Christian Book Review: Exposed: Inexcusable Me... Irreplaceable Him by Shannon Deitz #christianbookreview

Exposed: Inexcusable Me...Irreplaceable Him by Shannon M. Deitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shannon Deitz did not have a fairytale life. Although she had wonderful caring parents, two of her siblings turned to drugs and Shannon was well on her way to following them. In her book Exposed: Inexcusable Me... Irreplaceable Him she describes the challenges she faced as she grew up. Twice she was raped, several times she experienced spiritual warfare to the point where the demons took human form. Throughout her life she felt she was worthless, otherwise, why would these things keep happening to her?

Then one day she decided to stop fighting, to surrender her life. She completely submitted to God and gave up all control of her life. His will became her will. Even at this point, she did not understand how God could love someone like her, how He could forgive her for all of the things she had done, how He could make her clean. But He could, and He did.

I really enjoyed this book. I could see several parallels in my own life which allowed me to connect emotionally with her story. As she went through the horrors that she faced, she knew God was there.  She didn't want to face Him, but she knew He was there.  Many times in my life, I've allowed the negative thoughts to keep me from the truth like Shannon did.  Thankfully I too surrendered my life to Christ and I now try to let Him lead me each day.

I found it unusual that there were many, many references to faith but I don't recall a lot of scriptural references other than at the beginning of some of the chapters. This was a little disappointing because I know how important it is to be grounded in the Word, especially when you are facing spiritual battles.  However, I did appreciate the candid approach that the author took when describing the events of her life.  

Overall, I thought this was a good book for the Christian woman who struggles with feelings of unworthiness and negative thinking.  It's a wonderful example of someone who had been dragged down to the depths, but was lifted up by Christ when she turned her life over to Him.

You can find more about the author on her website www.shannonmdeitz.com.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from B&B media for the purpose of review.  I was not required to write a positive review. 

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

Book Review: Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs #christianbook

Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can Learn from Them by Liz Curtis Higgs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bad Girls is a collection of relatively short stories about women in the bible. You meet each one first through a modern day story which helps you relate to the character. Then Ms. Higgs begins to talk about the biblical character using scriptures and humor to support the lesson. In the book she helps us to understand the motivations of these women and where they came from.

I've had this on my to read list for quite some time and I'm glad I finally read it. I treated as a devotional reading it a little bit each day for a six week period. I really got a lot out of this book!

I loved the format of using the modern day story followed by the biblical story. The former was important to helping you relate to the women in these stories. While they were fictional, they really could be any woman that you meet on the street today. The biblical stories were supported by the scripture that told about these women. They brought out points that you wouldn't normally think about when reading these stories in the Bible. I really appreciated that!

Overall, I thought the book was well written. It did drag out a bit at points but it wasn't too bad. The author's writing style is refreshing and educational at the same time!  Her questions at the end of the chapter really helped bring the lessons home. As a Christian woman, I am always looking for enriching devotionals and this definitely fit the bill. 

This is a book from my personal collection.  You can find it here:  Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can Learn From Them

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

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Coming Full Circle - Who I Am

When I started this blog, I thought it would be fun to share things in my life, review books, talk about my Christian faith... but somewhere along the way I got "lost."  I started reviewing products I really didn't have an interest in, attempted to do giveaways, and other distracting things... and the blog became a burden.  Then I did away with all of that and the blog became boring (or maybe it already was!).

So this is a fresh start! It will be truthful, challenging and sometimes difficult.  My focus is on quality, not quantity.  I may do a giveaway here and there, but mostly  I will be telling you stories about my husband, my children and myself, sharing about books that I've read and some of my other hobbies like dolls, photography, digital scrapbooking, public education (well I don't get paid for it so I guess it's a hobby!).

This is us for the curious!

So if you don't want to "hear" all that stuff, unsubscribe now, I won't be mad at'cha! 

I also did some housecleaning.  I unsubscribed from a LOT of blogs.  I had so many blogs that I followed, it was hard to follow and comment.  Hopefully now I will be better at coming to see y'all! I'm getting rid of the banners that don't apply anymore and hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have a redesigned heading!!  It feels good to be excited again!

So that's where I am! I have some book reviews to post over the next few days, I'm sure I'll share a few stories and hopefully I'm on the path to making some new friends!

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret