Book Review: Need You Now by Beth Wiseman #christianbook #bookreview

Need You Now by Beth Wiseman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What would you do if you felt your child was in danger?

After their son Chad made some poor choices, Brad and Darlene Henderson made the the tough decision to move their family from Houston to the small town of Round Top, Texas. Chad and his sisters, Ansley and Grace, each had their own difficulties with the move, especially Grace. While the pace is much slower, the challenges are still there, just in a different form.

Need You Now takes you through the struggles of a family who faces challenges and finds the only way through is by trusting in God.

Beth Wiseman does an fantastic job of telling this story. The main characters of the Henderson family each have their own personality that you can relate to as a reader. The tone of the book and the language makes it easy to imagine the characters interacting. The supporting characters like Tristan, Myrna, David, Cara and especially Layla, are there for a reason, not just to fluff up the book. I love the realistic situations and the fact that the author was not afraid to address a current problem facing our young women. She did it tastefully and with great sensitivity. While the ending was incredibly sad, it only served to add more depth to the story.

Overall, I thought this Christian fiction was well written, with a well developed story line. The story makes you stop and think about what you would do if you were in those challenging situations. Would you trust in God or would you fall apart? There were a variety of responses in this book and I learned something from each. The overriding theme is that even when we don't trust ourselves, when we don't trust the people around us, we need to trust God.

This was my first Beth Wiseman book but I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me through the Booksneeze program, for the purpose of review. I was not asked to nor required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Love and Blessings Always!
Margaret Rogers

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Stop the Violence Against Children! #VetoViolence

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  While we should always be alert for signs of Child Abuse, April is the Month that we need to bring it to the forefront.  It's a month where we don't whisper, but we SHOUT OUT LOUD THAT WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THE MALTREATMENT OF OUR CHILDREN!  Do you know the forms of Maltreatment?

Child maltreatment includes all types of abuse and neglect of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caregiver, or another person in a custodial role (e.g., clergy, coach, teacher). There are four common types of abuse:

• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Emotional Abuse
• Neglect

Did you know that there are almost 4 million cases of child abuse and neglect reported to the United States and CPS each year?  That means 4 million children who are now at risk for for emotional, physical and health problems for the rest of their lives!  I won't stand for it and I hope you won't either. Here is a list of things YOU and I can do to protect these children:

Listed below are things you can do to help prevent child abuse (from Darkness to Light website - http://www.d2l.org/site/):

1. Learn the facts about child abuse and understand the risks.
1. Read a book, attend a class, or look online to see how many children are affected by the different types of child maltreatment.
2. Abusers are often people the family trusts; they look and act just like everyone else.
2. Minimize the opportunities for abuse to occur.
1. Avoid situations where a child is alone with an adult – and avoid one-adult/one-child situations with children other than your own.
2. Monitor the Internet use of children so that they aren’t lured into inappropriate activities.
3. Talk about abuse
1. Talk openly to your child and understand why children may be scared to tell someone about abuse.
2. Talk to other adults about child abuse. This helps raise the consciousness of your community and influences their choices about child safety, while also putting potential abusers on notice that you are paying attention.
4. Stay alert to the signs of abuse.
1. Read a book, attend a class, or look online to determine the signs (physical and emotional/behavioral) of the different types of child maltreatment, while also understanding that some children may not display any signs
5. Know what to do if you suspect the abuse or neglect of a child.
1. Your reaction to suspected child maltreatment can determine how the child responds so it’s important not to overreact.
2. Provide support to the child.
3. Report suspected child maltreatment to appropriate authorities, either by calling the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1.800.4.A.CHILD or by calling local child protective services or law enforcement agencies in your community.
6. Act on suspicions.
1. Even if you don’t have proof but you suspect abuse has occurred/is occurring, you should report it. If you want to talk to staff about whether or not to report, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1.800.4.A.CHILD.
7. Get involved in your communities.
1. Meet and greet your neighbors and organize/participate in activities in your neighborhood
2. Go to a parents’ meeting or volunteer at your child’s school or run for an office in the parent organization at your child’s school
3. Participate in an activity at your local library or community center
4. Attend local government meetings (city council or school board meetings) and let them know how important resources are in your community. Let them know how parks, strong schools, and accessible services help to strengthen your family and other families
5. Support legislation that protects children.
6. Call and write your members of Congress.
7. Write letters to your newspaper.

As parents we should be even more vigilant in helping those in need.  We need to set the example for our children and step up when we see someone being bullied, when we see an act of neglect and certainly when we see an act of abuse.  We can no longer be afraid to get involved.  We have to protect these children!

So will you stand with me?  Will you commit to helping prevent child abuse?

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

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