Waiting Here For You: An Advent Journey of Hope

Louie Giglio is the pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA and the founder of Passion Conferences, a global movement uniting university students to live for the fame of Jesus.  With a desire to elevate God's glory above all else, Louie has also authored The Air I Breathe, i Am Not, But I Know I Am, and Indescribable, which was co-authored with Grammy Award winner Matt Redman.  Louie and his wife, Shelley, live in Atlanta, GA.

You can connect with Louie at www.louiegiglio.com as well as on Twitter.

Waiting Here for You helps us anticipate rather than dread the busy season of Advent and Christmas.

Life is full of waiting – we can’t escape it. We find ourselves in the middle of it every day – waiting on a prognosis to be given…a verdict to be reached…a promotion to be announced. And in these seasons of waiting that anxiety, desperation and hopelessness creep in.

Waiting Here For You takes us through the advent – the season of waiting. In it we see the story of the coming of Jesus. It teaches us that waiting is the means God often uses to carry his plans in our lives. And it brings us back to the truth that our waiting is never wasted when we are waiting on God.

Join pastor and author Louie Giglio and take hold of the chance to uncover the vast hope offered through the journey of Advent. Find peace and encouragement for your soul as anticipation leads toward celebration!

Waiting is not wasted when it is waiting with the Lord.

My Thoughts:

I was blessed by using Waiting Here for You as my devotional focus during this past Advent season.  The book is organized into daily readings beginning with November 26th and ending December 24th.  Each reading begins with Scripture and is followed by a short Reflection from Louie and ends with a Hymn for Meditation and Prayer guide.  Black and white Winter scenes are interspersed throughout the book.  Louie's reflections and Scripture passages focus on the theme of waiting and the constant, faithful nature of God.  While Waiting Here for You is written specifically as an Advent resource, I think it would be perfect as a devotional guide for the month of January to begin the New Year in anticipation of great things from God.  Get yours today!

*I received a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of review from the publisher.

Happy Reading Ya'll,

Jennifer

The Wedding Chapel

About the author: 

Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author of critically acclaimed novels such as The Wedding Dress, Love Starts with Elle, and Once Upon A Prince. She also penned the Songbird Novels with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Booklist named their novel, Softly and Tenderly, one of 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals. She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pets.

Connect with Rachel: website, Twitter, Facebook

About the book: 

The Wedding Chapel (Zondervan, November 2015)

For sixty years, a wedding chapel sat silent, waiting for love. But times have changed and the hour has come when it just might be too late.

Retired hall-of-fame football coach Jimmy "Coach" Westbrook never imagined anything would come of his labor of love---the wedding chapel he built for Collette Greer, the woman he fell for back in '49. But now an offer has come to turn the chapel into what it was meant to be---a place for love---and Jimmy sees no reason to hang onto his dream any longer.

Photographer Taylor Branson is trying to make a life for herself in New York. Leaving her hometown of Heart's Bend, Tennessee, she put a lot of things behind her, including her family's abysmal marriage rate. But love surprises her when she falls head-over-heels for Jack Forester, a top ad man. Their whirlwind romance results in an elopement, and a mountain of doubt. Jack, while genuine in his love for Taylor, can never seem to overcome his own demons to find the words of his heart.

When Taylor takes an assignment in Heart's Bend, the job does more than send her back to her hometown, but into a world of family secrets buried beneath the sands of time.

When Taylor's journey intersects with Coach's, they rediscover the heartbeat of their dreams and that the love they long to hold is right in front of them. And worth every waiting moment.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1RlAvCm

To see what others are saying about the book, you can visit HERE.

My Thoughts:

The Wedding Chapel is the first book by Rachel Hauck that I've read.  To say the least, I was blown away!  Hauck's cast of characters and the way their lives intertwined with one another make for a very compelling read.  The stories of Taylor and Jack, Jimmy and Collette, Peg and the place of Heart's Bend, TN are filled with crises of faith, love, hope and the beauty of reconciliation.  Hauck keeps readers riveted and turning pages with a thread of suspense and masterfully tells the story of a wedding chapel hid away in TN.  The revelations are surprising as Hauck tells the story switching flawlessly between the past and the present.  Don't miss this endearing story!  Your heart will be encouraged.

*I was provided a complimentary copy of the book by the publisher for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Happy Reading Ya'll,

Jennifer

Delighting in God

A.W. Tozer  (1897-1963) began his lifelong pursuit of God at the age of seventeen, after hearing a street preacher in Akron, Ohio.  Tozer was a self-taught theologian, pastor, and writer whose powerful words continue to grip the intellect and stir the soul of today's believer.  He authored more than 40 books.  The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy are considered modern devotional classics.

Get more Tozer information and quotes at twitter.com/TozerAW.

Understand your life's purpose by better understanding God.

"My worship grows and grows as my perception of God grows.  God cannot grow.  My perception of God grows as I experience Him day after day.  I should be more capable of worshiping God today than I was ten or twenty years ago."

Delighting in God is the message A.W. Tozer intended to be the follow-up to The Knowledge of the Holy.  He demonstrates how the attributes of God -  those things God has revealed about himself - are a way to understand the Christian life of worship and service.  Because we were created in the image of God, to understand who we are, we need to understand who God is and allow His character and nature to be reflected through us.  

We are here to serve and adore Him, and we can only fulfill that role by acknowledging who He is. This is the essence of the Christian life and the source of all our fulfillment, joy, and comfort.

My Thoughts:
Compiled and edited by James L. Snyder (a recognized authority on the life and ministry of A.W. Tozer),  Snyder has been given the rights from the A.W. Tozer estate to produce new books derived from over four hundred never-before-published audiotapes.  Delighting in God is the compilation of sermons Tozer preached after the publication of The Knowledge of the Holy.  Snyder says this in his introduction:

"The purpose of this book is to stir up your heart with a passion for God that will lead you into following hard after God, even disrupt those who are content with their current passion for God.  If someone reads this book and is deeply disturbed, such that they seek God with a passion that cannot be satisfied apart from God, this book will have met its goal."

After reading the book devotionally over the past several weeks, I can say that the book does indeed meet the goal of stirring up the passions of the heart for God.  Snyder has adeptly taken the words and thoughts of Tozer and arranged them for the reader and expounded thoroughly on Tozer's thought that "what we think about God infiltrates every aspect of our lives".  Delighting in God offers a concise and deep look into one's perception of God by exploring our perception of God's perfection, grace, mercy and delves into how our perception of God affects our prayer life and relationship with God and with others.
The book is not lengthy so as to overwhelm, nor is it filled with lofty language that is hard to understand.  Tozer's passion was that others know God and his heart comes through in a more conversational style rather than a "preachy" treatise and through a book that is devotional in nature.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blessings,
Jennifer

The Five Times I Met Myself

James L. Rubart is a professional marketer and speaker. He is the author of the best-selling novel Rooms as well as Book of Days, The Chair, Soul's Gate, Memory's Door, andSpirit Bridge. He lives with his wife and sons in the Pacific Northwest.

Connect with James: website, Twitter, Facebook

About the book: 
The Five Times I Met Myself (Thomas Nelson, November 2015)

What if you met your twenty-three-year-old self in a dream? What would you say?

Brock Matthews' once promising life is unraveling. His coffee company. His marriage.

So when he discovers his vivid dreams---where he encounters his younger self---might let him change his past mistakes, he jumps at the chance. The results are astonishing, but also disturbing.

Because getting what Brock wants most in the world will force him to give up the one thing he doesn't know how to let go . . . and his greatest fear is that it's already too late.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1O1Wrle

My Thoughts:

I read a lot of books...well over 70 or so this year.  The Five Times I Met Myself is the most unique fiction title I think I have read maybe ever.  James Rubart is a new author to me and now one of my favorites.  I am anxious to check out his other works.

Rubart has written a book that exudes the idea of a "do-over".  The idea of lucid dreaming allows Brock to visit his younger self at different points to offer advice and a seemingly better direction for his life.  Brock's story goes much deeper than just desiring a little redirection.  Rubart writes a story about relationships in The Five Times I Met Myself... husband and wife, brothers, and father and son.  The depth of emotion I felt while reading the book was at times overwhelming.

Although Rubart goes back and forth in terms of time sequences, he does so with fluidity.  The story was so gripping for me that I started the book and was immediately invested in the plot and the characters.  Rubart keeps you guessing and more importantly hoping.  

"Do you think God speaks?  Talks to us?"

"Sometimes I think yes, sometimes I'm not so sure."

"Neither am I."  The doctor chuckled.  "But I'm starting to lose my balance on the fence and believe I'm falling."

"Which side are you coming down on?"

"That he does speak.  If we're willing to slow down enough to listen.  And if we're willing to act on what he says."

In the end, while questioning what was "real" and what wasn't, readers will walk away more importantly with the undeniable belief that God is a God of healing and restoration. The path to that understanding may look different for all of us, but it is available...if only "we're willing to slow down enough to listen."

*I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for giving my review.

You can visit HERE to see what others are saying about the book.

Happy Reading Ya'll,
Jennifer

An Endless Christmas and A GIVEAWAY!

About the author:

Drawing from 33 years of on-air radio ministry, Cynthia Ruchti tells stories of hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through her novels and novellas, nonfiction books and devotionals, and speaking for women's and writers' events. Her books have been recognized by Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards, Selah Awards, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Christian Retailing's BEST Awards, and Carol Award nominations, among other honors, including a Family Fiction Readers' Choice Award. She and her plot-tweaking husband live in Pittsville, Wisconsin, not far from their three children and five grandchildren.


Connect with Cynthia: website, Twitter,Facebook.

About the book: 
An Endless Christmas (Worthy Inspired, October 2015)

Too many people, too much snow, and too little room should be a recipe for disaster.

Christmas takes a very different turn when the guests of honor break up instead of announcing their engagement. Trapped with his family, they learn that love looks different than either imagined. Both in their eighties, Dodie and Wilson Binder celebrate every Christmas as if it were their last. This year, their grandson Micah is planning to ask his girlfriend, Katie, to marry him so they can celebrate with the whole family. But things go very wrong when she says, "no." Now they are stuck. Too many people, too much snow, and too little room should be a recipe for disaster. But sometimes too much is just enough. Especially when it's Christmas.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1PmF69N

To see what others are saying about the book, you can visit HERE.

My Thoughts:

If you have been reading my reviews for very long, you know that I'm a huge fan of Cynthia's writing.  An Endless Christmas, Cynthia's new Christmas novella, only had one flaw...it was too short!  In typical Cynthia Ruchti fashion, she packed such a poignant message in these few pages.  

I immediately fell in love with the characters in An Endless Christmas.  And my favorites were Dodie and Wilson Binder.  What a lesson in "live like you are dying"! Cynthia used the Binder family and Katie to portray such beautiful pictures of family (who may not always be "blood" relatives), forgiveness, redemption and restoration. God's grace is woven so fluently throughout this story.  Emotionally gripping from the first page to the last, you will want An Endless Christmas to be part of your holiday experience this year!

*I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a review.  

Happy Reading Ya'll,

Jennifer

Secrets She Kept

Cathy Gohlke is the two-time Christy Award-winning author of the critically acclaimed novels Saving Amelie, Band of Sisters, Promise Me This, William Henry Is A Fine Name and I Have Seen him in the Watchfires.

Cathy has worked as a school librarian, drama director, and director of children's and education ministries.  When not traipsing the hills and dales of hisoric sites, she, her husband, and their dog, Reilly, make their home in northern Virginia and the Jersey Shore, enjoying time with their grown children and granddaughter.

You can connect with Cathy through her website found at www.cathygohlke.com.

Secrets a mother could never share...consequences a daughter could not redeem.

All her life, Hannah Sterling yearned for a closer relationship with her estranged mother.  But when death closes that door, Hannah determines to unlock the secrets of Lieselotte's past and is shocked to discover she has a grandfather still living in Germany.

Thirty years earlier, as Hitler begins his march through Europe, Lieselotte's father ascends the Nazi ranks.  A proper marriage for his only daughter could advance his career, but Lieselotte is in love, and her beloved, who secretly works against the Reich, is far from an ideal match.  Yet Lieselotte never imagined how far her father would go to ensure her cooperation, or how their actions would echo through generations.

Both Hannah and Lieselotte's stories unfold as Hannah travels to Berlin to meet her grandfather, who is hiding wartime secrets of his own.  Longing for connection yet shaken by all she uncovers, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family's tragic past...and how their legacy will shape her future.

My Thoughts:
Cathy has an exceptional gift of having the past and present collide in her novels.  Secrets She Kept is no exception.  Cathy's research of the Holocaust is exhaustive and her themes of forgiveness, redemption and hope shine brilliantly in Hannah's and Lieselotte's stories.  Even though the story switches back and forth between the past (Lieselotte) and the present (Hannah), Cathy's writing brings the two together with a smooth thread of history and application to bring about change.  I loved that Cathy included a cameo appearance by Corrie Ten Boom.

"In darkness God's truth shines most clear."  Corrie Ten Boom

This novel is emotionally gripping and one that has remained with me even though I read it months ago.  Cathy wastes no time providing the conflict and tension that is played out in Hannah's story. What Hannah learns is a lesson for us all.

"Writing Secrets She Kept challenged me to examine what it means to truly forgive.  I've learned that withholding forgiveness is tantamount to carrying a load of boulders on our back, or shackling our feet with balls and chains.  Every day is exhausting, every breath a chore.  Release - forgiving or being forgiven - can't be exacted or even bought.  It's divine.  That's what I learned from Corrie Ten Boom as she forgave the guard from Ravensbruck.  She didn't do it -couldn't do it -alone.  She surrendered her own sin and inabilities to Christ and asked that He do it through her."  Cathy Gohlke in her Facebook post from  September 29th

Secrets She Kept now has a prominent place on this reader's keeper shelf.  Any time invested in reading this offering by Cathy Gohlke will be time well spent and quite possibly a personally transforming experience.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher for the purpose of giving my honest review.

Happy Reading Ya'll,
Jennifer

Vendetta

Lisa Harris is a Christy Award winner and the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 from Romantic Times.  The author of nearly thirty books, including Dangerous Passage, Fatal Exchange, and Hidden Agenda, Harris and her family have spent twelve years living as missionaries in southern Africa.  They currently live in Mozambique.

You can learn more about Lisa and connect with her through her website found at www.lisaharriswrites.com.

No one needs to push Nikki Boyd to excel on the Tennessee Missing Persons Task Force.  The case of her own missing sister, still unsolved after ten years, is the driving force in her work.  When a Polaroid photo of a missing girl shows up at a crime scene, Nikki quickly recognizes similarities to the past.  The closer she gets to the abductor, the more she feels this case has become personal, and she is not the hunter...but the hunted.

With this explosive first book in The Nikki Boyd Files, award-winning author Lisa Harris takes you on a fast-paced pursuit of justice that will have you holding your breath until the heart-stopping finish.




My Thoughts:
I have a new best friend and her name is Nikki Boyd!  Harris has knocked it out of the ballpark with Vendetta, the first book in her new series, The Nikki Boyd Files.  Harris is a master suspense writer. She wastes no time engaging her readers with an action packed and suspenseful story that grabs you on the first page and does not let go until the very last page is turned.
I love that all the loose ends aren't tidied up at the end of Vendetta. Harris has set the tone for an exciting series with this first installment.  Just when I thought I had things figured out, Harris threw a curve ball.  You will walk away from this one with questions waiting to be answered.  Harris's books have a place on my keeper shelf.  They should be on yours as well!

*I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading Ya'll,
Jennifer