Heidi's Haven

This is a beautiful daily devotional, perfect for the summertime, all about the beauty of nature and God's love for us. Each  day had a short devotional and a prayer after.  It is the perfect thing to read outside in the summer, or keep open on a table at the cabin. I adored this, and though I read through it all already, I want to keep it around and read through it each summer. I definitely would recommend it to anyone, and I gave it 5/5 stars. 

This book by Paul Angone argues the power and importance of good questions, especially in such a scary and uncertain time as in our twenties. Questions such as, "How do I make a choice when I don't know what choice to make?", "Am I being stereotyped in my office for being a twentysomething? If so, what do I do about it?", and "What are my problems and personal pain revealing about my purpose?" If you're struggling to answer the questions he gives, then you're doing it right. "Your twenties aren't about them going as you planned. But how you adapt, change, and grow when they don't." While definitely God-centered, this book is great for any twentysomething who feels like they are lost and don't know what they are doing. Angone was so honest, vulnerable, and really funny, but most of all, he was relatable. He got exactly how I am feeling.  The only thing that I didn't like was the grammar and writing styl...

I recently received a copy of the NIV Journal the Word Bible for teen girls from Zondervan, and OH MY WORD. This is the most beautiful Bible that I have ever seen! Probably the most beautiful Bible ever made! The cover is a lovely gold with a gorgeous floral design, and the pages have ( eeee!!! ) pink dusted edges! The one that I received has a soft but sturdy imitation leather cover. As you can see, the text is written in one column, and there is open, lined space on the side for journaling right inside of your Bible.  Other than a subject index in the back, there are no study tools in this Bible. This is for teen girls to read and journal in as they go. I am completely in love with this Bible because OH MY GOODNESS is it beautiful!!! 5/5 stars without a doubt! *I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via the BookLook Bloggers review program. All opinions are my own.

Dr. Gary Chapman believes that there are five different ways that people express love: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. He refers to these as Love Languages. This book is all about learning to love others in their own love language, the way that they feel the most love. This is all about improving the relationships with everyone you know.  This is the singles edition, but you do not have to be single to read it and benefit from it. This book was written after the huge success of his first book regarding the 5 love languages in regards to marriage. This book simply focuses on all  relationships, and not just romantic ones. There are also questions for thought and consideration at the end of each chapter. I completely believe in the five love languages, and through the quiz in the book, I have finally discovered mine: quality time. I have been able to recognize the love languages of my friends and family, and ...

In Lasting Love: How to Avoid Marital Failure , Alistair Begg urges readers to get back to the basics of marriage and examine what the Bible says about it.  Originally published in 1997, this book is written for Christians, whether they are married and feeling the love and excitement slip away, or if they are single and just thinking about marriage in the future. Begg says that the Bible gives clear instructions for marriage, and we need to look no further than the Bible to find the solution to our marital problems. He says that we need to reject divorce as an option and put work into bringing love back into the mix. Alistair Begg is an older man, and many things he said were pretty outdated and awful. This is particularly evident in his chapters about gender roles within marriage. He told a story in the book where he told his hairdresser that he would stop giving her his business when she came back to work after having her baby, because he would not support a woman ...

His Last Words  by Kim Erickson is a seven week study of John 15-17, exploring what Jesus did and said in His last few hours on earth. If you knew you only had a few hours to live, what would you do? Would you tell your friends and loved ones all of the things you think is really important? That is Kim Erickson's theory: that what Jesus said and did in His last hours was what He wanted us to know most, what He thought was the most important for us to know.  Each week consists of four short lessons. The reader is to read the assigned passage in their Bible, and then slowly work through the study. The studies consist mostly of a little bit of reading, but mostly journaling and reflecting. After each question, there is a lot of space to write, and Erickson does not pressure the reader to fill in every blank if they have nothing to say. She urges the reader to go through the study slowly, because going fast can mean that you miss out on understanding. This study i...

I think that it is safe to say that we all have struggled with understanding God's role in the suffering and evil in our fallen world. It is something that can turn us away from God. It's something we struggle to explain to non-believers.  Answering the Toughest Questions about Suffering and Evil  was written by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz in order to answer some of the questions we have all asked ourselves. If God created everything, did He also create evil? Why doesn't God eliminate suffering and evil? The authors collected and answered ten of the most popular questions they are asked on the subject. I don't like not knowing or understanding things. So when I picked up this book, I wanted something along the lines of "God allows evil because blank  as stated in the Bible here. " I want simple, straightforward answers so I can fully understand. However, that is not the case here, and that is not the fault of the authors. It is due to the nature of th...

I received a lovely copy of the NIV Color Code Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers. This is a gorgeous, sturdy, hardcover Bible aimed toward kids in order to teach them important key verses. Verses within each chapter are highlighted in different colors based on the topic the verse is about. Included topics are God, sin/evil, Jesus, new life, spiritual growth, prayer/praise, heaven, love, family/children, love, and animals. I feel like this would be really helpful for a kid reading the Bible through the first time.  Like I said, this is just a gorgeous book. I love the colors on the cover, and there is a ribbon attached to mark your place. The pages are thin, as is typical for a Bible, but are a little bit thicker and stronger than in most Bibles (perfect for kids, who tend to be a little rough on things). I would recommend this Bible to a parent looking for their kid's first real Bible. A good step up from children's Bibles. *I received a free copy of this...

I recently read 365 Devotions for Living Joyfully  by Victoria York. This devotion shares a verse for each day along with a couple of short paragraphs encouraging the reader to take on life with a more positive perspective in order to live with more joy. There is also a short prayer at the end of each devotion.  It is ideal to start reading this on January 1st, since the date is printed on the top of each page. You would read one page every day for a year. Also, this is definitely geared toward women.  The book itself is a beautiful, small hardcover. It is very sturdy. The pages are shiny and glossy, and there is a pretty ribbon bookmark (though it was stuck to the pages and left a mark when it arrived). Overall, I really enjoyed this devotional. I thought that the material was really well written and stood out to me in a new way. I would recommend this to someone, and I gave it 4/5 stars. xx Heidi *I received a free copy of this for review ...

Included In Christ  by Heather Holleman is an 8-week study of Ephesians geared toward women, with a focus on individual verbs in the verses that influence our lives and our perception of ourselves. While this can be done individually, it is geared toward a group. As I mentioned earlier, each chapter focuses on a verb for the week. This was a really cool and interesting concept, and was done very well. Focusing on individual words really brought the verses into a new light for me and gave me new things to consider.  What you need to do this Bible study is your Bible and a journal. There are a ton of journaling prompts each day in the study. Holleman asks the reader to do lots of journaling, reflection, and imagining. She includes space for journaling, but I would recommend having your own journal. I would also recommend leaving yourself plenty of time to journal and really think about your responses. This way, you're able to give it enough thought. She also i...

This NIV Bible, by Zonderkidz, is intended to allow children to read the Bible along with images that will allow them to really explore and understand the stories, people, places, and history. It also had footnotes all throughout the Bible, as it is a study Bible intended for learning. I honestly didn't think that the Bible had that many images in it, just a few small ones every few pages. I didn't think that it had enough pictures to call itself a "visual" study Bible. However, the images included were very interesting, and the rest of the study material was informative and done well, in my opinion. It was all well organized, too. The Bible is hardcover and very sturdy. I think it would hold up well over a long period of time. It has the nice glossy pages, Bible-thin of course. It has a nice ribbon attached to mark your place.  Overall, I didn't think that this Bible was special really, or better in any way than lots of other study Bibles for k...

"When our heart ceases to pray, we are not praying." -Bill Thrasher A Journey to Victorious Praying  by Bill Thrasher was written to give readers a revival and reawakening in their prayer lives. You know that your prayer life has died when you pray without expectancy of any outcome, and I feel safe in saying that we all eventually reach that point. When this happens, we have to ask, "Why pray?" That is where this book comes in. We need to let the Holy Spirit move us, and guide and empower us in prayer. True prayer starts with God and the prayer burden He places on our heart. Also, it is thanksgiving (not just prayer and supplication) that truly brings us to peace. Finally, do not forget to share your real concerns, burdens, and desires with God. He already knows all of them, but getting them out in the open with God will lighten our burden. The book is split into sections for daily reading, perfect for those who want to focus on smaller sections at ...

The NIV True Images Bible is a Bible for teen girls. It is full of extra content designed to help teen girls with stuff like body image, decision making, friendships, and sex, more.  This Bible starts with helpful information for the reader about reading the Bible, whether they are very familiar with the Bible, or if this is the first time they've picked one up. The back of the book has guides for reading, study ideas, and Christianity basics. Included throughout are 52 profiles of women in the Bible, topic guides, "love notes" from God and space for reflection. Each book begins with the author, date, setting, verses to remember, themes to consider, and life lessons. This Bible relates the stories within to things a teen girl might experience. I would recommend this Bible for pre-teens (rather than teenagers) who have never read the Bible before, as the content is geared toward a younger audience. The physical Bible itself is very nice. It is a sturdy hardcov...

"God dwells where there is prayer." This book by Dutch Sheets, originally published as The Beginner's Guide to Intercessory Prayer , is all about the power and importance of intercessory prayer, praying for one another. Sheets stresses that we pray for others as part of the service Jesus has called us to, and also as a way of finding peace and getting closer to God. Prayer is how we maintain a relationship with love, so we should pray with the intention of building a loving relationship with Him, and everything in life flows from that relationship. Relationships based on love are the relationships that last. Most importantly, God works miracles through us on earth. However, we need to pray and allow God to use us to make it happen. We are God's link to activity on earth. Finally, we must always remember to persevere. Intercession is a marathon, not a sprint. It was really interesting reading about intercessory prayer. I have read many books on prayer, but...

This book is all about using what means you have to change the world. Justin Dillon, founder of Slavery Footprint, argues that you don't need much to change the world, just your passion for a cause, and whatever resources may be available to you. Changing the world is for everyone. How to change the world...big question. Dillon suggests asking yourself: what bothers you? What do you  think is broken? Finding these issues that really tug your heartstrings and make you angry is the starting point. Dillon states, "When you say, 'I wish someone would just fix it,' there's a good chance that person is you." As I mentioned before, Justin Dillon created slaveryfootprint.org, a website where you can find out how many slaves it takes to provide the things you use everyday. As much as we like to think that it is a thing of the past, slavery is still rampant today, and Dillon is working to stop it.  Dillon also argues that changing the world is selfish, ...

In this book, Natasha Bure gives advice for teens, from dealing with boys and breakouts, all the way to keeping your faith and being true to yourself in today's world.  Though the intended audience for this book is teens and younger girls, and I'm a bit older than that, at 21 I still really enjoyed the advice in this book. It gave me a new perspective on a lot of things, and made me realize actions that God has taken in my life in the past. It led to quite a bit of journaling and thought on my part.  Honestly, I just chose this book to review because it was written by DJ Tanner's daughter, and I was hesitant going in due to the fact that I'm a bit old for some of the themes. However, I loved this book so much. Natasha Bure seems like such an honest, genuine, and mature young woman. She is a great role model, and I would have loved a book like this when I was in high school. She was very open and honest, so I could really relate to everything that she talked...

20 Things We'd Tell Our Twenty-Something Selves  is a book by Kelli and Peter Worrall, which seeks to give advice to all of the twenty-somethings in the world going into their "quarter-life crisis", the terrifying and confusing time when young adults begin making crazy changes in their lives, from moving out, going to college, and getting married. The Worrall's are teachers at Moody Bible Institute, and are approached all the time by students seeking advice about the future. I requested this book from Moody Publishers to review because my friend, a student of Peter Worrall, read this book for a class and loved it, and she recommended it to me.  The Worrall's use this book to give twenty pieces of advice for millennials growing up and moving out into the world. Each chapter ends with activities, questions, and other readings for the reader to consider. A Bible study to accompany the book is available for free online. The advice that they gave rea...

The Dawn of Christianity: How God Used Simple Fishermen, Soldiers, and Prostitutes to Transform the World  by Robert J. Hutchinson gives a detailed history of the early Jesus Movement, starting just before Jesus' death and ending with the apostles.  The book went very in depth and informative, yet was written simply enough so it was very easy to understand. It was filled with pictures of the places and things that were being discussed. Everything was explained so clearly, and events in the Bible made a lot more sense to me after. Surprisingly, it did not read at all like a textbook, and I found myself immersed and unable to put the book down.  This book was so interested, I really loved it. I have it 5/5 stars and I'd definitely recommend it.  *I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Hitler's Cross , written by Erwin W. Lutzer, outlines the ways in which, during the Second World War, Adolf Hitler used and twisted both the cross and Christianity to promote himself and further the Nazi agenda. This book seeks to explain "the 'hows' and 'whys' and 'what ifs' of this tragedy". The primary focus of this book is to teach readers how Hitler crushed the church in Germany during his time of power, and to explain where God was in the middle of all of this.  First of all, it is important to understand that nothing happens without God's consent. Therefore, He allowed the Holocaust to happen. Trust me, I know how hard this is to accept and understand. Lutzer explains that God uses even things He hates to direct the world to an appointed end. Satan does have an influence in this world, but only to the extent that God allows.  Secondly, this book describes in great detail Hitler's personal religious beliefs and how they ...

Acceptable Worship  by Dr. C.H. Snyder helps readers understand what kind of worship God accepts and what pleases Him. The author's goal was to write a book that would help people understand what the Bible says about worship. The focus of the book is to more from correct understanding to wise and proper obedience.  God designed man with the need to worship. However, it is important that we choose to worship God and no one/nothing else. In order to give acceptable worship, our actions need to be for the glorification and honoring of God, and not for our own benefit. We should worship God in order to be close to Him, because we are in awe of Him. In good times and in bad, we should always be glorifying God. Not only in church on Sunday, but throughout the rest of the week as well in our everyday lives. Obedience is also an act of true, acceptable worship. The book is Biblically sound and easy to understand. I really enjoyed reading it, and I feel like I learned a lo...