Sunday, September 01, 2013

Book Review: Encouragement for Today

A friend of mine regularly forwards devotionals from Proverbs 31 Ministries to a bunch of us moms. I find they are always worth reading--as if the women who wrote them have been eavesdropping on our lives.  Lysa TerKeurst is my personal favorite.  She has a way of revealing her inner struggles in a way that just grabs me and when God's grace breaks through and she writes about that....well, preach it sister!

So I jumped at the chance to get an early review copy of Encouragement for Today, containing 100 devotions by TerKeurst and other members of the Proverbs 31 Team.  Each devo follows a set pattern: Bible verse, essay, prayer, a 1-3 sentence main point, questions to reflect on, a challenge to respond, and a few more verses to look up.

The women who contributed to this volume write about friendships, husbands, children, physical struggles, work and the economy, spiritual growth, and finding one's way as a woman of God in American culture.  You'll laugh; you'll cry, and sometimes you'll find yourself in the story.  Best of all there's honesty, authenticity, and truth contained within these pages.

This would make a great personal devotional, but lends itself well to a women's group study, particularly using the sections entitled "Reflect" and "Respond."

The release date is September 24th so this'll be out in time to order as a Christmas gift.  Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program in return for an honest review.