book review Archives - Sherry Stahl

book review

Finding God’s Story In The Stars by My Friend Joe

FINDING GOD’S STORY IN THE STARS

Last November I did a Facebook Live Author Interview with my friend Joe Amaral when he released his newest book, Story In The Stars. Joe became a person of interest for me when I found out he was the band ‘pastor’ for Stryper. Yes, I love Christian Heavy Metal music, Screamo bands, and Hillsong United.

I know… my music likes are eclectic but back to the interview, it’s my most watched video to date with over 3.8 thousand views! And there’s a reason why… It’s an awesome book and if you don’t believe me, you can take Amazon’s word for it. Yesterday, Joe’s book was the #1 book on Amazon in four categories!!!! Say what? I didn’t even know that was possible!

YOU’LL NEVER LOOK AT THE CONSTELLATIONS THE SAME AGAIN!

AMAZON BEST SELLER RANKINGS

I’m so proud to have friends who truly do reach for the stars and grab hold of them. Ranking #1 Best Seller in one category is impressive but in four categories… that’s stupendous!

#1 BEST SELLER IN:
Astronomy, Theology, Science & Religion, Christian Prophecy

WATCH THE FACEBOOK LIVE AND SEE WHAT ALL THE HYPE IS ABOUT
Watch by clicking the image below and don’t forget to grab your copy! It’s one of my favorite reads of all-time! See below the Facebook Live image for details on the book.

Story In The Stars:
Discovering God’s Design and Plan for Our Universe

An in-depth look at the powerful story and symbolism behind God’s unique design of our universe.

Thousands of words have been written about the first 10 words in the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” a simple and profound statement that has ignited a firestorm of debate and controversy. People often only focus on the “how” and “when” of creation, but Story in the Stars explores the “why”.

Why did God…
Create such a vast universe?
Choose the sun and moon to light our paths?
Design images with stars in the night sky?

The Bible is very clear when it states that God created, named, and positioned all of the stars of the universe in their place in a very specific way – a way that tells us the greatest story ever to be told.

In Luke 21:25 Jesus says, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.” Signs are meant to point us toward something: Jesus. Story in the Stars takes an in-depth look at the Bible and all the signs God mapped out through constellations, planets, and even the way the Earth is tilted. We are uniquely designed by God, and he loves us so much that he ensured a way for all inhabitants of the Earth, through all of time, to see the messages of salvation and redemption that he painted in the stars.

If you want to learn more about my friend Joe, you can check him out here: CHRISTIAN RESEARCH GROUP

[tweetthis]Finding God’s Story In The Stars ✨🌟💫 by my friend @joeamaraltweet [/tweetthis]

Happy Reading!

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Training Your Mind to Conquer {Battle Ready Book}

Are you missing me, like I’m missing you?

I’ve heard from a bunch of you that you are missing me and the weekly #Soul H2O devotions, but you’re praying I have a great July blogging vaca and get rested to refuel. God has answered your prayers… and mine 🙂 For the past three weeks, I’ve been getting filled up during my summer holidays at where else, but Braeside Camp in Paris, ON… below you can watch a video of me in my element at camp; kind of like seeing a bear in the woods :). After a busy season of speaking, this fill-up time is invaluable to ensure I have lots of fresh, living-water to flow out! I’m breaking from the rest to fulfill a few writing commitments, and this one has the potential to change your life… and mine!

Do you want a life-changing, inspiring book with lots of freebies to read this summer holiday?
Have I got the book for you!

I’m reading Kelly Balarie’s book, BATTLE READY; Train Your Mind To Conquer Challenges, Defeat Doubt, and Live Victoriously for this #PaperbackPic post.

I have to let you know that the book was provided to me by Baker Books when I joined Kelly’s book launch team, but I can assure you the comments are what I really think…and you’re gonna love this one! 🙂

I love it so much…
I bought an extra copy to give away!

Your name goes in a draw to WIN when you: Comment on this blog post, Share the Facebook Live, Comment under the Facebook Live Post or Pin the Quote Image on Pinterest.
***Read at the end of the post for the DRAW DETAILS AND WINNER REVEAL.

LIVE – FROM BRAESIDE CAMP

CLICK HERE TO WATCH the FACEBOOK LIVE recording and get to know speaker and author, Kelly Balarie.

BATTLE READY

Too often we fail to prepare for our battles. So when challenges, troubles, or opportunities arise, we rapidly become burdened with limiting thoughts of self-doubt, fear, impossibility, and lack. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can train our minds to conquer uncertainty, beat insecurity, and step past the tragedies of yesterday.

Are you sick of living crippled by doubt, discouragement or defeat? Then you need Battle Ready because it’s a hands-on Scriptural plan that teaches you 12 easy-to-implement, confidence-building mind-sets, designed to transform your thoughts… and therefore, your life! My copy of the book is already getting marked up to the point of unrecognition inside.

As a Bible Study teacher, I would love to take a group through Battle Ready to help prepare women for anything the enemy tries to throw their way.

TRAINING YOUR MIND TO CONQUER

Kelly Balarie is an amazing girl who wants to help others in areas where she’s seen God help her. In Battle Ready she shares practical wisdom… like how to:

• Make new habits stick in just five steps
• Disarm the seven most common attacks that plague women
• Exchange self-limiting thoughts for purpose-driven, love-releasing thoughts
• Implement thirty-second mind-lifters that deliver peace
• Create boundaries so you live life full of what matters

[tweetthis]YOU CAN LIVE VICTORIOUSLY, and Kelly’s book #BattleReady helps you get there! @kellybalarie [/tweetthis]

HOW I GOT CONNECTED WITH KELLY

When I began blogging I didn’t know anything, and I mean anything about blogging. To be honest, I’d never even read a blog until I decided to set one up… how crazy is that! After two years of simply posting my blogs, Kelly messaged me on twitter and invited me to join her #RaRaLinkup for bloggers. To this day I don’t know how she heard about me? I was so green I didn’t even know what a linkup was, Kelly had to explain it to me. This was a game changer for me. I’ve ever-thankful for her reaching out to a newbie (even though I had been blogging for almost two years) like me!

Kelly has this giving heart.

It’s evident in her book. There’s tons of FREE STUFF you can get. The thought-provoking Downloads at the end of each section in the book to help you be fully Battle Ready! You can also take the “Find your Battle-Style Quiz” and create a personalized daily battle plan at http://www.iambattleready.com

Kelly’s also running a CONTEST FOR BLOGGERS to win a meeting where they get to pitch their book idea to Baker Books or meet an agent. I would LOVE to have this opportunity because I’m full of MORE book ideas that are pent up inside of me 🙂 If you’d like to help my chances...

COULD YOU VOTE FOR ME?

Simply Comment… I VOTE #9 in the comments (not my name) at THIS LINK, at the bottom of the page. THANKS FOR ALL WHO DO 🙂

I’m praying you enjoy your summer… reading Kelly’s book! Hope you watch me on See, Hear, Love this coming Monday, July 23rd on YES TV talking about What To Do When You’re Spiritually Dry. If you miss watching on TV, the episode, and my blog post about it will be released on their website http://www.seehearlove.com.

I’ll be back for reals in August, when I return from my blogging vaca and send out my weekly #SoulH2O Devotions again.

Much love,
~Sherry
xoxo

Draw for Kelly’s Battle Ready Book to take place on my Author Facebook Page:
Friday, July 27, 2018 at 12:15pm

Comment on this blog post, Share the Facebook Live Post, Comment under the Facebook Live Post or Pin the Quote Image on Pinterest. for your chance to win!

Kelly Balarie is the author of Fear Fighting and is a featured blogger at Crosswalk.com and iBelieve.com A passionate national speaker, she has spent a decade leading groups of women in spiritual growth, marriage building, and Bible studies across the nation. Balarie lives with her husband and two small children near the sun-soaked shores of the East Coast.
Website and Blog: https://purposefulfaith.com/
Book Website with FREE Downloads: http://www.iambattleready.com
YouVersion Bible App Devotion Series: https://www.bible.com/r…/12129-battle-ready-by-kelly-balarie

#PaperbackPic BATTLE READY
Train Your Mind To Conquer Challenges, Defeat Doubt, and Live Victoriously
AUTHOR: Kelly Balarie
© 2018 by Kelly Balarie
PUBLISHER: Baker Books; a division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, MI USA

CLICK TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON (will link to .CA or .COM based on where you live)
Nothing will be added to your purchase price but I will receive an affiliate fee if you purchase.

If you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

WHERE YOU CAN OFTEN FIND ME LINKING UP MY BLOG WITH OR PLACES WHERE MY WRITING HAS BEEN FEATURED

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Living a fierceHEARTED life!

fierceHEARTED
LIVE FULLY, LOVE BRAVELY

(c) Holley Gerth

Ellen Graf-Martin introduced me to Holley Gerth’s writing. It was for my first #EllensPicks book review and Holley’s previously released, You’re Already Amazing; Life Growth Guide. I really enjoyed that book and have loved fierceHEARTED so much that I ended up doing two facebook live videos that mentioned it…and now this post.

[tweetthis]fierceHEARTED gets two thumbs up from me! @sherry_stahl #paperbackpic @EllensPicks[/tweetthis]

LIVE FULLY, LOVE BRAVELY

Holley gave this book the sub-title of LIVE FULLY, LOVE BRAVELY. Holley shares so much about her life with us in the book. There are stories from all stages of her life and a few written from events as she wrote the book. By her writing, Holley lets us into the journey of her learning to live fully and love bravely, that lead to becoming a fierceHEARTED woman of God.

When you get to the end of the book you realize that this journey of becoming is really never over, but don’t worry, that’s not a bad thing! We’re all just in the middle of what God is preparing us to do next, preparing for who He wants us to become. The second Facebook Live video I did mentioning fierceHEARTED was based on my devotion called ARE YOU IN THE MIDDLE?. It resonates with this quote from page 184.

“LET’S REMEMBER
we are all still in
the middle of the
MESSY, BEAUTIFUL WORK
of becoming.”

I love the way Holley so playfully recounts the stories of her life. The chapter titles will let you in on the fun she must have had writing this book. Here’s a few to pique your interest:

Bone in the Chicken
Shake the Jar
Flops and Rafters
Praying Wronger
Room for Knobs
Emotional Duct Tape

Ok, I’m sure you get the picture. The chapters are lighthearted stories that make a point and leave you thinking, “How’d she do that?” Holley weaves the challenges, triumphs and middle ground of her life into this book and invites us to share our lives with others as she so openly has. No more trying to act like we’ve got this thing called life all figured out, but instead being open and honest, sharing the journey to becoming fierceHEARTED together.

“Let’s make this
our declaration:
instead of trying to
have it ALL TOGETHER,
we will dare to do
real, messy, imperfect
life all together.”
Pg.126

I hope you enjoyed my #EllensPicks #paperbackpic review. I received a copy of this unpublished manuscript from Revell Books in hopes that I would post a review. The opinions expressed are my own and true from my heart.

Be Blessed and Refreshed,
~Sherry
xoxo

In case you’re wondering, here’s a link to the first Facebook Live Post where I mention fierceHEARTED

Holley Gerth is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, certified life coach, and speaker. She loves connecting with the hearts of women thorugh her popular blog and books. If you’re a blogger, join me as I share my blog posts on Holley’s site every Wednesday morning for her #coffeeforyourheart linkup. Holley’s also the cofounder of (in)courage and a partner with DaySpring. Holley lives with her husband, Mark, in the South.

Connect with Holley at:
Website: www.holleygerth.com https://holleygerth.com/
Insta & Twitter: @holleygerth
Facebook: Holley Gerth https://www.facebook.com/HolleyGerth/?fref=ts

#PaperbackPic
fierceHEARTED
LIVE FULLY, LOVE BRAVELY
AUTHOR: Holley Gerth
© 2017 by Holley Gerth
PUBLISHER: Revell; a division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, MI USA

You can Pre-order the book Here: https://www.amazon.com/Fiercehearted-Live-Fully-Love-Bravely/dp/B075RF1M16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506477857&sr=8-1&keywords=holley+gerth
1. Gerth, Holley. fierceHEARTED: LIVE FULLY, LOVE BRAVELY. (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell; a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2017), 184.
2. Ibid, 126.
YOU CAN OFTEN FIND ME LINKING UP WITH:
MONDAY Monday Meditations – Laura J. Davis , #SoulSurvival – Donna Riedland
TUESDAY Cheerleaders of Faith #RARaLinkup – Kelly Balarie ,
WEDNESDAY Coffee For Your Heart – Holley Gerth , Word Nerd Wednesdays — Liz Giertz
THURSDAY Heart Encouragement Thursday – Crystal Storms , Chasing Community – Barbara Bradford Ottinger
FRIDAY Dance With Jesus Linkup – Susan B. Mead , Grace and Truth Linkup – Arabah Joy , Counting My Blessings – Deb Wolf, Fresh Market Friday – Crystal Twaddell ELLEN’S PICKS – Ellen Graf-Martin

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Choosing To See God In The Midst of Your Everyday Life

For this #PaperbackPic and #EllensPIcks I’m reviewing Mary Beth Chapman’s book, CHOOSING TO SEE; a Journey of Struggle and Hope.

#PaperbackPic
CHOOSING TO SEE
A Journey of Struggle and Hope
AUTHOR: Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn
© 2010 by Mary Beth Chapman
PUBLISHER: Revell; a division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, MI USA

I’ve been inspired by Steven Curtis Chapman’s music for decades and my heart broke for his family in 2008 when they lost their daughter Maria in a horrific accident. I think the world watched in disbelief as we watched the news. Mary Beth wrote this book in the aftermath of that woeful day, but this book isn’t just gloom and doom of the heartache they’ve gone through. Mary Beth opens her life letting you in on the struggles and the success they’ve had. She tells about the fun they have and the issues that stretch their faith.

The book’s kind of an emotional roller coaster 🙂 Thanks for the Kleenex Ellen! You’re laughing with Mary Beth on one page and then crying with her in the next! Doesn’t that sound like real life?

I think Mary Beth wrote this book that way because his book is all about choosing to see God in the midst of your everyday life; even your pain. If you’re like me, that’s not the easiest thing to do. When we’re hurt we want to cocoon and throw a pity party. Mary Beth shares about the dangers of reacting like that and wrote this book to help people see the funny way God brought them together, how He was with them throughout their horrible loss and how He is continuing to show up. I love how she says:

“I have found that even during those times when the path is the darkest, He leaves little bits of evidence all along the way—bread crumbs of grace—that can give me what I need to take the next step. But I can only find them if I choose to See.”¹

Knowing that God was with the Chapman’s in such profound ways helps you to have hope that God will be with you in triumph and tragedy.

The book brings you along on the journey of life with Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman. You feel like a fly on the wall as Mary Beth shares about her childhood, their dating days, Steven’s career accomplishments, raising children and living life.

Mary Beth’s honesty and openness is so refreshing.

Mary Beth talks about how opposites attract and shares openly about marriage struggles related to their contrasting personalities. She calls Stephen “Tigger” and herself “Eeyore”. ²

It reminded me of when Todd and I went to hear the Christian Comedian Steve Geyer for a Valentine’s Date Night Out a couple years ago. Steve helped couples see the different personality types through the characters in Winnie-The-Pooh. I’d never thought of those books like that before, but you can see the diverse personalities in all the characters. Steve of course did it with great humor.

FUN

Mary Beth makes you laugh too. She seems to be a really fun person who loves to play practical jokes, I think we’d be great friends if she lived on my street! One of the funniest stories in the book told about how they became parents because the dog ate her birth control pills! There’s a cute picture in the book with a caption reading, “Pill-eating puppy named Peso, with the result named Emily.”³ I love how she shared so many of their personal family photos in the book. It helps you to feel like you know them all.

DEPRESSION

May Beth openly talks about her battle with depression in such a balanced way. I’m so glad to hear solid Christians share about a topic that has affected my family so much. I know the more we talk about it the healthier we will all become.

The Chapman’s are a very close knit family that has a lot of fun together. They value their kids so much that they ended up adopting three girls from China because their daughter Emily wouldn’t stop hounding.

The Chapman’s have very close friends and they all do life together. They have babies, raise kids, adopt babies from China, grieve, mourn, laugh, pray with and vacation together. They don’t have ‘fairweather friends’. It’s clear through Mary Beth’s words that having solid Christian friendships have helped them have more fun and weather the storms of life.

Through people, artwork, lady bugs, little girls with heavenly messages and so much more; God truly was throwing the Chapman’s breadcrumbs of grace to help get them through. I’m so thankful that Mary Beth took the time to write this book and share her journey of struggle and hope. I will forever be changed as I consciously choose to see God at work in the events of my life and I know you will too! If you’ve read it, let me know what you thought in the comments below.

Purchase the book by clicking on the Amazon Image.

Get ready for the next month or two when I share my #PaperbackPick on Steven Curtis Chapman’s book that is soon to be released called, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND THE REAL WORLD. I’m not sure when our #EllensPicks Linkup date is for that one yet, you’ll have to just keep an eye out 🙂

Mary Beth Chapman

Is a New York Times bestselling author and the wife of Grammy and Dove Award winning recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman. Together they began Show Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to families wishing to adopt, increases awareness of the orphan crisis, and funnels resources to orphans around the world. Picture stolen from her twitter account 🙂 Yikes! Sorry MB.

Website and Blog: http://www.MaryBethChapman.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMaryBethChapman/?fref=ts
Twitter: MaryBethChapman
Instagram: mbchap232
1. Mary Beth Chapman, Ellen Vaugh. Choosing To See; A Journey of Struggle and Hope. (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2010). 26.
2. Chapman, Choosing To See, 41.
3. Chapman, Choosing To See, between 96-97.
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First Facebook Live

I finally did it! I recorded my first real Facebook Live Video.

I tried one before, but didn’t announce it and it didn’t really work. The video was all fuzzy and didn’t post properly. Since I didn’t announce only a couple people saw it, and I was good with that. I didn’t make a real effort to do it right, so it still was a lingering desire to fulfill and it seemed wherever I went people kept encouraging me to do videos (Ahem…Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media)…but…since I messed up the first time I was nervous to try again.

Have you ever been there?

With my personality I’m sometimes better to just spontaneously do something or I’ll end up overthinking it, and not doing it. This was the case for my video. At 11am I impetuously started writing a Facebook post informing people that I would be airing a Live Video at 12:15pm to announce the latest #PaperbackPic #EllensPicks . When I hit ‘PUBLISH’ I panicked a bit. I knew that was just a waste of time, so I sat down to plan out what I was going to say. I asked some friends to pray, then I drove to McDonald’s, grabbed a Coke along with a frozen lemonade because I planned to use the lemonade as a prop, and I really like fountain coke from McD’s 🙂 After I had things briefly outlined I taped the bullet points to my selfie-stick, got all my props around me and hit record.

Once I started and people began popping on to watch I got so excited. I’m glad I’ve watched The Communication Stylist, Nikki Elledge Brown presenting webinars before so I knew it was ok to say hello to people on a live video. It’s kind of exhilarating to see the names and comments showing up as you speak. It’s also hard to stay on topic…thankfully I had my bullet notes.

The purpose of my video was to reveal the latest book I had received for the #EllensPicks group (See pics below), to let more people know about my upcoming #SoulH2O Devotional book release and to ask for prayer to finish the last edit of the manuscript. I share on the video how I have to have the final edit back to the publisher on Monday or it won’t be published this year. There have been so many delays and set-backs. Many as a result of my computer issues. My computer was in the shop for the past 3 weeks and I just received it back at 5pm Monday. Tuesday it crashed four times. It seems someone doesn’t want this book to hit the shelves…I wonder who? I went to bed and while praying felt to come downstairs one last time and perform a backup. This didn’t make sense since it had just crashed and wouldn’t start only an hour previous to this, but it worked, so I decided to finish writing this blog post.

Many times I share on my blog all the good things God is doing in my life. I don’t ever want to focus on the negative, but I want you to know that I’m real. I have problems just like the rest of you, lots of them. Problems come to everyone, all the time on this earth. The good is always mingled with the difficult. The divine with a dilemma. The issue is, are we going to let it get us? Are we going to let the enemy of our souls cause us to give up?

Galatians 6:9 says:

“Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest
IF we do not give up.”

In John 14:1 Jesus encourages us to have faith and says:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled”

Don’t let the enemy of your life, the one who comes to ‘steal, kill and destroy’ get you to give up before you reap that harvest Paul is talking about in Galatians. If I would have given up I wouldn’t have seen the results on my first Facebook Live video. It’s only been up for less than 24 hours and has over 1000 views! If I were to give up on finishing this book how many people would miss out on being refreshed through scripture?

You’ve got to put on your spiritual amor and Stand Strong. ‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled’ sounds a little harsh to say when someone is going through a hard time. Jesus didn’t make it easy on His followers. Some people say being a Christian is weak because you’re relying on God for everything. Well, I think it’s just the opposite. If we follow these scriptures we aren’t weak, but strong because of our faith in Him. When the world faces hard times they drink too much, work too much, do drugs, mess around…Christians Stand…and today, I’m choosing to stand in the face of manuscript deadlines with computer crashes and the financial issues that ensue. Nothing will stop me from running towards the finish line in the race God’s called me to run. I hope this inspires you to keep on running!

If you need some more encouragement to BE BRAVE…Here’s some great scriptures to bolster your faith:

Isaiah 41:10…Joshua 1:9…Deuteronomy 31:6,8,12-13,23…Philippians 4:13

To view the Facebook Live Video,
Click on My Facebook Account Sherry Stahl Author/Speaker/Blogger
Don’t forget to ‘LIKE’ my page 🙂

Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons

By Christie Purifoy http://www.christiepurifoy.com
Published by Revell on February 2, 2016.

http://www.ellenspicks.ca

Quote from the back of Roots & Sky by: Jennifer Dukes Lee
http://www.jenniferdukeslee.com

Keep your eye out for my #PaperbackPic Post at the end of the month on this book.
Find it at your local Christian Retailer.

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Worth Living–Mary DeMuth

A year ago I went to the Word Guild‘s Write Canada Conference to represent Women In Music & Media (http://www.WIMMCANADA.ca). Whenever I get to the end of a Write Canada Conference I feel like my brain is full and can’t take any more. There’s always so many great seminars and last year my favorite was a teleconferenced session with Mary DeMuth. As she sat in her home and shared with us I just felt connected to her and began following her on social media.

A month ago I opened my #EllensPicks mail and was ecstatic to see a package of sparklers and Mary DeMuth’s latest book

WORTH LIVING

how God’s wild love for you makes you worthy

Without having to give you a spoiler alert, Mary says in her conclusion,

“That’s my deepest desire for you as you close the pages of this book. May you look at yourself in the mirror and genuinely smile at who you see—a woman dearly loved by Jesus, one worth sacrificing for, being gentle with.”¹

Mary leaves a desire fulfilled because her book WORTH LIVING absolutely helps you to recognize that God loves you and, out of His love flows your worth.

When Mary says,

“No matter how hard it is for you to grasp his love or how many difficult and painful things have happened to you, you are still loved…You may not understand it this side of heaven’s shores, but it’s true nonetheless. God’s love is bedrock. Build your life on it.”²

She’s so right! Even when we don’t ‘get it’, God’s love is still true. Even when we don’t understand it and have troubles accepting it—God loves us. Our ability to know God’s love doesn’t make us more or less loved. We’re just loved. I’m so thankful for Mary’s openness in WORTH LIVING, I can so relate to her brokenness, how God has restored my life and brought me worth. It amazes me how He’s brought the greatest worth out of those very places that brought me shame and hurt. I can see the same in Mary as I read her story throughout the book. She’s a girl whose known great pain, but now knows a greater love. She conveys deep truths in simple ways. Mary’s an authentic voice for the hurting and the healed.

In the book Mary helps you to see the lives you’ve believed about yourself and shows how their false. She leads you to an understanding of the truth of your worth and then includes a truth statement you can hold onto. Mary has added an extra bonus on her website where you can download cards that show the contrasting lie and the truth—and they’re FREE!!! http://www.marydemuth.com

At the end of each chapter Mary included a section for Reflection or Group Discussion with thought-povoking questions that help deepen the truth of God’s love and your worth.

If you’re hurting and struggle to feel the love of our Father, or if you just want to grow deeper in understanding His love then I would greatly recommend reading this book. As you understand:

God’s wild love for you makes you worthy,

it will free you to see, like that package of sparklers Ellen sent,

You were created to shine.

YOU have a life, WORTH LIVING!

DeMuth, Mary. WORTH LIVING, how God’s wild love for you makes you worthy. (c) 2016 Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, Baker Publishing Group.

To Buy the book: https://www.marydemuth.com/store/find-healing-joy/worth-living/

¹ Page 198
² Page 39

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You’re Already Amazing – By Holley Gerth

This month marks my entry into the “#EllensPicks group of women. I was so excited to get home from a speaking trip to Dallas and open my first package. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy mail without a bill! It was all packaged up with raffia, cute cards with quotes from Holley Gerth, The great You’re Already Amazing Life Growth Guide book, 2 packets of hot chocolate that I might or might not have shared with my hubby Todd and a sweet handwritten card from Ellen Graf-Martin.

As soon as I got Holley’s book I began devouring it. I love self-help stuff since I’m always needing it and especially when it’s backed up with scripture. I’m passionate about helping people see their God-given Purpose and encouraging them to fulfil it. I can see Holley is too. I immediately clicked with her book.

Then I went on my computer to check her out and watch the video mentioned in the book. I felt an affinity with Holley even though I don’t know her, yet. I can say yet, because even if we don’t meet here on earth I’m convinced there’s going to be a big blogger’s linkup area in heaven one day! When I saw the title of Holley’s blog I thought “I could hang out with this girl”. Since you’re on my page you probably know that my blog is called Soul H2O, and Holley’s blog is called Coffee For Your Heart, so we’re both trying to help quench your spiritual thirst, just with different drinks. I wish I liked coffee so my blog could have used a really cool blog name like Soul Coffee. Since I don’t like coffee and suffer from a Coke addiction (breathe…I’m meaning Coca-Cola, the kind I maybe get daily at a local McDonald’s drive-thru, maybe)…anyways, I didn’t think Soul Coke was a viable option in the Christian Blog market, so I went with the Soul H2O idea.

Ok, back to the purpose of this post—the review. Holley’s book You’re Already Amazing has the best tagline. If she gave a money-back guarantee based on the sub-title she’d never have to return a penny. It says:

Embracing Who You Are, Becoming All God Created You to Be

If you struggle with understanding what you’re good at or knowing what God wants for your life, if you’ve ever wanted to get a Life Coach, then this book is a must ‘get’. I don’t say must ‘read’ because you need to get it, read it, mark it up and write in it. You can’t ‘just’ read it or you won’t get your money’s worth. The best part of this book is the self-discovery that results from the exercises Holley gets you to do. She really puts her Life Coaching skillset into the pages of this book. She knows like my Life Coach friend Wendy Pauls, how to draw out what’s inside of you.

The most powerful sentence in the book for me was on pages 25-26 when Holley said:

“My friend’s two phrases “This is nothing” and “It was simple” are twin clues that skills are hiding somewhere in plain sight…What are you doing when people compliment you and you can’t quite understand why they think it’s a big deal?”

This statement has helped me to explain to others how to find their God-given talents. It’s as simple as that.

Once Holley helps you to Embrace Who You Are, she guides you to Becoming All God Created You to Be.

This book is a beautiful, fun journey that you’ll love to travel with Holley. If you take the time to use the book, watch her videos and implement what you learn, you’ll Become All God Created You to Be when you understand that You’re Already Amazing!

I hope you enjoyed my first #paperbackpic review. By writing this linkup post for #EllensPics I’ve reached a life-goal I’ve been putting off for a year. How fitting that it would happen while reviewing a book that helps you move forward in what God has for your life! I’ve wanted to start writing reviews on books for a long time and even searched out my own hashtag to use. I was shocked when my idea hadn’t been taken yet and #paperpackpic was unused. I’m even more shocked that it still hasn’t been used after a year. Well not anymore girls! I will be sharing books that have helped me grow and will help you too. I’ve always been one to suggest books and often give them out to friends, I just did yesterday. Once a girlfriend started calling me the ‘spiritual librarian’ of our church, which was quite funny since I’m the type that usually gets kicked out of libraries, for talking of course! So here’s my way of talking in the library and helping my girlfriends find some good books.

Be blessed and refreshed,
~Sherry

Here’s how to find Holley Gerth:
Website: http://www.holleygerth.com
Book Site: https://holleygerth.com/amazing
Insta & Twitter: @holleygerth
Facebook: Holley Gerth

You’re Already Amazing – By Holly Gerth
Embracing Who You Are, Becoming All God Created You to Be
(c) 2016 Holley, Inc. Published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, MI

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