About the book:

Are you exhausted? Women today really do feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Every morning we are greeted with a long list of to-dos: get the kids up and out the door on time, have a meaningful quiet time, put in a full day at the office, spend an hour at the gym, prepare a healthy and delicious meal (organic and locally grown, of course), and make sure the sink sparkles before you go to bed. Oh, and don’t forget to look great and smile while you’re doing it. These are all good things to do, of course. But the bigger problem occurs when we start to feel as if our worth is measured by our to-do lists. And the messages we receive at church, on Facebook, and from the media only perpetuate these unrealistic expectations, creating a relentless cycle of exhaustion. As Elyse Fitzpatrick has traveled this country, she has seen increasing evidence of this weariness epidemic invading our churches and communities. And she has good news for women everywhere: there is hope! God doesn’t judge us by our to-do lists. Instead, He calls us to faith. Free yourself today from the endless stream of bad advice and discover the true rest God offers.

If you’ve been a reader of my blog for any amount of time, you know this past year has been especially hard for me.  Weary was a perfect way to explain me.  So when I saw this book come up for review, I knew I just had to read it!

Every woman knows that there are certain expectations of us. Our houses must always be spotless, without any knickknacks out of place, not a speck of dust anywhere, and it must smell of fresh cut flowers. Our meals must be prepared all by hand from only the freshest ingredients. That’s tiring just reading it y’all! The expectations aren’t realistic but nonetheless, it leaves us feeling incompetent. So how do we overcome these expectations poured on us as women?

Oh, how this book was needed! Elyse basically says that these expectations do little more than make us feel worthless. Can I get an Amen!! They certainly don’t encourage us at all. They take our attention from what really matters, Gods expectations of us. What are His two instructions to us? To Love Him and Love others. He wants us to believe in Him. He didn’t say “you’re only a good Christian girl if you make all your meals gluten free, wear well put together outfits and clean your house from top to bottom daily”.

This book was so encouraging! I would highly recommend it to all women!

Thank you to Tyndale Publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

About the book:

It’s not easy, getting into the Word when your house is full of little ones who need you twenty-four hours a day—but this study will help!

Here is a simple but deep approach to Bible study, divided into bite-size portions that will leave you encouraged and excited as you discover that you do have time for meaningful Bible study. 

By giving you short study assignments, five to ten minutes per day for thirty days, this book will help you make time to thoroughly study 1 Corinthians 13 and apply God’s truth in your life.

Last year, I reviewed a devotional called “Thirty Days of Bible Study for Busy Mamas:
Colossians 3″.  I just adored this devotional and did it while we were at the beach.  I loved digging into it every morning while watching the sunrise over the ocean.

So all of us Mama’s know, free time is hard to come by when you have littles. At times, even a shower is a challenge. One thing that should never take a backseat is our time spent with the Lord. We desperately need Him by our side to be the best Mama possible. This Bible study will help you do exactly that. It is geared to take 5 minutes a day. If you can’t do 5 minutes at a time, you can always grab a minute here and a minute there until you’ve completed your daily task.

Step inside the world of Elsie and Emma, the sisters behind the décor blog A Beautiful Mess. With tiny budgets and a crafty, can-do attitude, they overhauled each room in their first homes with DIY projects using family photos, vibrant fabrics, flea-market finds, and affordable furniture. Now, you can learn how to paint, craft, and decorate your way to a happy, bright space with distinct personality. In the same upbeat spirit and modern style found on their blog, you’ll find fresh, all-new projects including: 

• An inspired geometric-pattern coffee table made of balsa wood
• A hand-lettered statement wall featuring your favorite quote
• A quick and easy electrical tape update for your refrigerator
• A set of beautifully designed serving dishes
And more! 

Packed with bonus styling tips from hanging the perfect gallery wall to making mismatched furniture work, Happy Handmade Home is design inspiration for personalizing your own space.

If you knew me during my scrapbooking days, you knew I had one obsession…Elsie!  You can call it girlcrushing or fangirling…nonetheless, I was absolutely obsessive about her.  At one point my friend Tanya even sent me her autograph made out to ME!  And just so y’all know, it’s still framed and displayed.  I actually contribute a lot of my personal style to Elsie.  Before I started stalking following her, I didn’t realize it was okay to mix patterns and colors.  And with her confidence, I found myself being more confident and not worrying so much what everyone else thought.  That’s why when I saw this book up for review, I just KNEW I had to review it.

I’ve been following Elsie and Emma from the getgo. And I’ve been reading their blog, A Beautiful Mess, since it began basically. I’ve loved watching them grow and expand. I love their style and am always super jealous of Elsie’s hair. And now, the girls have expanded into writing books.

First of all, I loved the photography in this book. I loved the inside look this gave us into their homes and personalities. While we do see a lot of that on the blog as well, I loved seeing all that pictures and inspiration. I’ve already gone through and thought about which projects I want to attempt myself. And I’ve passed it on to my daughter, as I’m sure there are some cool projects in there she’ll want to try.

This is the perfect inspiration book. It’s more than just a book of how-to’s. The girls have infused it with their personalities, and it’s also just a lot of fun. I also love that all of the projects are in one place, for easy reference.

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided this book to me for free in exchange for this honest review as part of their Blogging for Books program.