Hope

A Starfish At A Time

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

A Starfish at a TimeA Starfish at a Time by Dana Wynn Steele

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Join the Steele’s on the never ending roller coaster ride of their family life as they share the ups, twist and turns of an ever changing family which now numbers nineteen, with more anticipated. Dana Wynn Steele shares the stories of their special needs children and their adoptions including one during her battle with breast cancer.”

This book took me off guard just a bit. From it’s sweet colorful cover, and it’s precious title, I expected a totally different story that what came to life under the cover. This is a remarkable book with true tales of the lives of babies and children, most times born into drugs, abuse and chaos and being trapped in a system that was at it’s best, designed to preserve and protect them. Though at times, that system so completely failed them.

The author – Dana Steele and her husband, Alan, saw this travesty and opened their hearts and home to these children. From newborn babies to young adults – every one of them just wanting a forever family, a family to call their own, the Steele’s took each of them in and loved them. Yes… like saving one starfish at a time.

A warning to the reader, there are some passages and stories about the abuses and horrors these children endured that some may find disturbing. But, for better, for worse, they are the stories of these children.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the “For Readers Only” group at The Book Club Network, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, and Goodreads
View all my reviews
This book is available online at
Deeper Shopping Books and Bibles

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Stop Waiting… Start Winning – A Review

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Stop Waiting… Start WINNING!: 10 Steps to Living Your Vision NOW!Stop Waiting… Start WINNING!: 10 Steps to Living Your Vision NOW! by Teresa Hairston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“God created you to be visionary! You may not feel like one. Or maybe you are completely burnt out on vision because you’re had so much of it – and nothing has happened… yet. In Stop Waiting… Start Winning! Dr. Teresa Hairston shares ten life-changing principles that you can apply to see your dreams become reality.”

When this book arrived, I thought… oh here we go, it looks like the cover for a 3AM infomercial! I read the back of the book… “Live Your Vision Now!” “God created you to be a visionary!” “ She ran with vision in sprite of the obstacles…” I am so pleased to report that I was sorely mistaken.

This book is a joy to read and is so enlightening. Ms. Hairston just breaks it all down and lays it all out… so profound. This book captured me from the first chapter. The essentials that she lays out chapter-by-chapter are not just ten principal spread out over four phases. They are nuggets of wisdom and knowledge, utilizing biblical truths, as well as processes and prayers that Ms. Hairston herself employed in fulfilling the destiny that God had planned for her life. Continue reading →

The Road To Mercy – A Review

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

The Road to MercyThe Road to Mercy by Kathy Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Tragedy, Love & Secrets meet on a journey of faith. Josh Harrison, a contemporary Christian singer, and his wife, Bethany, face a difficult decision that also tests their faith. A rupture in Beth’s carotid artery leavers her on the brink of death even as she’s pregnant with their first child. While Dr. Ben Abrams urges her to terminate the pregnancy to save her own life, she and Josh step out on faith and decide to carry the bay to full term. During the next few months, Josh struggles with his faith, and Beth hides a secret that may destroy their marriage. She also discovers a decades-old connection to Dr. Abrams that could change his life forever.”

I Loved This Book! Right from the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect, it clearly is a book that doesn’t fit the formula. Be warned, once you start this book, you will not want to put it down.

Love, forgiveness, sin, challenges, secrets, betrayals, redemption, mercy and most of all… a deep abiding faith in God and His Mercy. Don’t skip the prologue; it will all make sense at the end. The Road To Mercy… well there’s more than one meaning there for sure. This is a great read with a powerful message that you don’t want to miss.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the “For Readers Only” group at The Book Club Network, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, and Goodreads.

View all my reviews

This book is available online at
Deeper Shopping Books and Bibles

Empowered

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ 4 Comments

made to crave coverSo this week I started an online bible study through the Proverbs 31 Ministry website, called “Made to Crave“, based on the book by the  same name by Lysa TerKeurst.  This isn’t your typical Bible Study.  Nope, this one has challenged me from the first page.

It has asked me to confront some of my deepest emotional triggers when it comes to my food issues.  For example…  the author asks “Is it possible that I love and rely on food more than I love and rely on God?”  Yikes.  Now that’s a loaded question for sure.

When it comes to comfort, joy, happiness, sadness, reward, lonliness where on the spectrum do I turn?  Do I rely more on food?  Well, if the number on the scale represents anything… I would have to be honest and say yes.

Continue reading →

A Match Made In Texas – A Review

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

A Match Made in TexasA Match Made in Texas by Karen Witemeyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“There’s a Secret Matchmaker at Work in Frontier Texas!” “In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can’t keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straights with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she’s also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?” Continue reading →

Let Me Fall: The Love Story Between God and His Dimwitted Daughter – A Review

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Let Me Fall: The Love Story Between God and His Dimwitted DaughterLet Me Fall: The Love Story Between God and His Dimwitted Daughter by Beth Pensinger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Anyone who’s struggled with an addiction of some sort would agree that finding lasting contentment from the actual addiction is much like a dog chasing its tail – only a lot less adorable.”

“Let Me Fall is the love story between God and His dimwitted daughter.  I’m the dimwit in case you were wondering.”

“Let Me Fall is where my literal world figuratively collides with God as He shows me once more of who I am and who He is. My story isn’t a formula for falling in love with God. But I would be thrilled if it is a catalyst for others to do the same.”

I won this book through a Goodreads.com giveaway. I was so excited for it to arrive, as I was intrigued just from the title alone. I have to say, I was not disappointed!! I loved this book. Though the author states that this book is her story through her addiction… this book spoke to me in a very different tone. It spoke to me in the words that God knew I needed to hear. What a blessing this book was to me. It is not a book that I will read one time and put up on the shelf.

Thank you Mrs. Pensinger for being dutiful to that heavenly nudge and putting pen to paper.

*Disclaimer: I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, and Goodreads

View all my reviews

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The Prodigal – A Ragamuffin Story – A Review

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

The Prodigal: A Ragamuffin StoryThe Prodigal: A Ragamuffin Story by Brennan Manning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Prodigal – A Ragamuffin Story by Brennan Manning and Greg Garrett
Zondervan Publishers

Jack Chisholm is “the people’s pastor.” He is the founder and leader of a growing mega-church. His slogan… “We have got to do better”. He can do it all. He knows how to preach, teach, write, and he knows how to chastise people into performing. What he doesn’t know is… grace. But after one night of reckless behavior that causes him to loose everything that is precious to him…. He learns the meaning of Grace.

I LOVE this book! It grabbed me from page one and didn’t let go until the last page. Nothing got done around here today. I thought that perhaps it was going to be one more “formula” story about the fall and redemption of a sinner where everything ends up totally restored and smelling like roses. This book is so much better than that. Continue reading →

Emma of Aurora – A Review

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

Emma of Aurora (Change and Cherish Historical #1-3)Emma of Aurora by Jane Kirkpatrick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Change and Cherish Trilogy based on the true story of Emma Wagner Giesy.

“A Clearing in the Wild”
When Emma’s outspoken ways and growing skepticism lead to a clash with the beloved leader of her 1850s Bethel, Missouri, colony, she finds new opportunities to purse her dream of independence. But as she clears a pathway West to her truest and deepest self, she discovers something she never expected, a yearning for the warm embrace of community.

In 1850 at Bethel Missouri, we meet Emma Wagner a young feisty 17-year old. Emma is in love and will stop a nothing to be married to Christian Giesy, a man nearly 20 years her senior. The leader of the Bethel religious colony is dead set against this marriage… but with Emma’s cunning ways and “reverse psychology”, she becomes Emma Giesy. Continue reading →

Pathways To The King – A Review

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

Pathways to the King: Living a Life of Spiritual Renewal and PowerPathways to the King: Living a Life of Spiritual Renewal and Power by Rob Reimer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“The Church in America desperately needs revival. We have fewer people attending church now (percentage wise) than ever before in the history of the United States. But how do we experience revival? How do we usher in God’s kingdom on Earth and see the next great spiritual awakening? It starts with you. God wants you to draw near to Jesus and to be a carrier of His kingdom, and He wants you to expand the kingdom to others – just like Jesus did. Pathways to the King provides you with 8 Kingdom pathways that you’ll need to incorporate and internalize in order to experience and expand God’s kingdom on Earth. When you begin you walk down these pathways, you will develop intimacy, authority, and power in Christ and become a kingdom-minded person living out the compelling life of the Spirit.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It served as both a wake up call and a reminder for me that I have been becoming complacent in my walk. I was “OK” with the way things were… instead of being hungry for more, and wanting all that God had for me – like it was all those years ago when I first met Jesus. Not only do I need revival, but also the Church needs revival.

The author brings out 8 pathways that we need to walk in order to bring about a fresh revival and renewal – both corporate and personal. We are called to internalize the pathways – personalizing our identity in Christ, pursuing God, purifying ourselves, praising, praying kingdom prayers, claiming promises, passing the tests, and persisting – in order to walk in continuous revival.

This book is filled with great information that just makes sense. There are probably 100 “blubs” (for lack of a better word) scattered throughout the book. They are wonderful nuggets of wisdom and truth that will certainly give you something to ponder through your day. A personal favorite – “If you believed the things that God believes about you, it would revive your soul”!! While this book is an easy read, I feel that this book deserves great attention and certainly more than just one reading to fully absorb the message that is so desperately needed in our Country.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the “For Readers Only” group at The Book Club Network, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, Goodreads, and to be featured on my blog at http://titus3.wordpress.com

View all my reviews

This book is available online at
Deeper Shopping Books and Bibles

A Rooster Once Crowed – A Review

~ Ann Cuddy-Sullivan ~ Leave a comment

A Rooster Once Crowed: A Commentary on the Greatest Story Ever ToldA Rooster Once Crowed: A Commentary on the Greatest Story Ever Told by Bryant Cornett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“We live in those few moments between the first and the second crow of the rooster – between decision and indecision, between knowing and being known. But do you even care? Small; decisions made today establish our path for all time and yet we people with a piece of this and a taste of that we diet on wisdom from antiquity and gorge on culture that is next month’s joke. This story is an opportunity to gorge on scripture – from Genesis to Revelation – in context it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and an opportunity to see for yourself what it actually is. Rather than what we mold it to be and to finally choose whether or not to care.”

“Through small stories and a modern context, this book will help you understand and decide what you believe about the greatest story ever told.”

A Rooster Once Crowed is truly a fascinating read. It challenged me, in a good way, from the first chapter by asking me to examine how much I really do know about God, Jesus, Heaven, Creation, the Trinity, the Gospels, the Crucifixion…

Using Scripture references, commentary and personal stories, the author placed me on a journey to either accept and re-affirm my faith or to deny it all together by giving me insight into God’s love for Man (me), the Fall due to sin, and the price/debt Jesus paid, His sacrifice, to bring mankind (me) into God’s plan.

In the last chapter, we are given an Invitation to the final and greatest “Dance”. Will you accept or decline? It is hoped that we accept, and if we do… what do we do until the dance? And how do we prepare? That is the crux of it all.

This is a powerful book that, in conjunction with Scripture, brings forth the truths of my/our belief’s and all that that includes. This book truly is nourishment for the soul.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the “For Readers Only” group at The Book Club Network, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, Goodreads, and to be featured on my blog at http://titus3.wordpress.com

View all my reviews

This book is available online at
Deeper Shopping Books and Bibles