Women today are busy, stressed, and guilt-ridden, yet they long to develop their spiritual sides. Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides offers inspirational thoughts based on scripture -- brief enough to be read during a television commercial, yet insightful enough to open your eyes to the grace of God on days you change diapers and/or lead corporate meetings. Each reading suggests a "Guilt Trip to Avoid" and ends with a way to "Take the Joy Ride." The book includes six months of daily readings so that you may establish a habit of connecting with God. Readings are listed under the letters G-R-A-C-E, representing God, Relationships, Acceptance, Challenges and Emotions.
The coauthors hope these meaningful readings will help you deal with guilt -- both real and imagined. By applying the insights shared in Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides, you may develop a calmer, less guilt-ridden life-style and become better equipped to function as wives, mothers and friends. Younger women often develop patterns of thinking and experience feelings of guilt that carry over into their mature years, so women of all ages will find this book helpful.
Link to buy the book: bit.ly/HZSBdg
About the Authors:
Kim Messinger, Janine Boyer and Shirley Brosius had a common bond of Christian service when Christ drew them together for their first small group meeting in January, 1998.
Since then they have drawn closer through life’s joys and struggles and found God to be sufficient for their every need. They call themselves “Friends of the Heart” because their passion is to help women open their hearts and find joy in Christ.
Kim and Janine supported Shirley in writing Sisterhood of Faith: 365 Life-Changing Stories About Women Who Made a Difference, which was released by Howard Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster, in 2006. More recently the three women worked together to write another devotional book, Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides. They have spoken at women’s retreats and events in five states. All three women live in Millersburg, Pennsylvania.
Visit their website for more info - http://www.friendsoftheheart.us/whatwevewritten.html
My Take:
Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides is a book with quick, easy-to-read daily devotionals. Each entry lists a "guilt trip to avoid," a Bible verse, a story relating to the theme of the day, and a way to focus on joy rather than guilt.
The devotional entries are fine, and the points made are biblical and very important. I sometimes thought, however, that the whole concept of the guilt trip was a bit out of place. To me, a guilt trip is something that someone tries to put on me, or I try to put on myself, that is actually false.
For example, someone might try to make me feel guilty - put a guilt trip on me - about wearing a baseball cap when I go on a date with my husband. This person might think that I should dress up more for my husband when he takes me out. However, the truth is that my husband actually likes how I look when I wear a hat, so this is something that I should not feel guilty about. I can have joy based on the truth rather than guilt that is based on a lie.
Despite the semantics, I do think that the points in this book are well made and are beneficial. Maybe a better way to approach this topic is more of a "put-off, put-on" scenario. I should be putting off living for the world and putting on living for God. Rather than allowing my mind and heart to constantly feel guilt about not spending time in God's Word, I should be putting on things that will help me be disciplined in my study of His Word and in making time for my Lord.
Again, I think the issue here is not the devotional book itself, but my defintition of what a guilt trip is. While this is by no means an in-depth Bible study, it is a nice way to jump start your day and get you thinking on the things of God.
About the Contest:
Guilt!
She pokes you as you write about your quaint, eccentric aunt. She grabs you as you wander from e-mail to Facebook to laundry instead of focusing on your work. She kicks you as you complain about your husband to a friend.
Have you noticed? Women seem riddled with guilt. And it’s hard to know if guilt is legitimate or simply a product of our imaginations. After all, should we really feel guilty about things over which we have no control?
We are not perfect. We have no control over some things, so it's no use feeling guilty. We can't do it all.
To celebrate the release of Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides, Shirley, Janine and Kim are giving away some great prizes during the blog tour. Share your own "guilt trip" or "joy tip" and be entered to win a free life coaching consultation and a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.
JUST CLICK THIS LINK (http://justforfun.friendsoftheheart.us) and share what trips you up, holds you back or any tips you may have for overcoming guilt and keeping your joy. Fill out the quick form at the link and you'll be entered to win a free life coaching consultation from one of us AND a gift certificate to Amazon.com to use to purchase whatever strikes your fancy!
Contest runs 4/23 - 5/12. Winner announced here on 5/14.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from WestBowPres. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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