Wednesday 3 April 2013

Be Encouraged!

terriOne of the blogs I read regularly is “Hearts In Service” by Terri Groh, who lives north of New York City, and works alongside her husband Dan, who is a Pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance. She tutors children with reading difficulties and loves baking and crafts.

So you can see we have a fair bit in common. Terri also finds time to run a craft business, and now she has written a book [Now I am feeling quite lazy] Terri has sent me a copy of her new book and asked me to review it.

“Words of Encouragement for a Discouraged World”

This is a set of 52 Christian ‘meditations’ for women. Terri uses many examples from her life as a wife and mother. She’s clearly American, but don’t let the occasional ‘faucet’ put you off! Each meditation begins with a passage of scripture, then Terri shares a few thoughts, and finally there is a question to answer [and space to write it down, plus any other thoughts]

I liked the brevity of each meditation – ideal for ‘Mums on The Run’ who don’t have the time they would like to sit and study Scripture, or for people who perhaps want a weekly addition to their regular daily Bible study. I appreciated Terri’s candour about her own spiritual struggles. The meditations aren’t dated – you can start at any time. You could, I suppose, read them on a daily basis – so then the book would only last 7 weeks or so. However I think that if you did that, you might find some themes repeated too quickly [Who should I forgive? How do I let my light shine?]– it is better weekly.

Who would I give it to?

· Someone like my best friend, a mature Christian, busy serving her church, who might find these weekly encouragements a blessing and help

· Someone like another friend who is newer in her faith, and a busy working Mum, for whom the meditations would be a ‘pick me up’ when she is tired

· Someone who has been a Christian a while, and has wondered about ‘spiritual journaling’ – this would be a good gentle introduction to the discipline of reading, meditating and writing

· Someone who occasionally has to produce a 2-minute ‘devotional slot’ for her women’s group – these meditations are ideal for that. Concise, scriptural and challenging!

This is not deep theology – but it is exactly what it says on the label – words of encouragement. A simple thought to take you through the day and help deepen your faith and strengthen your witness. Terri has worked hard to produce this little book, and I hope it will be well received and well read. I am sure it will be a blessing to many.***

5 comments:

  1. Sounds good. Any ideas where it might be available from, though? I have some Amazon vouchers coming my way soon, but they don't seem to have it...

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    1. Keep checking Terris blog. Details there soon.

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    2. Thank you so much, Angela, for your lovely book review! I appreciate it.

      Morgan, the book is due to be released on April 15th and will be on Amazon.com. In the meantime, you can click on the link to my blog or go to my website www.terrigroh.com for information on the book.

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  2. Lovely review, Ang--thanks!

    xofrances

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  3. I thought I should come back here and mention that Amazon moved like the speed of sound and released the book much faster than I anticipated! It's up for sale today on Amazon.com! Wow!

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