Stand Strong

                                                        Stand Strong by Nick Vujicic
This book was so inspiring on so many levels. If you have never heard of Nick Vujicic before, you should look him up on YouTube. He was born without arms and legs, and travels the world as a motivational speaker. His story is really amazing. In this book Nick talks about how to deal with bullies. He talks about the bullies that picked on him in school and how he dealt with them. He also gives some really good advice on how to deal with the bullies in your life.

I. Faith-Based Bully-Proofing
What I really appreciate about Nick is that he is a Christian and he's not afraid to tell you about his faith. In this book he emphasizes the role that his faith had in his ability to deal with bullies. The Christian faith really does give so much hope for those of us who are dealing with bullies or other tough things. I really loved how much he emphasized this aspect.


II. Remember That We Are All Human
This was such a great reminder. Those of us who are getting bullied might tend to think that their bully is not human. They are! They may be dealing with a plethora of  difficult things at once. Maybe they come from a broken home, or maybe someone else bullied them. Whatever they are going through may be showing itself in the way they are treating you and others. Try being nice to them. You might be surprised by what happens.


III. Create a Support System
Again this advice was really great! He recommends doing a couple different things to create support. First he highly recommends gathering the right people around you. This includes your family (and specifically your parents), people at your church (pastors, friends), and joining clubs. These aren't just any people, these are people that you trust and who trust you, they are also interested in what is best for you. And by the way these people who you are looking out for their best interest as well. You will need these kind of people around you in order to overcome bullies. On top of having a good group of people around you, having a solid faith in God is the best support. I am not saying (and neither is Nick) that if you believe in God everything will go great for you. With a good understanding of the Bible and God, however, you will be able to see God's purpose in why you are going through this tough time.

IV.  Let's End Bullying Now!!
 At one point in the book, Nick mentioned the parable of the Good Samaritan. He mentioned it because he wanted to encourage us to be more like the Good Samaritan, by being kind to those who need a good friend. If we are more worried about meeting other peoples needs and loving other people bullies will be less likely to bother us. In fact let's work towards ending bullying now!!


I highly recommend this book!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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. 

Chia Vitality

           I just finished reading Chia Vitality by Janie Hoffman. It had lots of very good information, but like so many other books on healthier food choices and lifestyle changes it had some weird stuff mixed in. This is an area that I would love to see Christians reclaiming. We have handed organic food and natural health options over to the world and now associate all of it with hippies, New Agers, Buddhists etc. Well guess what?! God made all of this first!! He owns the copyright on them, not the world. SO let's take a look at the book.
          I. The Information about Chia Seeds was really good.
              She had so much good information about the health benefits of Chia seeds. Since reading about the great nutrients that they have, I have wanted to get some. They have tons of omega-3s, lots of fiber and way more. It was amazing to hear what they had, and what they could help your body achieve by providing the nutrients that your body needs. One thing I would like to see Christians pay more attention to is eating healthier and thinking about what they are putting into their bodies. By doing this we aren't necessarily  "protecting" ourselves from sickness, but we are taking steps to try and be healthy to better serve God and the Church and our community.
       II. Community.
            Another really cool point she makes is building community. Both by getting involved in different ways, and by buying local. These are both very good things and should be used to the glory of God. But again she pushes this with the view that we are all "connected" with each other and the earth in a "Zen" type way. Community is such a wonderful thing and is a great way to minister to people and spread the Gospel. We are all human, which is something we need to remember, and we do need to connect with each other. We also need to be good stewards of the earth, because God told us too, but we should not worship the earth, check out this documentary film about how we should view the earth. Get plugged into your community and have fun!
     III. Religious Aspects
            This was the most depressing aspect of the book. At one point she says, "I don''t consider myself part of any specific religion, but at the heart of all of them." However, she was really inspired and influenced by Buddhism and some New Age. She pushed finding your "soul" and "soul purpose", as well as practicing yoga and meditation. She also mentioned a couple times that she took yoga classes from a Buddhist lady and that this lady had really mentored and inspired her. And the meditation she suggested doing was really scary sounding. One of the "seed thoughts" that she recommended for meditation was "I quiet  my mind and listen to the innate wisdom of my body." This wasn't only in one section of the book or in just chapter, but it was throughout the whole book and had more then one chapter dedicated to  meditation and yoga. It would be so nice to see a book written about this kind of topic from a Christian perspective, without all of that stuff.
     IV. A Few Last Positive Notes
          A couple of things that I really appreciated throughout the book was that she was talking about eating healthy with a main highlight of the Chia seed. She pointed out that it is important to check out the ingredients of your foods, to buy organic and non-GMOs. All of these are great things and are smart choices, but she also points out that you need to stay within your budget! Making healthier food choices, but staying within your budget is really good advice. Another thing that I thought was a good suggestion that she made was keeping a gratitude journal. This is definitely something that we as Christians should be doing.
     I really enjoyed the book and thought there was some really good information, but there was some things that I didn't like.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from the publisher Harmony Books Blogging for Books 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.