Our Story and the Stories of Others

Periodically, I get requests from self-published authors to review their books.  I consider and then every once in a while I agree to review the book(s) they've written.  This post is about two such books...

This month I am reading through two books.  The first is a prayer journal of

sorts. Dragonflies, Ketchup and Late-Night Phone Calls.  Daphne Tarango has written an introduction and a series of 31 prayers.  After each prayer is a place to write what you are thankful for in the morning, noon, and night.  I wasn't sure what to expect with this journal.  I had read the introduction online, which I enjoyed!  The prayers are simple ones and simply expressed.  I have to admit that I don't have time to write down at morning, noon, or night.  Instead, when I sit down each day before the day has begun, I think through the previous day and find things I can be thankful for.  It has been a good exercise for me.  Yes, I could simply follow this practice in a blank notebook, but it has been nice to have it all pre-set for me.  And I did truly enjoy Ms. Tarango's story about ketchup and late-night phone calls...  Late-night phone calls truly can be a blessing.

Along with this book, I've been reading a second book:  Women of the Secret Place.  If you've read this blog before, you know that I wear my heart on my

sleeve and talk honestly about life and its struggles.  I'm not a candy-coated, gushy kind of person.  Something that comforts me are the stories of others.  That is just this book is.  This book is a compilation of stories by Ruth Carmichael Ellinger and several others (including Daphne Tarango).  Each story is a snippet of life and a lesson someone has learned or a trial they have walked through with the Lord.  There was a story or two that I wasn't encouraged by or didn't entirely agreed with.  But, that is okay.  We are all different women and our lives are different.  This book is a book about diversity, yet it reminds us that we are one in the Lord and that we need to love the differences we have--understanding that the Lord teaches us each differently.

Both books have been encouraging reads to me this month...

Please note that I did receive complimentary copies of these two books for review.