A Walk Through The Dark by Eva Piper

A Walk Through The Dark is a story of faith, trust and learning to rely completely on God.  This book is a companion book to her husband's book titled "90 Minutes in Heaven". If you haven't read that book, I suggest you do. It's also amazing! The two books can be read in any order.

In this book, Eva Piper has learned the hard way how things can change in a matter of minutes. One day she is a teacher, mother and wife going through daily life. The next day, her husband is injured in a horrible car accident and life is turned upside down.  Eva finds herself completely out of control. She finds the only way to survive is to put all her trust in her loving God. Her life already focused, her instincts take over. God speaks to her heart that things will be okay, and she trusts that. What she doesn't realize at the time is how long it will take to get to there and how hard the road will be. She faces situations which in hindsight make sense, but at the time are hard to accept.

Eva has to become the decision maker in what are the hardest times she has dealt with. Through the struggles she learns confidence in handling situations, which allow her to share with others and others to share with her. She finds a part of herself she never realized was there.

I can't imagine someone going through such trying times without the foundation resting on God. Eva Piper is a strong example of what a wife is supposed to be and what she should do. Love unconditionally. I find her to be a great inspiration with a wonderful testimony.

Although everyone struggles with different things, what she teaches us is how our faith deepens when we only have our faith. At times when we have no idea what to do, God shows us.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. I guarantee you will not read this and come out unchanged.

Disclosure: I received a free print copy of this book from www.booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review. My reviews are my own opinion and may differ from others.

Song Share time : It Is Well - Todd Fields & Horatio Spafford

Something different today! We sang this song a couple weeks ago at church and it is the song that comes to mind whenever I am going through a struggles. I just thought I'd share it with you all.
The words to this song were written by Horatio Spafford. He was a man who had suffered numerous losses in his life. He knew what it was to suffer. After already losing a son to scarlet fever, he wrote this song immediately after learning his daughters were all lost in a boat accident in 1873. Knowing they were saved for a reason, Horatio and his wife, Anna, went on to do ministering all over the world.
This video is courtesy of youtube. There is another one which shows more detail about his life, but I wanted to share this one with lyrics. The basis is that no matter what we are going through, God is with us always. It's easy to think that during the "good" times, but the true test comes when we are in the midst of a storm.

Hope you enjoy!

Restoration Series by Terri Blackstock

      One of my favorite thing about reading is finding new series, authors and subjects in which to engross myself in. When I read a book, I tend to find myself a part of the story. I see the story in pictures and find myself imagining what it would be like to live in the story. I actually retain the scene so if I re-read a book, I see it the same way! Maybe I'm just a little strange or too involved in a story but I my son has inherited the same love of reading and becoming involved with the book:)

       I have read a few of Terri Blackstock's books in the past, but recently have started reading them non-stop. The Restoration Series is wonderful! There are 4 books in the series. 

       The whole series revolves around the idea of what might happen if we lost all electricity. How would our lives change? How would we react? Our culture has become so hooked on technology that the idea of not having it is sometimes terrifying. We don't know how we would continue life as we know it. The series begins with all the electronics losing their power. There's no air or electricity in homes, but even more confusing is the fact that cars fail to run, watches won't keep time. Nothing that needs electric power works. We see how differently people react to the situation. 

        The first book, Last Light, focuses mainly on the Branning family and the  beginning of the loss. People are reacting to the initial struggle...getting home, not being able to call people or find people, and realizing how easy life had been compared to after the catastrophe. We realize by living the story, how much we rely on electronics, and how hard it can be to adapt when things are taken away, not by choice.

        In the second book, Night Light, we learn how the longer the people deal with change, and the permanence of it, how people begin to react in survival mode. We learn through circumstances that occur, how little people are trusting in God, and are focusing more on the negatives...what was lost, instead of trusting in God and in family.

       In book three, True Light, in the light of recent murders people are on edge. As the neighborhood begins to try and start it's own government and start to provide some sort of normalcy in spite of circumstances. People are really starting to get frustrated which leads to some poor choices and consequences for choices. 

       In book four, Dawn's Light, the families have really learned to trust God, have accepted life as it is, and have adapted to the idea the lights may never come on. When they find out the power will soon be fixed, how will they deal with everything. As the Branning family comes to grips with a tragedy that comes on the family, will they be able to trust the God they've learned to rely on? Can God really bring good out of something bad? 

      While these books all follow the lost of electronics, I think a bigger story lies behind it. What are we focusing our lives on? What are our priorities? I think Terri Blackstock gives us a great and very exciting look into a "what if" situation. There is no way to read these books and come out the same. They are filled with excitement, drama, tragedy and love. Most important are the life lessons and helps teach us to trust in God no matter what the circumstances are.

       You do not want to miss out on these great books. I stayed up too late many nights because I just couldn't put down the book I was on.  

Disclosure: I did not receive compensation for this review. I used library books to do the review. My opinions are honest and are completely mine.

The link to the first book on amazon.com is Last Light

The Romance of Grace

The Romance of Grace

Check out this book and giveaway! A message everyone needs to hear! : Join me in learning more about an amazing new book in the Christian market by a very talented new author named Jim McNeely. You can check out his book on Amazon and consider it for your reading collection. It is available in e-reader and Kindle formats for digital form as well. Author: Jim McNeely Blog: www.thereforenow.com Book title: The Romance of Grace. Book Description: What if God sees us the way a man sees a woman he is infatuated with, and His main question is not how to make us moral but rather how to get us to fall in love with Him? In The Romance of Grace, Jim McNeely explores Bible passages that tell us what God really wants for us and what His love means. This is the love of a God who chose to give His life for ours, even carefully retaining His scars into the throne room of heaven and telling us in His very body, "I have gone to great lengths and great costs to say that I forsook all comforts for the love of you." Join Jim in his exploration of life in God's unconditional, redeeming, amazing grace. Author Bio: Jim McNeely is a teaching pastor and elder at Dakota Creek Christian Center in Blaine, Washington, where he lives with his wife, Betty, and their four sons. Formerly president of New Century Data, with clients such as Lockheed Martin and American Airlines, he now works as a programmer and database administrator in the health care industry. Top Endorsements: So often we turn our faith in Christ into a forcing mechanism, which doesn't work in any event; and if anything, produces disillusionment or hypocrisy. The Romance of Grace is a prophetic book. I believe that unless we heed its call, to put grace absolutely without condition and frontally as the be-all and end-all of the Good News, we will lose completely, and not just in “the eyes of the world” but in the failure of well-intentioned religious lives that tried to love and never knew how. —Paul F. M. Zahl, author of Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life It is time, as Robert Farrar Capon put it, to get drunk on grace. Two hundred-proof, defiant grace. That's what you get here in Jim's book. You won’t see a list of qualifications, and you'll get no "footnotes." What you’ll encounter is grace unmeasured, vast and free. It will frighten you and free you at the same time. —Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and author of Jesus + Nothing = Everything In The Romance of Grace we are confronted with a truth that we may have previously rejected. It seemed too easy to embrace. It lacked obligation on our part and contradicted accusations we have given credence to for the majority of our lives on earth. Yet herein lies the truth—“Not that we loved God, but that God loved us.” This book will help to right the plumb line in your life. —David Collins, author of Out of the Box, founder of Canadian Food for the Hungry International   Check out Jim McNeely's book for yourself on Amazon. It's fantastic!! Follow author Jim McNeely and his book, The Romance of Grace on Facebook or Twitter. Join us now for your chance to win a free copy of The Romance of Grace in this great giveaway brought to you by Jim McNeely, and Love2EncourageYou.

Giveaway Time!

  Prize: One winner will receive an autographed copy of Jim McNeely's book: The Romance of Grace Location: Must be a resident of the lower 48 states in the USA Age: Must be 18 years or older to enter Date: Giveaway runs til April 12th at 12:01am. Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter form below. Once you've done the mandatory entry, you'll unlock the additional optional entries you can enter also to increase your chances of winning. Good luck to everyone! a Rafflecopter giveaway *Special Thanks to the following blogs for their support of this giveaway:

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 Disclosure: Lost Island of Book Reviews did not receive compensation for this post except for a link on the giveaway form. Lost Island of Book Reviews and Love2EncourageYou are not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.

Hidden Under Her Heart

Hidden Under Her Heart

by Rachelle Ayala

      Hidden Under Her Heart is a book about choices. The choices we make, and those made for us due to circumstance. In the book, we follow Maryanne as she is attempting to make changes in her life. She wants to move from her life of bad choices in men and sex, to a life where she has a man committed to her and to marriage. She decides to abstain from sex and focus on other things. She starts to date a man named Lucas, who could be that man. One night after a fight with Lucas, she finds herself at a party at a local church, and drinking. That night she is raped. Her boyfriend is accused, and she has to go about clearing his name. They go through many trials as they work to find the truth. Maryanne considers abortion feeling because of her past it would be the best. Lucas is dead set against abortion and works at trying to change her mind. There is trouble following them both as they try and figure out who the father is, and how to prove Lucas is not the rapist. As we follow their journey together and as individuals, we watch them learn about loving themselves and forgiveness. 

      Although abortion is at the center of the book, I feel the story was, as a whole, more about forgiveness and a search for truth. Through characters who show up at the right time, we learn about courage and strength. We find the sole truth to be that of Christ dying for our sins. We learn how God can use any situation to bring us to him and there is where truth is. We see that even when situations seem hopeless, he is there and will see us through. Although to me the story started out a little slow, the more I read the more I realized I was wrong. It was a heartwarming plot, good truth and a good look at how our choices affect our lives and future choices. A very good read!

You can learn more about the book and the author by checking out her website at http://www.rachelleayala.com

Also find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/rachelleayalawriter

      

       

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.