As Silver Refined by Kay Arthur

I thought this book looked really great from the description and I wasn't disappointed.  Kay Arthur's As Silver Refined: Answers to Life's Disappointments is a well written book.  There are 15 chapters and  a 13 week bible study included in the back of the book that can be done on your own or with a group.

I have had many disappointments in my life and I'm sure you have too.   Life can be full of them!  It is all in how we handle those disappointments that determines whether we will experience joy or failure.  Kay Arthur discusses the 5 Deadly D's: disappointment, discouragement, dejection, despair, and demoralization.  She writes, "Together they form a downward spiral of deepening defeat and disorder.  They're part of a devastating plunge that's triggered when we respond wrongly to the disappointments that God in His loving sovereignty allows in our lives." (pg. 13)
Kay also writes, "The downward spiral begins...with disappointment.  Disappointment comes when our expectations aren't met.  Consequently we're not happy about it--we're disturbed.  When this happens and we don't conquer that disappointment in God's way, then we spin downward into discouragement.  We're without courage.  We want to give up...  And what follows discouragement?  Depression in its various degrees.  The first 'degree' of depression is dejection--a lowness of spirit, a feeling of spiritual and emotional fatigue.  If not reversed this dejection takes us down even further, plunging us into despair and finally into utter demoralization.  At this stage of descent, hope is entirely abandoned and is replaced by apathy and numbness.  Fear becomes overwhelming and paralyzing and can degenerate further into disorder and reckless action that is heedless of consequences." (pg. 13)  This paragraph really touched me...maybe because I have lived it.  I wrongly responding to a life situation that God allowed (my brother's death) and I experienced that spiraling downward to depression.  She describes it well..."hope is abandoned...Fear becomes overwhelming and paralyzing..."
This book points you to the only source of victory over this overwhelming defeat....the Bible, Christ Jesus.  If you have been struggling like me through situations where you've had the wrong response, this is a great book for you.

You can read the first chapter below.

As Silver Refined by Kay Arthur (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

***I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this honest review.

Valley of Dreams by Lauraine Snelling

How much do you know about the era of the Wild West?  I am a northern, midwest girl and cowboys are not really my thing.  So, it was interesting for me to read this historical fiction book by Lauraine Snelling called Valley of Dreams.  This book is the first in her series called Wild West Wind.  Lauraine Snelling was a new author to me.  She has also written over 60 other books for young adults and adults.  You can find out about her and her books on her website.

The Lockwood family--Cassie, her dad and her mother--were owners of a Wild West Show that traveled to many different cities.  Cassie has real talent when it comes to riding her horse and performing all kinds of tricks before large crowds.  Everything she knew she had learned from her father.  Unfortunately, both of Cassie's parents have passed away leaving her with only the road show as her "family."  Cassie's "Uncle" Jason has taken over running the show since her father died, but has driven the show into debt.  When "Uncle" Jason makes a shocking announcement that the show is closing, Cassie's world turns upside down.  Cassie decides to find a place called the Black Hills of South Dakota since her father always talked about settling down there after he was done with the show.  This book takes you through the journey of Cassie trying to find this piece of land her father always talked about which in turn unlocks a few mysteries of her parent's past.

I thought that the book was slow at the beginning and the time spent traveling to Black Hills the seemed to drag a little.  But it did keep my interest in that I wanted to know how the story would end.  There was a good amount of twists and turns in the plot to keep me guessing.  The book definitely leaves the ending wide open for the next book to continue.  It was hard reaching the end and not being able to pick up the next book in the series to see what happens next.  I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series when it comes out.  I would recommend this book.

***I received this free book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble

Lonestar Angel is a story about a young married couple who face the tragic kidnapping of their 6 week old baby girl, Brianna.  The child was never found and presumed dead.  The couple, Eden and Clay, never really recovered from the incident and it drove them apart.   Eden filed for divorce and moved on with her life.  Five years later, Clay unexpectedly comes back into her life and gives her some startling news...the're still married!  He never signed the divorce papers, and he also has evidence that their sweet little girl may still be alive.

Since I read my first Colleen Coble novel back in May,  I was eager to start this recent book I received in the mail.  I'm not really a cowboy kind of girl, but I knew the author had a great track record for writing a good story.  This book only took me a few days to read....I simply could not put it down.  I thought the story had a great plot and kept my attention throughout the entire book.  I liked how she developed the characters as they struggled through life issues.  I also really enjoyed the mystery part of the story.  It's always fun to wonder who did it and try to figure out who the real culprit is.  I would highly recommend this book for some very fun reading!

**I received this free book from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.

November's Free E-books

November's free E-books are up on the Tyndale Blog.  You can CLICK HERE to find the links to download them for free to your e-readers.