Every Day Matters Bible for Women-A Review!

I have been waiting for weeks for this book to arrive and I was so excited when it finally came! Woo hoo! Yes, I'm excited about a BIBLE! That's because this isn't just another Bible. This is a Bible written with a busy mom in mind. Someone exactly like me, and probably you too! As moms we are so busy leading and nurturing our little ones that we often don't take the time to sit and study God's Word, if we remember how to study at all!

Over on their web page they describe this Bible. 

"Today’s Christian Woman is so busy handling the challenges of day-to-day life that spending time in the Word can easily become yet another ‘should’ buried in that growing list of daily ‘musts.’ Created in partnership with Kyria.com,Christianity Today’s women’s magazine, the Everyday Matters Bible for Women is designed to help women develop spiritual practices that will make their lives richer, not harder. It offers practical encouragement and tools to renew, reinvigorate and restore meaning to everyday life.

This Bible features twenty-four disciplines—or practices—that position us to receive power and strength to do those things that we cannot possibly do on our own and make everyday life fuller and deeper. Each discipline is represented by a colorful icon whose illustration is a reminder of its meaning.

The contemporary language of the New Living Translation combines with content from today’s foremost Christian leaders to help readers understand and apply spiritual discipline."

Every discipline is explored in four ways 

• Everyday Matters. Two-page articles introduce major themes and focus on an essential part of understanding and practicing a discipline. 

• Everyday Profiles. Profiles of twenty-five Biblical women highlight a particular discipline. 

• Everyday Q & A’s. Short articles delve into a difficult aspect of the spiritual practice and offer practical help on incorporating the discipline into your daily life. 

• Everyday Reflections. Selections illustrate ways to personalize and apply God’s Word to your own situation.

More than 300 articles and features by more than 140 of today’s most well-known Christian leaders and writers, including: Kay Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Elisa Morgan, Nancy & John Ortberg, Richard Foster, Liz Curtis Higgs, and Lauren Winner.

Special Features include . . . 

• 4-color throughout 

• Color-coded icons identify each Spiritual Discipline addressed in contributors’ material 

• How to Use This Bible in a Small Group Study 

• Index of Spiritual Practices 

• Resources for further reading

My Thoughts:

I LOVE this Bible! Not only is it attractive on the outside with a lovely title, "everyday matters BIBLE for women" it helps me to remember that EVERY DAY  really matters to God. Before I received this, I wasn't sure if this was more of a devotional book with Bible notes so I was pleasantly surprised to find this is an actual Bible with wonderful treasures to discover! It can be read through just as you would read a regular Bible and read the wonderful notes throughout. It can also be used in a Bible study and there is a whole section on just exactly how to lead a group using this Bible. You can also study this Bible by following along with the 24 spiritual practices. I have decided to study alphabetically through these spiritual practices. I will share a bit about how the study goes below.

 The first spiritual practice is Acceptance. As I look under Everyday Matters category of this spiritual practice it tells me I should check out Galations 3:28. As I turn to Galations 3:28 sandwiched between Gal. 3:27 and Gal. 3:28 is a two page devotional titled "Say yes To God". This is a wonderful piece about what our worth is to God, especially as a woman. It gives the history of women and how they were treated in Biblical days and encourages us that Jesus came to break through the social norms and bring VALUE to women not just for their role as a mother but in all aspects of life. It explains that prior to Jesus, women had very little value but as the New Testament church followed Christ's teachings, Paul encouraged the churches to desegregate and allow women into the church rather than force them to sit in the second floor of the synagogue. "You all have gifts and talents and a purpose to fulfill in God's kingdom". What wonderful words of encouragement! This devotion closes with a challenge, "Now is the time to continue the revolution that was started two thousand years ago. Now is the time to say yes to God-regardless of where we are, what church we attend, or what talents we have. And watch how he changes the world through and because of the unique, wonderful gifts he gave us, women."-Ginger Kolbaba

What a challenge! There are two of these types of devotions for each of the 24 spiritual practices to study. This is followed by a wonderful profile of an actual Biblical character that struggled with the spiritual practice. For "Acceptance", I flip back to the beginning of the Bible and find Genesis 2:18-3:20 and I read all about the life of Eve and who she was in self confidence before she sinned. Oh, to walk as Eve first walked with God, full of grace and beauty, perfectly at home in her own skin, without feelings of shame, guilt, or rejection! My eyes are drawn to the scripture surrounding the study for "Acceptance" and I am drawn in to reading the surrounding Biblical account of Eve as she is first tempted by the serpent. I know the end result and so as I read I watch her life unfold before my eyes, and I want to cry, "No, don't do it!" Her life has affected mine. Her actions affected all the world. I am drawn into the scriptures, MY life affects those around me! What actions/inactions of mine are helping/hurting those surrounding my own life! The thoughts that emerge are daunting. To be a homeschooling mother to six children, I will never fully know how many lives I am impacting beyond these six children. My future grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and beyond will become who they are as a result of the seeds that I sow into the lives of my own children.

There is so much here to study and reflect upon!

Following this section, there is a question and answer section where I flip back to the book of John 21:15-23. "How can I discover what God wants me to do with my life?" is the opening question. Nancy Ortberg offers wonderful advice to answer this question using John 21:21. I love how this Q and A is positioned right within the text between John 21:20-21. Next is Everyday Reflections followed by additional scripture of note. I plan to take my time really soaking up the truths found in the pages of the Bible. I'm so excited that I have this Everyday Matters Bible for Women to hold my hand and walk me through issues that relate to women specifically!

If you are a woman and longing to know the heart beat of God's plan for your life and long for a deeper spiritual life you will LOVE this book! I think this will make an amazing gift for any special friend in your life as well!

You can learn more about this Bible by joining their Facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/EverydayMattersBible or their publisher's website here: http://www.hendrickson.com/

You can purchase online at Amazon, or christianbook.com, or your local retailers.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Spiritually Stronger in 40 Days by Serge Roux-Levrat-My Review

About the book:

“Spiritually stronger in 40 days!” contains a 40-day plan that is so powerful, yet so simple, that everybody can go through it. Big achievements are always accomplished little by little. The world is changed one life at a time.

Authors often complete their books by writing a couple of pages each day. People sustainably lose weight by eating every day a little less calories and doing a little bit more exercise. Big projects are successfully implemented by tackling one smaller milestone at a time. The same is true when it comes to living in abundance.

The forty-day plan will help readers make real progress towards that goal. Furthermore, thanks to the Holy Spirit who will accompany them during this crucial period, convict them at times, strengthen them and give them key revelations, they will be supernaturally changed in key areas by the end of the 40-day plan period. This will increase their faith tremendously and enable them to go through other growth plans that God inevitably has in mind for them.

About the author:

About Serge

“By many world criteria, Serge Roux-Levrat had a very successful start in life. He was born in Bourgoin-Jallieu, France, to a middle-class family, where he received love and sound principles. He had a privileged education, including an Actuarial Degree from the “Institut de Science Financière et d’Assurances” of the University of Lyons, and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School. He also completed the General Manager Program of the Harvard Business School. In 1995, he married his wife, Barbara, and they procreated two children.

Throughout his career, he was able to work for some of the world’s most admired companies, and at the age of 37 he realized a life-long ambition: to become CEO of a publicly quoted company. In this capacity, he had the privilege of joining the world elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2001.

By all appearances, his life was great. Internally, however, he was restless and unhappy, and was searching for the true meaning of life. He sought success by climbing the corporate ladder, but slowly realized that success did not equal joy or peace or purpose; and he felt guilty not to be happy when life had dealt him such a good hand of cards compared to millions of other people. 

In 2001, all this was to change: in one day his world was turned upside down when he lost his coveted job as CEO. What followed was a seven-year period of soul-searching in what he calls “God’s detoxification clinic.” Here, he found Jesus – not a religion, not a set of rules to follow, not an ideology, not a philosophy, but a real person, alive, loving, and all-powerful. Here, he learned to put his trust and sense of security only in God – not in money, not in social standing, and not in professional success. Here, the unconditional, unfaltering love of God changed his whole life, mindset, and priorities.

As a result, he has responded to God’s calling to serve as Ambassador of Jesus Christ and to work, together with the body of Christ, towards a Christian revival in Europe. He operates through SRL Ministries.”

My thoughts:

I loved the title of this book and enjoyed watching the video (see below) as I researched more information about the book before choosing to review it. This is an ebook, so if you have trouble getting on a laptop like I do from time to time, this might be a little trouble to get through in the suggested 40 days. If you have a portable device you would do much better to get through this book than I did. With that being said I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone looking to dig deeper into their life and make some changes in order to develop healthier habits in relationships, marriage, and better ways to handle life!
Each day is broken up into a daily reading with scripture taken from the International Version of the Bible followed by daily" Homework", where you are to apply what you have just read to your life. The Daily Reading titles are very catchy. Some of my favorite titles were Day 10 "Don't Spend Money on What is Not Bread!" and Day 35, "Cause your marriage to be More Like Heaven than Hell". I highly recommend this book!

Spiritually Stronger In 40 Days! from SRL Ministries on Vimeo.

You can purchase this as a Kindle download over at Amazon or at http://www.srlministries.org/

Spiritually stronger in 40 days! by, Serge Roux-Levrat

ISBN: 978-3-906001-12-8 | | List Price $5.36 USD    | Format: Kindle Edition  | Pages: 93

I received a free copy of this ebook to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Introducing....ShapelyGirl Fitness! #shapelygirl

Below are all the links to follow my progress!

Week ONE Fitness Friday Check-in

Week TWO Fitness Friday Check-in

Week THREE Fitness Friday Check-in

Week FOUR Fitness Friday Check-in

Final Post and wrap-up!

When I joined Christian Women Affiliate I was really excited about being able to get a few books to review, but I was over the top EXCITED to learn I was chosen to join the special crew to review the ShapelyGirl Fitness DVD! My DVD,  "Let's Get Stepping" just arrived today and I cannot wait to get started! I will be doing this along with 27 other amazing women as a "challenge" using the ShapelyGirl Fitness DVD's for the month of October!



"Debra Mazda’s Shapely Girls focus is…
No Matter what size you are- even if you’ve never worked out before- start moving, breathing and feeling great. Debra is living proof you don’t need to be a size 2 to be Fit & Fabulous! At 315 pounds, Debra decided that diets were not the answer and discovered that exercise can transform your body and your life. Debra & her Shapely Girl Team will work out right along with you and teach you to embrace your curves while getting fit and healthy. She’s now a Healthy and Fit size 10."


But why would I want to be on this crew? Well, I've got at least SIX reasons! My 6 kids!!!
But to be vulnerable, share my struggles openly? Why would I CHOOSE to do that?!
Because I think we all struggle with weight. I want to be open and honest that having 6 kids and staying fit is hard work!

I'm 38 years old and I spend my days homeschooling my kids and driving them to all their co-op and extra-curricular activities. I don't always pay attention to my body's needs for exercise and nutrition. I'm also about 20-25 pounds heavier than I would like to be! Here I am in January of this year after giving birth to my 6th child. (Note the exercise equipment in the background. Available to the entire family, yet barely used!) I think I weigh about 185 lbs. here. I'm still pretty puffy from my c-section too.

Over the sixteen years I have been birthing my kids, my weight has gone up and down. I usually gain about 35-40 pounds per pregnancy. Not a HUGE amount but more than my body should probably gain especially in order to take the weight off quickly. So I figure I've probably gained over 240 lbs in the last 16 years, and taken off all of it except for the last 25-30 lbs. My body likes to hover at a certain weight where my hormones are unstable, placing me in the battle against infertility more than once. (I know, you wouldn't think that looking at me with 6 kids, but it's true! Second time infertility has been a huge part of my life these last 12 years.)

I still love to be active with my kids though. Here I am with my youngest son on a walk last week.

I'm hoping to gain tons of energy and strength while increasing in flexibility and loosing inches over the next month! I will be watching my scale (can't help it!) but I'm focusing more on my energy and inches lost for the month! I used to take a step class about 9 years ago and had a lot of fun, so I'm really looking forward to this DVD!
I hope you will check back each Friday for a Fitness Friday check-in and follow along with me as I accept this ShapelyGirl Fitness challenge!

Here is more info about the DVD I will be using!

Debra Mazda and her ShapelyGirl team are back with Let's Get Stepping!, a step-cardio workout for beginners. Debra Mazda, M.Ed is the leader of the plus-size fitness movement and creator of the ShapelyGirl DVD series. Her philosophy is Fitness Comes in Many Sizes and she will inspire you to get moving with her friendly, energetic style and her personal story of overcoming obesity once and for all through exercise.

This workout will help you burn calories and increase flexibility and stamina. It includes fun, easy-to-learn moves designed for larger women, but they are great for anyone who is new to Step or hasn't done it for a while. Features of this DVD include Debra's Step Tutorial (where she demonstrates each move), a bonus Cardio track with weights, and a new edition of "Circle Time" where the ShapelyGirls share their thoughts on body image, finding their motivation and working toward their fitness goals.

Level: Beginner

Runtime: approximately 82 minutes

You can check out a sample below of what I'll be doing!!! Woot! Woot! 

I look forward to sharing with you THIS Friday!

I just LOVE this picture, special thanks to Noelle Mena for creating it and allowing us to share it! God bless!

  I received a free copy of this DVD to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.