Heidi's Haven

I recently finished reading How to Live in Fear  by Lance Hahn.  This book discusses living with panic, anxiety, and fear disorders. The author, Lance Hahn, deals with severe anxiety and fear himself. As our temporary pastor while we read his book, Hahn talks about his own experiences with anxiety, as well as gives advice for living and thriving despite the disorder. I selected this book to review because I suffer from anxiety and panic disorders myself, and I thought it might be helpful (it was). Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are topics that are too often shamed and avoided in the Christian faith. Those who do come out with their anxiety or depression are told that if they just had more faith or were better Christians, they would be fine, which just is not the case. Unfortunately, way too many people are completely ignorant when it comes to mental health, and they end up doing more harm than good. The difficulty comes in because our problems...

Hello again! I just finished reading Habits for our Holiness  by Philip Nation, and I want to share my thoughts on it. I received a copy of the book from Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review. This is a book about living out the spiritual disciplines. Philip Nation not only went into depth in explaining the disciplines, but also gave advice and instruction in how to live out those disciplines. Nation gives all kinds of insight on everyday things that we should be doing and thinking about, such as various kinds of prayer, worship, and service. He also dedicated a chapter to fasting, which is something I have never learned about elsewhere, and I found that to be very interesting. He mentioned that all of these disciplines, while very personal, do not necessarily have to be private. For each discipline, he gave examples and instruction for both individuals and groups. Having never studied spiritual disciplines before, this book was really helpful and eye o...

I really love Bibles that are filled with all kinds of extra content. In my opinion, the more the better! I find it really helpful to have information, explanations, maps, questions to think about, pictures, and other references to help me understand what I'm reading, which is why I love study Bibles! I recently received a copy of the NKJV Study Bible, printed by Thomas Nelson. It is filled with all kinds of useful information and extras. Obviously, I didn't sit down and read the whole thing, but the information that I've read so far has been very interesting and helpful, and I am definitely looking forward to reading more. The book itself is made very well. The pages are soft, and it opens nicely so the spine doesn't break, a must with paperback books. There isn't much that I hate more than a broken spine. All of the images are in color and all of the information and study tools are useful. One thing that I really liked was a chart of prophecies of t...

Hey guys, another month has gone by and now it is time for my wrap up! To be honest, I kind of feel like an idiot. I went on and on and on at the end of March about how I was going to stick to my TBR for April, and then I didn't do that AT ALL. The thing is, literally the day after I posted my TBR, I got a ton of review books in the mail. So, those became my priority. Since I never stick to it anyway, I won't be doing a TBR for May. Anyways, here's what I read in April! Empire Girls  by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan 3/5 stars Man, Myth, Messiah  by Rice Broocks 5/5 stars The Inheritance  by Michael Phillips 2/5 stars Radical Prayer  by Manny Mill 5/5 Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife  4/5 stars It was an okay reading month. A couple of really good books but also a couple of really meh books. All but the first one were for review. Overall, I'm happy with my reading. xx Heidi

Hey guys! I'm back today with yet another book review! I recently read Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife: My Story of Finding Hope after Domestic Abuse  by Ruth A. Tucker. Ruth Tucker suffered years of domestic abuse at the hands of her preacher husband, who justified the abuse under the pretense of male headship. The issue of male headship versus equality in marriage is a heavily argued topic among Christians and Biblical scholars. Ruth Tucker uses her own experiences and her own work as a Biblical scholar to prove her point that it is more Godly to have mutuality in marriage. She does this by providing Biblical proof in examination of original texts and translation of those texts. In male headship, where do we draw the line? What about when a woman is abused? This is especially important in the face of the fact that 30% of all women murdered in the United States are killed by their husbands, ex-husbands, or lovers. Tucker also points out that Biblical interp...