A Moment to Breathe: 365 Devotions That Meet You In Your Everyday Mess from the (in)courage community | Christian Life Review

A Moment to Breathe:

365 Devotions That Meet You In Your Everyday Mess

(in)courage community

Christian Life / Women's Issues

When the rush of regular life leaves you breathless by day’s end, this collection of everyday stories becomes the place where you can come as you are, and find yourself among friends. Friends who have been there. Friends who’ll lean in close and say, “Me too!” Through our stories the bonds of friendship deepen as we listen to each other, laugh with each other, and learn from each other. Because we’re better when we’re living this one beautiful life together.

With stories from 80 writers, these pages become the very place your soul can exhale, where you can:

· Connect with the hearts of women through stories that echo your own.
· Find beauty in the ordinary and sometimes messy moments of your everyday life.
· See your own stories as an offering of hope to those around you.
· Treasure the unseen ways God moves through even your most regular days.

With 365 readings, each day begins with a passage of Scripture, tells a story of everyday faith, and encourages you to take a moment to breathe with a simple but fun way to complete your day. So kick off your shoes and join us for a relaxing but special time, where friends come together and share the real stuff of everyday faith.

My Thoughts

I've said before that I'm not really a short daily devotional fan. I tend to prefer a more in-depth morning Bible study. But I'm always encouraged by the (in)courage community so I just couldn't resist taking a look at this new book.

The set up is simple. There's a short Scripture reading followed by an applicable story from one of the many (in)courage writers. Then it ends with a section called A Moment to Breathe. 

I've read through most of the readings and have enjoyed them. The women that contributed to this project shared from their hearts and their normal everyday lives. The stories could have been written by any one of us and that's part of the beauty of it. We all have more in common than not and it was nice to read about fellow sojourners and how they were able to face what was in front of them with grace while following Christ.

My favorite part was the ending section. Each day gave simple ways to put into action the core concept of the reading. When I say simple I mean simple. You don't need to run to the store for ingredients or supplies you just need to implement in small ways what you've just read.

This was an encouraging book for me personally but I also think it would be a nice gift for a young mother or a sweet woman that's going through a hard patch. The book itself is beautiful. It's a hardback but has a cloth-like cover and a ribbon to mark your place. I think I'm going to have to pick up a couple more to give as gifts.

www.incourage.me

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She Reads Truth: Holding Tight to Permanent in a World That's Passing Away by Raechel Myers & Amanda Bible Williams | Christian Life Review

She Reads Truth:

Holding Tight to Permanent in a World That's Passing Away

Raechel Myers & Amanda Bible Williams

Christian Life / Women's Issues

She wants faith, hope, and love.

She wants help and healing.

She wants to hear and be heard, to see and be seen.

She wants things set right.

She wants to know what is true—not partly true, or sometimes true, or almost true. She wants to see Truth itself, face-to-face. But here, now, these things are all cloudy. Hope is tinged with hurt. Faith is shaded by doubt. Lesser, broken things masquerade as love.

How does she find something permanent when the world around her is always changing, when not even she can stay the same? And if she finds it, how does she hold on?

She Reads Truth tells the stories of two women who discovered, through very different lives and circumstances, that only God and His Word remain unchanged as the world around them shifted and slipped away. Infused with biblical application and Scripture, this book is not just about two characters in two stories, but about one Hero and one Story. Every image points to the bigger picture—that God and His Word are true. Not because of anything we do, but because of who He is. Not once, not occasionally, but right now and all the time.

Sometimes it takes everything moving to notice the thing that doesn’t move. Sometimes it takes telling two very different stories to notice how the Truth was exactly the same in both of them.

For anyone searching for a solid foundation to cling to, She Reads Truth is a rich and honest Bible-filled journey to finally find permanent in a world that’s passing away.

My Thoughts
I've never written a book but I can imagine that it takes a great deal of courage to put your thoughts on paper and then send it out to the masses where it will be judged. That's probably incredibly hard when you are doing a work of fiction but to write something very personal where you stand virtually naked before the world must take not only courage but conviction.
Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams have both in abundance. She Reads Truth is open and honest while at the same time compelling and convicting. Both women take us through some very tough and defining times in their lives where loss seems to be at the center of the story. And maybe for a lot of people loss would be the center. But in their stories the consistent and permanent part of the unfolding drama is Jesus. Neither one of them were spared deep soul shattering grief but in every single scenario Jesus held them and allowed them to continue on.
The hashtags for this book and movement are #SheReadsTruth and #SheIsMe. After reading the book I am even more convinced that it is appropriate. While the stories contained in the book belong to Raechel and Amanda they also have pieces of my story and probably yours too. And just as Jesus was at the center of their redemption stories He's at the center of mine and can be the center of yours too. 
If everything is falling apart around you or if everything is going along fine this book is for you! Through their circumstances you will begin to recognize just how central Jesus is to each of our stories. He hears, He sees, and He loves you. There is not a moment that you are out of His reach. I'm so grateful that Raechel and Amanda were willing to heed the call of the Lord to write these words because they were a wonderful reminder that all of this, the good, the bad, and the ugly, are just passing away. But there is One that is permanent that is worthy of everything.
Connect With The Authors

www.SheReadsTruthBook.com

www.SheReadsTruth.com

Amanda Bible Williams

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Raechel Myers

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Giddy Up, Eunice: Because Women Need Each Other by Sophie Hudson | Women's Issues Review

Giddy Up, Eunice: Because Women Need Each Other

Sophie Hudson

Nonfiction / Christian Life / Women's Issues

Saddle up, sister.

This is going to be fun.

It's easy for women to focus on what seems to separate us: differences in age, parenting styles, career goals, or maybe even core beliefs about whether leggings can adequately serve as pants (the struggle is real, y'all.) The reality, though, is that we have far more in common than we realize, and since Scripture shows us the blessing of friendships across generations, it's high time we step out of our same-age, same-stage silos. Life is so much better that way.

Sophie Hudson, in the delightfully quirky Southern style her readers have come to know and love, sends out a rallying cry for women everywhere to open our eyes and see the people God has put in our lives--whether they're behind us, beside us, or in front of us. It is such a gift to love one another, walk with one another, and soak up the blessings that flow across all generations.

Around the Table with Sophie Hudson, Suzanne Lee and Connie Bradley
from BH Publishing on Vimeo.

My Thoughts

If you've never had the pleasure of reading a book by Sophie Hudson just go ahead and start with this one. I promise you'll be hooked. Sophie's humor is so quirky but her heart goes deep. I want to move in next door and soak up all that is Sophie. We're of a similar age but her delight in all things pop culture just goes over my head. I'm a book nerd extraordinaire. Even with all of our differences I have a strong feeling that we would get along wonderfully. And that's just what this book is all about. Women together.

Sophie takes a look at cross-generational female relationships through the familiar Bible stories of Elizabeth and Mary, Ruth and Naomi, and finally Lois and Eunice (and Timothy). The first section on Elizabeth and Mary was eye-opening in a new way to me. Before reading this book I had always considered Elizabeth more of a mentor-type to Mary. But if you think about it they are really more contemporaries in many ways even with a likely fifty year age gap. Neither had ever been pregnant let alone given birth plus they both became pregnant in unusual circumstances. Eye-opening my friends! 

My new perspective continued with Ruth and Naomi. Again I have always looked at Naomi as Ruth's valued mentor. But when you step back and take a good look at the story you realize that they also are in the same boat. Both are widows that have virtually lost everything. Neither has any children to take care of them so the bravery to go forth comes from leaning on each other.

Then there is Lois, Eunice, and Timothy. I must admit that up until this section most of Sophie's anecdotes about her family made me laugh. But by the end of this section I was sobbing. At my age this section hit pretty close to home. I don't want to say too much about it but would rather let you read it with fresh eyes and perspective. I will tell you that Sophie is right, it ain't over till it's over, so we as women need to stay in it. We must open our eyes to those around us and dive in and be blessed probably more than the one that we are ministering to. 

Connect With The Author

www.BooMaMa.net

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10 Things For Teen Girls and Enough: 10 Things We Should Be Telling Teenage Girls by Kate Conner {Review & Giveaway}

10 Things For Teen Girls

Kate Conner

Juvenile Nonfiction / Christian Life

You've got 1 future.

Here are 10 ways to change it.

Teen girl, you hear a lot of negative voices out there, voices telling you that you're not beautiful, sexy, smart, or valuable enough. But Kate Conner offers a different voice. 10 Things for Teen Girls is based on her blog post that pulled in more than 2 million views in just two weeks, proving that you and your friends are ready to hear a new message--one that points you away from the world's wisdom and toward God instead.

Using wit and grace, Kate tackles gotta-know topics such as 

• The dangers of batting eyelashes and playing dumb
• Navigating social media and avoiding social drama
• Modesty and the superpower qualities of femininity
• And the all-time worst advice ever

You and your friends will love Kate's humor, her honesty, and--most of all--her message. When the world's negative voices attack, her voice can be the one to remind you of the truth--You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough.

Enough: 10 Things We Should Be Telling Teenage Girls Kate Conner Christian Life / Women's Issues
You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough.
In a book based on her run-away blog post "Ten Things I Want to Tell Teenage Girls," which garnered more than 2 million views in two weeks, Kate Conner calls us to action in Enough. We all have teenage girls in our lives who we love, whether it's a sister, friend or daughter. Kate has identified 10 things these girls need to hear today from someone who loves her.
Peppered with wit and laced with grace, Kate's list tackles relevant issues like Facebook, emotions, drama, tanning beds, modesty, and flirtation. Woven into each chapter is a powerful message of worth that transcends age, and will touch the souls of women, young and old alike: You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough.
A former youth-worker, wife to a college minister, and a young mom in her twenties, Kate stands squarely in the generational gap, the perfect place from which to bridge it. Kate offers herself as a translator, helpin you to speak your teenager's language and equipping you with a fresh perspective from which to engage your teenage girl--one that may enable her to truly hear your heart (and your wisdom) for the first time since puberty.

My Thoughts:
You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough. Those three little phrases are what women, young and old, all long to hear. Yet in this crazy world of hyper-sexualism those words seem to get drowned out by others that begin to erode the very essence of who we were created to be.
In 2012 Kate wrote a spur of the moment blog post entitled Ten Things I Want To Tell Teenage Girls. In a short span of time the post went viral. Why? I would guess that it is because it spoke truth to fables that we have been trying desperately to make into reality. What are the 10 things you ask? I'll give them to you:

1. If you choose to wear shirts that show off your boobs, you will attract boys.
2. Don’t go to the tanning bed. 
3. When you talk about your friends “anonymously” on Facebook, we  know exactly who you’re talking about.  
4. Newsflash: the number of times you say “I hate drama” is a pretty good indicator of how much you love drama.
5. “Follow your heart” is probably the worst advice ever. 
6.  Never let a man make you feel weak or inferior because you are an emotional being. 
7. Smoking is not cool.
8. Stop saying things like, “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.”
9. Don’t play coy or stupid or helpless to get attention. 
10. You are beautiful.  You are enough.

If you're a momma you're probably nodding your head and giving a great big hallelujah! If you're a teen girl, it is quite possible you're rolling your eyes. For both of those very reasons you need to get a copy of each of these books. Read them together. Each chapter in each book coincides with the other book. 

I know what you're thinking . . . you've already given us the link to the blog post and the list of the 10 things. Why should we get the books? As I said earlier, Kate wrote the post on a whim. In the books she delves deeper and expounds on each subject. As a momma I'm telling you there is nothing more important than instilling in your girl that she is valued. She is a child of the King. She is royalty and she should learn to act like it. Someone gave His very life for her. She needs to know these truths. You need to know these truths! If you have a little bitty girl, get the books now and read them over and over so you will have a head start on raising her to know that above all things she is enough.

We all know I'm a crazy reader. If it has words, I'm reading it! But I do realize that not everyone is as taken with reading as I am. So hear my heart on this. If you get only one book, get Enough. Then read chapter 10 and absorb it until it is part of your very essence. Then love your daughter enough to share it with her until the truth contained becomes part of who she is as well.

These books would make a fabulous small group study in your youth group. Make a retreat weekend out of it. Get copies of 10 Things For Teen Girls for all the teen girls and copies of Enough for all the adult women leaders. If we could instill these truths into all the girls in our circles of influence we could change a generation. Remember, If God Is For Us . . . Who Can Stand Against Us?!!

Connect with the author:

www.KateElizabethConner.com

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The Giveaway:

We have partnered with Family Christian and B&H Publishers to offer one of our readers a copy of 10 Things For Teen Girls and Enough: 10 Things We Should Be Telling Teenage Girls. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents and will run through midnight on Saturday, September 13, 2014. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. The winner will be contacted by email and will have forty-eight hours to claim the prize. If unclaimed, a new winner will be drawn. The winners’ entries will be verified. Please enter the contest using the Rafflecopter form below. All entries are optional.

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