Happiness: A Choice Worth Making (book review)

What if someone told you that you hold the key to unlocking your own happiness and even the happiness of your spouse? Often in our culture, people give up on marriage because it ceases to “make them happy,” and they feel that they are entitled to this right. But what if happiness is not a right to be claimed, but rather a goal to strive after? A goal, not to seek after merely what boosts your own spirit, but what brings joy to others, specifically your “other half.”

 In Making Happy, renowned marriage experts Les and Leslie Parrot teach you how to control the climate of happiness in both your life and your marriage, walking you through six “happiness boosters” …

 1. Count your blessings

2. Try new things

3. Dream a dream

4. Celebrate each other

5. Attune your spirits

6. Add value to others

 Making Happy combines meticulous research with relevant anecdotes and sprinkles in a healthy dose of timely quotes and interactive quizzes to keep the reader engaged. Whether you’re a single preparing for marriage, or a couple seeking to recover the joy in everyday moments together, this book is a great thought-provoking guide for those who strive for a blissful life.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Worthy Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Calling the Unlikely: A Review of Davis Bunn's "The Turning"

Perhaps you’ve heard the voice before. That inexplicable urging deep within your heart and soul, not audible but just as clear as if it had been shouted to you from a bullhorn. The voice of a Divine Storyteller, nudging you to follow a path you never would have expected.

It is this kind of Divine calling that Davis Bunn writes about in his new “devotional fiction” novel The Turning.

A brooding businessman from Cleveland. A snobby choir leader from Baltimore. A beautiful young oriental woman torn between two major life decisions, and an Arab learning the Christian faith. Each one hears the same message from God. Each must face a unique task. Each must take a monumental step toward forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion … spiritual obedience.

Feeling God call them to New York, these spiritual misfits band together under the leadership of a well-known Christian author to battle a rising cultural enemy.

 

My thoughts:

I love the fact that each of the protagonists is introduced as someone who we normally would not look to for spiritual guidance. Each character has baggage, yet God does not wait till their baggage is gone to call them. He calls them with dirty lives, and offers them progressive steps of obedience to follow. Yet with each step, hearts are rearranged, maturity deepens, and the characters begin to take bigger and bolder steps of faith.

Davis shows us through these characters that we don’t have to be spiritual giants for Christ to call us. We simply need to be open to hearing His voice. He’ll meet us in that spot where calling and action collide.

 

“The fruits of the Spirit require us to grow beyond our comfort zone. Like Isaiah, we are the most unworthy of believers. And yet God has called us. Each and every one of the family of Jesus. We are all invited to move beyond the failures and limitations that confine us.” ~ The Turning

 

Davis Bunn is as encouraging and Christ-focused as ever! I'm giving The Turning 4.2 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of The Turning from River North Fiction in return for my honest review.