The Life Ready Woman by Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis ~ Book Review and Giveaway!

 This Giveaway is Now Closed.




Another book review...

About the Book:

Are you a ‘Doing it all’ or ‘Do what matters’ woman?


Whether a stay at home; or working mom, an airplane-hopping executive, an empty-nester caring for multiple generations or a single juggling high demands of career and personal life, today's fast-paced modern world leaves women gasping for balance. We as modern Christian women want to look to the Bible for guidance on how to manage our lives -- but because the world of women looks so different today than it did when the Bible was written, it is hard to find chapter and verse that seems to apply to our situation today.

Thankfully, God has given us exactly that timeless, unchanging guidance for how to find peace, clarity, and God's best for our lives once we know where to look! The Life Ready Woman: Thriving in a Do-It-All World, reveals a profound biblical roadmap for how each of us can find the abundant life we are longing for, rather than the stressful, torn, how-do-I-balance-it-all life we often feel like we are trying to keep up with today. Actually being a LifeReady Woman means that you are clear about your life, bold in your faith, and able to find God’s best for you, and the end result will be that you not only survive but thrive in our do-it-all world.

God has given every wonderfully unique woman different skills and abilities, different desires, and different temperaments -- and every woman around the planet and through the ages is certainly living in different circumstances. But no matter what a woman’s life looks like, the Bible says that God has an individual mission and plan that He’s carefully designed for each of us. And He wants us to find it. Starting January 2011, The Life Ready Woman and the Life Ready Woman Video Series will help every wonderfully unique woman to thrive as she identifies and courageously pursues God's unique design and callings for her. LifeReady Woman puts you on a roadmap to make decisions that will lead to relief, delight, and fulfillment instead of regret.


My Thoughts:

I really wish that I had more time to read this book before I did the review as I received it a bit late and ended up doing a quick read through, which would have been all right by me if it were a fictional novel. However, I was schedule to post today as part of a blog tour, so I found myself rushing through a book that had loads of information that I believe I needed to read. I’ll have to go back and give it some true devotion because I feel that I still missed a lot (this is odd for me to say, because like re-watching movies that I’ve seen before I dislike rereading books that I’ve already read). I loved the feel of this book, loaded with real life experiences that give a solid representation of where God fits into the author and other’s lives. There is a reality, rather than the cheesiness that tends to be layered on when people try too hard or fake it, that shows the struggles of a Christ like living as well as the hope and strength that also comes with the belief in knowing God.

I have to say that this book bothered me when I first started reading, talking about how women can’t have it all the successful career, and family and if they have one they are sacrificing another. How women that are aimed at having a successful career, or becoming equal alongside men within that career field women tend not to have children, or poor family relationships. (Sounds hurtful, doesn’t it?) However, after thinking about it, the same goes for many men. Looking at some of the men that surround my life, I see the sacrifice they make in the name of their careers. One good example would be my own father, he worked hard for the business that he had with his brothers. He was usually working Mon thru Fri, and Sat until noon, and an occasional Sunday afternoon between church services. When he came home, there was usually stuff to do around the house he was always working. I don’t remember spending a whole lot of time with him unless I went to work with him (and even then we were working), and never really were able to know him as a person. Wow, did I get a reality check in my young adult years as I came to understand that my father was a real person who made mistakes. Anyhow, my point being was that he sacrificed a real relationship with his children in order for his business to be successful, I don’t believe any of us (his children) really were able to get to know who he was, and we just had a false image of who we thought he was. (Thankfully, more recently we’ve be able to start building that missing relationship.) I have to say that I’ve seen this with other men as well, where the jobs they have require for them to be on-call at all hours (day or night), and sometimes they miss planned family events because of it. Anyhow, that’s the reality of it that both men and women have to make sacrifices in one area of their live for another; however, this book was written for women, which needs to be understood when reading it, or you may find your feminist side a bit offended. I do have to clarify that it did not say you should be a women who stays at home, or a women who shouldn’t strive to have a career they’ve always dreamed of, but that sacrifices are made in one area or another.

Chapter ten in the book probably spoke to me the most because it is the area in which I’ve been dealing within my own life recently. I think if you’ve ever been a person to think to yourself that there has to be more to live then just this, then maybe you too were or are stuck in that stage of life where you really don’t know what to do with your life, you want to be more, do more, and live more. You find discontent within yourself, or your life, and you know changes need to be made, but you’re unsure what. This is where I was just a few months ago, I really didn’t know what my talents were. The book covers this, by basically stating that if you have thing you do that you enjoy that those are the things that direct you to what your talents are, for example I started to blog more because I enjoy it, and crafting, and art, and reading. I enjoy all of these things, and for the longest time thought that these were useless gifts. I really didn’t know where to use them, and still feel that way at times or I feel like what I’m doing is a waste of time. I thought that I needed to make a change in my life and so; I talked with my husband about going back to school. Soon after I started taking online classes to get my BFA in Visual Communications with a concentration in Web design (actually, I just switched it from digital design to web design). I really enjoy the classes because I love being creative. I found that I’m over-all happier now that I’ve brought art back into my life. This chapter also speaks about how it is important to use the talents we have, and why it’s important as a Christian.

Your Chance to Win it...
So this was a bit of my take on the book, and  I'm offering one of my lovely readers a chance to read it too. I was given two books for this review, one for myself to read and one as part of a giveaway! If you'd like a chance to win the book and read it for yourself all you need to do is leave a comment about what you feel your talent/gift is and how you use that gift. Then I'll pick a winner with the assistance of random.org and announce the winner on 03/03/11, and send you your very own copy of the Life Ready Woman.
(Please only enter under one name, or blog. Also please leave an email address, or another way to contact you so I can notify you of your win.)

Oh, but that's not all...

You could have the chance to win The Weekend To Remember Get-Away Giveaway, to find out how just visit MomLife Today website.

About Shaunti Feldhahn:

Shaunti Feldhahn is a former Wall Street analyst, best-selling author of the book For Women Only, national speaker, and regular commentator in the media. She has been featured on The Today Show, PBS, TNT and Fox News- to name a few. You can learn more about her many activities by visiting her website Shaunti.com or get some great mom advice from her at MomLifeToday.com. She and her husband live with their two young children in Atlanta , Georgia and enjoy every minute of living at warp speed.

About MomLife Today:
At MomLife Today you will enjoy community with real moms experiencing every age and every stage of MomLife—right alongside you.

Moms need friends we can walk through life with, but more importantly we need friends who will encourage us and equip us in our role as moms in an honest and transparent way … and that’s just what you’ll find by becoming part of our MomLife Today community! We believe that every MOMent counts!

We admit it, being a mom 24/7 is not easy. Rather than lament the role of motherhood, however, we choose to embrace that role and learn from each other how to make it through each day with the right attitude. Come share the joys, sorrows, insanity, and special moments of motherhood with us as we live it and candidly write about it…we’ll have lots of fun along the way! Join us, and do tell… What’s happening in your MomLife Today? http://www.momlifetoday.com/


If you'd like to buy the book you can find it at Amazon.

If you'd like to know what other bloggers said about the book go here to find the list of blogs on the tour.

 *Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity group’s blog for books program in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.