Hope

Ultimate Health

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ 3 Comments

I just finished reading this book – Ultimate Health – for the second time and have begun to really work through each chapter of this treasure.  I’ll admit it, I’m going to be 58 years old in a week or so, and I am NOT even close to being healthy – forget about Ultimate Health.

So when I read this book…  it really made me think.  I come from a line of folks that live long lives… but the way that I’m going, that’s not going to happen.  So…  in addition to what I write here, the books I review, the stories I share, etc.  I am launching a new blog in a day or so (the bare bones are there already).  This blog is about the next 365 days.  One year in the life of a middle age woman… my return to wholeness and health.

I plan to launch the blog in a day or so, I do hope that you’ll join me over there as well as your support here.  I do appreciate you all that have “liked” and “follow me”. Continue reading →

God’s Amazing Power To Restore

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

“This book will inspire you to believe that God can and will work all things out for those who love Him.  it is filled with hope and the promise of restoration for any situation….  Donald Driver” (from the back cover of “My Breaking Point – God’s Turning Point“)

“Restoration require you to release your resistance to change.  Restoration begins the moment you stop defining yourself by your   It begins when you accept that you can’t keep going on as you have been and instead you allow God to give you the power to move on.  It begins when you ask Him to give you a new perspective, a larger, timeless glimpse of how your breaking point can become a turning point.”  (From the Introduction – “My Breaking Point – God’s Turning Point“)

My Breaking Point, God's Turning Point: Experience God's Amazing Power to RestoreMy Breaking Point, God’s Turning Point: Experience God’s Amazing Power to Restore by Ricky Texada

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“At some point in our lives, most of us will experience a loss so devastating that it knocks the wind out of our souls and leaves us gasping for hope. In My Breaking Point, God’s Turning Point, Ricky Texada shares his own story of unexpected loss transformed into unimaginable blessing, offering new perspective on God’s amazing ability to restore his people. After losing his wife Debra in a devastating car accident, Ricky wondered if he would ever be able to trust God with the certainty he once had, let alone ever love again. Biblically based and borne out of Texada’s own experiences, My Breaking Point, God’s Turning Point shares the much needed hope and practical guidance to help people get back on their feet and experience the healing balm of God’s loving care.” Continue reading →

Do you have a fear of being unnoticed and fogotten

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

Are we striving so hard to be remembered?  To be noticed?  To be important?  To leave our mark on this world?  Do we matter?  Does anyone see us?

Those are questions that are posed… and answered in this book.  It caused some real thought on my part.  I hope it will do the same for you.

The Significant Life: Overcoming Your Fear of Being Unnoticed and ForgottenThe Significant Life: Overcoming Your Fear of Being Unnoticed and Forgotten by George M Weaver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars Continue reading →

Encouraging Truths to Hold On To

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

There are seasons that we all walk through that can make us think….  WHAT!?!?!?!?!  This isn’t how it’s supposed to be…  what on earth is going on…  you know what I’m talking about, we’ve all had them.  Well that’s what’s been going on around here for a number of weeks.  To say that the crazy is off the charts…  well that would be an understatement.

But… GOD is HIS infinite wisdom – which astounds me hour by hour – knew what was headed my way… and somehow this little book – What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days by Holley Gerth – dropped into my life when I needed my soul refreshed and my heart encouraged.  It truly has been a blessing.  I would encourage you to pick it up for yourself or for that person that may just be having a WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!   going on in their life. Continue reading →

If God is Good, then

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If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and EvilIf God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God–Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.” Continue reading →

The Global War on Christians

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The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian PersecutionThe Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution by John L. Allen Jr.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Global War On Christians – Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution. As a Christian living in the United States of America, the title of this book caught my eye. We’ve all known for some time that Christians around the world have been, and continue to be, persecuted for their beliefs. We read from time to time their stories, and hear about the tragedy’s that befall them in their mission work. It is through my own naïveté, that I assumed that this was because these folks were “going into the mouth of the lion” when they headed to areas of the globe that were clearly anti-Christian. Little did I realize that so much of the Christian persecution that occurs is not just in those areas of the globe that we might deem hostile to Christians.

This book, a raw as it is in its descriptions of the horrors, clearly opened my eyes to what is going on around the world. While we here in the US are battling with legal challenges for our nativity’s and religious freedoms, more than two-thirds of the world’s 2.3 billion Christians who live outside the West, and are the minority of most regions, are battling far more persecution than any of us could ever imagine.

This book does contain graphic retelling of the stories of these martyrs. If you are sensitive to this, this might not be the book for you. Otherwise, I highly recommend this book as a must read.

About the Author:
JOHN L. ALLEN JR. is the senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and the senior Vatican analyst for CNN, and writes for other national and international publications. He speaks at nearly fifty engagements a year and is the author of seven previous books, including his most recent A People of Hope: The Challenges Facing the Catholic Church and the Faith That Can Save It.
For more information about the author, go to: http://ncronline.org/authors/john-l-a…

Click here to read Chapter One of The Global War On Christians – http://www.imagecatholicbooks.com/sne…

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® http://BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/wa… : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
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The Singing Quilt

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

Every once in a while a book comes along that touches your heart.  The Singing Quilt by Kathi Macias is one such book.  It is not often that I read fiction, but I have to say that I did not want this book to end.  I wanted to know more about the lead charecter… I wanted to follow along with her new life in Christ.  Sadly though… the book came to an end.

Below is my public review of this book

The Singing QuiltThe Singing Quilt by Kathi Macias

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Can another woman’s courage inspire the impossible? Jolissa Montoya, a shy, young Hispanic girl, believes God is calling her to work with disadvantaged children in the inner city. She is convinced that what God has spoken to her heart is impossible. Until one day when she shares her concerns with a confidante who shows her a quilt – a quilt that depicts the life of a courageous woman.” Continue reading →

Hope Runs

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Hope Runs: An American Tourist, a Kenyan Boy, a Journey of RedemptionHope Runs: An American Tourist, a Kenyan Boy, a Journey of Redemption by Claire Díaz-Ortiz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“She went to Kenya to climb a mountain. But God has other plans. When Claire-Diaz-Ortiz arrived in Kenya at the end of an around-the-world journey, she decided to stay the night, climb Mount Kenya, and then head back home. She entered an orphanage, seeing it as little more than a free place to spend the night before her mountain trek. Hope Runs is the emotional story of one American tourist, one Kenyan orphan, and how one day became one year that would change the course of both their lives forever.” Continue reading →

The Hope Quotient

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The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same.The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You’ll Never Be the Same. by Ray Johnston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“What’s at the heart of every thriving person, every thriving marriage, kid and business? Hope! The Hope Quotient is a revolutionary new method for measuring—and dramatically increasing – our level of hope. Hope is more than a feeling; it’s the by-product of seven key factors. When these are present in your life, they cause hope to thrive.”

Continue reading →

Love. Period.

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Love. Period.: Loving Those Who are Not Like YouLove. Period.: Loving Those Who are Not Like You by Rudy Rasmus

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“What would happen if we truly loved those who are different from us in race, background, abilities, gender, economic status, identity, or physical condition? How would our communities change if we stopped being afraid of those who don’t fit our definition of “loveable”? How would our hearts find greater joy if we acknowledged the risk of living without conditions – and did it anyways?”
Continue reading →