Book Review ~ Seeing The Unseen: A 90-Day Devotional To Set Your Mind On Eternity by Randy Alcorn (Expanded Edition)

Seeing the Unseen is "A 90-Day Devotional to Set Your Mind on Eternity" by Randy Alcorn. Discussing a large variety of topics, Seeing the Unseen is designed to help you learn to live each day purposefully while keeping your mind set on eternity.

Starting with topics such as "Seeing God as the Source" and "Grasping Our Need for Grace", Randy first reminds us at to why we need to focus on eternity and God's plans for our lives. Moving into topics such as "God's Glory, Our Good" and "When It Comes to Heaven, Dream Big", we refocus on the limitless possibilities awaiting us for eternity. Finishing with suggestions for ongoing improvement and self care, such as "Steps to Greater Happiness in Christ" and "Dependence and the Heart of Prayer", Randy leaves us with attainable ways to keep pursuing God in this life, so we may enjoy His eternal presence in the next.

Two pages are devoted to each of the 90 days. Each day's main entry has a personal or Biblical story to illustrate the day's theme in a way that's easy to relate to regardless as to your current circumstances, or how far along you are in your personal pursuit of God. Following the day's entry are quotes from God's Word and additional insights from other inspirational Christians. At the very end of each day is a suggested blog post, article, or video for a more in-depth look at the selected topic.

This devotional would be a good reminder for anyone wanting to focus (or re-focus) their life on God's ultimate plan. 4/5 stars.

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary print proof copy of this book from Blogging For Books for the purpose of this honest review. All opinions are my own.*

About The Author:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM). He is the New York Times best-selling author of more than fifty books, with over ten million copies sold. His books include The Treasure Principle, Happiness, Heaven, If God Is Good, and the award-winning novel Safely Home. The father of two married daughters and grandfather of five, Randy resides in Oregon with his wife, Nanci.

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Prayer Time ~ Earnest Love (1 Peter 4:8)

Today's Influence:*

1 Peter 4:8:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

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Today's Prayer:

Dear Lord, please help me to love my family earnestly and whole-heartedly. Remind me to show them love and kindness even in the midst of hardship and trials. Give me your heart to forgive their sins and help them learn to forgive themselves. I pray that you shed your love over us, so we may all love one another.

Help me to learn how to show love without conditions or limits. Teach me unfailing love as only you can.

Watch over my relationships with my children and help us to love and respect each other. Help them to follow your guidance and to ask for your mercy to forgive their sins and your grace to cover their weaknesses. 

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My Story:

It's easy to say "I love you" when things are going well, but I have a hard time not being sarcastic when things are not running smoothly. Having my teen yelling and screaming at me is more likely to elicit an "I love you, but..." than a straight up "I love you". Follow that "but" with anything from "it's hard to show you that while or screaming" to "it hurts me to watch you doing this to yourself"... Loving them unconditionally, no matter how much they're driving me crazy isn't hard - but showing them that love is a whole different ball game. I need help. God's help.

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Your Turn:

When do you find that you need God's help or reminders to love earnestly, without conditions attached to your level of care? Are there some relationships that are naturally easier for you to get along in than others? Share in the comments.

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*Today's scripture is from the week 1 lesson of the 2016 edition of Read Pray Love from Proverbial Homemaker. It might be obvious I'm running a year behind, but I'm new to this praying through the scriptures concept and I just printed out both the 2016 and 2017 sets last week and didn't want to "miss out" on anything while playing catch up. Instead of focusing on one verse a week, I plan on just working my way through one lesson every couple of days. With God's help, I'll catch up eventually.

Here are the links to both editions on her blog:
2016 edition of Read Pray Love - 52 Weeks Of Praying For Your Family
2017 edition of Read Pray Love (still in progress)

Book Review ~ Reading People: How Seeing The World Through The Lens Of Personality Changes Everything by Anne Bogel

Reading People: How Seeing The World Through The Lens Of Personality Changes Everything is a simple guide to eight common personality tools, hand-picked by Anne Bogel. Based on her own experience in trying to learn more about herself and those close to her, Anne has compiled basic information to guide the reader through not only the determining factors for each of these tools, but also the importance and usefulness of having such data, so long as it's accurate.

Anne begins by telling the reader the most common mistakes made when people are trying to assess their own personalities, namely answering questions based on what you wish you were like rather than allowing the core of your being to shine through. She poses that there are no right or wrong answers, so long as you are honest and embrace the person inside that God created you to be.

Through a series of personal stories, Anne guides us through the maze of descriptions for personality traits such as introverts, extroverts, and highly sensitive people, as well as those discovered and labelled through diagnostic tools including The Five Love Languages, Keirsey's Temperaments, The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, The MBTI Cognitive Functions, the Clifton StrengthsFinder, and The Enneagram.

Anne devotes one full chapter to each tool/assessment, in order to ensure a thorough explanation of not only what the test is for and possible outcomes, but also the benefit to having the knowledge gained by each tool. While knowing that you're an ISFP and your partner or child is not can be helpful, it's only useful if you learn how to apply this information in order to help you both interact with each other on a more mutually beneficial level. That is where Anne's added insights pay off.

While I have read several books on personality types over the years, Anne's basic yet vivid and thorough examples and descriptions helped me to better understand the differences and hidden nuances that create such large gaps between myself and some of those people dearest to me. This book is a wonderful asset to anyone wanting to learn more about their true nature, the personality traits of those closest to them, and how to figure out ways to interact in a more peaceful and loving manner. 5/5 stars.

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary print copy of this book from the publisher, Baker Books, for the purpose of this honest review. All opinions are my own.*

About The Author (copied from back cover):

Anne Bogel is the creator of the popular blog Modern Mrs. Darcy and the podcast What Should I Read Next? Her popular book lists and reading guides have established Bogel as a tastemaker among readers, authors, and publishers. Bogel lives in Louisville, Kentucky. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Purchase Links:
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