Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Rest and Rely is a new devotional book from Maddie Joy Fisher. This book features devotions that aim to help for the times when a reader struggles with fear and anxiety.  From the publisher:    Discover the freedom that comes from trusting God with today–and tomorrow · 60-day daily devotional to replace fear, anxiety, and worry with promises from God’s Word · visually stunning packaging includes 4-color interior If you feel like fear, anxiety, and worry have taken over your thought life or your spirit, you’re not alone. But you also weren’t meant to live this way. God wants more for you– promises  more for you. He wants you to live free from fear, to have victory over your anxiety, to face the future with hope rather than worry. He wants you to rest in and rely on Him in times of trouble. He even shows you how in His Word. With compassion born from personal experience, Maddie Joy Fischer invites you on a 60-day journey to overcome the fears that are ...

  Do you struggle with worry and anxiety? At one time, I had a big struggle with it. .. but now not as often, thankfully. The Answer to Anxiety by Joyce Meyer is a fairly short book that could be helpful for those who struggle with anxiety. The Answer to Anxiety is based on Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV), " Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Throughout the book, Meyer reflects on various aspects of this passage, along with other Bible passages, as well as stories from her own Christian walk with God to encourage readers who struggle with anxiety. This isn't a very long book and can be read fairly quickly or it could be read more slowly to better focus on the precepts and learn what Meyer is teaching. I always appreciate how practical Meyer's books are. I also like how she does...

  In this day and age, fear seems to run rampant. People are afraid of the virus in the pandemic, worried about their finances, and struggling to get along with people on opposite political party lines. In Joyce Meyer's new book, Do It Afraid , she shares how faith in God can help readers deal with many of their fears.  At the start of the book, Meyer reminds readers that fear has been around a very long time and it affects everyone. However, she urges readers not to let fear "push them around." Instead she starts out the book in the first section by helping readers understand fear. She then goes on to help them confront fear and to have the courage they need to do that. The third part of the book offers advice on the mindsets to have to walk in freedom from fear. Like all of Joyce Meyer's books, Do It Afraid is clear and easy to understand and relate to. She writes in such a way so the reader is reminded of the Scriptures that relate to each topic while including st...

There is not doubt about it, there is a lot of scary stuff going on in our modern world. It is enough to worry adults, let alone kids.  Sissy Goff offers advice to young girls on how to overcome their worry and anxiety and focus on how brave they are instead in her new book, Braver Stronger Smarter: A Girl's Guide to Overcoming Worry and Anxiety . Braver Stronger Smarter was written for elementary aged girls but it can be used by girls of any age to learn practical ways to deal with worry, anxiety, and other overwhelming emotions. Actually, the book also offers girls who don't deal with those issues now a way to handle those emotions if they do come up for them. The book is divided in to three sections: Understanding, Help and Hope. Each section contains three chapters with some good advice and learning tools for girls in each section. Parents and caregivers are also encouraged to read the companion book, Raising Worry-Free Girls , as they work with a young girl. Braver St...

Do you struggle with fear and anxiety? Scarlet Hiltibidal shares her struggles with fear and anxiety and how we can turn to the Gospel to shine through those fears in her new book, Afraid of All the Things . Afraid of All the Things is divided into three sections: My fears do not define me, My fears will not defeat me, and My fears aren't forever. The whole book is mostly autobiographical with Hiltibidal sharing stories from her life that illustrate her struggles with fear and anxiety. She also weaves a lot of Scripture throughout Afraid of All the Things in and out through her stories. I struggled to get into Afraid of All the Things initially with the author's writing style. Hilitbidal is down to earth, realistic and fairly blunt about her struggles. But once I got used to her "voice," I found the book to hold my interest. I don't struggle with anxiety now like I did many years ago, but I could relate to how unrealistic some of those fears can be. I als...

I think many of us have wondered at one time or another if we really matter--matter to people around us, matter in our jobs, or matter in the scheme of the life we live. Mandy Hale spent some time wondering if she mattered as well and the result of her wondering and going through life's challenges and depression is the book, You Are Enough . You Are Enough is mostly a memoir of a time in Hale's life when everything fell apart for her in a short time and she became depressed. She shares how things went wrong, how she dealt with her life, and how she came through it in the end to feel that she truly was enough. At the end of each chapter, along with sharing her story, she has a side-bar of encouragement for the reader. Not to be overlooked, Hale has an appendix in You Are Enough that offers several resources for suicide prevention. For someone who needs this book, this list alone, may be the biggest thing they need if they don't know where to start looking for help. Y...

I honestly think many of us struggle with occasional anxiety and bouts of worry in our day and age. Even though we know God is there, it isn't always easy to default to faith. Trade Your Cares for Calm by Max Lucado offers solid advice and encouragement to focus on God instead of fear. Trade Your Cares for Calm does take content from several of Lucado's other books on fear and enouragement and compiles some of his best tidbits into this inspirational book. There are 10 chapters of Lucado's encouraging words. Each chapter has Bible verses, gorgeous nature photos, and stories and tips on keeping worry under control. There are also pages to journal to help figure out why you are worried and how to start to think differently about your problems. The ribbon marker helps you keep your place so you know where you left off. Trade Your Cares for Calm would be a great book to keep or to give as a gift to someone facing worrisome challenges--medical struggles, financial prob...

Many of us are struggling with stress, worry and anxiety with so many challenges in our world today. In Live The Let-Go Life by Joseph Prince, Prince uses Scripture and other stories to help readers learn to live free from stress, worry and anxiety and find a more fulfilled life in Christ. Some of the chapters in Live the Let-Go Life are: Just Look at the Birds, The Rhythm of Rest, Tune In to Peace, Above All Things, Guard Your Heart, Becoming a Person of Rest, and Stress-Free Parenting. Each chapter looks at Scripture related to the topic and Prince uses stories to illustrate how God has worked in other believer's lives. As a whole, I found L ive the Let-Go Life to be uplifting and encouraging to me as I seek to live for God and deal with the every day stresses of life. I think there would be helpful information in this book for most people. Prince does encourage me to look to God as I face struggles versus giving in to worrying. However, if I am honest, I had some mixed ...

A lot of people live in fear these days. . .As I visit with people, I think the recent political atmosphere only adds to a lot of people's fears. Even without the national struggles, we all have our own struggles that can be fearful. I had a big struggle with fear several years ago when I had to serve as a witness in a trial. For me that was stressful and cause for some panicky feelings. I wish I had had Pastor Lance Hahn's book, How to Live in Fear , then. Fortunately, I found a counselor to help me through the challenge and Pastor Hahn also shares from personal experience how a counselor has helped him. Besides situational fears, some people have bodies are out of balance somehow and struggle with fear and anxiety that seemingly comes from nowhere. How to Live in Fear offers a variety of tools to anyone living with panic/fear or for their loved ones trying to help those struggling with fear. This book is divided into three parts. In the first part, Pastor Hahn shares h...