by Misty Phillip | Dec 20, 2021 | Book Review
Hey friends, It has been a hot minute since I’ve posted anything on the blog. Anyone who has been around me for any length of time knows that I am passionate about faith and home. Still, when the opportunity came up for me to review Revived & Renovated: Real Conversations on the Intersection of Home, Faith, and Everything in Between by Victoria Duerstock and Paige Rien, I couldn’t resist the chance.
Something you may not know about me is my passion for restoring old things and giving them new life. When I discovered Annie Sloan’s paint, it became my new best friend. I loved that I could take an old dinghy piece of furniture and give it new life. Too often, in our modern world, we toss out the old to make room for the new. If something is broken, we toss it and buy a new one. This got me thinking about why I love repurposing so much. Maybe it’s because before I knew Christ, I was a broken mess, but through Christ, I’ve been redeemed and restored. Not only that, but He has restored to me the years the eaten by the locusts.
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.” – Joel 2:25-26
The first thing that caught my attention was the title revived and renovated. I love that each chapter begins with the letter R. I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for good alliteration.
Revived
Renovated
Restored
Refurbished
Reclaimed
Renewed
Refocused
Remade
Repurposed
Renamed
Recovered
Revived & Renovated: Real Conversations on the Intersection of Home, Faith, and Everything in Between perfectly dovetails meaningful conversations with scripture coupled with practical tips on real projects to progress in the home. From post-covid feelings to vulnerability, super mom complex, and the connection to our homes. I really enjoyed reading Revived & Renovated and highly recommend.
Some of my favorite quotes.
“Restoration isn’t reinvention. No tears downs, no starting over. Surely God works this way as well. So much of our work with God is a return – to old wounds and to His word and to the original promises to His people.”
“We may not feel energized; we don’t feel useful. And God promises to restore to us the joy of our salvation – which is just beautiful.”
“We avoid being still because busyness feels better.”
“The message of “you can do it all” is so bad for us.”
Revived & Renovated is a conversation on well-loved topics between two great friends.
Victoria and Paige delight in all the dovetails found among the parallels of the work we do in our homes and our souls. Covering topics of home renovation with corresponding Biblical wisdom and perspectives from their personal walks with God, Revived and Renovated will be an encouragement to young and old alike.
Victoria Duerstock
“A multi-passionate creative and entrepreneur fueled mostly by coffee, Victoria Duerstock pursues her dreams with verve and intensity. Wife and mom of three, Victoria divides and conquers the never-ending to-do list while working to maintain her sanity and pleasant demeanor.”
Paige Rien
“When I was working in television, on HGTV’s “Hidden Potential” for five seasons, to be exact, I found out I had way too much to say for TV. I had more to say about making home and making it personal and unique, than time slots between commercial breaks would allow. I have always loved making spaces mine. I can remember at Girl Scout Camp, rearranging the furniture. I can recall how I decorated my first apartment in alarming detail. I am passionate about bringing personal stories to spaces – not just things”
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by Misty Phillip | Jun 27, 2017 | Featured
Don’t you just love summer? We tend to give ourselves some time to rest, relax and enjoy a slower pace. I am enjoying some great new books that are coming out on the market this summer, and I can’t wait to share them with you over the course of the next few weeks in my Summer Reading Series!
“Take a deep breath, grab a cup of something cozy, and let God’s love fill your heart with whatever you need most today.”
—Holley
Everyone enjoys opening packages and receiving something in the mailbox besides junk mail. One of the things that I love about being an author, blogger and online influencer is that I have access to Christian books before they are available for sale on the market. I am a bit of a non-fiction Christian book nerd. Some people love to read romance or thrillers, but my jam is books that stretch me and challenge me to grow as a person, and help me love God and His people more.
I love the way that God uses men and women today to share the timeless truth of His word in new and refreshing ways to His people.
In Coffee for your Heart, Holly Gerth touches on the issues that we all struggle with at our very core being from feelings of acceptance, to know that we are cherished and loved, and forgiven. This book contains 40 life-changing powerful reminders of how much God loves you!
Holley’s book was a cup of love for my soul.
Filled with God’s love and encouragement each short devotion begins with a scripture that corresponds with the theme of the day’s reading is packed full of wisdom and ends with three sections entitled Reflect, Respond, Remember. At the end of each devotion, there are thought-provoking questions for you to Reflect upon and answer. Followed by a written prayer section entitled Response, and concludes with things to Remember.
This book was previously published as God’s Heart for You and is available online and in stores on July 1, 2017.
Holley Gerth is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of You’re Already Amazing. You can learn more about Holley on her blog at Holley Gerth. Holley Gerth is a natural born encourager, and if you are in need of encouragement or to know how much God loves you then this book is for you!
*I was given a copy of this book to review compliments of Holley Gerth
What books are on your summer reading list? I would love to know what you are reading. Leave me a comment below and tell me what you are reading!
by Misty Phillip | Mar 17, 2017 | Lifestyle, Marriage
The intense stress that comes from having a special needs child can put an incredible strain on even the healthiest of marriages. The difficulty in the day in and day out can be overwhelming. Some special needs people have a difficult time performing even the simplest of tasks such as dressing, toileting, and general self-care. Exhaustion sets in from lack of sleep and that can wreak havoc on any sane person, and a lot of times special kids barely sleep at all. The financial stress that comes from therapy not being covered, the endless doctor appointments, or because anything with a special needs price tag comes at an astronomical cost. The grief that comes from unmet expectations, the heartache that comes from comparing your child and their abilities, or sometimes the guilt alone from blaming yourself or your spouse is enough to tear a marriage apart.
My husband and I have experienced all of this and more, but things really came to a head in our marriage when our son was a baby. I was a weary young mom doing my best to make it from day to day. Our precious little man screamed at the top of his lungs all hours of the day and night and didn’t sleep at all for the first three years of his life. We were constantly in the doctor’s office and in and out of the hospital.
I don’t know about your husband, but my husband is a fixer. He can not stand it if there is something wrong with me or one of our children. Since he is a problem solver, he wants to fix things. However, there are some problems that man can not fix, no matter how hard he tries. This took a toll on my husband and thus took a toll on our marriage.
Things got really ugly between us. This wreaked all kinds of havoc in our personal lives and with each other. I will spare you all of the gory details, just know it was bad enough that I ended up in Lawyer’s office seeking counsel to get divorced. But God—God divinely entered into the midst of our pain and difficulty, and we took the “D” word off the table and choose to commit to each that no matter how bad things got that we would stick it out with God’s help.
We forgave one another and choose to love, not in our strength and might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. In those moments, everything changed. Our circumstances with our son didn’t change, but our perspective on our situation changed. We faced our problems together with the strength of our mighty God to carry us through. Life didn’t become easy—there was no instant healing. In fact, the years that followed were much more stressful than the previous years. The difference was our relationship to each other and our reliance on the Lord.
Our marriage has been tried and tested and forged in the fire for nearly 25 years. My husband is my best friend and He loves me like Christ loves the church. Through the years, we chose to love one another and submit to Christ, and his plan for our marriage. We now have an incredible relationship. My husband is the biblical leader of our home, and I have embraced my calling of biblical womanhood.
These same principles that have guided our marriage are discussed in Jen Weaver’s book, A Wife’s Secret to Happiness. I love this book! From the sparkly cover to Jen’s modern interpretation of the Bible to practical wisdom this book offers to women, Jen has such a great conversational style that you feel like you are sitting across the table from one another sharing your hearts over a cup of coffee.
There are eleven chapters in the book, and each chapter highlights a particular blessing God wants to provide to in your marriage and a conflicting “wifestyle.” A wifestyle is a habit or way in which our routines as wives either attract or reject God’s divine provision. Each chapter contains a wifestyle or a real life story used for practical application.The first blessing is the blessing of three strands, which is taken from Ecclesiastes 4:12:
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken -Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV
This principle takes the heart of two people and binds them together with God to make a marriage that is not easily broken. It is the supernatural strength that comes from the Holy Spirit being alive and active in our marriage that I spoke of earlier.
Jen does a great job of handling some difficult subjects that come up within a context of marriage from leaving and cleaving and becoming one, to submission, to the beautiful gift of sex. In the chapter on the blessing of unity, Jen uses a great analogy of dancing to talk about submission in marriage.
A tango cannot have two leads, and our Marriage instructor, our third strand, calls us to submit to our husbands that we may have unity in our relationships and live in concert with his spirit. -Jen Weaver
There is bonus material to delve deeper into each subject that is available online. This book is a must read for young women preparing for marriage, as well as married women. I wish I would have read something like this before I got married, it would have made the first few years of marriage a lot easier. Jen Weaver nails the secret to happiness in marriage through receiving, honoring and celebrating God’s role for you in your marriage.
A special thank you to The Blog About Network, The Blythe Daniel Agency and publishers for providing a copy of this book for review and one to giveaway.
Leave a comment below with your best piece of marriage advice below, to be entered to win a copy of A Wife’s Secret to Happiness.
Jen is married to her best friend Jared and mom to their adorable toddler, Dillon. Jen is an author, marketing professional, Bible study teacher, conference speaker, and a host for The Declare Conference – a blogging conference in Dallas, Texas. She is passionate about sharing strengths with others through her stories of humor and hope.
A Wife’s Secret to Happiness(Leafwood, March 2017) is already receiving rave reviews from Jim Daily, President of Focus on the Family, Associate Senior Pastor Pastor of Gateway Church, Allan Kelsey, Author of Breaking Busy, Ali Worthington, Author of A Mary Like Me, Andy Lee, and many more! www.TheJenWeaver.com
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