B is for...BOOK

Welcome to week two of my dear, dear friend Patty Wysong's alphabetical weekly meme (rhymes with cream ;)) From A 2 Z 4 U and me will work through the alphabet - one letter each Tuesday. No rules, other than your post has to relate to the letter of the week. Link up at Ordinary Lives and check out everyone else's post. Click on the graphic above for more details, and stop by Patty's blog to link up.

Yup - B is for book.

And not just any book. Not a book I'm writing, or have written. It's a book I won on my friend Wanda's blog. A book I was admittedly quite skeptical about reading. But a book I am very, VERY glad I read, and that made me look at several things -- biblical submission and heaven, among other things --from a different perspective.

The Life Ready Woman, by Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis, as its subtitle indicates, helps women to "thrive in a do-it-all world." It is meant to help us prioritize in a God-honoring way - to make the many, many choices today's woman must make in a way that pleases our Lord and helps us grow in Him.

Okay - let's start with the basics. YES, I recommend this book (click on the title in the paragraph above to order it from christianbook.com). Anyone who is a woman should read it (and anyone who is a man should buy it for a woman).

Now for the stuff that wowed me. I'm just going to share a couple quotes that, in a sense, rocked my world. Would love your thoughts on them. And I DO BELIEVE they will be enough to encourage you to pick this book up and give it a read. Knowing what I do now, if I hadn't won it, I definitely would have bought it (and likely will for a friend or two!).

First, from chapter four: A Biblical Definition of Womanhood, Marriage, and Family.

A man's willingness to take a position of servant leadership, and a woman's willingness to allow him to do so, serves to reverse a man's sinful tendency to either passively shut down or to dominate, and serves to reverse a woman's sinful tendency to control. (p. 61)

Before I read this book, I knew the man was to be the head of the household, and I knew the woman was to be the helper. And the only reason I understood was the (completely valid) "because God said so." But now it makes sense. God sure isn't a dummy, is he?

And the second one is from chapter 10: Stewarding Your Gifts From An Eternal Perspective.

We think of heaven as this dreamy perfect place, but that is about as far as our vision goes. But we won't be floating around on clouds; we'll be living. We'll be working, and praying, and worshipping, and spending amazing amounts of time continuing old relationships and building new ones! And what we do here, before the wedding, so to speak, will shape what life looks like after the wedding. (p. 181)

I'd certainly read about, and quoted verses about treasures in heaven, and the crowns we'll be getting, but I had honestly never thought about how having them would enrich my life once I arrived. We will be rewarded in heaven for our works on earth - and our time with Jesus will be enriched by our actions here.

And that's not all that I loved in this book. It also got me thinking seriously about what I should be focusing on - and what I shouldn't. It's one I'll be referring back to many times in the future, I'm sure.

In conclusion, BUY THIS BOOK. Click here to do it.

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Thanks for reading! Stop by Patty's blog and read more "B" posts, or link up with your own.


Paving Rough Roads With God's Presence