Book Review: Undone

Undone; A Memoir, A story of making peace with an unexpected life by Michelle Cushatt is the memoir of Michelle and her battle to balance  controlling her life to normalcy and giving it u to God in all the chaos, crisis, and miracles.  Michelle in less than a year battled cancer, had a full house to empty nest, and had the house filled again with children in need.  As she tried to balance all this she found God’s presence and comfort around every bend.

First, I chose this book solely on the cover.  So whoever designed it good job.  I thought this book was going to fiction after I quickly skimmed the back summary.  Who could even think about throwing all those obstacles together except for an author with a wild imagination?  Then in the first few pages I realized this was a true story told for the author of what she had gone through and I was hook. 

I really enjoyed the author’s story telling ability and her flow of writing. I found this book very easy to read and very hard to put down.  This book is so full of faith and struggle I think any mom, wife, woman could relate with all her struggles, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety over the future and the unknown and how to protect your children, and the feeling of grace and peace when you truly know God is there in your midst comforting you. 

Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review by the publisher.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Regain Your Spiritual Poise

Regain Your Spiritual Poise by Rob Wingerter is a book outlining the importance of a spiritual retreat to block out any distraction and focus on God and your relationship.  The author takes your through many benefits of it, its outline in the bible, and how historically it was a common practice.

I have to say I really struggled reading this book.  I do not think I was the correct audience.  I think it was made for older pastors who are really looking to dig into the subject.  But as a layperson who love to read, this was not the book for me.

I think the hardest thing about this book is the way it was written.  I felt like I was being lectured by a really boring (albeit very knowledgeable) professor who likes to kind of speak above the audience. 

Sadly I will not be passing on this book or recommending it to other readers.  I think this book was written with the best intentions but fell short for me.  I do with the author and the audience readers the best.  I hope the find the peace and rest they were searching for.

Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Miracle on Voodoo Mountain

Miracle on Voodoo Mountain by Megan Boudreaux is an amazing story about a 24 year old girl that head the call of God for her to move from her home town on Louisiana, leave everything and everyone she knew, to go live in Haiti.  She didn’t know what she would be doing or how she would support herself, but she went.  In her first few days there she was scared, confused, and lonely and slowly God placed people into her life so she could accomplish great things for Him.  In less than a year she had helped close down a corrupt orphanage, adopted two girls, start the non-profit organization Respire Haiti, fed thousands of children, open a school, built a new larger school, educated hundreds of children who wouldn’t have been able to afford or attend any other school, found love, and got married. 

Through all her struggles she has seen many miracles from God and provisions given to her by prayer and faith.  This book is one that left me not wanting to put it down.  I love the flow of the stories and have they come together. This book has encouraged me and inspired me.  I really enjoyed reading it.  It also makes me want to go to Haiti and help.

 Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Time to Choose

Time to Choose by Dawn Kazmierzak is the story about her mother as a child living through world war two under Nazi regime. 

This book leads the reader through the story of the occupations and how the Nazi government and the war drastically changed their lives.  At the end of each chapter she gives an insight on what the reader should think about to ensure that similar circumstances to do not happen again.

This book for the publishing synopsis interested me but I found the story of the author’s family life very interesting.  What I did have a problem was some of the “Connecting the dots” thoughts at the end of each chapter.  She is very judgmental in some of her comments.  I understand the background she is coming from but just because you choose something like public school or day care does not mean you don’t care about your child’s education.

I don’t know if I would recommend this book to anyone although I did find the story and some of the “connecting the dots” interesting.  If I did tell someone about this book it would come with a lot of cautions about the content and the single-minded judgmental mindset on many touchy topics.

Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Think Act Believe like Jesus

Think Act Believe Like Jesus; becoming a new person in Christ is a companion 40-day devotion to the move Believe by Randy Frazee and Robert Noland.  This book takes you through he basic concepts of faith and how to be more like Jesus as seen in the movie.

I really enjoyed this devotional.  I saw the movie at a conference I attended.  It was wonderful, emotional, insightful, and convicting.  I really enjoyed the movie and was excited when I saw there was an accompanying devotional.  I found this devotional to hold all the same emotions as the movie.

This book would be great book for individuals or groups, for people who have seen the movie and those who haven’t.  Even if you haven’t seen the movie the devotional does a great job describing the accompanying scenes of the movie and how they correspond to the theme of each devotional.

I am excited to have this book in my library.  I can’t wait to get the movie and have them as a group. 

Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.