Hey, all! Here I am to kick off my return with a review of a new Christian nonfiction This Changes Everything by Jaquelle Crowe. It's a...

Hey, all! Here I am to kick off my return with a review of a new Christian nonfiction This Changes Everything by Jaquelle Crowe. It's a book for teens by a teen and it actually comes out tomorrow, so if you like what you read, purchase link is here and goodreads is on the book cover. :)

Description from Book's Website:

The teen years have been hijacked—by fashion, music, movies, and games; by the pressures of school, peers, and society; and by superficial expectations set by the world. But there is something more glorious than all these influences that has the power to change the life of a teenager: the gospel.  

Written by a teenager for teenagers, This Changes Everything is a deeply theological yet practical and accessible book on how the gospel radically transforms every aspect of the teen years, including pursuing relationships, managing time, combating personal sin, and cultivating healthy habits.

In a culture awash with low expectations for young people, this book exhorts teenagers to embrace a gospel-centered perspective on their lives and pursue wholehearted devotion to Christ now.

Review:

This book… is… amazing. It begins with an introduction that’s super relatable, making me feel like Jaquelle and I could just sit in a small group and chat about God and life and basically be best friends (I mean, she likes dark chocolate, people. I love dark chocolate). But it’s not long before we get into the deep stuff—and the deep stuff is really good.

There is so much wisdom packed into this 160-page book. It has short, bite-sized chapters, but they’re so chock full of food for the soul that I bookmarked at least half the pages and will undoubtedly reread from the beginning sometime soon, so that I can examine and apply each little wisdom nugget one piece at a time. I’ll be honest, This Changes Everything is challenging, but it doesn’t leave you to walk these paths alone. One, it lets you know that you have friends in the thousands of Christian teens who are dealing with the exact same things you are; and two, it repeatedly points you back to the Father and the Savior, from whom all our help comes anyway.

This book forced me to take a good look at myself and reconsider things I thought I already understood, everything from insecurity to evangelism to prayer. It taught me a lot about my heart, sins I didn’t even realize I’d been hiding from or things I’d been telling myself weren’t a huge deal, but actually kind of are because, like she said in the book, all sin separates us from the Father. Honestly, reading this book reminded me of all the places I still fail—but it also reminded me of why there’s grace. :) It convicted me and convinced me not to stop trying, that I can start again right now, right where I am, and that Jesus will be there every second of the way to help me change.

When she said, “This changes everything,” she meant everything. This is real, deep, life-changing stuff and the book digs into it all—as it should, because, you know, it’s about the Gospel. And the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when applied, truly, deeply, and completely changes everything.

Review: 5 stars out of 5

So what have you been reading lately? Link me up to some of your reviews! Can’t wait to hear from you all and I will see you in the comment section!

Note: I voluntarily reviewed a free ecopy of this book.

So, remember my last post when I talked about maybe coming back in a week? Well… as we can all see that did not happen. :p As I mentioned ...

So, remember my last post when I talked about maybe coming back in a week? Well… as we can all see that did not happen. :p As I mentioned in my Verbosity post, after all my quizzes were over, there was of course more school, plus it took a little while to hire someone for the position I was covering, plus I unexpectedly moved across the city. So yeah. Life didn’t exactly go as I planned.

But. Things are hopefully back on track at least for a little while, and I’ve got several posts planned that I am really excited about and I’m hoping to get them up sometime between now and the end of April. So fingers crossed for that. 

Until then, here is a taste of the music that has kept me sane lately (and also been a beautiful background to do schoolwork to). ;) Hope you enjoy!

So what'd you think? Which one of these was your favorite and had you heard any of them before? Also, random side note, my younger brother started watching LOST, and I’ve all of the sudden been thinking about it a lot lately. So has anyone else seen the show? What did you think and who was your favorite character? I feel like I need to discuss this to get it out of my head. :p

Thank you for sticking around, dears, and here’s to more posts coming soon!