Grace Revealed

Trust in the unmerited gift of God’s grace

You can’t escape the inevitable crises that will face you throughout your lifetime. Whether it’s health problems, emotional issues, career challenges, gut-wrenching losses, or other failures, these experiences can destroy your morale and lead you into despair. Some crises may be a result of your own choices, while others may be completely out of your control. Whatever the source, there is a lasting solution that comes to you free of charge from above: God’s amazing grace.

In Grace Revealed, you will:
—Experience real-life stories of others who discover they are not alone and that relief is within their grasp.
—See how devastating afflictions can be overcome through faith in Jesus and His love, mercy, and grace.
—Learn how God’s grace transforms lives and leads you into enduring and rewarding Christian service.
—Be inspired to encourage others who are suffering but cannot seek help on their own.

Read these undeniable, modern-day examples of God’s loving grace and its transformative power, and discover that God is always present in your time of need.

My thoughts: This book is an incredible collection of life stories that show the difficult things that people have gone through and how they have discovered God's grace and been able to turn those difficult situations around and help others. I was blown away by the different stories! It was hard to put the book down. These stories are real and share some hard things, but they also offer hope.
I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review.

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Lost and Found

The “right” homeschooling philosophy. The “right” brand of theology. The “right” meal-planning, home-managing, keep-it-all-together parenting. Kendra Fletcher, homeschooling mom of eight, had it all “right,” until it all fell apart. In the course of eighteen months, Kendra found her baby in a coma, ran over her five-year-old, and nearly lost her eight-year-old to a septic ruptured appendix. Lost and Found is the story of how God used those events to transform her family’s self-righteous religion into freedom in Christ.

Fletcher’s debut book is the gripping true story of how God used suffering to save her family from empty religion. As wave after wave of crisis hit, the Fletchers discovered that getting religion “right” wasn’t a good substitute for a living relationship with a loving God. Through their suffering, they learned about misplaced identities and false hope, and they threw themselves wholly into the arms of Jesus—where they found the grace they needed.
Fletcher, a well-known writer and conference speaker in Christian homeschooling circles, addresses the quiet legalism that so easily infiltrates Christian communities and exposes the dangers of focusing our hopes on the “right” ways of worship, work, and family life. More than a memoir, Lost and Found invites all of us to give up the things that hold us in bondage and find our value, worth, significance, hope, and identity in Christ alone.

My thoughts: Wow! It was so interesting to read about the Fletchers and their journey through trials to a deeper relationship with the Lord. I can't believe just how much they went through in and 18 month period. As a mother, it confronted some of my worst fears, and yet I was so blessed by this book to see how God blessed them through the hard times and how their heartbreak was used for good. Having been homeschooled, I found the patriarchal group they were a part of interesting, since some of my friends were in groups like that growing up.
I received this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review.

Hope Unfolding

I get it, Momma. I totally get it.
Every day you wake up and try your very best. You love, give, and pour out your life for the ones who call you Momma. But no matter how much you offer, there are still days you feel as though you come up short. You worry, Am I loving these babies enough? Is this ever going to get easier? Why does it seem like I am the only one who cannot balance it all?

Sometimes, we just need hope (and maybe a long uninterrupted nap). We need someone to help tune our hearts to the voice of the Father and to remind us that He has not forgotten about us.
In Hope Unfolding, Becky Thompson is a friend who reminds you that you aren’t alone, and that God is still writing your story. She guides you to encounter the Truth of God’s presence that not only fuels you with strength, but also a fresh confidence. And beyond gaining faith that tomorrow could be different, you find hope and purpose where you are standing today.

My thoughts: Every mother should buy this book! Filled with grace filled truths that most, if not all of us, need to hear. I didn't realize just how hard motherhood was until my daughter was born. You have the demands of raising a young person that is constantly changing and developing, then there is the mommy guilt that can beat a soul down. Sometimes, we just need to remember the hope and joy that motherhood brings, and the grace that is extended to us (all of us). I love how she uses personal experiences to bring the book to life, since that it was makes a non fiction book for me; being able to relate to the author and what she/he is trying to communicate.
This would be an excellent book to read as a group study for mothers!
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Street God

His street name was Daylight. But he was a nightmare.

On the streets of New York, darkness and violence reigned. Dimas “Daylight” Salaberrios began selling drugs when he was eleven years old, and by sixteen, he had served his first stint at the notorious Rikers Island prison. Dimas saw only one way to survive: by reigning over the streets. He would be the richest, most powerful ruler in the hood . . . or die trying.
Street God is the true story of one man’s dangerous journey through the underworld of crime, drugs, and almost certain death. It was an encounter with the real God that saved his life — and then made it even more dangerous. Because that God sent Dimas back down the darkest streets he’d ever known — with other lives depending on it. And Dimas had to ask the question: How far am I prepared to go?
A dramatic, compelling memoir full of twists and turns, Street God delves deep into a world from which few ever emerge — and shows how a single spark of light can illuminate even the darkest existence.

My thoughts: Real life is often even crazier then fiction, and I would say that is certainly true with the story of Dimas. His life story is one that is incredibly encouraging for those who think they have fallen to far for God's grace to reach them, for the parents who despair that their children have chosen a different path and seem to have total turned their back on God. Dimas is real as he talks about how easy it is to get sucked into the drug world, something I didn't realize and that is helpful to know as a parent.
This is an incredible story for teens and adults to read. I highly recommend it!
I received this book from Tyndale in exchange for my honest review.