Chicken Soup for the Soul: Have a Little Faith

In times of stress and challenge, we all need to have a little faith. This book had inspiring stories to lift your spirit with its true personal stories of optimism, faith, and strength. It's a nice timely reminder that there is always a silver lining and we all have so very much to be thankful for.

Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn From Them

I thought this book was very insightful and I even learned about some women I hadn't heard of before. They talked about the selfishness of Sapphira, the deception of Delilah, Jezebel's pride, and Eve's disastrous disobedience and many others as well.
    Bad Girls of the Bible has a clear-sighted approach to understanding the women in Scripture, combining a contemporary retelling of their stories, a study of their mistakes and what lessons women today can learn from them. I wasn't really a fan of the modern retelling of the stories but the rest of the book was fantastic!!!

30 Thoughts for Victorious Living

It was very good with practical tips to help you in your faith. I received this booklet after attending Joel's church.

Faith Is...

This touching collection of inspirational thoughts focuses on the true meaning of faith in our ordinary lives. It had verses and quotes.

Can You Tell This is a Knock-Off? Finding Your True Identity in Christ

This was a short read but very effective. Chapter 1 was called Confident in Christ. This chapter discussed that we take on names that are nor ours or how God sees us like abandoned or unlovable. If we identify by what other people tell us we are wrong we need to identify by what God says in his word. It talked about who we are as daughters of the King.
   Chapter 2 Secure to Serve talked about pride and what pride does and what it means to be chosen by God. Chapter 3 Gifted by Grace talked about not comparing ourselves to others and our gifts. Chapter 4 Free to Forgive talked about forgiveness, praying for our enemies, and having God's boundaries. Chapter 5 Powered by Purpose talked about the fruit of the spirit, and accessing God's power. Chapter 5 Transformed to Trust talked about getting rid of fear, how God uses fear to have us surrender to his will, and how to trust God.

125 Brain Games for Toddlers and Twos: Simple Games to Promote Early Brain Development

This is a book that shows us with a great description of how to play the game and a nice little picture. Each game explains how it helps your child in brain development with brain research. The simple games help to strengthen brain connections that are needed for language, movement, bonding, and more. Did you know that at the end of the third year of life that your child has formed 1000 trillion working connections in their brain? That is twice as many as adults have! I would recommend this book to all people with children and the adults that care for them.

Slaying the Giants in Your Life

This book was excellent!!! This book explained how to fight battles of the mind. There are 11 giants that David discussed. There was also a chapter that discussed how fear works and how it's a sin against God and how to fight it.
1) Discouragement
2) Loneliness
3) Worry
4) Guilt
5) Temptation
6) Anger
7) Resentment
8) Doubt
9) Procrastination
10) Failure
11) Jealousy
  The Bible talks a lot about not losing heart which actually points to the giant of discouragement. Discouragement means to deprive of courage and disheartened. Discouragement comes from four things fatigue, frustration, failure, and fear. When things go wrong we are more likely to listen to the enemy and we start to buy into his lies and distortions. When this giant comes into your life fight it with five tools. Cry out to God, continue to do the work God had given you, see the big picture, let God encourage you through the promises of the word, carry someone's burden.
   Studies have pointed out that loneliness is the key to depression, paranoia, rape, suicide, and a bunch of other things too. Loneliness is a sense of searching for completeness which we fill with everything but God. The greatest examples of loneliness in the Bible were David, Jeremiah, and Paul. How to slay this giant involves acknowledge why you are lonely, accept God's provision,  fill your mind with God's word, and talk to your Christian friends.
   Worry means to take thought, to be careful, a divided mind between what's real and what's possible. Worry is inconsistent, irrational, ineffective, illogical, and irreligious. To fight this giant you need a system of priorities and a strategic program. Don't dwell on yesterday's success or on yesterday's distress.
   Guilt is the silent giant. Guilt kills by silence, sorrow, and secrecy. To breakthrough, guilt let it out into the light by confession to yourself and God. Remove the sin, restore the joy, renew the fellowship, and refocus on the future. Nothing is worse than the imprisonment of guilt by hiding your sin.
   Temptation the devil has a way of slipping blinders on us when it comes to this giant. God will give you a way out if you are looking for it. Remember He knows what we can bear and the limits to our endurance. The best thing to do when it comes to temptation is to stand firm, know that Gid ha been there and He is strong enough to pull you through it. The tools for temptation have recognized the possibility of temptation, ask for help, resist the devil and he will flee from you, retreat from it, remove any means of it sinking its teeth in, replace bad influences with good, and take the high road.
   The giant of anger is a tricker one because there are two types of anger biblical and sinful. Jesus has biblical anger when He was in the temple because His anger was focused on injustice against people against God. it was not about himself. Sinful anger is bitterness, grudges, wrath, rage, tantrums, and the evil-speaking tongue. What to do to fight this giant. Don't nurse it, rehearse it, converse, or disperse.
   Resentment cuts deep and it makes us permanently angry, keeps us chained to the past, it's like a poison sucking the life out of everything around it. Getting through resentment you need to think it through, write it down, work it out with exercise, talk it over, and forget it.
   Having doubt makes every belief we have to want to crumble. Doubt is the opposite of faith. Doubt develops isolation, being alone and sad makes it worse,  demands evidence, darkness feeds doubt, but on the positive side, doubt makes us lean on God more in times of trouble and deepens our faith. Repressed doubt can be the devil's foothold. How to disarm this giant. Admit to the doubt, figure out what you doubt and why you doubt, turn it into prayers, analyze it, and accept the limitations.
    Procrastination robs you of opportunities for service, be successful, for salvation, and the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Procrastination doesn't take into account uncertainty, if you pile up enough tommorows you will have a lot of empty yesterdays. Handle the present with honor and you will be honored in the future. What are you waiting for?
    Failure leads to dread. God shines brightly in the dark, He strengthens you in your weakness, failure is guaranteed, God understands failure, he doesn't condone it, but he had compassion that has no limit. We fail now to succeed later and we fail on the outside to succeed inwardly. Fighting failure includes acknowledging it, accepting God's forgiveness, failure is not a way of life, fall down enough and you will learn to walk. arise from it and start again, don't judge others for it, and perception doesn't always equal reality.
     Jealousy boils within us, it's coarse and cruel, it's everywhere and it destroys others and us. Facing this giant requires renouncing it as sin, pray for what is bothering you, reaffirm God's goodness, and rekindle God's love.

Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles

For many years Gabby struggles with an eating disorder, drug abuse, and self-doubt/self-loathing. Then she discovered the course that helped her get rid of her fear. The first section of the book talked about what fear is, and how our minds become accustomed to living in fear. Section two of the book she talks about how to find serenity. Section three of the book she talked about how to maintain happiness and share it with others.
   All shallow roots must be uprooted because they are not deep enough to sustain you. The book really focused on how to separate love from fear. The ego, a little different from the psych term, wants us to believe that love doesn't exist. The last part of this section refers to connecting with God to help us see through the lies and faulty beliefs we have.
   The outside world reflects our inner state. When we change our perspective the world changes accordingly. Forgiveness plays a very important role in getting rid of fear. The more we refuse to forgive others feeds into our fears and it feeds our darkness within us. The ego will keep replaying bad stuff in our heads so we are continually tortured us. Once we figure out the lies we won't have to figure things out you will just be.
    Releasing fear is a daily practice. As you strengthen the relationship between you and God you will feel more complete from the inside out. You will start to release attachments and extend the confidence and inner peace. He will mirror back to you what He wants you to work on. With prayer and meditation, you can release the ego, stop running, and enjoy the stillness.

Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone

This book discussed how we often find ourselves trapped in habitual sin. Idolatry lies at the heart of every sin. It helped me uncover hidden idols in my life.
Some questions it discussed were.
Why does the Bible warn about the deceitfulness of sin?
What must I have for my life to be meaningful and happy?
Do I love God whole-heartedly or are there other loves in my heart that clamor for my attention?

She's Got Issues: Seriously Good News for Stressed-Out, Secretly Scared Control Freaks Like Us

We've all got our issues. We deal with our "issues" every day in one form or another, but after a while, they start to feel normal. But we have access to the power of Christ who can help us transform our everyday weaknesses into our greatest strengths. In this book, Nicole shows you how to let God freely shape your character--and transform your life from ordinary to abundant.

The Bondage Breaker

Before reading this book I had little concept of how to deal with the devil. This book really explained to me how to put on the full armor of God which I really didn't understand how to do it. The book was divided into three parts. The first part was about having the courage to face the devil. Satan is like a little yapping dog. You have to out truth him by believing, declaring, and acting upon the truth of God's word. The most powerful weapon that the devil can use against you is the pride of believing I can take care of my own life by being the God of it. Having humility is a great tool against this. Pride says "I did it all by myself". Humility says "I resisted the devil by the grace of God". The devil will do anything to cloud your perspective to keep you isolated from God. It also talked about the strong power of prayer.
   The second part talked about the schemes the devil uses, how to recognize them, and how to stand firm in your faith against them. The power of temptation is a stronghold you have that has taught you to live independent of God. There are three main temptations the devil uses lust of the flesh, the lust of eyes, and pride of life. Lust of flesh refers to physical appetite and gratification. Lust of the eyes refers to self-interest and test the word of God. Pride of life refers to self-promotion and self-exaltation. Satans other tools involve accusation when you cross the line of temptation. This book also explained the difference between conviction by the spirit and condemnation by the devil and how pride affects us and keeps us isolated from God.
   The third section talked about how to walk free from the devil's influences. Freedom depends on what you believe, what to confess, forgive always, renounce bad influence, and forsake sin. Faith doesn't create the reality it responds to reality. So the more you know about God the bigger your faith. This section talked a lot about forgiveness, rebellion vs submission, pride vs humility, bondage vs freedom, and lots of prayers on different topics. Then how to help others find freedom as well.
     This book was excellent! It really helped me to understand what tactics satan uses and how to defend myself against them. I recommend this book to Christians and Non-Christians as well to deepen their faith.

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts

Everyone needs a relationship that is meaningful and healthy. The problem with relationships now is most people don't how to communicate because we don't know our partners love languages. There are 5 love languages.
   1) Words of Affirmation
   2) Quality Time
   3) Receiving Gifts
   4) Acts of Service
   5) Physical Touch
You take a simple test and you will discover what your main language is and your secondary. All of us show love is all the love languages but we have two that we receive more love in. Using the tools from the book you can learn how to speak your lovers love language.

The Last Battle The Chronicles of Narnia #7

Shift an ape persuades Puzzle, a donkey, to dress in a lion's skin to pretend to be Aslan. Shift also deceives many of the Narnians to serve the Calormenes and cutting down Talking Trees for lumber. To get money for the good of Narnia.
     Narnia has had peace and prosperity since the reign of King Caspian. Tirian and Jewel the Unicorn set out to stop the trees from being cut down. They find two Narnians abusing a talking horse and kill them. Awaiting for punishment for their crime they discover that they are deceiving everyone. He then accuses the ape of lying. Tirian is tied to a tree. Then Jill and Eustace arrive in Narnia. They release the King and rescue Jewel. Puzzle, realizing that he doesn't want to deceive anyone anymore joins them. Tirian also learns that Shift has unintentionally summoned the actual Tash ( a God) to Narnia  Farsight the eagle arrives to help, bearing news that Roonwit and the Narnian army have all been killed in battle. They advance on the stable to expose the truth of the deception. Shift plans to force them into the stable to meet Tash.
     Outside the stable, most of the remaining Narnians are all either killed, captured and sacrificed to Tash. All the kings and queens bear witness to the end of the world. All the inhabitants, living and dead, gather outside the barn to be judged by Aslan; the faithful enter Aslan's Country while those who have opposed or deserted him become ordinary animals and vanish. The vegetation is eaten by dragons and giant lizards, and Father Time calls the stars down from the skies into the sea as it rises to cover Narnia. The land freezes when Father Time puts out the sun and the moon. Peter closes the door, and Aslan leads them to his country.
     They find they are in a new, "real" version of Narnia. They move up a waterfall to gates where they are greeted by Reepicheep and meet other characters from the earlier novels. They find they can see a real England, parallelling the real Narnia.
     This was very good and a well-done version of the 7 book series.

An Exceptional Hound

This is the second book in the Ryland Creek Saga. Jason, Bobby, and Tara are 3 friends that decide to learn how to coon hunt with the guidance of Nathan Ernst, with his coonhound Seth and somewhat eccentric Uncle Arthur. But the woods hide a powerful spirit bear Scar Paw. Scar Paw creates some danger for everyone. They have to learn how to rely on each other and the exceptional hound to save the day. Very good.

Trusting God: A Girlfriends in God Faith Adventure

This book was very good! It was a 12 week Bible study about how to trust God and at the end of each chapter, it had discussion questions and exercises. It really showed me what does trusting God really look like? I also learned about the Girlfriends in God ministry team. Highly recommend.

Unshackled: From Ruin To Redemption

At 17 Gene McGuire was arrested and convicted for a murder he did not commit. He spent 34 years in prison. Serving that life sentence ... he found life. This is his story behind bars and how he found God. He became born again and following God's will he started a revolution prison ministry. Then he was released and now tours and tells his story and the amazing way that God has moved in his life. This book was amazing, funny, and sad. The last chapter I almost cried. It's very spiritually moving and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know how to be free. I meet the author.

Dateable

This was a Christian dating book. It was excellent! This was supposed to be a teen book but I thought it was good to read for anyone curious about how to have a better relationship from teen to adult. It was comical but gave the truth about men and women. This book teaches how to protect your heart, live with excitement, and enjoy relationships in a way that enhances rather than detracts from those they'll have in the future.

Racso and the Rats of Nimh

This is the second book in the Trilogy of books in the Nimh series. But it didn't matter to me because I know the original story. Racso learns of the rats of Nimh from his father. When he is old enough he travels to Thorn Valley where the rats live in a secret community. He wants to learn to read and write. On the way on his journey, he encounters Timothy Frisby. After making it to Thorn Valley he goes to school for a few months. He learns to write and makes some friends. Then the rats find out that the humans are building a dam that will flood the valley. They move some supplies to a secondary location. Then they come up with a plan to make sure the dam is destroyed so they can keep their home.