! 😉
In the introduction, they explain, “Because we know you’re busy and your time is valuable, we’ve arranged each of the ten sections in this book into four short chapters, each an easy-peasy five-to-ten minute read. They’re perfect for the carpool line, the doctor’s office, naptime, early morning, while nursing, or when taking a quick trip to the bathroom.”
Who is this book for: Mamas everywhere! Mamas-to-be. Friends of mamas. Mamas desiring to honor God, care for their people, and fight back a bit harder at the lure of shiny distractions. Mamas who need a friend to share real-life experience and encouragement.
Handy Feature: I especially like in this dual-authored book that right below each chapter title is the first name of the author talking to us in that chapter. It’s easy to switch back and forth and tell which “voice” is speaking!
Going Deeper: At the end of each of the ten sections are a couple of pages called All The Good Things.
It is broken into three headings.
To Remember ~ a short bullet list of highlights from the chapters in this section
To Hold On To ~ Bible verse inspiration
To Consider ~ A couple of questions or a simple challenge!
Second book!
Sick of Me by Whitney Capps
From Transparency to Transformation
Here’s a sentence from the back of this book ~
“Whitney calls us beyond trendy transparency and into something better: true transformation.”
I believe this book is a relevant and important message for our culture today. We sometimes see-saw back and forth between gushing over or gussying up a perfect facade then turn to cheer on “how real” or transparent this person is, who quite possibly overshares every single detail of their life. I’ve watched both. {I know. I sound rather judgy here. Not meaning it that way.}
Curated lives and hyper-oversharing really both are an end to the same means. It’s a calling attention to ourselves.
Sick of Me calls us out of the self-help of me and points us to the sanctification from our Savior.
Page 12 shares a few comparisons. Here are a couple of them.
“Self-help depends on my efforts to get where I need to go.
Sanctification asks God to do what only He can, and then equips me to do what I can in response.”
“Self-help believes that my life is my own.
Sanctification says that my life is God’s, and He determines my purpose and steps.”
“Self-help strives to make life easier.
Sanctification is submitting to a life that may be harder, but better.”
If you’d like some deep and kind and thoughtful encouragement to move away from “me” and into the changing transformation of Jesus, this book will offer you a lot to chew on.
I love these words towards the end of the book in Chapter 10, titled Avoiding the Transparency Trap, Part 2.
“Transparency is good. It’s beneficial. But for sure it isn’t the endgame. Transformation is. Sanctification is.”
Just like the sanctification and self comparisons, Whitney Capps gives us comparisons between Transparency and Mature Transparency.
Here are a couple of them ~
“Transparency longs to see the broken and vulnerable.”
Mature transparency celebrates what God does with broken things.”
“Transparency looks for others to validate us.”
“Mature transparency looks for what God says about us and how He’s changing us.”
This book definitely has given me pause to ponder and evaluate my actions, decisions, words, and life.
Your turn! I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
