Time with God for Mothers by Jack Countryman: Book Review

Time with God for Mothers by Jack Countryman is a collection of some 90 brief devotions based on verses from the New King James Version.  Sprinkled throughout the text are jeweled flowers and butterflies as if to equate Mother with a precious jewel.  The devotions are in no particular order or grouping and apply to all mothers, whether they be newly minted moms hauling a diaper bag, or the matriarch of a grown family.


Devotion titles include:

• Encouragement Changes Everything
• The Joy of a Mother’s Faith
• What is Your God-Given Talent?

Appendices include:

• Mother’s Prayers in the Bible (think Hannah, Naomi, Mary)
• Index to verses about the responsibilities of motherhood (compassion, discipline) 
• Index to verses about the promises of motherhood (fruitfulness, grace)
• A place for notes

I’ve reviewed books by Countryman before and am impressed at how he writes so tenderly for women.  The primary mood of these devotions is encouragement and these words of encouragement could easily have come from a son reflecting on what a godly mother taught him.  This is a lovely volume containing powerful Scripture and easy to read devotions that would make a great gift for your own Mom, a new mom, or a friend who’s a mom.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Eat Your Peas for Mom: Book Review

Today’s mail packet contained a small volume that’s part of the “Eat Your Peas” series of books by Cheryl Karpen.  Eat Your Peas for Mom is subtitled Simple Truths and Happy Insights.  The “eat your peas” part comes from Karpen’s own mother’s advice and this book contains something the author calls “nutrients for your heart.”

I love the cover design, but as I began flipping through the pages of this book I thought, “Oh dear. This one’s going to be glurgy.”  Call me a cynical child of the 1980‘s, but I’m not a fan of overly sentimental collections of phrases and this one does have a few.  [Maybe I’ve had one too many sappy emails in my in-box?]

Yet, when I sat down and went through the pages in order I could see a beautiful progression of sentiments that seemed to capture a woman’s thoughts about mother that range from:

• You reassured me as a child
• You put up with me as a teen and young adult
• The things you did now start to make sense to me
• I am who I am because of you
• I’ll always need you--but right now I want you to get out there and do the things you put off when you had children

Part apology, part head-smacking “why didn’t I appreciate you sooner,” there are some lovely thoughts expressed here that'll warm mom's heart.  But if this book really captures your feelings toward mom, use some of the ample white space on the left-side pages and write her a personal note. Otherwise, it’s just a book.

So, I'm of mixed feelings about this book.  It's definitely a "gift book" and it really depends on the giver and receiver as to whether or not this will make a good gift.  The spring release of Eat Your Peas for Mom is just in time to order for Mother’s Day on May 8th.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Renew Your Strength

The inspiration for this week's Jesus Boat Blog post came from a Scripture verse I saw at my son's Tae Kwon Do class.  Master Perri and instructor Karen both have Zech. 4:6 on their black belts. (and that is so cool)

So, of course I had to look it up:

So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.  Zechariah 4:6 NIV

I thought that a post talking about Tae Kwon Do might sound strange coming from a blog out of Israel (I could be wrong) so I changed the sport to weightlifting.

Here's this week's post:

Renew Your Strength


The man plants his feet on the mat and steadies his legs.  He bends his knees and grips a steel bar firmly with both hands.  His face twists into a grimace as he straightens his legs and hoists the weighted barbell high above his head.  He releases the weight and raises muscled arms in triumph: a new world record.

Athletes who perform feats of amazing strength are easy to identify by their muscular arms and legs.  Less obvious to the eye are the ordinary strongmen around us: those who shoulder heavy burdens and endure uncommon difficulties.  From where do they get their strength? How do we gain that strength?

Read the rest at The Jesus Boat Blog