Posts in Book Review
Soul Care From Your Child’s Bookshelf
Soul Care From Your Child’s Bookshelf

Have you ever re-read a favorite story from your childhood and thought, “Woah, were these messages in there the whole time?”

Something happens when we read children’s stories. Our hearts are open to messages of love and fear, struggles and redemption in ways that we would never grasp in a Sunday sermon.

Yes, they are great for my children, but hold on, they are good for me too!

Through a story written for children, my heart received the tender care it needed from my loving Father. His message of unconditional love got in. It cemented itself in my heart forever. It is part of me now.

That’s the power of children’s stories as soul care.

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Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'Mearabook review, Soul Care, Spiritual Formation, spiritual disciplinesComment
Book Reviews: Devotionals from 2020
Book Reviews: Devotionals from 2020

Devotionals are a great way to start a habit of meeting daily in a Quiet Time with God. If you’d like help starting a daily devotion time, please email me or leave a comment below. I’d love to help you. I’m thankful for quality devotionals that lead me to a scripture and give me something to think on during a busy day or busy season.

Here are a few devotionals that I’ve had my hands on recently.

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Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'MearaDevotional, book review, Bible study Comment
Book Review: A Chance to Die + a printable

Missionary, Amy Carmichael, made a sign with the words, “In everything, give thanks,” and marked each corner with the initials of hardships she was enduring. She gilded the edges and hung that sign in her cabin. Every time she looked upon it, she thanked God for the things represented by those initials, including rats and cockroaches.

Upon reflection, I realized I have never thanked God for my undiagnosed bleeding disorder. I have not thanked him for a horrendous experience in the ICU or for the loss of my lung. I did thank him for teaching me beautiful truths through those experiences but I have never thanked him for the experiences themselves.

So, I made my own sign, “In everything give thanks,” and I jotted down initials of my own personal sufferings in the corners and I placed it on my bedside table. Because I love this lesson so much, I made signs for you too. You can download a card and write your own initials in the corners.

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Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'Mearamissionary, suffering, Thanksgiving, chronic disease, book review Comments
Book Reviews: The Connected Parent & Hands Full
Book Reviews: The Connected Parent & Hands Full

The Connected Parent provides real-life applications for concepts taught in The Connect Child. If What I loved most about this book is the hope that is found between the pages. These are tools that work! The wins that Lisa shared (and some losses) encouraged me to keep going, to not give up on these tools, and to keep hope alive.

No matter what your hands are full with, Momma, you need encouragement. Encouragement is exactly what my friend Brooke Frick provides in this book, Hands Full: Thirty Days of Encouragement for Busy Moms.

If you think you don’t have time for self-care, or you haven’t read a book in a year, this is the book for you. If you only have time to read three pages before you fall asleep, choose this book for those three pages. You are not alone in your full life, friend. Be encouraged because God is the one who filled your hands and he will enable you to carry all that you must in your motherhood journey.

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Book Review, BlogNicole O'Mearabook review, adoption, motherhood, TBRI, devotional Comment
Book Review: The Promise is His Presence {BONUS: Video Conversation}
Book Review: The Promise is His Presence {BONUS: Video Conversation}

Author Glenna Marshall, a Christian living with chronic illness, struggled to feel satisfied when so much of her life wasn’t the way she thought it should be. Sitting on her couch with the Truth in her lap, she believed God was good, she just wasn’t sure He was good to her. What other reason could there be for her missing pieces?

She went on a quest for an answer and it led her to Jesus. Only Jesus.

The Promise is His Presence: Why God is Always Enough is her journey to finding satisfaction in God alone.

I read The Promise is His Presence earlier this year and it resonated so deeply with me that I reached out to Glenna and asked if I could interview her. She said, yes! So, this book review is even better with a BONUS video conversation.

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Book Review, Blog, VideoNicole O'Mearabook review, Soul Care, chronic diseaseComment
Book Review: Out of Zion
Book Review: Out of Zion

Lisa grew up in a loving family in Utah, a sixth generation Mormon. She was so immersed in the Mormon culture, she didn’t even know what a protestant church service looked like.

Then, she met a guy… and the guy was a Christian… and he asked her questions like, “How do you know your scripture is the one true scripture?” She answered what she was taught and what she believed, “Because I’ve had a burning in the bosom.” That’s the truth test in Mormonism — a warm fuzzy feeling, proof of the Holy Spirit’s touch. Without that, you can’t know if something is true. With it, something must be true despite facts and logic. The answer didn’t satisfy her boyfriend and suddenly, it didn’t satisfy her either.

Out of Zion is Lisa’s personal story of finding the Jesus of the Bible. I couldn’t put this book down.

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Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'Mearablog, grace, Spiritual FormationComment