This is a good solid book on splitting your time between work and family. It's a quick read and the author gets straight to the point. I love that he doesn't beat around the bush and didn't make the book twice as thick with filler words. I LOVE this book! It is so direct and doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. Readers will love that Stanley isn't just jumping on the workaholic's case here. He also addresses what the stay-at-home person is doing incorrectly. He gives a very unbiased, clear understanding of family dynamics and because he addresses both perspectives, no one is left feeling attacked or like they are only at fault. It takes two.
Stanley convicts readers with statements like "You love your family in your heart, but you don't love them in your schedule. The problem is, they can't see your heart." Woah. No getting around that one. Stanley tells readers when they prioritize work schedules over family time, "it chips away at your spouse and kids' confidence that they are your highest priority." Great book! I highly recommend it.
My disclaimer - I received this book from the publisher but I am not required to give a positive review. I always give brutally honest reviews and attempt to critically point out parts of the book that may not appeal to others. I want you readers to be able to confidently choose a book based on the stars I give it, because I know you have limited money, time and energy to read. So let's make the most of our lives and choose the very best books.
4 Stars: Then Sings My Soul, Part 3 by Robert J. Morgan
Then Sings My Soul, Part 3 by Robert J. Morgan is an appealing looking book with "shredded" page edges like one might find in a devotional. This book is about hymns, their beauty and also their history. The author split the book into 3 parts: First a history of hymns through page 54; Second 56 hymns alongside a history/description/author page; and third, 6 hymn stories from the author.
Not being familiar with hymns or what these songs sound like, my favorite part was actually Part 1 with the history of hymns throughout Christianity. Morgan's history was brief but to the point and covered many centuries. He expained how hymns came about and how they fell out of favor with the Reformation movement. Then he explained their resurgance with the Great Awakenings and then the movement away from hymns to modern songs. I really drew a greater appreciation for hymns because of this history lesson and Morgan's portrayal of hymns as forms of deep devotional worship.
Going through Part 2 with all the hymns was difficult for me because I have no background in hymns. I went on youtube to search out the songs and played versions sung by various artists. This was a new fun experience. I did find that after listening to them and reading the words along with the song, I had heard some of these hymns during Christmas time. I hope readers can find deep appreciation for these hymns by listening and singing along with them. Not being very musical, I still felt very inspired by these hymns.
My disclaimer - I received this book from the publisher but I am not required to give a positive review. I always give brutally honest reviews and attempt to critically point out parts of the book that may not appeal to others. I want you readers to be able to confidently choose a book based on the stars I give it, because I know you have limited money, time and energy to read. So let's make the most of our lives and choose the very best books.
Not being familiar with hymns or what these songs sound like, my favorite part was actually Part 1 with the history of hymns throughout Christianity. Morgan's history was brief but to the point and covered many centuries. He expained how hymns came about and how they fell out of favor with the Reformation movement. Then he explained their resurgance with the Great Awakenings and then the movement away from hymns to modern songs. I really drew a greater appreciation for hymns because of this history lesson and Morgan's portrayal of hymns as forms of deep devotional worship.
Going through Part 2 with all the hymns was difficult for me because I have no background in hymns. I went on youtube to search out the songs and played versions sung by various artists. This was a new fun experience. I did find that after listening to them and reading the words along with the song, I had heard some of these hymns during Christmas time. I hope readers can find deep appreciation for these hymns by listening and singing along with them. Not being very musical, I still felt very inspired by these hymns.
My disclaimer - I received this book from the publisher but I am not required to give a positive review. I always give brutally honest reviews and attempt to critically point out parts of the book that may not appeal to others. I want you readers to be able to confidently choose a book based on the stars I give it, because I know you have limited money, time and energy to read. So let's make the most of our lives and choose the very best books.
4 Stars: The Crossing by Serita Jakes
The Crossing by Serita Jakes is a Christian fiction book about a mystery about a murder of a young school teacher. A number of high schoolers witnessed their teacher being shot and killed by a mystery gunman. Now all grown up, these high schoolers are still haunted by the tramatic experience. The story focuses mainly on the best friend of the school teacher, Claudia, and her inability to cope with the incident and her self-destruction and abandoning a perfectly wonderful loving husband. The book skips from each character's perspective but in third perso, so "Claudia did this and that" and not an "I did this and that" book.
Serita Jakes is a fantastic writer and I look forward to reading more of her books. She's mad a fan out of me. Her writing skills and her ability to draw the reader into the story is amazing. There is never one dull moment in this book. The plot grabs you from the first paragraph and moves along very quickly. I could not put the book down, it was so captivating. The author really did keep you guessing to the very end who the killer was. Fantastic suspense. I haven't read a fiction book that moves this quickly and captivating since I was a teenager. The only disappointment I had was that there was very little Christianity in the book. Only a few of the characters were Christian and even then their relationships with God were barely mentioned. So I would consider this book "barely Christian".
Since it is a Christian fiction, I should discuss some concerns that readers might have. There is no cursing in the book. The author writes "He swore" or "He cursed" only a few times, but there are no curse words in the book, unless you consider "d-a-r-n" one. Also there are no sex scenes or references to anything below the waist. There is one accusation of rape and there are a few moments of people desiring one another. There is one scene of a man attempting to convince his gilfriend to go home with him while kissing heavily and desire is described some. There is also one barely implied sex scene but no overt language at all. - the one instance a woman sleeps with her husband is barely even implied that if you didn't know what sex was, you wouldn't know it even happened. The scene mentions them in bed and then her getting dressed. So the author tastefully downplayed everything. There are two mentions of men beating their women and the description of one of the girls' face afterwards is quite graphic.
My disclaimer - I received this book from the publisher but I am not required to give a positive review. I always give brutally honest reviews and attempt to critically point out parts of the book that may not appeal to others. I want you readers to be able to confidently choose a book based on the stars I give it, because I know you have limited money, time and energy to read. So let's make the most of our lives and choose the very best books.
Serita Jakes is a fantastic writer and I look forward to reading more of her books. She's mad a fan out of me. Her writing skills and her ability to draw the reader into the story is amazing. There is never one dull moment in this book. The plot grabs you from the first paragraph and moves along very quickly. I could not put the book down, it was so captivating. The author really did keep you guessing to the very end who the killer was. Fantastic suspense. I haven't read a fiction book that moves this quickly and captivating since I was a teenager. The only disappointment I had was that there was very little Christianity in the book. Only a few of the characters were Christian and even then their relationships with God were barely mentioned. So I would consider this book "barely Christian".
Since it is a Christian fiction, I should discuss some concerns that readers might have. There is no cursing in the book. The author writes "He swore" or "He cursed" only a few times, but there are no curse words in the book, unless you consider "d-a-r-n" one. Also there are no sex scenes or references to anything below the waist. There is one accusation of rape and there are a few moments of people desiring one another. There is one scene of a man attempting to convince his gilfriend to go home with him while kissing heavily and desire is described some. There is also one barely implied sex scene but no overt language at all. - the one instance a woman sleeps with her husband is barely even implied that if you didn't know what sex was, you wouldn't know it even happened. The scene mentions them in bed and then her getting dressed. So the author tastefully downplayed everything. There are two mentions of men beating their women and the description of one of the girls' face afterwards is quite graphic.
My disclaimer - I received this book from the publisher but I am not required to give a positive review. I always give brutally honest reviews and attempt to critically point out parts of the book that may not appeal to others. I want you readers to be able to confidently choose a book based on the stars I give it, because I know you have limited money, time and energy to read. So let's make the most of our lives and choose the very best books.
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