About the book:

On the other side of heartbreak, a story of hope rises.

On an ordinary September day, twelve-year-old Jack is swept away in a freak neighborhood flood. His parents and younger sister are left to wrestle with the awful questions: How could God let this happen? And, Can we ever be happy again? They each fall into the abyss of grief in different ways. And in the days and months to come, they each find their faltering way toward peace.
In Rare Bird, Anna Whiston-Donaldson unfolds a mother’s story of loss that leads, in time, to enduring hope. “Anna’s storytelling,” says Glennon Doyle Melton, “is raw and real and intense and funny.”

With this unforgettable account of a family’s love and longing, Anna will draw you deeper into a divine goodness that keeps us—beyond all earthly circumstances—safe.
This is a book about facing impossible circumstances and wanting to turn back the clock. It is about the flicker of hope in realizing that in times of heartbreak, God is closer than your own skin. It is about discovering that you’re braver than you think.

I’m always so excited to dig into a new book and this was no exception. I had read the back cover, knew the gist of the book and was still excited to start. I snuggled into bed beside my husband, who was already snoring, and began to read. Within minutes my eyes began to well with tears. Eventually working my way into a full-fledged sob.

Think of the worst thing that you can imagine as a parent. The one that gives you nightmares that wake you up in complete and utter despair and pain. Where the pain would be so insurmountable, you can’t even bear the thought. How would you ever survive the death of one of your children.

Anna’s son Jack died in a freak flash flood while playing with friends in their neighborhood. Oh, how many times I’ve allowed my kids to play in a warm summer rain. It is simply something that is so inconceivable to consider. How could that happen? How could God let it happen?

This isn’t just a memoir. This is a grief-handbook, a beautiful one. At some point in our lives, grief will wrap it’s hand around all of us. It’s important to know in that moment that we are not alone and that we can reach out to one another during extraordinarily hard times.

I’m not going to lie, this book will make you cry. But you won’t be able to put it down. You will be pulled into their family and feel like you know them intimately. You will grieve with them. Hope and beauty seem to pour out of these pages that you initially assume will be filled with darkness.

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.

About the book:

We all pray . . . some. 

We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. When the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When the marriage is falling apart. We pray. 

But wouldn’t we like to pray more? Better? Stronger? With more fire, faith, and fervency? 

Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. The calendar pounces on our good intentions like a tiger on a rabbit. And what about our checkered history with prayer? Uncertain words. Unmet expectations. Unanswered requests. 

We aren’t the first to struggle with prayer. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance too. In fact, prayer is the only tutorial they ever requested. 

And Jesus gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. Not the doctrine of prayer. He gave them a quotable, repeatable, portable prayer. Couldn’t we use the same? 

In Before Amen best-selling author Max Lucado joins readers on a journey to the very heart of biblical prayer, offering hope for doubts and confidence even for prayer wimps. Distilling prayers in the Bible down to one pocket-sized prayer, Max reminds readers that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Let the conversation begin.

Who in the world has a problem praying? Certainly not anyone I’ve met…Our Pastor doesn’t, my Mama never did, no one ever did on the Waltons and even my littles don’t…so why did I? A question I’d asked myself a million times inside my head. For some reason I’ve always felt guilty asking for things for myself during prayer. I would gladly pray for everyone else but when it came to me, I just couldn’t do it.

Have you ever had a praying problem like I did? Do you wish you had a deeper prayer life? Are you new to prayer or wish you felt you were better at it? Do you want a deeper connection to God through your prayers? I know y’all, me too! Then this is the book for you! This is a great book to help you build a deeper prayer life. If prayer is something you struggle with (and this is an area I think we all can grow in), this is a great book to work through.

I love that this book is easy to understand, but complex in meaning. I’m not a fan of needing a dictionary beside me to read a book. This book is understandable, straight away. Max admits to being a prayer wimp, which I totally understand. I think there’s a little wimp in all of us, but thankfully we can learn to pray with greater confidence and boldness…this book will show you how!

Special THANK YOU to LitFuse for providing me with a review copy. My review is my own personal opinion.

Be sure to enter the Before Amen iPad Mini giveaway. AND if you pre-order a copy of Before Amen by 9/29, you’ll receive a FREE ebook copy of Max’s best-selling Second Chances: More Stories of Grace.

One grand prize winner will receive:
An iPad Mini
Before Amen by Max Lucado

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on September 29th. Winner will be announced September 30th on the Litfuse blog.

 
Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit the Litfuse blog on the 30th to see if you won! (Or better yet, subscribe to their blog and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!)

Life is often messy. God makes provision to help us move beyond our messes but often our first instinct is to hide, deny, ignore, or run from them. Yet it is in the middle of our mess where mercy shows up and offers a safe place to process our struggles, imperfections, doubts, and fears. Then with mercy by our side, we are able to move on and experience the grace and freedom God intended. 

In Move On best-selling author Vicki Courtney helps readers come clean with their muddy messes, revealing the deeper issues they must face, including: 

Christian snobbery
struggles and broken dreams
the past
shame
legalism
the need for approval
idols
fickle faith 

Once we face our messes, God, with his sweet mercy, can help us to get real, deal, and truly move on.

This book is jam packed, from cover to cover, with just plain ole’ awesomeness. There are personal stories, excerpts from books and relevant Bible verses to showcase the message of mercy in every day life. Vicki is honest and straight forward, which I love. She shares her own stories honestly, even when they’re messy. Often, as Christians, we judge though we should not. Myself included y’all. Whether that judgement is in silence or aloud, we are guilty of doing so from time to time. How many times we don’t extend grace to those who need it the most. But yet, we expect grace to be given back to us. Vicki goes on to show that mercy is so freely given and to find the light in every darkness.

This was a great read and I would highly recommend this book to anyone, no matter your age or stage in life. But especially to those of us who feel as though we have some sort of shortcoming. This book will challenge you and, if you let it, this book will change you.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.