The Respect Dare

The Respect Dare: 40 Days to a Deeper Connection with God and Your Husband 

by Nina Roesner

If you want a practical book with hands on ideas for ways to strength your relationships then this is a good book for you. This book has 40 steps to choose to do in your relationship with your spouse and with God. The steps range from actions of love for your husband, conversations to have, to simple prayers to pray. I thought that the book had a lot of practical steps to take to work on my heart and my actions towards my husband in a way that focused on respect.

        A few things I was not excited about with in the book is that the author seemed to be advertising for her group and resources. I also felt that many of the stories she used were unrealistic, or overly "romanticizes." While the situations could have been real, the way the stories were told I didn't feel I could relate well to. Overall there were some activities I felt repeated themselves and didn't do much, but some that were very hands on and worked out great. I know my husband appreciated the conversations we had and the "Dares" I did with him. In the end when I reviewed what my challenges to myself had been, struggles I had with my husband, and considered how my heart and our relationship had grown, I realized that my attitude had changed for the better. So overall I thought the book was a worthwhile read, but not the most life changing for me, or a top-rated read. If I found it for $5 or less I would buy it.  It would be fun for a group of wives to go through and discuss changes in their lives and new ideas.  

Super Stitches Sewing by Nicole Vasbinder

Super Stitches Sewing by Nicole Vasbinder 

Five stars out of Five if I were giving stars!!

I recently started sewing and taking sewing lessons to help me learn new techniques. This resource was great when I started working on trying to sew from a pattern and realized they were giving me directions on stitches I didn't know! I also used this when I was sewing pillowcases and I didn't know how to finish it up. I searched through the different stitches and found directions for a closing stitch. I have a hard time following directions on who to do things just from reading. This book provided very simple, basic and visual directions that were easy to follow and understand. There are visual example and drawn out pictures of the steps. It also explains what each stitch is on your sewing machine and various ways to use them. My sewing teacher wasn't even sure of all of the types purposes and she is a seasoned seamstress. This is a great source for a beginning sewer! 

For sale on Amazon

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers for review purposes.If this sounds like something that would interest you check out http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks

Lies Women Believe And The Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Lies Women believe by Nancy DeMoss was a captivating and educating read. Each chapter focused on a number of lies women(and men too) are faced with, struggle with, and fall pray to every day in their life. These lies were separated out by categories such as lies about themselves, lies about circumstances, and lies about priorities. The book covers every range of area we face in our lives from our emotions to our physical circumstances and families. I found the way the book was broken apart by category, and then by lies within those categories help the book to be an easier read. The way it was broken down helped me to keep the information together and to be able to apply it thoughtfully better. This also helped when I could not read the whole chapter in one sitting, to be able to come back and pick up right where I left off without having to review around me to remind myself of what I had read. I find this very helpful in books that I read for my morning quiet time, to really any nonfictional book really. Every chapter I was challenged by many lies and believes that I have felt and heard and struggled with, almost word for word. DeMoss doesn't just stop by listing those lies. This is not just about becoming self aware, but also that you are not alone in your struggles and that God's word presents truth to overcome them. Each chapter is filled with personal accounts and stories of what other women have faces, and how God has worked in their lives. Each lie is countered with the truths straight from the Bible with references. A great feature of this book that really helps you as you truly use this to study yourself and God's words for you is the end of chapter review. At the end of every chapter is a list of the lies, and the list of the truths in the Bible that counteract it. Each truth is given a list of verses where it is found in the Bible. As I read through this book I would take one day to go through each of those scriptures that went with the truths. Each chapter also ends with challenging questions to make it personal. I have seen this done in many christian books, but I really appreciate the simplicity of the questions here. Many times I feel authors try to come up with profound life changing questions for deep struggles, and end up listing questions that leave you confused instead of being able to apply what you have read to your life. In this book each time the questions were almost identical. The questions basically asked what you learned about yourself, what you learned about God, and challenged you as to what specific step you were going to take now. These questions really challenged me to start doing that in all that I read! with the repetition I was able be looking for those answers, and pondering those questions as I read, which helped me to dig deeper as I read. I see this book being one that stays on my shelf! When I am faced with struggles again I know I can go back to that book as a resource of where to find Gods promises and truths about Him to help me hold strong onto Him.