I’d never heard of Becky Kiser before reading her newest book, Sacred Holidays, but now I am going to follow her and the Sacred Holidays Tribe to glean all their tips and tricks! This book was full of ideas that I hope to incorporate into our own family’s holiday routines! I love that it starts with Becky encouraging the readers to add time in his/her calendar ahead of time to plan for these holidays, and then the second part of the book moves into the specifics on each holiday.

I loved all her suggestions in the holidays portion of the book - a few of her ideas are ones we already do in our family (or something really similar) and the ones I loved the most, I was able to jot down and note for when the planning time pops up on my calendar for that specific holiday. I really also appreciated her portion on Santa, we already don’t do gifts from Santa or discuss with our kids the idea that they get extra gifts and should be constantly consumed with their wishlist, but we didn’t have specific verbiage for why, and I feel like she really elaborated and gave me good reasoning behind why our choice is a good one!

I really enjoyed this book, look forward to pulling it back off the shelf as I plan for each holiday, and hope I can do the Sacred Holidays Advent Bible study! And I’m also hoping to share the book with friends from home group, so we can share ideas and work together to make the holidays more “sacred - holy and set apart”!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from B&H Publishers, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

The Winter War by Priscilla Shirer is such a great book for young boys and girls! My son is younger than Shirer’s target audience for this book, but he loved listening as my husband and I took turns reading this book to him. And from a parent’s perspective, it’s a smooth and easy read, with strong spiritual tones. It reminds me a bit of Pilgrim’s Progress - there are so many themes and ways you could read into the text that I’m certain my 5 year old didn’t catch on to, but I’m thrilled are there and hope that, as he reads the book again when he’s older, he’ll gravitate more towards.

I loved this video I found of Shirer explaining a specific theme she wrote into the book, of making mistakes and how the enemy uses our mistakes to discourage us! After watching this video and the others on her blog, I valued this book so much more as my eyes were opened to all of the themes she wrote for the characters. Each theme she’s written into the story line open up so much potential conversations you can have with your son/daughter!

I appreciate that this book is a beautiful hard cover without a dust cover (which tend to get ripped/wrinkled by my boys). After reading this book, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the first 3 books, so we can get caught up on the whole story - I felt like we were missing out a bit jumping in on the 4th book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from B&H Publishers, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

What a happy mail day today, this delightful book got me so excited for the upcoming Christmas season by highlighting some of my favorite holiday things! I love me some glitter, and My Christmas ABCs has plenty of it! The illustrations (by Jordan Wray) are adorable: simple, bright, realistic, and adorned with a little glitter! I love that the glitter adds a little texture and dimension to the book and gives babies a texture to explore as they’re reading! There is one short sentence for each letter, including one (occasionally two) words representing each.

Reading through this book definitely had the attention of my 5 and 2 year old! It’s so full of the joys of Christmas, and I can’t wait to pull it back out for the holidays soon!

The description on the back of the book states that it has “rhyming text”, and while it does have 2-3 rhyming words in it, there aren’t many, and the words don’t flow in the same way that rhyming books tend to.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tommy Nelson Publishers, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

Alli Worthington’s book, The Year of Living Happy, is full of sweet and encouraging reminders, as well as great journaling prompts and activities that help make the happiness journey personal!

I appreciate the short, sweet, and to-the-point entries - they are easy to take in during my short, mom breaks! This book makes me happy, just looking at the simple and bright cover! This book would be a great gift for a friend, no matter where she is in her faith journey! 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

This beautiful book by Jackie Hill Perry left me with so many things to consider! Gay Girl, Good God reads like like poetry - some parts so thought provoking and fresh, that I had to read the portion over several times. I especially loved her poetic retelling of Adam and Eve’s story. Perry’s work read so easily, and I poured over the book in only a few days! Her story of God’s redeeming work in her life is encouraging, and you can find hope in her message no matter the type of sin you struggle with.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from B&H Publishing but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

As soon as I laid eyes on this book, Prayers for the Battlefield: Staying Momstrong in the Fight For Your Family and Faith, by Heidi St. John, I was drawn to it! I love all the details of he cover, from the gold foiling to the hardcover to the smaller size! This book would make a great gift for new or experienced mommas alike - there are prayers inside to apply to all stages of mom life! I love how each chapter starts with a passage, is followed by a little devotional/personal story, and then wrapped up with an in-depth prayer! I also love how at the end of the chapter, there is a few Scripture references, should you desire to delve further into studying what the Word has to stay on the topic.

In addition to using this book to pray over my own family, kids, and parenting journey, I hope to use this book as a reference when praying for friends! I feel like this will be a great guide to use to direct my prayers, especially if a friend is asking for prayer on a situation that I’m not familiar with! I also hope to use the verses in the book could to text friends as a means of encouragement after I’ve prayed for them, as well!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

I’m so excited for my Kindergartener to be ready for this book! I really adore so many things about this book and am hoping we could even start it before he can totally read by himself! Each week starts with a vocabulary page with simple explanations for potentially complicated words throughout the story. Following the vocab intro, is the story, which is printed in simple font and the vocabulary words are highlights in orange. After the story, there are 6 days worth of comprehension questions, writing prompts, and directions to mark up the story and process what they’re reading! There are 8 Old Testament stories and 5 New Testament stories.

I love that it is designed similarly to my personal Bible study, and it’s something we could sit and work on together! I think this a great resource for teaching children Biblical literacy. I look forward to sharing this book with friends who have Kindergarten and 1st graders.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from B&H Kids, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

Well y’all, this book is just so sweet: Ahanu is a boy with Down syndrome who earns an award at school for being thoughful, and when boys make fun of Ahanu, Joshua is bold and stands up for his friend! I love the engaging and bright illustrations, and the story line is great - it engaged my 2 and 5 year olds for its entirety. Plus it also set us up to have a discussion with them about how to consider others!

I could, however, do without the use of the word stupid, used by the bullies on the bus when they say, “Why did he get a stupid award anyway?” - while it wasn’t directed at a person, I don’t appreciate reading words I don’t want my children to repeat, so I’ll probably edit that out in future readings.

At the end of the book, I love the Parent Connection page, which gave me great ideas about verses and questions to consider in discussion with my kids after we finish the book! I look forward to reading this book several times over and sharing it with friends!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from B&H Kids, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

Jennifer Dukes Lee pretty much read my mail during the intro of this book, and I was hooked! I loved every moment of this book - and found essential truths and helpful tidbits scattered throughout! 

I started reading this book during a time when a lot of unknowns were surfacing regarding the future of our family, and I'm not sure I've ever been filled with more peace during a time when I've been so out of control than when reading this book. I read the book in just a few days, simply because I truly needed the words inside! I laughed (mostly at how well the author was describing my personality without ever actually meeting me), but also had great times to reflect and work through the "Cracking the Control Code" portions of the book, which outline practical next steps we "control freaks" can give the control we never actually had back to the Lord. 

Jennifer Dukes Lee says in the book that, "We ask for a map to deal with all of this, but instead Jesus gives us a compass and says, 'Follow me.'" I so appreciate this visual, and it has surfaced in my memory several times as I've read through the book as a sweet reminder that I want to give all the control to the Lord and follow Him, regardless of where it leads! 

So thankful that this book exists, and I can share it with friends who also wrestle with idolizing control.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

Such a cute little book to teach my little guy about colors! This book engages kids of older ages too, by asking them to actively participate and circle, pat, pet, and tickle items pictured that match the color on the page! I love the range of colors included in this book - it includes primary colors, as well as a handful of neutrals. The illustrations are realistic and my kids loved pointing out what they see. My husband and I also asked the kids to search and find certain things on the pages, and that entertained them for quite a bit! 

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading about!

Danielle

I devoured this outstanding book on adoption and foster care in less than a day! Thank you so much to Julie Holmquist for writing A Call to Love. This book couldn't have arrived at a more perfect time, we just finished our foster care training almost 3 months ago, and we've been waiting for our home study to be ordered and completed. While this book was primarily focused on adoptive families, I still found it encouraging and full of insight that could apply to foster families. 

My favorite part of the book was the gravity and reality with which Julie writes, especially in the heartwarming and heartbreaking stories she shares throughout. The real-life stories were so helpful for me to get the full spectrum of all the joys and sorrows that she explained. She helped me process my expectations and think through some of the challenges we've yet to experience. 

Reading this book felt like listening to a wise mentor help prepare me for our next stage of life, and I'm so grateful! I also love the Rest Stop portion of the book, along with the journal pages provided.

I can't wait to share this book with other friends considering and pursuing adoption and foster care. Tyndale provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading!

Danielle

I've loved the books in the Life Giving series and appreciate so much the heart the Clarkson family has to share their best tips for raising children who desire to know and love God. What I love about the other Life Giving books is that they're chock-full of practical examples, and I can really easily determine how to apply what I'm reading to my family's current rhythms and routines.

The Life Giving Parent didn't have as much of that, save a little section at the end of each chapter written by Sally. I thoroughly enjoyed these portions of the book and found that it was the perfect tie-in for preceding chapter. I found Clay's portions of the book a little more difficult to digest and was a little overwhelmed by the immense amount of theology and philosophy. Our church is a huge advocate for theological study for all members, and I just didn't feel like most of the content was new. I realize our church is somewhat unique in this, and I'm certain that this book will be a huge parental resource for so many, along with the rest of the books in this series. 

Tyndale provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading!

Danielle

I was so pleased when this beautiful Bible arrived! The cover of the CSB Study Bible for Women is perfect - I love the texture and colors! I only worry a little about drinking coffee around it, as I tend to be clumsy in the early mornings and would hate to spill a mug around this beauty. 

I've been using this Bible this week as I work through a study on 1 John. The study notes, as well as the highlights of certain Biblical characters, and the summaries of the book are so extremely helpful, but more than that, they're beautiful and compelling to look at, so I'm drawn to read above and beyond what's required for my study! 

This book would be such a perfect gift for a girlfriend or for Mother's Day! 

B&H/Lifeway provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading!

Danielle

The book Why Her? by Nicki Koziarz couldn't have arrived in the mail at a more perfect time! I don't think I realized how much I needed a book like this until it arrived, and I devoured it in a matter of days! I've struggled with comparison my whole life, BUT in my current season of a momma of littles, I've found it all-consuming at times with not only myself, but also my kids! This book was full of refreshing honesty that my heart and soul needed! I love the beautiful intertwining of Nicki's personal stories with the Biblical story of Rachel and Leah. 

This is a book I will come back to when I know comparison begins creeping in, because it's full of truth! The truths that Nicki talks about in the book are 1) you need to be honest, 2) see it like it really is, 3) you don't always have to be okay, 4) you didn't do anything wrong, 5) her gain is not your loss, and 6) let the success of others encourage, not discourage you. I left my reading feeling equipped to survey my heart and intentions of comparison and how to take time to be alone and quiet my heart before the Lord.

At the end of the book, I was also encouraged to cheer on and take pride in the success of my friends who are in my same stage of life, instead of considering their successes as a threat to my own! 

B&H/Lifeway provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading!

Danielle

God Made the World by Sarah Jean Collins is an adorable book about the Creation story! I'm so excited to read this one with my kids! The illustrations are simple, yet bright and attention-grabbing. The storyline flows smoothly, and the rhyming throughout the book is subtle and doesn't sound forced (like some children's book tend to). Another thing thing we love about this book is that Adam and Eve aren't white! 

This book would make a cute 1st birthday gift, along with a stuffed animal! 

Tyndale provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading! 

Danielle 

I'm so thankful that I was introduced to Jamie Ivey last year! Jamie's new book, If You Only Knew, is an extension of the honesty and transparency that I love to listen to on her podcast. The message of this book is so needed and relevant for every woman and church member, boiled down to this line, "Being vulnerable - sharing our need for a Savior - points people to Jesus and not ourselves."

I'm so grateful for Jamie's platform and sharing of this message - our being vulnerable and honest about our past and what the Lord has saved us from is exactly what brings Him the most glory! Living life in an authentic manner is what points to the fact that JESUS IS BETTER, and this book was the perfect reminder of that! Jamie encourages all women to live in deep community and to experience the freedom in Christ that comes as a result! "Faithfulness to Him comes from remembering all He's done for you." Thanks to Jamie for sharing her story and for being willing to be honest about the constant struggle yet ultimately rewarding journey she's been on! 

B&H Publishing provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading! 

Danielle 

Kayla Aimee writes a story that could be straight out of my diary, from her love of the Babysitters Club series to the struggle of making friends as an adult! In Bloom is such a refreshing and honest account of Kayla's growth and insecurities as a pre-teen to the same inflictions as an adult, which drew me in from the start as I recalled all the things I used to love in my pre-teens, especially Zenon (P.S. if anybody find out how to watch this movie nowadays, let me know - I can't find it anywhere)! This recollection of my favorite things also brought about a recollection of similar awkward moments of childhood as Kayla's. Throughout the whole book is the sweet and timely reminder of how our confidence can be found in the Lord! 

AND the stories of her daughter are literally priceless! I can relate so strongly in these stories, as I think of similar incidents with my own 5 year old! I had to share most of these hilarious stories out loud with my husband, so he could share in the laugh! 

B&H Publishing provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading! 

Danielle 

This study (100 Days with Jesus: A Daily Glimpse Into the Person of Christ) by Diann Cotton is so perfect for the Advent season and even going into the season of Epiphany in the New Year, to build up my knowledge and appreciation for the array of names which help me gain knowledge of who Christ is. It offers a challenge in how I think of the Lord and to think of Him in ways outside of my typical. 

Also, I LOVE the beautiful cover...black and gold foil is completely my style, and I hope to display this book on the mantle next Christmas season! It goes perfectly with the rest of my decor, and having it front-and-center on the mantle will be a continual reminder to pick it up and delve in to the study! 

As a busy momma of 2 boys, the length of this daily devotion is perfect! And the questions it concludes with will help me process what I've learned throughout the day! 

B&H Publishing provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading! 

Danielle 

This book drew me in with its cute cover! And the first few pages are so endearing and cute! 

However, I do wish a few things were different about this book - including more realistic illustrations! I love the colors and brightness on each page, but the illustrations are a bit wild and unrealistic, for what's being said.

My husband had a few issues with the theology alluded to in this book, including how much it focuses on how pleased God is with our creation and how much it seems He relies on and needs us, which isn't true. We probably won't read it often because of this, as we prefer to pick books that we more closely align with theologically. 

Blogging for Books provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading! 

Danielle

The My Little Words Devotional has the cutest cover and such bright and attention-grabbing illustrations - I know my little guy will love it! I appreciate the short little descriptions of each of these words and even though I purchased the book for my 2 year old, I know we'll be able to use the little idea explanations for our 4 year old too! While I wouldn't exactly consider this book a devotional, it will be a great resource and yet still a quick read if my son picks it off the shelf! I'm excited for my son to discover it under the Christmas tree in a few days, and know we'll all get to enjoy reading it! 

B&H/Lifeway provided me a copy of this book in exchange for this review, but all opinions are completely my own. 

Thanks for reading about what I'm reading! 

Danielle