Reading, Writing & Pondering

I was so excited to get my copy of The Daniel Plan in the mail to review. . .and I was not disappointed when I read it. The Daniel Plan combines the expertise of Rick Warren, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman to offer a Christian book with a plan that is not only holistic but is one that most people could realistically follow. I've read several books on the Daniel Fast. . and I've done the Daniel Fast with a friend 3 years running. I know my life has benefited from it. . .but to sustain it long term hasn't been easy. This book makes a basic holistic health plan easy to follow for the long term. While it is not just like the diet Daniel ate in the Bible, this book offers more than a short term diet or partial fast--and it does focus on whole foods like Daniel ate, but not with the same restrictions. I think this book offers something better in its long term plan to live a healthy life for God. I wholeheartedly agree with Rick Warren that we need to honor God with our body and...

There are three words that are commonly found on pictures, notebooks, rugs, what have you these days, "Live Laugh Love." I bought a couple of these items to remind myself that I need to do just what those words say. . .But some days it doesn't feel like I am. It feels like life is mundane and I'm not getting anywhere--until I picked up The In-Between by Jeff Goins. The In-Between helps me see how life is really being lived when we are in-between jobs, waiting for the bills to get paid off, or just hanging out with friends relaxing while watching TV. This book is mostly memoir style with some other snippets of people's lives at the end of each chapter. As I read through Jeff's life essays and his thoughts on how we are truly living for God in this life, I reflected on my life. I could see how different phases of my life were used to grow me and how those times where not much seemed to be happening in the ways that I wanted them to at least, were really growin...

The Turnaround God by Charlotte Gambill is the book offering encouragement that I wish someone would give me in difficult times--Times like I've just been facing and still face. Charlotte tells you the hard things you need to know to face your future but she also offers a whole lot of encouragement that God is able to turn any difficult situation around. I feel much better about things having read this book. . .and I have a feeling this is a book I'm going to want to re-read. Charlotte offers examples from Scripture and from her own life showing that God can work in the difficult situations in our life to turn things around if we just keep the faith. While on some level, many of us know that, it is hard to know how to maintain the faith. This book offers both encouragement and some how-to combined to help you feel like you can get through the hard times. This book offers many reminders that God work in difficult situations and what we need to do to maintain that faith and...