The Blessing: Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance by John Trent, PH.D. and Gary Smalley

“This book can put into words what you missed as a child as well as provide practical, hands-on ways of communicating unconditional love and acceptance to your children and loved ones.”
-Excerpt, pg. 5, The Blessing: Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance


I am a parent. I want to be a good parent. I don’t think this knowledge just comes naturally. Parents need tools and education to be that guide down the path that God has planned for their children. In the book, The Blessing: Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance, John Trent, PH.D., and Gary Smalley demonstrate a biblically- based plan for blessing your child, and helping them to become everything God created them to be.

There are five elements of “The Blessing,” including meaningful touch, a spoken message, attaching high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment. The book is divided into three parts that include “Why Is the Blessing So Important?”, “Understanding the Blessing”, and “When the Blessing Doesn’t Happen.” Each of these three sections elaborates more on the five aspects of “The Blessing” and shows why it is so important.

This is a very important book in my opinion. The Blessing is focused on the parent-child relationship, but it will benefit other relationships as well. “The Blessing” can be applied to a relationship with a spouse, a friend, a co-worker, and anybody who you feel compelled to help achieve God’s very best for their life.

I liked this book very much. I cried frequently while reading it. I could see where “The Blessing” had been missing in my own life, and where I needed to work on applying “The Blessing” with my children. I recommend this to everybody. If you want to improve your relationships with people, this will be helpful to you. If you want insight into your own behavior, this book will help you as well, because you will be able to see where “The Blessing” was missing in your own life, which might bring some healing to your soul.

Many “Blessings” to you as read.

In Him,
Beth

Disclaimer: I receieved this book free from Booksneeze as part of a books for bloggers program. I was not required to give a favorable review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

“You have lived a good life, my dearest, loveliest friend. You have born the weight of England’s Reformation on your shoulders. You have used your influence to place men who stand solely on Scripture”-I looked at her almoner-“throughout the Church of England and they will stand, and lead others, long after you are gone. You have borne a good daughter. You have been a most excellent wife and loyal friend. The rest is now to faith.”
-Meg Wyatt, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

I love to read. My mom taught me how to read before I ever entered kindergarten. It has been one of the greatest gifts she has given me. The test of a good book for me is when I am finished, it is bittersweet. Bitter because it is over, but sweet because I got to experience the journey and be a part of the story for just a little bit. For me, To Die For: A Novel of Ann Boleyn, found that bittersweet quality, but in a totally different way. It was sweet because I got to experience the journey. Granted it is a fictional rendering of actual events in history, but still I got to experience the lives of those included during the events surrounding the lives of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. It may also be bitter because it had to end; a novel always does. But it is just a temporary ending, for I know one day the story will continue, only in Heaven, and I and many others will be present, including the late Anne Boleyn.

For a long time, the opinion I held of Anne Boleyn was unfavorable, due to my limited knowledge. She even aggravated me a little throughout the book. But now, that is all changed. Told by her closest friend, Meg Wyatt, To Die For chronicles, in fiction form the pursuit of Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII. This pursuit, as history so clearly states, ultimately results in Anne’s demise. Most powerfully along the way, we are drawn into the Protestant Reformation and its withdrawal from the Roman Catholic Church as authority on all matters related to the Church. Tucked in the story of marriage, reformation, and death, is the forbidden romance of Meg Wyatt and Will Ogilvy, called to be a priest, focused on reform in the church, the scriptures being made available to be read by all.

I truly enjoyed this book. Sandra Byrd’s extensive research on Anne Boleyn is evident in this fictionalized account of her life, marriage, and all those involved in the events of the royal court during the time of Henry VIII. The hand of God is revealed so beautifully by Byrd as she brings to light the role that Anne Boleyn’s life played in the reform. Although the author states that most of the story related to Meg, our storyteller, is fiction, her character is compelling. She has many endearing qualities which keeps the reader cheering for her until the very end.

When I read a book that moves me, I always want more, which prompts further research on my part, to separate the fact from fiction. This is another one of those books! The student of history will enjoy this book. Women who enjoy romance will not be disappointed. Lovers of historical fiction will be overwhelmed. I recommend it to all who wish to learn about an extremely pivotal point in the history of the Church. I hope your heart is touched and your perspective of events in history refreshed. Many blessings as you read!


To read an excerpt from To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, please visit www.christianbook.com.


To order your own copy of To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, visit
www.amazon.com.


If you would like to learn more about the author and/or the Tudors, please visit her website at www.sandrabyrd.com.




Disclosure Statement: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to give a favorable review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Faith Deployed...Again

The humility required in allowing others to serve us can be difficult, but so important in our journey of faith. When we allow the body of Christ to support us, we bless others by letting them use the gifts and strengths God has given them to share in His work.-Excerpt from “Held Up” by Bettina Dowell in Faith Deployed…Again

I love being a military wife. I am only just recently coming to this realization. Becoming acclimated to this life has been a real challenge for me. During my last “I’m having a military wife meltdown,” I had a friend tell me to quit struggling against this life and just learn to flow with it. That one little sentence from her and that encouragement from a fellow Christian military wife helped me so much. That is what the reader will find in Faith Deployed… Again.

To read more of my book review of Faith Deployed...Again, please join me over at Wives of Faith.

Book Giveaway Winners

Thank you for participating in the book giveaways this past week everybody! I hope you were encouraged and blessed as you read the reviews!

I have two new winners to announce! I was unable to connect with the first winner of Untamed, so a new name was drawn, and the new winner of Untamed by Lisa Harper is Jennie!!!!

As for the Reader's Choice book giveaway, the winner is Carie! The book she chose and commented on is Praying For Your Future Husband by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer!

Congratulations and thank you ladies for participating! Many blessings!

Winner of Untamed by Lisa Harper and New Giveaway!

And the winner of Untamed by Lisa Harper is..............

Congratulations! You have until July 4th,2011 to respond, or I will need to draw a new winner. :) Please message me at bethyrev@yahoo with your contact information so I can ship your book!


And now for another giveaway!

I have decided to give away another book from my blog, reader's choice!

What you do:

1. Browse through the book reviews currently on my blog.

2. Decide which one you would like.

3. Leave a comment on that review telling me why you would like to win that book!

A winner will be drawn at random from the readers who have left a comment between the dates of July 1st and July 4th, 2011 12:00 a.m. EST. I will announce the winner on July 5th. I will order and ship a copy of the book with the winning comment. Make sure to check back to see if you win! A new winner will be drawn if I haven't been contacted by July 8th. Many Blessings and Happy Reading!!!

P.S. One of my book reviews is The Homeward Trilogy by Lisa T. Bergren. If you comment on this review, and yours is the winning comment, I WILL send you all 3 books!!! :)