Reading, Writing & Pondering

  When I was young, I used to help my Grandma gather eggs on the farm where they lived. Grandma's egg money used to help her buy things she wanted and needed too. While I have never had chickens of my own, those fond memories led me to read Therapy Chickens by Tedra Hamel Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring you Joy is a beautifully colorful and interesting six-inch square book. I love the beautiful chicken art pictures throughout the book that the author made. I love the gorgeous cover that is colorful and has texture. I also enjoyed reading about the author's flock of chickens. In Therapy Chickens, the book is divided into seasons, followed by a biography of each chicken in the author's flock. Hamel Shares a lot of interesting information about living with chickens--and their eggs. She also shares how the chickens change throughout the year with the seasons. At the same time, she relates the chickens to how people could better live their lives too. It is ju...

My Heart, Ever His by Barbara Rainey is a beautiful collection of prayers for women. What I especially love about this book is that it is beautiful to look at and the prayers are beautiful--but they are real too. My Heart, Ever His has 40 prayers in this book that are written to encourage women to talk to God honestly and openly. These prayers are transparent and so down-to-earth. I could relate to so much of what she was saying in them. In the introduction, Rainey invites the reader to think of these prayers as being in the same style as the psalms. Many times, the psalmists prayed honestly and openly baring their whole hearts. While the prayers are not all "happy-life-is-great prayers," they do include praises for God even though she stars some of them out honestly. It took her years to realize that God is not offended by our honest feelings and complaints but instead He knows our feelings anyway. However, she notes that the psalms almost always end in words of prais...

Hand Lettered Truth: 60 Inspiring Verses From God's Word hand lettered by Debbie Bratton is a gorgeous gift book newly released from Ellie Claire. Hand Lettered Truth isn't just a bunch of random verses in a book. Instead, Bratton shares the gospel through these gorgeous verses. This is a book for both established Christians and those people that you would like to share the love of Christ with. Each of the 60 verses are hand-lettered in beautiful colors. I could see this being a gift book for many different types of occasions. I enjoyed both reading through Hand Lettered Truth and in taking time to really meditate and soak up the illustrated verses on their own. This isn't a book with information on how to do hand lettering, instead it is a gift book done by an expert in hand-lettering. However, I could see where it would be inspiring for those who want to try their own hand at hand-lettering and by those who do Bible art journaling. I received this book from ...

Kids Say the Wisest Things by Jon Gauger. Instead of writing a book about how to be a better parent, Gauger helps us see how to be a better parent and a better Christian by sharing real-life stories from children that help us think about how we are living and parenting. Kids Say the Wisest Things is subtitled 26 lessons you didn't know children could teach you. As you might expect this book has 26 chapters, each with a real-life story from children and thoughts about how to learn and grow from something a child did.  Some of these stories are funny but mostly they just make you think and consider how to do the Christian life a little better. Kids Say the Wisest Things was an enjoyable read all the way through. I like that the lessons were easy to read, a few at a time. Then I took time to think about them and came back to the book for some more. I like that this book is fairly small and easy to tuck in my purse or book bag to read on the go too. Some of my favorites were:...

What a Great Word for Moms by Karen Moore is a devotional for Moms of all ages written to inspire and encourage them with words pulled from Bible verses. Words like courage, faith, hope, love, prayer, teach, and wisdom are included in this devotional--all words that speak to moms. Moore wants moms to focus on just one word a day in each reading. What a Great Word for Moms is divided into sections: Train your children in the way they should go, There's no one quite like mom, The Lord is mom's shepherd,  and God's Promises.  Each section includes several readings on the word of the day pulled from Bible verses. Each reading starts with a verse, a reading written by Moore, uplifting quotes, and then ends with a prayer and blessing. At the end of the book is a poem called, Can you help me? which is such a good reminder that when we turn to God, He helps us through the challenges of each day. The whole package could be truly uplifting to moms of all ages. Besides the writ...

What a Great Word for Grads by Karen Moore is a truly nice devotional written especially for graduates with a new perspective. Graduates can focus on one word as  they go through each day and keep their faith front and center. What a Great Word for Grads is divided into these sections: Attitude, Finding Success, The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, The Prayer of Saint Patrick and God's Promises. Each section includes several readings on a word of the day. Words such as change, goals, work, teaching, integrity, worry and victory are featured. There is a nice presentation page in the front of What a Great Word for Grads for gift giving at the front of the book. Then each reading is about two pages long. The daily devotions start with a Bible verse, followed by a reading written by the author, several quotes related to the word of the day and a prayer to end the reading with. There is also a page in the back called God's Promises that is uplifting on its own. I liked K...

Friendship Promises is a beautiful gift book to give a friend on a special occasion. This gorgeous book features reflections about friendship from Never Unfriended by Lisa-Jo Baker, and Craving Connection from the (in)courage community. It also features beautiful pictures and space to journal or write special notes or stories to a friend. There is a mix of beautiful pictures, devotional reflections, prayers, Bible verses, and space to journal with prompts. This gift book also has a ribbon marker to save a spot to reflect back on. This is a book for friends to see your heart and to reflect on theirs. Friendship Promises is a book that I know would be nice to give as a gift to a special friend. At the same time, I was thinking it would be a good book to buy for yourself and to use as journal to reflect on how to make friendships better and keep friendship prayer requests safe. However, you choose to use this book, Friendship Promises is a lovely reflection of women's friend...

Short, practical Godly wisdom is so helpful to guide our days. 100 Inspirational quotes and the Life Changing Scriptures Behind them from Joyce Meyer is full of wisdom and guidance based on Scripture for living each day in a positive, godly way. Not only is it full of solid Biblical advice, but this book is beautiful inside and out. Nearly all of the quotes and verses in the book are decorated with beautiful watercolor flower designs like the front cover. Three of my favorite quotes: Be a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser. (Based on Galatians 1:10) God is a giver, and when we give unselfishly, we are more like Him than at any other time in our lives. (Based on John 13:34) There's a difference between being busy and being fruitful, Are you busy are fruitful? (Based on Matthew 7:17-18) I like so many of these quotes and the Scriptures alongside them to meditate on that it was hard to pick three. One Hundred Inspirational Quotes from Joyce Meyer would make a great gift boo...

If you enjoy animals or no someone who does, then this is likely to be an enjoyable book for you. Better Together: Life is Best with a Friend Like You is a fun gift book with both great quotes and great animal pictures. Better Together has an introduction and is divided into 7 sections: Friendship, Unity and Togetherness, Love and Compassion, Respect, Peace and Harmony, Diversity, and Triumph and Strength. Each section has quotes from famous people related to the topic along with a cute photo of cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and more. There are a whole lot of pictures to make you smile in this book--no need to scroll social media for them, a copy of this book has a whole bunch. I read Better Together fairly quickly but it is a good book to go through mindfully thinking about the quotes and the pictures. It would make a fun friendship gift. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes: *Wear a smile and have friends; Wear a scowl and have wrinkles. ~George Eliot *Great t...

A Pocketful of Hope for Mother s by Robin Jones Gunn is a lovely gift book for moms. It would make a nice surprise Easter gift or Mother's Day gift--for your mom, for your daughter, a gift to a new mom, or a gift for a mom friend that you know needs uplifted. It is a beautiful inspiring gift book for moms and that even includes buying your own copy because you know you need the encouragement. A Pocketful of Hope for Mothers is brimming with hope-filled stories, prayers and poems written by Gunn. Gunn reminds moms that no matter how tired and overwhelmed they feel at times, that God is in it with them and that they are indeed helping little ones to learn, love and grow one day at a time. The personal stories that Gunn shares are especially nice. I found A Pocketful of Hope for Mothers to be even nicer than I expected. It is a nice large size--measuring 6 by 9 inches. It is also sweetly illustrated and lovingly penned by Gunn. I have to be honest--Gunn is one of my favorite ...

Like many other people, I have been a fan of Roma Downey's since her days as Monica on Touched By An Angel. When I saw she was coming out with her new book, Box of Butterflies , I couldn't wait to read it. Box of Butterflies is as beautiful as it is inspirational. Downey's book is part memoir, part inspiration, and part beauty. Throughout the book, Downey shares some of her personal history and challenges that she has over come to be who she is today. She not only inspires readers through her story, she also shares poems and songs that have inspired her throughout her life. In the midst of her story and the inspirational poems and songs, she also shares beautiful pictures of butterflies and nature throughout the book. Downey also shares in Box of Butterflies how butterflies have a special meaning to her and how they have been a special messenger from God at different times in her life. Her stories and the pictures all work together to create a truly lovely and inspir...

Beautiful words and beautiful photos make up this truly beautiful book, Be The Gift by Ann Voskamp. Be The Gift includes Voskamp's best selections from her best selling book, The Broken Way. These selections of heart touching prose reveal how our lives can become gifts to others when we let God take our brokenness and turn it into gifts of grace. Voskamp says in the introduction, "Maybe the only abundant way forward--is always to give ourselves forward? To be broken and brave who know that when the stakes are the highest, kindness matters the most. To believe that the bad brokenness of the world is met by the good brokenness of Christ's humble sacrifice for us." Many of us do have hearts that are sad and broken, but Voskamp suggests we take that sadness and give our broken heart away so we can begin to heal. If I could put Be The Gift into everyone's hands in this country and have them read it, I would. If we could all just take ourselves and pour oursel...