Heidi's Haven

  52 Weeks in the Word  by Trillia J Newbell is a companion for those reading through the Bible in a year. This is not a study, the questions for each reading are the same. However, this book outlines a reading plan and questions to ask yourself as you read. This is designed to help you get in the Word, stay in the Word, and gain Biblical literacy. Each week has daily scripture readings, daily reflection questions, prayer prompts, space to write your own prayer, a weekly reflection on text from the reading, and a day of rest. There is no pressure - if you miss a day, just pick up again where you left off. You don't even need to read it in a year, you can use this guide for however long your read-through takes you. I think this would be a really helpful guide for someone trying to read through the Bible in a year. The reading plan is clear and manageable, and the book provides guidance and space to track your own observations. She also suggests switching up the way you read the Bibl

In her book Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow , Jamie Erickson explains the concept of hygge and how we can incorporate it into our lives. In addition to learning about the practice, she also teaches readers how to use the methods to make their home a place that honors and reflects Christ.  Erickson explains that the Gospel and hygge have the same basic markers: hospitality, relationships, well-being, welcoming atmosphere, comfort, contentment, and rest. In each chapter, she goes over one of the markers and explains both the hygge and Gospel connection. She also gives plenty of useful, practical ways to put each into practice, so you have a starting point for how to apply this information when you're done reading the book. She gives both seasonal and everyday ways to put these into practice. Every chapter ends with questions, verses, and a prayer.  This is written for Christian women specifically, more likely for those with families who entert

  In their book Know Own Change , authors Joshua Clemons and Hazen Stevens urge readers to tear down racism and be united as one. Obviously (I should hope) everyone reading this review can agree that is something we all want. However, it's more difficult to know how we can get there. Throughout this book, the authors describe how we can reach this goal, and how doing so is how we can follow God's instruction for the world.  The authors describe how kingdom diversity and gospel-centered reconciliation is God's plan for the world, and how we can see that in Scripture. Gospel love says that our neighbor's problems become our own, so it is clear that we all have the responsibility to combat racism. They also explain the history of racism in America and the church, so we can understand what happened to get to where we are today.  The theme of this book is to know, own, and change. We need to understand the way racism continues to oppress our brothers and sisters, own our own

In Glad You're Here, Walker Hayes and Craig Allen Cooper talk about their lives and their friendship, and how that friendship changed and shaped their lives. Craig showed Walker the love that Jesus shows us and showed him how to love like that, and that is the story they are sharing with their readers. They tell the reader and show them how to welcome people like Jesus does. One of the biggest lessons I got from this book is that most of us spend our lives avoiding the people Jesus would have spent time with. These are the people Jesus wants us to show love to, yet they make us uncomfortable so we stay away. Walker and Craig show their readers how to welcome and engage with those people in a very real way. They also emphasize that we must not treat non-believers like a project. We need to love them where we are, and they will see Jesus through those actions. I have seen far too many times non-believers pushed away by the dehumanizing treatment by Christians in their attempt to &quo

This is an 8-week study of Ezekiel that teaches readers about God's goodness in times of disappointment and doubt. We see a unique picture of revival through Ezekiel's prophecies, and we see how that can be the case for us today as well. We see how the sins of that time are still prevalent in our lives, and how God's promises and lessons in Ezekiel still apply to us today.  Throughout the devotional, we learn how to listen and posture ourselves for revival, and to have the same resilience to share God's message with the world. We learn the things we do that stops revival, and the things we can do to invite it. There are activities, questions, and readings all throughout to help the reader understand and learn. God has already given us the tools we need for revival.  Since I read this for review, I did not to the activities and instead simply read this cover-to-cover, so I did not get much out of this book. However, I do think you might (and other reviews seem to agree)

  First of all, this book deals with eating disorder, exercise addition, and mental illness. Though eating disorder is mentioned on the back, I think it would be nice to have a bigger trigger warning about these themes at the beginning. In this book, Melanie finds herself faced with entering rehab to combat her eating disorder. Having always felt a pull to this region and wanting to avoid rehab, Melanie decides to go on a sort of pilgrimage and hike from Michigan to Mount Rainier in Washington. The people she meets along the way help her understand herself. I picked this book up because I am a bit obsessed with thru hiking, however the bulk of the book had very little to do with hiking. This book is more about Melanie's recovery and the people she meets along her journey. My favorite parts of the book were when Mel was in a place I've been, I love to read about places I've visited. I also really enjoyed the focus on chosen family, and how this book did not sugarcoat toxic p

  In this book, Jennifer Hand shares lots of personal stories of times she was afraid, yet trusted God anyway. She uses personal stories and stories from the Bible to show us how saying "no" to fear is saying "yes" to God, and how our lives can be changed because of it.  The author explains that giving in to fear means saying "no" to God. None of us want that! Instead of letting fear stop us, we need to trust in God to keep moving. Hand refers to these crossroads and choices in our lives as "faith steps" or "fear stops". We can either say yes to God and move forward in faith, or say no and stop in our tracks. Throughout the book, Hand uses the story of the Israelites to show us what happens when we say yes or no to God. Using these examples, she emphasizes that saying no to God can keep us from reaching our "Promised Land", whatever or wherever that may be.  Hand uses many personal stories as examples. While some have clearly

  I am sure most of us tend to view the Bible as one big work. However, the Bible is really a collection of many pieces of writing, and each piece should be examined individually and in different ways. We must study and explore the Bible according to the literary style presented in a particular book, chapter, or passage. In this way, we will gain better understanding of the text.  There are eight main literary genres in Scripture: law, Old Testament narrative, prophetic/apocalyptic, poetry/wisdom, gospels and acts, and epistles. Throughout the book, Anyabwile teaches the reader how to examine each of these genres. There are also different types of writing: stories, poetry, and speeches. Again, these must all be examined differently. In addition to literary genre, the reader must also understand cultural and historical contexts. Finally, the author also describes how to examine Jesus' different teachings: narratives, parables, dialogue, and sermons. For all of these, Anyabwile gives

  This book is geared toward women, in any stages of life, to take control of their finances. A mother-daughter team, the authors share two generations of knowledge and covers all of the life stages, from single life, to married life, to widowed life. This is stewardship-focused: everything is God's and we must be responsible stewards of what he's given us. Each chapter features resources for planning and budgeting, as well as tips and journaling questions.  I personally did not feel like this book was very helpful. I wouldn't consider myself super knowledgable about finances, but just about everything in this book is stuff I've heard many times before. I was expecting more, especially as one of the authors is a certified financial planner. The writing felt disorganized and rushed, and very redundant. I did like their tips on how to choose a financial planner, and their information about wills and trusts, but for the most part I don't think I learned anything new fr

Just like the 5 love languages, we apologize and accept apologies in different ways. I am sure we've all heard an apology we didn't feel was sincere, while the person who apologized feels like they did everything they could. This book explores the different ways we apologize and helps the reader find their own apology language. The goal is to help us strengthen relationships in our lives and opens the door to forgiveness and reconciliation.  These 5 languages are: Expressing Regret, Accepting Responsibility, Making Restitution, Planned Change, and Requesting Forgiveness. In some situations, more than one language must be used, and it's different for each person. This book helps the reader understand their own apology language and the apology languages of others. The authors describe in detail how you can apologize in each language. You will learn how to apologize, how to forgive, and how to ask for forgiveness. They also reassure us that to cause offense is human, it is not

  This 40-day devotional by Jessica Thompson is based on Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. The law is not against such things." If we are followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is living in us, and that should be evident in our daily lives. But what does the fruit of the Spirit mean? How is that evident in our lives? Through this devotional, Thompson walks us through God's attributes shown in Galatians 5:22-23, and explains how learning about God's character helps us see how that fruit can be seen in ourselves. Throughout this devotional, the reader will learn more about God and become more like Him.  This book is organized in sections based on each attribute of God, and then those sections are split into devotionals to be read one per day. Each of these is 3-4 pages, and can easily be read daily, even for the busiest people. I would like to note that I read this all in one g

  This book is a 40-day advent devotional of sermons, books, and other writings by A. W. Tozer. Each reading is 3-4 pages long, which is totally doable, even for the busiest people. Sunday is "Feast Day", and there is no reading for that day, as it is to be used as a rest day. The goal of this book is for the reader to not only learn more about God's work in Christ, but also to truly worship and serve God with awe and gratitude. Also, to learn more about the season of Lent, and why we do the things we do. The purpose of Lent is to prepare believes for commemorating Jesus's self-sacrifice on the cross, and these readings leading up to Easter help us to remember and practice that. Funny enough, I started reading this book completely by accident on Ash Wednesday, perfect timing! Tozer uses the KJV translation in his writings, which I personally is not a fan of, so just keep that in mind before you pick this up. The language that Tozer uses, being from a long time ago, ca

  This book is a 28-day advent devotional of sermons, books, and other writings by A. W. Tozer. These readings are split into 4 weeks, 1 reading per day. Each reading is 3-4 pages long, which is totally doable, even for the busiest people. The goal of this book is for the reader to not only learn more about God's work in Christ, but also to truly worship and serve God with awe and gratitude. Also, to learn more about Jesus and what we truly celebrate (or should be celebrating) at Christmas. Tozer uses the KJV translation in his writings, which I personally is not a fan of, so just keep that in mind before you pick this up. The language that Tozer uses, being from a long time ago, can also be hard for some to follow. If that doesn't bother you, then you'd probably enjoy reading this devotional.  This would be best read one day a time, so you can take the time to reflect and meditate on each reading. I read this all in one go, as I was reading it in order to write a review, s

      In Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction , Lina Abujamra discusses her own crisis of faith and how she came out the other side. She stresses that it is normal for Christians to question and deconstruct their faith. It's actually a really important part of our walk with God, since a crisis of faith can cause true faith to replace inauthentic faith, and actually lead us closer to God. In fact, what we often call a crisis of faith is just part of maturing in our faith. It makes your faith your own. Each crisis leads us deeper into relationship with Him. Deconstruction our faith can lead to reconstruction.     I really enjoyed reading this book. The author is so open and honest with her struggles, which makes it very easy to understand and relate to her message. I personally have not struggled with a crisis of faith (yet, probably, I'm still young), so I didn't relate to her message as much as others might have. However, it was still a

      This book is all about finding joy in suffering, and looking through pain into God's strength, instead of ignoring it. He discusses the importance of lament and the fruits of suffering. Suffering offers us a powerful encounter with God. Further, Jesus showed us how to suffer with others and show compassion. God constantly cleanses us through out suffering so we're pure when we meet Him in heaven. As the Bible tells us, doing good and suffering for it is something to praise God for.  "When we choose to suffer with rejoicing, a door is opened for the Gospel to be shared."     The author has experienced suffering like I could not believe. He is also in his 90s and suffering from cancer, and he is at the end of his life. His story offers such a unique and genuine perspective on suffering. There aren't many people who have experienced suffering to the extent that he has.      Perkins was very articulate, and it never felt like he was rambling or condescending to

  "The church should be a model, at such a time as this, to reveal to the world what true oneness, equality, justice, and freedom can produce."     In this book, Tony Evans discusses the role of Christians and the church in the racial turmoil our world is experiencing today. Evans defines common and important terms like "systemic racism" and "critical race theology", which we hear brought up often enough but may not know the correct definition.     Evans closes with his goal for the reader to make a difference in the world. He gives steps for what the reader should do next. I do wish that he spent more time on this, as the rest of the book seemed very repetitive, using a lot of words without saying much at all. This  section alone though made reading worth it, as I think this is so important.      I definitely disagree with the author in some ways, as we have differing opinions about the Black Lives Matter organization and their values.      Overall, I thi