Rise of the Servant Kings by Ken Harrison

Wow. I am not a man and I am not rising to be a servant king, but I thought this book was powerful. Whenever I come across how to books, I admit that I assume they are going to be cheesy with poor illustrations. This is definitely what is happening here. Ken takes his time in and since the LAPD to share hard hitting stories about integrity in the face of cultural lack thereof. 

Y'all should read it. I was drawn in by the title. Humility is so lacking in our culture and I thought it would be good to get a nice dose of it. I thought I could pray through it for my man and I did. The thing I was not expecting is how much the book spoke to me. It reenergized things in my heart that had grown weary. It encouraged me time and again to seek God in humility instead of paving my own way. Ken's own telling of pride and God calling him to submission was a beacon of light. 

As I read, I write out things about books that speak to me. I wrote about the story telling. The unusual stories really drove home the point of the matter. He spoke about how spouses are called to submit to one another instead of obey because obedience is forced and submission is choice. Submission is our way of bringing about the greatest good of another for the glory of God. He railed against his own pride and cried out for God to make him humble. One of my favorite things was in the last pages. He thanked someone for helping him to forgive the Pharisees. In the age of church hurt, it is so important to offer forgiveness and prayer for those who hurt us. He encouraged standing against abusers, but to also go that extra step to pray and forgive. 

Great read! Get your man a copy.

Available May 7th

This book was graciously provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.

Introverted Mom by Jamie C. Martin

I am an extroverted introvert. I flip flop on the Myers Briggs between an INFJ and an ENFJ. Even the E in the ENFJ exhibits many high introverted tendencies. The unusual pairing of this personality type is one that has great love of people and a need to processes life in quiet. It has truly been one of the biggest challenges that I have faced as an adult. How to balance a love of people, a deep need for quiet, and the constant chaos of being a homeschool mom. In complete honesty, I have no idea. I just kept moving forward and hoping for peace.

Reading (and listening to) Jamie's book has helped me see clear to some strategies to help my heart thrive. If I lean too hard to the quiet or to the people, one side suffers. Jamie is helping me find balance. I am realizing that I need to build quiet days into my calendar after major people days. I have learned how people with a high sensitivity to people, their emotions and energy, need more rest to process an event. God made us like this on purpose. It's a strength, not a weakness, when used well. He wants us to see things and share them. I am learning to create margin for rest so that I am able to share.

I am definitely a book lover and Jamie did something I love within her book. She used introverted authors of classic novels to share stories about how to care for an introverted soul. It's a brilliant strategy to make an idea sink in.

Simply reading the book increased my calm and peace. Every time I read the title, I felt a renewed sense of hope. "Your guide to more calm, less guilt, and quiet joy." Don't you feel good simply seeing those words?

Y'all read it or listen to it. I loved the audio as well. Jamie's voice is quite soothing. If you are an introvert or simply have some introverted tendencies, I highly recommend this book to you.

Trolls & Truth by Jimmy Dorrell

Trolls and Truth: 14 Realities about Today's Church That We Don't Want to See by Jimmy Dorrell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a big fan of Jimmy’s work with the homeless. I’ve watched as he has grown Mission Waco into a big life-giving organization. I drive to his church once a quarter to serve tacos to the homeless. My hope is to catch a little of his humility and the way he gives dignity to the homeless, mentally ill, and special needs individual.

His book is more of the same. It’s full of simple stories that call out wealthy churches and complacent Christians to stand up for the least of these. It’s full of stories of people who began changing from being loved and accepted. Knowing these stories changes you. The common thought is that these people just need to get a job. Some of them do. Many more are unemployable. Mental illness and illness of other kinds has left them without an ability to work. This is where Jimmy will tell you to love everyone and do your best to do the best thing for them. Great read.

View all my reviews

View this post on Instagram

#books

A post shared by Steph Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Mar 18, 2019 at 6:07am PDT

It's an Update Y'all.

One of my favorite stories I have ever read was by Corrie ten Boom. Most of you know the author of The Hiding Place. This story is in a lesser known work entitled In My Father's House. In it, Corrie tells her readers what shaped her into the woman that was able to faithfully serve those around her in the concentration camp. She tells of starting a large girls' club in her town and many other volunteer roles she undertook. She talks about the kind and purposeful way Papa ten Boom taught her to live. The thing that stuck out to me and has become a perpetual prayer of my life is her service in a hospital that specialized in special needs and mental health. She gives this place credit for teaching her how to be ready to love and share the gospel with anyone. She learned how the communicate the gospel and every story of Jesus in the most simple way so that anyone could understand while serving these people and she saw miracles. Later when she was in the concentration camp, she was able to speak plainly and calmly to women in panic. Many came to know Jesus there. She took her Father's teaching on relying on God, her sister's deeply grateful heart (You may remember her thanking God for the lice that kept the guards away), and the ability to articulate the gospel to the least of these and she became a prophet of the goodness of God in the darkest place most of us can imagine. She spoke life in hell. 

That has long been my own prayer. Don't let me piddle around leading a nice churchy life, Jesus. Train me and send me in. Teach me to speak to people with words that give dignity and life. Send me to the offensive. He has. He has been teaching me. He has been repeatedly putting my heart through the wine press using pressure to create beauty. He has led me into dark valleys. Where I used to know of people hurting, I now know people hurting. I am constantly asking Jesus to remove the things in me that make him hard to see. I keep asking to be sent out to serve. Send me to the homeless. Send me to Haiti. It has only fueled a fire to do more. Send me more. He is. I'm ready to go again. 

This whole thing has morphed into something more for me. We have been praying about breaking off from the people who run our non-profit and starting a new one. The vision is expanding. The call is expanding. My need to sit with and hug the people on the fringes is expanding. My intercession is expanding. 

At the end of last year, I wrote out some of the top ministry needs I have. This is probably 1/3 of our total needs, but they are what is on my heart. I went to Haiti for 10 days. That changed my life. I have been able to feed the homeless more than ever before (food is an excellent gateway to relationship and hugs). God has put around $11,000 of the $35,000 needed in our laps. He has given us clarity to our call and vision. Now, we are going to step out on faith and follow Jesus to the edges of society where I hope to learn to share the gospel in the most clear and dignifying way. Come with me. 

I am humbly asking for you to pray for us. Pray for protection. We walk in some dark places and come up against much warfare. Thank God for the money we have to start with and ask for the remainder. Pray that we hold on to the words he has spoken into our hearts. 

I am adding new items to my shop every day. I am always thankful for those of you that use your purchase for purpose in my Etsy store. Thank you.

stephcherry.com

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace by Christie Purifoy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There is an idea that when we create a place for people, in our lives, communities, or at our table, we give them space to heal and become. I thought this book was about that. This book is 18 pages of spiritual applications and 200 pages about trees. If you love reading about random facts about where people lived and the trees that were near them, this is for you. I was hoping to see more about people than trees and I was disappointed. 

View all my reviews

View this post on Instagram

I picked up this book because I am a huge proponent of giving place to people. The idea is that when we give a place at our table, in our community, and in our lives, we give people a space to heal and become. I thought this book would be about that. Well. It was a book mostly about trees and the trees and countertops in the places this woman lived. There were rare awkward glimpses and beauty and loving people. There were not enough to justify all the tree talk however. I only gleaned a few sentences. I hate to say it, but I met a book I didn’t like. #books #bookreview #book #📚

A post shared by Steph Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:18am PDT

Thrive in Retirement by Eric Thurman

Thrive in Retirement: Simple Secrets for Being Happy for the Rest of Your Life by Eric Thurman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eric has done a great job putting together a holistic book on retirement. He challenges us from every possible angle. Most books about planning for retirement seem to only speak on money. This one goes far beyond that. Seeing my parents decline emotionally, relationally, and mentally has been hard for me to see. There are many things outlined here that would have helped the age better if they had followed them. Eric sets you up to know what is coming at you when you retire and be able to prepare for it. He delves into everything that creates a rich life and gives practical steps to achieve that end. I am 41 years old and I gleaned many good things from this book. I realized that I can implement many of these things now and coast on in to thriving in retirement. 

View all my reviews

Misfit Table by Tiffini Kilgore

Misfit Table: Let Your Hunger Lead You to Where You Belong by Tiffini Kilgore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have been following Tiffany on Instagram for years. I have been getting sneak peaks at her stories through her feed. I could tell that she has had a horrible battle with emotional abuse and disease. I have also been struck over and over by the power of the words she shared. This book was more of the same. It is a steady walk through abiding with God in the midst of pain. Her humility and vulnerability are freeing beyond what I can express. Her story is freedom. She gives voice to the inner voices we all fight and then she blows them up with God’s word. She is a warrior. We can follow her from trauma to joy in the pages of this book. It is never easy to loose the bonds of pain, but it is worth the bloody fight. 

View all my reviews

View this post on Instagram

I just finished reading the House of Belonging founder’s new book Misfit Table. I have been following her journey for years. The truth she speaks resonates to my core. Now, I can see how much we have in common. If you are looking to overcome trauma, read it. I was constantly in awe at her humility and bone deep dependence on God. (I bought these pillows out of her shop last year for me and a friend) 💗💗💗#houseofbelonging #misfittable {Blog link in bio}

A post shared by Steph Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Mar 15, 2019 at 7:56pm PDT

I read The Last Suppers by Mandy Mikulencak

The Last Suppers by Mandy Mikulencak

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have spent quite a bit of time in Huntsville, TX, home of executions in Texas. They moved the executions outside the city, but there is a heaviness that hangs in the air on execution day to me. Other people don’t seem to notice. I am not making a political stance. The whole situation is desperately sad. The types of turns your life must take to end up on death row are unimaginable to me. I am grieved for those left in the wake of it on every side.

When I saw this book at the DCA airport, I stared at it for a moment. It’s a novel about a woman who fought for the last suppers of death row inmates. The book is full of plot twists and thoughtful looks into the lives of the inmates and families surrounding them. The story is set in the 1950’s and shows the dark side of racism and the clan.

There is some alluded to sex and murder, but it isn’t overly descriptive. It tells a story I feel could be real. It not only shows you what is likely happening behind the scenes. The gift it gives is the ability to see past the label to the humanity of each person.

I was sitting in my mom’s house watching the news and reading this book. On the news was a story about an execution that day. The man executed was someone I knew growing up. It was a sobering twist to my reading.

View all my reviews

View this post on Instagram

Y’all. I’m in Atlanta waiting to board my flight home. I finished the book I brought with me so I had to get a new one. This is a novel about the chef that prepares the last meals of men on death row. It claims to be The Help meets Shawshank Redemption. I’ll let you know. #booksbookstagram #books #thelastsuppers #mandymikulencak #kensingtonfiction

A post shared by Steph Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Feb 21, 2019 at 2:19pm PST

Y'all. I read Girls' Club by Sally Clarkson

Girls' Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World by Sally Clarkson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book made me happy to read. It encouraged me to start a girls’ club of my own with my three girls. The chapters are written in story form to share about the original girls’ club and how they carried the club into their grownup lives. Their girls’ clubs have included women all over the world as God has moved them.

I started focusing more on what I can do to instill this sense of sisterhood in my own girls. I have begun taking them each on dates and coordinating a girls’ club of my own.
It’s a great encouragement.

View all my reviews

View this post on Instagram

I recently read a book by Sally Clarkson and her daughters called Girls’ Club. They share about the weekly club they had and how it transformed their relationships. I’m trying to do this with my girls. I have also been on an individual date with each of my girls this past week. Today, Yasha informed me that she wanted to be a pilot, race car driver, train conductor, astronaut, or ballerina. She also wanted to know how old the first baby I miscarried would be now and if babies that miscarry go to heaven. There is so much going on in their little minds. I’m thankful for girl dates. 💕What do you do to create deeper relationships with your kids?

A post shared by Steph Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Jan 28, 2019 at 8:57pm PST

How To Be A Nice Human

Heart of Texas Pregnancy Resource Center

 Sometimes, social media can feel like a swamp of opinions. I'm sure we have all been rubbed the wrong way by someone else's post on the world wide web. We all have feelings about what we see and hear. It's hard to look at the news and not be enraged. We want healing for our nation and land. We want to be free from the tyranny of sin. Sometimes our thoughts are good, but our methods are wrong.  I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to be a nice human.

My heart aches under the number of babies aborted each year. I'm not trying to trigger anyone. I am simply telling you that it grieves me. It also grieves me to see the shame we unknowingly give off in the church that keeps people away. There are people who desperately want healing out there that are afraid to come inside our churches. 

Your voice is powerful. 
Your words are powerful. 
Use them well.

When you post your thoughts and opinions about abortion, be kind. Be the person that draws people to Christ. Remind people that we are all equally unworthy of the love of God, but he gives us worth when we come to him. He heals us and renews us and takes away our shame. One of the enemy's greatest weapons is isolation. Don't help him with it by making people feel unwelcome. Be kind. Listen to people with your whole heart. So many people are terrified and making choices out of fear. Giving them a listening ear is healing. It contradicts the message that they are unwelcome. 

Pray for those who are out there ministering to women of all walks of life. 

View this post on Instagram

“No Shadow You Won’t Light Up” Abstract by Steph Cherry I have been working on this piece for a silent auction for a Gala in March. I kept seeing the hand of God starting a fire in the dark in my mind. As the fire flickered and shot into the darkness, sparks and glimmers went all around filling the air with robust energy. These words kept ringing in my ears, “Joy shatters darkness.” Yesterday, in worship, these lyrics hung over me. 👩🏼‍🎨 #heartoftexaspregnancyresourcecenter #gala #joy

A post shared by Stephanie Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Feb 4, 2019 at 2:23pm PST