Thursday, March 30, 2017

Book Review ~ Worth the Wrestle by Sheri Dew ~ With Deseret Book









Well, the incredible Sheri Dew has done it again ! I always enjoy her talks and books and this one is no exception ! I love how the book is full of personal stories and stories from general authorities and friends and family. It makes the whole book not only fun to read, but oh so meaningful and real. 

Have you heard of " wrestling with the truth " , or " wrestling for an answer " etc ? This is the theme of Sister Dew's book, 'Worth the Wrestle'. While in college she had some hard questions brought before her. She needed answers and this set her off on a life long journey of learning to wrestle for an answer. 
She talks about how President Hinckley was always asking questions ! Oh i sure love that man, and I love the idea of him sitting at the dinner table with new friends and asking all about their lives. Asking questions is a good thing ! It's one way you learn. That is where this book begins. Teaching us that questions are good ! 

She follows this up with the chapter entitled, ' Wrestling '.  It teaches us about Spiritual wrestling.... studying and seeking and doing everything in our power to learn and to sort it out. Basically ~ the WORK involved in getting answers. 

In the book she quotes President Spencer W. Kimball as saying ,

" Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most complex spiritual depths without the necessary..... work accompanied by compliance with the laws that govern it ? ........"

So Sister Dew teaches us to work for our answers. 

Next step ~ Receive Answers. In this chapter Sister Dew enchants us with more great personal stories and stories of friends and family who all had questions they needed answered. I just love this about Sister Dew. She just seems like such a great normal gal ! 

One of my favorite stories in this book is in this chapter. She talks about an experience she had as a youth with many other young women her age and how President Harold B. Lee spoke to them about seeking out spiritual experiences every day ! He told them that they may not actually have a spiritual experience each day, but not to ever stop seeking to have them ! Isn't that an awesome thing ? Why am I not doing that ? :) 

Another thing that is important when receiving answers, is to open your heart. I love how Sister Dew uses many different Scripture accounts to show how very important it is to open your heart to the Prophets and Apostles and to the Scriptures and our Father in Heaven so that we can receive answers. That is where true conversion takes place. 


When the heart is not open, she tells us, then there are limits to the influence the Spirit can have on us. This rings true for me right now, as we wait for General Conference which is coming up in just a couple of days. I will definitely by opening my heart to receive answers from the Prophets and Apostles. 

I love how Sister Dew focuses on the fact that when we have the Prophets and Apostles, we have everything. We have a way to stay connected with our Father in Heaven and we know what to do to return to Him one day. 

The rest of the book follows along with chapters on : Walking By Faith, Cherishing Keys, Standing as a Witness, and she closes the book with asking the question, What is Worth Wrestling For ? That is an amazing question and like we have already learned ~ Questions are good ! Think about the things that are important to you and why you should be doing all you can to wrestle and receive answers. You will become so much closer to the Savior as you study and learn and receive answers. This book is a great read. I enjoyed it so much and I enjoyed the stories and also the important teachings that are done in a way that only Sister Dew.... can do ! :) I just love her ! 

You can purchase this book at : DESERET BOOK

A big thank you to Deseret Book for letting me review this book and for sending me a copy of it ! I'm super excited ! 





Wednesday, March 22, 2017

7 Day Prayer Challenge from Purpose Driven Motherhood





This is my cute as pie friend Becky Edwards. She's amazing. Here is her small list of things that describe her ~ Presenter. Mentor and Life Coach. Emotional Release Facilitator. Elite Performance Coach for 3 Key Elements. Former Seminary and Institute Teacher. Mother of Five. Gramma of Two! Blogger. Homeschooler. Former Professional Organizer. Truth Seeker and Sharer.

Ummm hello ! She is incredible ! The other night she shared with us an inspiration that she had. I even went out and bought a cute little notebook so I could begin the 7 day Prayer Challenge. I think it is going to be an incredible experience. I invite you to join in with me and we can discuss this on the Facebook Group. Without further ado ~ Here is Becky's post from her blog PURPOSE DRIVEN MOTHERHOOD 
Love, JL~
****************************************************************Last night an inspiration came to take a prayer challenge myself, and offer it to others! 



For seven days offer a prayer where you:

1) First thank Heavenly Father for ten different things. Gratitude has such delicious power to connect us with God and help us see the good we couldn't see and attract more good. 

2) Then ask for ten different things. How many times have you seen "ask" in the scriptures? Tons! God never told us, "Be sure you only ask for these three things." He said to ask for all kinds of things! Of course when you ask, it's always good to follow the Savior's pattern of saying, "Thy will be done," or "If this by Thy will." 

3) Ask one question, pause and quiet your mind, and write down any ideas or answers that come to mind. 

4) Then ask one more question: "Is there anything else Thou wants to tell me, wants me to ask for, repent or forgive for, or a person to pray for?"

If you want to take the prayer challenge to the next level, write them in your journal. 



Something about writing focuses the mind and anchors concepts deeper into our souls than just thinking or speaking them. And besides, wouldn't this make a precious seven-day journal entry to look back on? 

Wow, I just used this pattern in my own prayer journal this morning, and it was beautiful and delicious. When I asked the last question, the Spirit let me know that two different conversations I had yesterday were purposely meant to prepare me for something that's going to happen today. How cool is that? 

Here's what your journal headings may look like: 
  1. 10 Thanks
  2. 10 Asking 
  3. 1 Question
  4. 1 Anything else?

I'm excited to upgrade my prayers this way for the next seven days. How about you?  


Here are a few other questions you could add if you like. 

  • Heavenly Father, how does Thou feel about me? 
  • What are good things about me, my strengths, or my accomplishments that I may not notice ? 
  • What do you want me to work on?
  • What do you want me to know?
  • What do you want me to feel? 
  • Thanks to Ruth Haycock for suggesting these additional questions.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Book Review ~ Changed Through His Grace ~ By Brad Wilcox



I was so excited when DESERET BOOK asked me to review this beautiful book by Brad Wilcox. I knew of Brother Wilcox through his uplifting and fun talks that he has given, mostly to youth, around the world. He is an incredible man ! He first brought up the subject of grace in a talk he gave in 2011 and was later printed in the Ensign. Here is a link you will want to read it too ! DEVOTIONAL BY BRAD WILCOX

The book that Brother Wilcox has written is called ' Changed through His Grace ' and you can purchase it HERE . The theme of the book is Grace. He writes, ' I have seen grace change others. I see it changing me. '

One of the most important things, I personally feel, about this book is that it covers the definition of Grace. I am sad to admit that I did not know what true Grace was. He dedicates an entire chapter to the true definition and just in that first couple of chapters of the book, I was amazed. I was so thrilled to know that Grace is so much more than what I had thought. What a gift ! This quote shows just a small sampling of the definition that Brother Wilcox gives us :


Doesn't that just excite you ? Another thing that Brother Wilcox addresses in just the first couple of chapters is how many other churches and religious groups speak of Grace as a ' get out of jail free card'. He writes,
" Sadly, too many in the world see grace as little more than permission to sin and procrastinate rather than the power to become ' dead to sin '  and  ' born of God '. Too many live like spiritual couch potatoes and still expect God to beam them up when the time comes. "

I am so thankful that this book came in the mail when it did. I always kind of roll my eyes when I see a commercial selling a product and they say things like " this potato peeler changed my life !" We've all seen those silly commercials. But honestly, forgive me for sounding a bit like an infomercial here ~ This book came at a time in my life when I was trying so hard to get answers to prayers on many big things. This book truly did change my life and change my thought process as to how my Father in Heaven truly loves me. Grace is truly a gift ~ But we must learn to accept it ! That is another amazing point that Brother Wilcox writes about. How we want to " pay God back " for all that He has done for us. But He doesn't want us to try and do that... we could never ever do that !! He just wants us to accept his gifts.  " His joy is found in seeing us value His gift. Receiving grace is like receiving a scholarship. It doesn't guarantee learning. It facilitates it. The scholarship donor doesn't want money back. He or she wants it utilized. "


Another thing this incredible book taught me was how to relearn trust in my Savior. Brother Wilcox uses Hymns throughout the book to really teach us. It really resonated with me, as I love music so much and the lyrics to some of the hymns were just perfect for what he was teaching at that moment. It was a joy to go and listen to the hymn after reading through the chapter or section in the book that he had used it with. What a beautiful way to teach and to learn. By music and by the Word. The Scriptures that Brother Wilcox used in the book take on new meanings as you read them and compare them to what he is teaching at the moment. It was really neat to add notes into my Scriptures that have to do with the lessons in this book.

My relationship with my Savior and My Father in Heaven changed while reading this book. I truly felt changed through His Grace. I can't thank Brother Wilcox enough for taking the time and listening to the Spirit as he wrote this book. There are so many parts in the book I have highlighted with a little note in the margin to " show the kids " LOL~ It has been the main part of many of our daily Gospel lessons in my household !


Are you using the correct definition of the word Grace ? Do you accept and utilize the gifts that Heavenly Father has given you ? Do you have the relationship with Christ that you long for ? I encourage you to read this book. It is definitely one of those books where you can honestly say ~ " This changed me life ! " Not only because you read the book, but because you put Grace to work in your life.

You can purchase the book here : DESERET BOOK
You can keep up to date with Brother Brad Wilcox here : BRAD WILCOX

Hymns, no 240 states , " Our God is pleased when we improve His grace... "
I feel that when you read this book, you will learn how to please your Father in Heaven.
I say these things in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
By JL Kaylor
www.ldsparenting.blogspot.com