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Family, Reviews

Book Review & a Giveaway: Brave Beauty

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At an age when girls are beginning to make some of their own decisions, they need a friend to come alongside and give encouragement. Lynn Cowell has written Brave Beauty: Finding the Fearless You with 8 – 12 year olds in mind, and provides a calm voice for the tumultuous growing up years. Brave Beauty is a devotional, a short story compilation and a journal, wrapped up into one great resource.
Lynn Cowell is a mom of three who is passionate about helping others find confidence in God’s unfailing love. She brings fresh insights to stories from the Bible, telling them in ways preteens and adults alike can relate. Lynn puts her thoughts into words that draw the reader into character-building values.


Brave Beauty incorporates quizzes and questions to prompt brainstorming and introspection in the process of self-discovery. A Topical Index makes it easy to come back to favorite issues, and projects to tackle include writing a note, sitting with a new friend at lunch, ways to be brave, planting seeds, making bath salts, starting a gratitude journal, taking action steps and thinking about dreams to pursue.
In our world of easy access to news via social media, what child is immune to fear, the comparison trap or bullying? Lynn’s voice provides a safe haven to talk about the issues at hand, and reassurance of a God who sees and hears. She describes what a Brave Beauty Girl does to treat people with dignity and kindness. Lynn tackles self-esteem issues, reinforcing self-worth, defeating insecurity, and embracing courage and bravery.

When we read God’s Word, courageous becomes contagious! ~ Lynn Cowell

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I am a fan of this book! It speaks to me as an adult who also faces life-tests, and reminds me to cling to the One who helps me be brave. Isn’t that the best kind of gift we can give to the preteens in our lives?
Enter the drawing! I am giving away a gift pack of Brave Beauty and the NIV Faithgirlz Backpack Bible, courtesy of Zonderkidz Publishers, to one reader in the continental United States. Leave a comment on my blog (at the top of this post, under the title) and answer this question, “How have you taught 1 Timothy 4:12 to the preteens in your life?” You will be entered into the drawing to be held six days from today, September 27. For an extra chance to win the drawing, leave a comment on my review of the NIV Faithgirlz Backpack Bible!
Sally
Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through The BlogAbout Network book review program in exchange for a fair and honest review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Reviews

Book Review: Breaking Busy

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Breaking Busy

When do you reach your capacity? Breaking Busy says you can identify your limits and stop saying yes to every request out of guilt. The author, Alli Worthington tells of her own pitfalls in the struggle to keep up with the demands of running a successful business and raising five boys. She shares the process she had to learn to abandon the never ending need to please, and how it provided a foundation to live out her calling.

We’re so cluttered with things we “should” do, we can’t figure out what we were meant to do.

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I have to say, she stepped on my toes. I didn’t realize how comfortable I had become with my own busyness. I thought it filled a need in my heart, but Alli says it just masked the deeper need to be a people-pleasing machine. She reminds us to ask ourselves if escaping reality is easier than reducing the To-Do list. And she provides a voice of reason, by encouraging us to “be realistic about your time and energy!”

In a culture of busyness being our barometer of worth, Alli’s book is a refreshing reminder that Jesus calls us away to rest with Him. In fact, Chapter 10 might just be the most important chapter in the whole book, because it tackles the lies we believe about where our self-worth comes from. Alli gives permission to say, “We don’t have to do it all.” She calls us back to a relationship with the Lord and His Word that fills the empty places of striving. She says, “God’s Word is continually new to us because it speaks through the filter of the circumstance of life we are in.”

Do you struggle with busyness, worry, making decisions or communication? This book is for you! Alli provides the framework for weighing each opportunity, so that you can even pass up great opportunities to be ready for the best option for you. She even offers online tools to help implement the principles laid out in the book.

Get this book! It is from the heart of encourager who has learned to overcome the cycle of busyness in order to experience the fullness of life!

Sally

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book plus a book bundle from Zondervan in exchange for my thoughts and opinions of Breaking Busy.