Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Wife After God {BOOK REVIEW}

Wife After God
A 30 Day Marriage Devotional For Wives
By: Jennifer Smith
over the past year, the Lord has really been busy working on my heart. He has given me a passion and a heart for marriage. not only for mine, but for all marriages. ones of the things i’ve enjoyed doing the most is reading and learning all i can about marriage…books, blogs, devotionals and bible study’s. one of my favorite blogs is unveiled wife. and when i read that jennifer smith had written a marriage devotional, i was beyond over the moon excited!

Wife After God is an encouraging, God-filled devotional that will, without a doubt, strengthen your relationship with your husband and with Christ.  daily i was more and more convicted on how i needed to work on my own marriage.

WHAT:  there are so many great, real topics in this book.  they aren’t fluff, they aren’t sugar coated, they are just real.  and that is what this wife likes.  real topics that i face every day.  a few of my favs are…forgiveness, intimacy, protecting your marriage and the importance of prayer.  
one of the sections that spoke directly to my heart was about being a good wife.  regardless of my husbands actions, behavior, thoughts and response towards me…i need to love him.  period.  and that ties directly in to the study we’ve recently done on the Proverbs 31 woman.  
WHO:  every single wife.  period.  there is something in this devotional that will touch your heart, i guarantee it.  no matter how many years you’ve been married, there is always more to learn.  God created a beautiful covenant with marriage.  His highest purpose in marriage is to showcase the intimate relationship between Christ and His people. He gave us the responsibility to tend to our marriage and to be a beautiful reflection of His heart.
HOW:  each day there are a few focus verses, a 2-3 page thought directly from jennifers heart that includes scripture and stories, a beautiful prayer, a personal challenge for you, thought provoking journal questions and a status update. i actually kept a daily journal and looooved it!  this would be such an amazing book to use in a ladies bible study.  
WHERE:  to purchase your own copy of the book, click here.  you can purchase it in either paperback or for your kindle.
thank you so much jennifer for your ministry, your heart and your transparency.  you are such an encouraging Christian role model in an opposite world.  
out for now
~kisses

Thirty Days of Bible Study for Busy Mamas: Colossians 3 {BOOK REVIEW}

Thirty Days of Bible Study for Busy Mamas:
Colossians 3
By: Pam Forster

about the book:

It’s not easy, getting into the Word when your house is full of little ones who need you twenty-four hours a day. But it’s essential. This new book offers special encouragement to busy mothers who need the nourishment of God’s Word in their demanding lives. Here is a simple but deep approach to Bible study, divided into five-minute portions that will help you dig in and really study the Bible. So here’s the challenge: Set aside just five to ten minutes a day – even if it’s just one minute at a time – to study the Bible. This book will help!

last week as i headed out for vacation, i grabbed this book and threw it in my suitcase. i adore reading. but reading on the beach is simply amazing! i knew out hotel had a front porch with lots of rocking chairs…on the boardwalk…with the sunrise right in front of it. i have to admit, i was so excited about this that the first night there, i hardly slept. the next morning, i was up at 5:30 am. i grabbed my book, tablet, pen and Bible and headed to the deck. this is the view i had:

so all of us mama’s know, free time is hard to come by when you have littles. at times, even a shower is a challenge. one thing that should never take a backseat is our time spent with the Lord. we desperately need Him by our side to be the best mama possible. this Bible study will help you do exactly that. it is geared to take 5 minutes a day.  if you can’t do 5 minutes at a time, you can always grab a minute here and a minute there until you’ve completed your daily task.  i actually spent about an hour on the deck each morning and completed the entire study this week.  just me soaking up every single minute i could with Him and basking in the beauty He created.  i cannot even put into words how amazing this was.

i have to tell you, this Bible study spoke directly to my heart. and actually, through this study, God started nudging my heart. and the next Bible study we will be having on the blog was decided upon.

if you are someone who isn’t very good at studying your Bible, this study will help with that! Pam will literally come beside you and walk you through, step by step. how to read it, study it, go through one verse at a time and really understand it. i didn’t want to mark in my Bible a lot, so i printed out a copy of Colossians 3 from Bible Gateway.

i would absolutely highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to dig a little deeper into God’s Word.   

i received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. the opinions i have expressed are my own.

out for now
~kisses

runaway emotions {book review}

Runaway Emotions
Why You Feel the Way You Do and What God Wants You to Do About It
By Jeff Schreve
the description on the back of the book reads:

If we pay attention to the alarms in our lives, they could save us.

Worry. Anger. Loneliness. Negative emotions are uncomfortable by design. Like any good fire alarm, they alert us to a greater danger. But they won’t help us if we try to cover them up, hide them behind excuses, or assume they will always plague us.

The only healthy way to manage negative emotions is to find their source and address the problem that set them off. As pastor Jeff Schreve says, “A specific and compelling message can be found in each of your negative, painful emotions. God Himself is trying to speak to you through those emotions—right now.”

So what is God saying? How can we understand our emotions—even change them? Schreve shows how the truth of the Bible can make sense of our confusion. The power of the Holy Spirit can lead us to freedom, and Jesus Christ can give us true peace in the midst of any crisis.
You don’t have to let your emotions run away with you, your family, or your future.

i am an emotional girl, plain and simple.  and so many times i allow my emotions to run out of control and dictate my actions.  so once i saw the this book, i knew i needed to read it.

this was an amazingly powerful book for me.  i was going through a stressful, worry-filled time.  and to be honest, when i worry it makes me sassy.  the other members of my household are not so much fans of this.  i read the chapter on worry and instantly my heart was calmed.  it made me explore my own out-of-control emotions and what God wants me to do with them.  at the end of the book, i was left with such a greater knowledge of my emotions and how God uses them to speak to us.  

it was written in such a down-to-earth, easy to read format.  it held my attention and at times, i even had a hard time putting it down.  i would definitely recommend this book.   
this book was provided to me free of charge by booksneeze.com in return for my honest review. the opinions i have expressed are my own.

out for now
~kisses