Heaven Is For Real

In my Single Mom's group, one of the moms brought up this book and how good it is.  She basically gave away the jist of the book.  I borrowed this book from the local library, though, it took about 6-7 weeks to finally get it.  That's alright.

In about 2.5 hrs, I was able to read the book from start to finish.  It's a very easy read.  I think the book can be a bit shorter and more to the point, but this book is better than another book where the man went to Heaven for 90 min.

The little boy went to Heaven for 3 minutes, but how he describes it, it seems much longer.  I always wondered whether there are animals in Heaven.  This little boy, which his name eludes me right now and I've already turned the book back to the library, talks about animals.

What I really liked was that people know each other, even if they never met in life on earth, but because of the connection, they KNOW each other.  Isn't that cool?  So, that tells me that though I may not have led a specific person to the Lord, maybe what I did for one person that did lead that person to the Lord, I may know that person that was led to the Lord.

It got me to thinking about Heaven a lot and giving me some assurance.  I want so much for all of my family and extended family to go to Heaven, as well as my friends and well beyond that.  I think this is a good book for others to read.

Making Sense of the Men in Your Life

Kevin Leman has a lot of good information and his style of writing is alright.  He says things in a matter of fact way and the information in this book wasn't all that new.  Maybe it's because lately I've been reading books on men and listening to teleseminars.  Though Kevin Leman is a Christian, I guess I do expect a more godly approach to things rather than what seems like a secular view.

He does give practical ways and things for people to do.  Basically, men and women, though they are equal, they are wired differently.  They have different needs and communication styles.  This is what he talks about.  Men should not be women and women should not be men.  Let men be men and he basically spells it out.

I'm reading some other books by Leman right now, so hope I'm not getting these books confused.

Eat, Cheat & Melt the Fat Away

I have one of Suzanne Somers' books that I bought several years ago but never got very far in it.  The reason why I borrowed this book from the library was because it was mentioned on a teleseminar that I was listening to.  Since the library had it, why buy it?

Maybe it's where I am in my life, in my 40s, and my body is changing and the things I used to do, it used to be easier to lose bodyfat and exercise.  Now, I feel more aches & pains. 

Not sure how many pages this book is, but I was able to complete this book in a matter of a couple days.  There are lots of good recipes in the back of the book.

Anyway, it is an easy read.  Suzanne can be a little long-winded in some areas, but that's okay.  I think it's her being real and that is what reaches a lot of people.  She makes no bones about being challenged to drop bodyfat and to look good.  She says it was easy when she was in her 20s & 30s, but once she got into her 40s, things changed and continued to.

Suzanne's book is about living more naturally, though, everything isn't totally green and organic, but she gives tips and helps people to make strides to begin making healthier choices for their lives.  I'm not sure how much this information is repeated in her other books or not.  But, since this is the first book of hers I actually read, it is a good book. 

It's less overwhelming than Paula Owens' book, but you have to weed through the personal stuff with the factual stuff.  I like the testimonials, but then, who doesn't.  Testimonials are given to help motivate.  Anyway, I did end up buying the book used for hardly anything.  Shipipng cost more than the book.

She lays out what the eating plan to lose bodyfat is and maintenance.  These are ways to eat for life.  The recipes are really yummy.  I have a bad habit of food combining, like fats & carbos.  That's a no-no.  And, I'm used to eating fruit with proteins.  Also another no-no.  So, I have some challenging habits to break.

The Power of 4

Paula Owen's book has soooo much information, I originally borrowed this book from the library but ended up buying a copy.  I read through this book pretty quickly, but it was super overwhelming. 

Honestly, I don't know that I can do all these things anywhere close to the next 5 years unless my financially situation turns super great.  However, there are still many changes that I can make.

This is a good reference book and definitely a read again and more thoroughly.  She has a medical background and looks amazing.  I think she is in her 50s and to my knowledge, she hasn't had plastic surgery.  However, I don't really know.

There are many things in the American culture that we do that are very harmful to the body.  It seems like we can't get away from it, but as I've been working on this for the past decade, where I am now is much better than 5-10 yrs ago.  In the next 5-10 yrs, I'll be even all that much better.  I'm thankful for this book.

The Soulmate Secret

Okay, this book really was low for me in terms of being useful.  I had to weed through so much New Age crap, that I just couldn't handle it that much.  I got to the point I just had to skim the last half of the book because each story seemed to have someone turning to a psychic to get their direction.  That is demonic and just plain yucky.  How can any reasonable person turn to a psychic? 

Yes, I'm glad all those people got connected to their soulmates.  There isn't anything that it talks about that is all that different, just different words are used.  She uses the idea of creating specific lists for your soulmate, as well as doing a vision board type thing.  Then, there is forgiveness of yourself and others.  Let go of the past so you can move forward.  A lot of common sense stuff wrapped up in New Age mumbo jumbo.

Don't waste your money.

Making Sense of Men

Making Sense of Men was a book I heard about on the WISH (Women's International Summit on Health) teleseminar series for 2011.  Allison Armstrong was one of the guest speakers and I really liked her.  I checked out her book from the public library and it's a very small, short book.  This was a very easy read, however, it had a lot of good information.

I love in chapter 2 where she says "Men Are Not Hairy Women".  I think often I still expect men to think like me, the woman, and they just do not.  It's frustrating, but God did not make men like women or vice versa.  He made each to be as He purposed. 

Though this is not a biblical book, she has the point biblically.  She says that getting men's attention is through our sexuality is through 4 things:  1)  Sexual Energy; 2) Sensuality; 3) Shapely Body; 4) Shiny Hair.  The response from men is to have sex.  She starts off with what many men and women already know.

Having just that in a relationship isn't enough because men when they get that sex, it just ends there sooner or later.  There's no depth to that.

Allison then talks about when a man is "Charmed & Enchanted", that he wants more from the woman than just a superficial sexual type thing.  These are the 4 characteristics of women that cause them to be "Charmed & Enchanted":  1)  Self-Confidence; 2) Authenticity; 3) Passion; 4) Receptivity.  This produces the response in men to want to A) Spend time with us; B) Take Care Of Us; C) Protect; D) Contribute To; E) Make Happy; F) Fall In Love With

She talks about women not short-changing themselves with focusing on the things that attract sexually, rather do the things that charm & enchant a man.  She also talks about women not giving up ourselves sexually in any relationship, rather in marriage only and staying faithful there.

Anyway, she expounds succinctly in each of those things listed and is well-worth the read.

Project Everlasting

Project Everlasting is a delightful book that was written by 2 bachelors, one of whom is engaged to be married.  I heard about Mat Boggs when I attended online the WISH (Women's International Summit on Health) teleseminars and found Boggs humorous, but wise.  I learned a number of things about men that I did not realize.

Since Boggs is a man, it is helpful to hear from a man, rather than a woman on men.  This wasn't a book on these are the things men like or do not like and this is how women are to appease men, rather, this book had so many stories of couples' whose marriages have worked and been long, and in many cases, until death do us part.

I felt connected to these couples and LOVE how the book was formatted.  Each couple that they shared their story touched me, minus maybe 1 couple.  I honestly don't know how many couples' stories they shared, but it was probably 3-5 dozen stories.  They weren't long stories, and they weren't all stories where both the man and wife totally got along all the time, rather they were stories of how they kept their marriages to be long lasting and to the point that they could not live without their spouse.

Often, I was in tears or just touched by the love of each couple.  Growing old wasn't a bad thing, but it was almost like a flower that maybe first starts it's budding early in their relationship and doesn't reach the peak of the blossom until one spouse dies. 

What an incredible 4+ yr project, but I also appreciate Jason and Mat's honesty that doing the project wasn't "blissful" nor easy.  Their candor was refreshing and I found it more impactful than a book of to do's, rather it was a book of selflessness (putting the other person above yourself), commitment and respect.  Those are the 3 words that I think made each marriage successful.  Each story had a picture of the couple, their names, and how long they were married at the time they got put in the book. 

Loved the book!