The Good Life

Aptly titled, Hands Free Mama:  A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters , Rachel Macy Stafford challenges, encourages, and shows us how to become the parents and people we long to be. In a world over saturated with smart phones, computers, TVs, and the never-ending pressure to do all and be all, Hands Free Mama is a breath of fresh air for the person who wants to make a change.  I loved this book and picked it up at exactly the right time. I realized I was spending entirely too much time on my phone and not enough time enjoying the simple pleasures of being a stay at home mom. As a stay at home mom, time is both a blessing and a curse. You have unlimited amounts of it and sometimes the temptation to zone out with media can be a struggle. Rachel Macy Stafford writes from her own experiences as someone who realized she was missing out on the important things in life. Each chapter includes tim...

I just finished "Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening The Muslim World?" by Tom Doyle with Greg Webster. Wow! What a great reminder of what God is doing in the Middle East! Mr. Doyle did a wonderful job of compiling amazing, true stories of how God is reaching out to the Muslims of the Middle East through dreams and incredible "coincidences." "Dreams and Visions" takes stories of real people encountering Jesus through dreams and visions in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iran, just to name a few. I had chills reading the true accounts of people encountering Jesus for the first time or maybe they had heard of Him before. Not only did this book encourage me to pray even harder for the people of the Middle East, but it reminded me that the Lord is always desiring for every tribe, tongue, and nation to come to know Him in a true, saving way. It makes me think of the verse, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count sl...

"What You Need To Know About Bible Prophecy" is a great resource! I really respect Max Anders as an author and I read his book, "30 Days To Understanding Your Bible" a few years ago. So, when I saw this become available for review, I was excited to read it. "What You Need To Know About Bible Prophecy" is broken down into 12 easy to teach or read sections. Thomas Nelson says, " Prophets. Rapture. Tribulation. Judgment. End times. Learn what the Bible has to say about prophecy, how Christians differ in their views of the end times, and what the universal aspects are on which all Christians agree."  This is the perfect book for a Bible teacher, Sunday school teacher, or small group leader to read and teach from. I've never seen a book with a better flow for its chapters. You can definitely teach each section in an hour or less. The writing style is engaging and the questions are thought-provoking. I like the way he set up the end of the chap...

When I saw "This Thing Of Ours: How Faith Saved My Mafia Marriage" by Cammy Franzese offered by Book Sneeze, I just had to get it. I know very little about the Mafia and I thought it was incredibly interesting that a woman married to a mobster would have written a book, talking about faith of all things. "This Thing Of Ours" goes through the tumultuous years of the Franzese marriage. It tells about their meeting, engagement, marriage, jail sentences, children, and how Cammy learns and grows with each stage. I was genuinely surprised at how little she knew of her husband's involvement in the Mob, but I really enjoyed reading this book. Cammy does a great job of describing different events in her life and weaving her belief in the Lord through it all. This is book is not to read looking for perfection. She is a real person with real struggles and is clear from the start that she is not without sin. I think if you keep that in mind as you are reading, it isn't ...