All posts for the month April, 2013

Duchess By: @SusanMayWarren

Susan May Warren is one of my favorite authors, however; I was never a fan of historical fiction, after reading Duchess and the other Daughter of Fortune books I stand corrected. Not only has Warren captivated my attention once again but she has crafted a brilliant story on so many levels.

With Duchess, Warren has gone to a new level, this is not a surface level story, there is so much depth to the characters that you often forget that they are characters in the books and that you aren’t actually in the 1930’s. The cover is only the start of the beauty that this book holds.

Rosie Worth has dreamed of a new life, a life in Hollywood as the leading lady, with fans that adore her and want to be her. She thrives to be in the spotlight. After one day Rosie realizes she has lost everything, her husband, her looks, possibly her career and with no way out she finds a glimmer of hope by partnering with Rolfe Van Horne. Someone that could bring her back into the limelight. However, the plans that Rolfe has aren’t all that they appear and Rosie’s heart and life of glamour may be caught in between Rolfe’s  plans and the unrest travelling across Europe. Will Rosie be able to give up the life she has dreamed of?

Susan May Warren has done another fabulous job with Duchess, as the final book in the Daughter of Fortune trilogy, these are books to definitely add to your reading list.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary from the publisher through Lifuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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by Elle on April 30, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 30, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/duchess-by-susanmaywarren/

Ephesians: Discovering Your Identity and Purpose in Christ

Sue Edwards has put together an amazing and challenging study on the book of Ephesians. From the start of the study to the end you will be challenged and discover what your identity in Christ is. This book contains 9 Lessons that you can complete at your own pace, starting with learning to sit and ending with sit down to stand each lesson will have you read a passage of scripture than go into questions about the content of the section and what Paul is teaching.

With each lesson Edwards has given you the option of how in depth you want to get into the section, along with optional memory verses, as well as thoughts from Sue. The questions that Sue provides will help you to dig into who you are in Christ and the message that He brings.

Edwards Bible Study will bring you to a better understanding of the book of Ephesians, this book is not a study that tells you everything but instead leads to great topics of discussion as well as opportunities to really grow in your relationship. This is a book that is great Bible Study for groups as well as for individual study.

I highly recommend Sue Edwards Bible Studies.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary from the publisher through the Litfuse Publicity program in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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by Elle on April 23, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 23, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/ephesians-discovering-your-identity-and-purpose-in-christ/

Stress Test By Richard L. Mabry

Dr. Matt Newman has been kidnapped, after managing to escape he finds himself being accused of murder and the police do not believe his kidnapping story or that his kidnappers are still after him and want Matt dead. With a girlfriend who wants nothing to do with him, a job that is put on indefinite hold, and the possibility that Matt will end up in jail. With only his lawyer to turn to, Matt needs to find a way out of this mess.

Mabry does not waste time thrusting you into a riveting story within the first few pages. Mabry obviously has a strong medical knowledge and incorporates life in the ER into his writing. Stress Test will captivate you from the very first pages to the very end, with twists and turns you will never expect each page will keep you on the edge of your seat. Stress Test is a strongly written story with characters you will love and others you may hate. Mabry has done a remarkable job at story telling, I cannot wait to see more from him.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary from the publisher through the Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

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by Elle on April 19, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 19, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/stress-test-by-richard-l-mabry/

Tales of the Defended Ones By Beth Guckenberger

Beth Guckenberger is celebrating the release of her new book in the Storyweaver series, Tales of the Defended Ones, with an iPad giveaway and Facebook party {4/25}.

Defended-Ones-giveaway300

One fortunate winner will receive:

  • An iPad Mini
  • A Tales of the Defended Ones small group kit (books and DVD)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 24th. Winner will be announced at the “Storyweaver” Author Chat Party on April 25th. Beth will be chatting with guests, answering questions, and offering tips about beginning a dialog with children and youth about the orphans around the world, the basic needs of children living in poverty, and what we can all do to help. (It’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!) Beth will also be hosting a fun trivia contest and giving away tons of great stuff! (Gift certificates, books, and more!)

So grab your copy of Tales of the Defended Ones and join Beth and friends on the evening of the April 25th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven’t read the book, don’t let that stop you from coming!)

Don’t miss a moment of the fun, RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 25th!

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by Elle on April 19, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 19, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/tales-of-the-defended-ones-by-beth-guckenberger/

This book will change how you see the world.

The question of how to introduce youth to missions is sometimes difficult, how much information is to much? Will they understand or will they be frightened about what kids their age and younger are facing around the world? Beth Guckenberger has introduced two amazing books to help teach kids about what is going on in the world and how God is watching out for each of us, no matter how hard the situation no one has been forgotten and God is there to defend each of us in all of our stories.

Tales of the Defended Ones has followed up Tales of the Not Forgotten splendidly, do not take the warning on the cover lightly, although this book is aimed at youth I recommend it for all to read because these stories will change the way that you see the world and may even influence you to take a stand. Each chapter is well written sharing the stories of others and also has notes about the culture and facts about the situation from adoption to foster care to slavery.

The stories in this book will make you think and will introduce youth to what God can do in someones life, Guckenberger introduces things such as slavery, and abandonment in a way that will not scare kids but educate them.

In Tales of the Defended Ones we see four different stories where each person was watched over and protected no matter how difficult things had become. I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially to those looking to teach their children about missions and the problems that others are facing.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary through the Litfuse Publicity Program in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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by Elle on April 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 18, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/this-book-will-change-how-you-see-the-world/

We Won’t Be Shaken

I don’t understand a lot of things. I don’t understand why people choose to hurt others, why disasters occur. Why our world is full of so much hate, why we can’t learn to help our neighbors, why we continue to walk away from people we love over petty differences.

I don’t understand. This week has been a tough one for our nation, bombings in Boston, an entire town devastated by a plant fire. Yet, in both of these there are stories of hope, stories of neighbors turning to help one another, of people running towards disaster instead of away from it. Where people have come together to reach out and support.

What I don’t understand is why it takes tragedy and heartache to bring people together. Why there must be a list of injured and killed for someone to stand up and reach out a hand of support. Yes, we should bind together in times of disaster, we should offer what help we can, but we shouldn’t forget to reach out to those same people you see struggling in times when things are going right. When we aren’t hurting.

When these things happen I want to be moved to action, but I don’t want it to only be when disaster strikes, I want to be there for my neighbors, my friends, my family, perfect strangers, when their day has been rough, when they just need a hug, a shoulder to cry on, or someone to talk too.

I want today to be a call to action, a call for each of us to reach out our hands and do our parts in helping one another. To extend what we have in each day, things like what has happened in Boston and in Texas help to Unite us, but let us not forget them once the media stops reporting on them, when the faces of the injured trickle our of our papers and off of our facebook pages. Let us continue to help one another out in the good and the bad.

Times are difficult, and sometimes we don’t understand what is going on, what we do know is that God is on our side, He is our protector and our comforter. When we don’t know how to pray He feels our anguish and doesn’t need our words He simply needs our hearts.

-Elle

 

I wanted to share this song with you, it’s a reminder that no matter what evil there is in the world We will not be shaken. We will continue to fight and we will continue to spread the Good News of our God, no matter how bad our days will go, if we have the words to pray, if we don’t know where to turn, God is always on our side.

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by Elle on April 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 18, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/we-wont-be-shaken/

Take A Chance on Me By @SusanMayWarren

Fire consumes, it starts off with a spark, a flicker of life and grows to be uncontrollable, destroying everything in it’s path leaving behind smoldering ash, much like fire angry grows the same way if we do not take control of it from the start it will consume us and take us in a direction we were not prepared for.

Susan May Warren’s latest book Take a Chance on Me is a story of family and forgiveness, of anger and loneliness,a story of belonging and of hope when all seems lost.

The Christiansen family has been through a lot, especially Darek who lost his wife at an early age, he has become the towns most in-eligible bachelor, left with a son to raise by himself and anger towards the best friend that killed his wife. Darek also has secrets of his own, secrets that continue to fuel his anger and hurt at the things he has lost and he believes that he cannot move on.

Ivy Madison is new to Deep Haven, she’s always wanted to find somewhere that she fit in, what she didn’t expect was to be bidding for Darek Christiansen and as their relationship grows she realizes she has a secret that could devastate him and she needs to tell him soon.

With a fire on its way to Deep Haven, the town must put old hurts and anger aside to work together, will they be able to survive the fire and allow the healing process to begin and give each other a second chance?

Warren has once again captivated our attention and brought us back to our favorite town, with some new characters and a few old friends you will not want to put this book down.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

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by Elle on April 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 18, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/take-a-chance-on-me-by-susanmaywarren/

Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge

There are many books out that are about prayers, how to pray, when to pray, what words do you say, the structure of a prayer, for something that is essentially a conversation between yourself and God it can easily become confusing.

Draw the Circle: The 4- Day Prayer Challenge is not like any other prayer book your have read, this book is not about how to pray, it is a challenge to have a bolder, more passionate and deeper prayer life with our creator. Each day is a short chapter focusing on one thing that will aid in creating a stronger and more powerful prayer life, the chapters range from topics of not delaying, preparing for your prayer to be answered, the benefits of journaling each day and writing your prayers down so that you can see how they are answered in the future. Each chapter is full of scripture and stories to support the theme in the chapter and is finished with a short sentence that sums up the chapter and is a way to help motivate you and remind you that we can pray bold prayers.

One of my favorite sections in this book was on day 7 about when the Israelites were at the Jordan preparing to cross, the people didn’t stand on the shore waiting for the waters to part they had to get into the water, take a step in faith and believing that God would get them through before they were able to walk on dry land across the Jordan.

This book will no doubt change your prayer life for the better, you will be challenged and begin to pray and declare stronger, bolder prayers and will find a more intimate relationship with God.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary from Zondervan through the Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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by Elle on April 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible Study, Book Review, Book Sneeze, Zondervan
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Posted by Elle on April 8, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/draw-the-circle-the-40-day-prayer-challenge/

The Gospel Centered Woman By: Wendy Alsup

There are so many devotional books out there that are aimed at woman, many of which are focused on a specific type of woman. The single woman, the married woman, the mother, the teenager; however, this book is not like this. The Gospel Centered Woman is not focused on just one aspect, it is a book that every woman can relate to and understand.

Alsup has done a brilliant job putting together a book for all types of woman to understand what biblical womanhood is and how it relates to us day to day.  Each chapter is full of stories and scripture to support the theme and points of the chapter as well as space at the end of each chapter for reflection.

Alsup has created a strong devotional that will take you into an in-depth study on what it means to understand the Gospel as a woman and how we can grow in our relationship with God on a regular basis in order to make our faith more than something we do but turn it into something we live and have a living, breathing relationship with God.

This book is sure to challenge you to go deeper and to understand the power of the Gospel.

-Elle

I received this book complimentary from the publisher through the Litfuse program in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

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by Elle on April 5, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 5, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/the-gospel-centered-woman-by-wendy-alsup/

It’s a barefoot-running-windows-open-music-blasting-cartwheeling kind of day!

This is my favorite time of year. I love spring. There is no other way to explain it, but I love spring days where all I want to do is kick off my shoes and head down to the lake. The days where I want to find a field to do cartwheels in, or if I have to drive avoiding the highways and taking back roads so I can roll down the windows and blast the radio singing along no matter how off-key.

However, this spring feels different. Yes, I still want to do all those things, I want to waste away my days sitting outside with a good book or on the days it’s thunderstorming I want to kick off my shoes and stomp through puddles.

This spring is no different in that aspect, and each spring has always felt like a new season, a time for renewal and rebirth. With Easter kicking off the Spring it’s easy to see how Spring brings life. However, this year this Spring feels different, it is not just a new season in terms of weather and the planet facing a new direction, this spring feels like the start of a new season in my life. A time of growth, a time of stretching. This season is the start of something new, the possibilities are endless in the directions that life can take me.

In the short few weeks since Spring has begun have seen God pointing me towards new doors and closing old ones, He is guiding my steps in a new direction, with new friendships, and a time to really spend time with God. I moved to Oklahoma almost 4 years ago and for the longest time I felt like I was at a standstill, that I was just waiting for something to happen, for a path to be chosen, a step to be taken. I felt stuck in a holding pattern with no way out, stuck in a holding pattern of struggling to grow, stuck with challenges I didn’t know how to handle. Some of those challenges I got through to the other side and it was able to shape and change me. But there are those other challenges that I can look at and feel like I’ve failed, that I got so frustrated I could not see what God was teaching me, and some cases I didn’t want to see it, I just wanted to move into the next season.

I’ve learned to appreciate those seasons that I don’t want to be in, so many times we rush into the next season, the next thing we want to happen with our lives, our careers, where we are headed too rather than enjoying the season we are in and enjoying the moment.

I don’t even know where I was going with this post, but I am so excited for this new season, for the season I am entering where the possibilities are endless with so many doors opening and opportunities I have never expected. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me this season.

-Elle

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by Elle on April 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Elle on April 4, 2013

https://organicshoes.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/its-a-barefoot-running-windows-open-music-blasting-cartwheeling-kind-of-day/

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