Renewing You book Review

 Renewing You 

by Father Nick Louh and Dr. Roxanne Louh

I am very torn by my thoughts on this book.  I think it would be easiest to divide my thoughts into a set of Pro’s and Con’s:

Pro’s

• This book covers many different areas of personal life: Prayer, Thoughts, Vices, Trials, Self Care,

• Marriage, Kids and Sharing your light.  

• Dr. Roxanne does a wonderful job explaining the psychology of our minds and actions. 

• I appreciate the amount of science she uses to explain how our minds work.  

• This is a great workbook format. There are a lot of thought provoking questions. This book

• takes a good time commitment to be used correctly and beneficially.

• I enjoyed reading and connecting with the anecdotal stories.  They helped tie in the message.

• It is very clear that Father Nick and Dr. Roxanne have many experiences to share.  I could tell

• that they had a personal understanding of many different situations.  This made the book very

• relatable. 

• I really like how the chapter on Self Care covered more in depth ways to take care of yourself

• and quick fixes like getting your nails done or a bowl of ice cream. 

• There is so much supportive Scripture!   

• Several quotes were inspiring to me:

•  “Peace is not the absence of a storm, it’s the presence of God.” page 48  

• ‘We can’t rely on ‘feeling like it’ in order to do the things our bodies require.” page 173  

• “Just keep remembering that choices lead, feelings follow.” page 175

Con’s

• I was absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of Bible translations used.  I counted 6 different

• translations in the first chapter.  This makes me leery and makes me feel like the Scripture is

• being twisted to make a point.  

• I am unsure of the intended audience of this book.  It is written in such a way that maybe

• Protestants would be more likely to read.  

• In the chapter of Prayer there is no mention of using the Jesus Prayer or having an Orthodox

• Prayer rule.  While the First Fifteen plan is probably a very good idea, I was very disappointed

• by the lack of Orthodox influence.  We have daily scripture readings and daily Saints lives that

• would be wonderful to include first thing in the morning, as well as the Trisagion prayers.  Also

• mentioning the importance of developing spiritual guidelines with your Spiritual Father would

• have been a good suggestion.

• The chapter of Vices covered a lot of interpersonal issues, but lacked focus on personal vices. 

• Many of my battles deal with my own issues.  There was also a lack of discussion on the

• importance of Confession.  I feel like making the full cycle of repentance is lacking if there is no

• form of confession.  Planning for confession would have been a helpful addition to this chapter.  

• I don’t see the full flow of all of the chapter headings.  While Marriage and Children are great

• topics, not everyone reading the book will be married or have children (or even children of the

• ages discussed).  I feel like there are other life situations that should have been included.  While

• I appreciate the need to Shine Your Light, I did not feel like that chapter cohesively fit with the

• rest of the book.  It was more of a good remember for the reader, not a description of Renewal.  

• I personally would have preferred prayers from the Saints at the end of each chapter rather than

• the ones written by the authors.

I do feel like I benefited from reading this book and would like to go back to some of the chapters

and take some more time thinking through my personal life.  The book did not have a strong Orthodox

feel to me, so I am not likely to highly recommend this book to my Orthodox friends.  

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

All Is Well Book Review

 

I could not have read this book at a more appropriate time.  If there ever was a need to be reminded ‘All is well’, now is that time!  That being said, this book covers a wide range of topics that are applicable during any season of life.  This is definitely a book that I will be reaching for again and again, highlighting different passages as I grow as an Orthodox Christian.  

Dr. Rossi is so very candid connecting his personal life to the lessons he is sharing.  This makes the book very relatable.  He also uses many quotes from scripture and the Holy Fathers. His career as a psychologist, life as a monastic, married man and father, widower, alcoholic and professor provide such an extensive range of life experiences from which he shares many truths in simple, easy to read sections.  

This is a book that can be read even if you cannot commit to long bouts of reading, which is wonderful for a busy mom like me.  It actually is probably best read in smaller chunks so that the reader can process and fully understand the wisdom of Dr. Rossi’s words. I really enjoy how simple this book is to read.  Each chapter is brief and has short anecdotal stories/thoughts that explain the topic.

I am glad to be able to add ‘All Is Well’ to my bookshelf.  I will definitely be recommending this book to friends.

I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Painting Angels Book Review

To begin, I had my 10 year old daughter read Painting Angels and give me

her thoughts:

I liked the book because it was very exciting and interesting.  

It was a good book because it talks about being nice to people you

might not think you would be friends with.

I was able to make connections with my own visit to a monastery.

Some of the nuns reminded me of the nuns that I interacted with when I visited.

It made me really want to find out what was going to happen next.

While I was reading the book I understood what Macrina was feeling and

I was wondering why Sam was doing what he was doing.

I can really relate to Macrina.

While I was reading the book it felt like a short story but it still feels like

it had a lot of detail. I really felt like I could have been there in the story.

I could see the story unfolding in my head.

My thoughts on Painting Angels:

I was immediately drawn to the ease of reading this book.  The words are big

and the phrases are small.  The story moved at a quick pace and I did not

want to put the book down.  I actually finished it in one day!  I know that the

character Sam has been introduced in other books in this series.  While this

book stands alone, I do feel like I missed some history that could have helped

me understand his character better.  That being said, I really want to read the

other Sam and Saucer books!  I fell in love with Macrina and her frustrations. 

I ended up day dreaming of what it would be like getting to spend my summers

working at a monastery.  The style of the story reminded me of The Magic

Treehouse books.  I am thankful to have some easier chapter books for my

7-10 year olds to read.  The message was easy to understand and written in

an interesting format for a young (and even older) reader.  I really hope that

there are more books written about Sam and Macrina, I fell in love with the

characters!

A Child's Guide to Prayer Book Review

I have been so surprisingly pleased with this book!  At first glance, my 13 year old thought that the
book was cute, but maybe a bit juvenile.  But it immediately caught the attention of my
7, 8, and 9 year olds. The prayers are really not that much different/shorter than what we
typically pray for evening prayers, yet these girls are eager for their turn to help lead our
family in prayer each night.  Even my teenager is happy to have a turn reading. On top of that,
my elementary aged children are even bringing the book to me in the mornings for a chance
to do morning prayers. We could easily be using this book so many other times during the day,
praying at meals, to other saints, for communion, etc.  I feel like we’ve barely cracked the potential
of prayer this book offers. The small size and the beautiful pictures are appealing to my children.
Even though there are some big words, the prayers are common and my girls are able to figure
them out. It is so nice to start seeing them take some ownership of their own prayer lives and that
of our family.  I am thankful to have this tool to help my children (and myself!) grow in their
relationship with God through prayer.

I was provided with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Holy Angels Book Review

First off, I have to say that I love Mother Alexandra.  I have read her memoir, I Will Live Again, and
visited Holy Transfiguration, the monastery she started in Elwood, PA.  I was very excited to hear that
Ancient Faith Publishing was reprinting her book Holy Angels. This book is such a very thorough
resource on Angelology starting at the very beginning of creation and continuing throughout history
to the present time.  I really like how she broke her study down into categories. She covers the
entirety of the Old and New Testaments as well as the early church Fathers, major historical time
periods, even examining the history of angels in art.

One of my favorite aspects of this book is that it’s not based on personal opinions.  Mother Alexandra
thoroughly breaks down the Scriptures to share each time Angels are mentioned.  She gives the
synopsis of the encounter with the Angel and the attributes that we can gather from the facts stated. 
I also really love how she inserts prayers from Orthodox prayers, Akathists and Cannons as they
pertain to the topic discussed.  It helps to unify the sacred subject of Angels to our daily spiritual life.
  

While the book is said to be written for lay people, I did have some trouble understanding some topics.
Mother Alexandra is obviously very well educated and does discuss some complex thoughts on
Angels. Most of the stories were very understandable, but there were definitely a few sections that
I had to reread and then read again to try and understand what was being said.  

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Holy Angels.  I learned many things about Angels that I had not
noticed while reading the Scriptures and even more through early church history and art.  I gathered
many helpful quotes and notes to look back through and contemplate as I continue to grow and study.
  

“We can only truly comprehend the angels when we see them as true servers of God, perfectly
fulfilling his command, executing their mission in fullest reflection of God’s will.”  

The Holy Angels

Mother Alexandra

Tending the Garden of Our Hearts Review

To begin my review, I feel like I should share a little about our family.  I have 6 daughters ages 13,12,9,8,7 and 3. I was hesitant to get this book because I was afraid it was going to make me feel inadequate, one more holy thing I should be doing for my kids during Lent. But I was pleasantly surprised that the readings did not seem too daunting.  I listened to the book in several different situations in order to get a good feel for how I would use it during Lent. I listened to the majority of the book on my own, sometimes out loud. My kids would sometimes stop and listen and even ask questions afterwards. My 8 year old made me pull up videos of the Holy Fire. 

The car ended up being the best place for listening!  The kids were already seated and were a captive audience.  My 12 and 13 year olds said that they enjoyed the reading and were able to answer the questions at the end.  They said that they didn’t mind listening. “It wasn’t bad,” was their very descriptive response. I also had my 9,8,7 and 3 year olds listen in the car.  My 9 and 8 year old were able to follow along pretty well, my 7 year old had a little more trouble paying attention. My 3 year old played, but she obviously heard some of it because she proudly answer “Jesus!” to all the questions.  I was surprised when my 9,8, and 7 year old were also able to answer the questions. My kids really enjoy listening to books during car trips, so this will be a great addition for Lent. Also, having something to listen too just feels easier than having to sit down and read something out loud.  I like easy!

One surprise of the book was that I really enjoyed it just for myself. It was very pleasant to listen too and the readings each day were just enough to help get me focused on Christ and feel more empowered to guide my children through Lent.  I also really enjoyed the ideas for each week at the end of the book. The ideas were so simple, you don’t have to be a Pinterest Queen to be able to do them with your children. Many of them I am looking forward to doing with my kids each Lent.  I love that the authors provide many different ideas, so if one doesn’t sound like it would work for the family, there are still other ideas to choose from.  

My only complaints have nothing to do with the book itself, but with Audible. There are no written chapter titles.  So while I knew what number chapter I was listening to, I couldn’t just look and click on Week 3 Monday. It would also be nice to have titles for the Appendix section so that I would know where to click to get the ideas for each week.  I’m sure I can do the math and count, but it would still be nice to have things labeled. But like I said, that’s an Audible thing and has nothing to do with the authors.

Overall I thought this was a great book.  I learned so many things that I didn’t know (I joined the Orthodox church 7 years ago).  I look forward to having this tool in my mom tool belt each year for Lent!

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Under the Laurel Tree Review

“...healing from the shame of infertility comes not when/if we finally get pregnant, but rather when we ultimately surrender to our full worth as men and women, children of the living God whose image we bear and whole love we can never escape.” Pg 209 Under the Laurel Tree.  This quote comes from the very last sentence in the Epilogue.  This is the sentence that I was waiting to hear throughout the entirety of the book.  In fact, I was really hoping when I chose to read this book, that everything would begin from this point.  I understand that with great loss comes great grieving. But it would be toxic if we dwell in our grief and not learn the process of healing.  Unfortunately, this is not the book’s focus. There is no guidance to walk us through the path of healing while dealing with infertility, we’re just supposed to do it.  Instead, what we get is the raw, bitter emotions of someone in the midst of a very painful experience in life. While I understand how it is important to be able to be candid and honest with feelings, in a book that promises comfort in the midst of infertility, it feels like bitter thoughts are more provoked than they are tamed.

While the book is geared towards women dealing with infertility, there are many aspects that apply to married couples in many different situations. “..what I firmly believe is the single biggest predictor of marital satisfaction in infertility, is the ability to create and maintain a shared sense of purpose that doesn’t rely solely on children.”  YES!  This is also so very, very important for couples that do have children.  The lack of/abundance of children is not going to save our marriages, it is the uniting as one and living as a couple, with the purpose of living in holiness. 

There were also misunderstood sufferings projected.  I almost wish this book had been written by someone in their 60’s or more who has run the race of infertility and has the ability to calmly look back and reflect on the process. Or even co-written with a women with no children and a woman with many.  The chapter on Anger proves my point. The author comes from the point that the handmaiden is rude, almost evil and that Anna has every right to send her out. That’s not how I see the scene. I see the handmaiden, at a loss for how to comfort her mistress and doing the best that she can with a prized possession.  A love offering, tossed like garbage by her mistress. Just because a person doesn’t know how to respond and accidentally says the wrong thing doesn’t make them an evil person, they had good intentions, they should be given the benefit of the doubt. I feel it is also presumptuous to say that infertile women are the only subjects of rude and judgmental comments.  Yes, even those dealing with a terminal illness, people do tell them to just pray more. People with depression are told they are disobeying because they are not ‘being anxious in nothing.’ I too dread going out in public for fear of wants taunts I will receive from strangers. Anywhere from, “Wow, you know what causes that.’ ‘Don’t you guys have any other hobbies?  You should get cable’ to loud obnoxious comments on our family size said well within our hearing. Even shouts of directions on the need to use birth control. Doctors shaming me for wanting to allow God’s will and how irresponsible I’m being. Crying because I don’t know how to tell my family I expecting because they feel like I had enough kids 3 kids ago. Even going to church and people feeling like they can discuss intimate parts of my love life with my husband.  I think the one huge things we have in common is Get Out of My Womb! But I also realize that people are people, and we are all sinful beings and I can expect nothing more from well intended people that say harmful things.

‘I was too worried about the biological clock to consider that there was a ‘prayer-ological’ one as well.  Evidently, some prayer requests have a shelf life.’ While I don’t agree with prayer having a shelf life, I do feel that there comes a point when we learn contentment.  Philippians 4:11-13 Paul points out that it doesn’t matter his life circumstances, in want/need, well fed/hungry, etc that he has learned to be content.  That doesn’t mean he’s happy about it, that he’s not actively praying for his desires, but he is content, which is far deeper. There are days I cannot seem to bear the burden I was given as a mom, I don’t want to do the job, I don’t like not having money or clothes or stressing about having enough food.  But I am reminded to be content, whether suffering or not. That is my purpose. My wish is that there can be a continuation of the story, one that guides through a healing process and promotes a life of being content in Christ, praising God no matter what.

Fertile Ground Review

When I first heard last November that there was going to be an Orthodox book about pregnancy and childbirth, I was instantly intrigued and anxiously awaiting its arrival.  I am the mother of 6 daughters and have been studying birth work. Not only have I birthed my own children, but I look forward to my own Doula work in the future. I enjoy learning more about birth and pregnancy, and this book was a wonderful addition to my birthing library.

Right away, one of the things I appreciated was how all birthing/parenting methods were acknowledged and explained.  This book does not offer a one way option for birthing, instead it presents a mother’s options and beautifully explains the symbolism through the Christian faith.  Each step of the pregnancy/birth is highlighted in easy to read, week-by-week chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of the women’s current experiences. I genuinely enjoyed how Laura painted such a spiritual perspective of pregnancy and childbirth.  It is truly amazing the growth and transformation a woman experiences spiritually in the birthing years. Laura perfectly describes the ascetic struggle that women must embrace during this incredible season of life. Even though I am not currently expecting, I was able to feel encouragement for my current stage of motherhood and strength to embrace another day.

It is very clear that not only does the author have a full knowledge of the birthing process through hands on experience,  but she also has a wonderful knowledge of birthing according to Biblical examples, with wisdom from the Church Fathers, backed by scientific evidence.  I enjoyed reading her experiences, both personal and through her work as a doula. Her use of scripture and quotes from the Fathers were encouraging and informative.  She also gives extremely practical knowledge of how to endure pregnancy and effective tools to have the childbirth experience that you desire. This book is an important tool for any  woman’s pregnant journey. I look forward to giving this book as a gift to the pregnant mothers at my church, as well as my own daughters some day.

*I received an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.