Heidi's Haven

  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 ...