Book Review: All is Bright

Advent is one of the most important and special parts of Christmas to me. From the time I was a child, my mom made advent a part of our celebrations every year with lots of creative activities for us to do to participate in the celebration.

I am sure that this coloring book would have been well loved in our family! Not only are there coloring pages with accompanying advent devotionals for every day of December, but there are some great pages at the back for kids too! The kid's section has a small selection of readings and some nice large image pages that any younger or middle-aged kid would enjoy coloring without feeling the pressure of being super detailed and fussy. The main adult pages provide a wide array of images that correspond back to the main theme of that day’s devotional.

I colored several of the images with my Tim Holtz Distress Crayons so I could get a feel for the paper and weight and how it would handle being colored. The quality of the paper is pretty good. It’s very smooth without any feel of large fibers and I feel colored pencils would blend really well on paper like this. With my distress crayons and the light application of water to blend and smudge the colors, it worked ok but maybe not the best. The pages when dry and pressed still show some warping front and back on the pages and if you are someone who likes pristine pages a less water-based medium is what you are going to want to aim for on these pages.

Overall, it’s a really nice book that I think many families could enjoy together during the Advent season!

Final Rating: 4

I have been given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.

Additional photos:

Note warping on text page

Book Review: Beyond Suffering Bible

There are many reasons, as you may guess, that I wanted to have this book for my collection. As most of you know, I myself suffer with several chronic illnesses. It’s a journey I began as a young girl and one that expands and continues even today nearly twenty-four years after my first diagnosis. What Joni and her ministry ‘Joni&Friends’ have meant to me over that time has been huge, they are such a strong support of ministry to the disabled and of personal encouragement to those of us who carry those conditions and diseases, and to those who care for us as well.

This special edition of the Bible is written just for us.

In the New Living Translation, this Bible is an extensive source of resources and encouragements for the Christian going through difficult journeys. The beginning of each book offers basic introductory points as to the themes of disability that are given and referenced in that book. Pop-out sections throughout each book mark out and explain connections between the text and the theme of disability, and frequently there are entire pages dedicated to enlarging topics about the character of God and how we walk, how we trust, as believers. Throughout the Bible are also whole pages of study notes or devotional entries from Joni herself, or other comparable teachers.

It was really nice to find at the back a lengthy section with essays from noted Christian teachers and writers on topics like the biblical view of the sanctity of life, questions on why am I disabled, the Church’s call to minister to the disabled in their midst, and the hope of heaven, amongst others. It will make for fine reading in both the informative and personally encouraging senses. The publishers have also included a well-rounded easily readable dictionary/concordance in this final part of the book.  

I think that this book would make a great gift for anyone you know that is dealing with a chronic illness or for anyone who is the caretaking parent, spouse, or loved one of someone with one! I’m going to be making this one of the Bibles that I have close at hand for cross-referencing as I study the Scriptures and I’m sure it will become one that I end up frequently reading and frequently gaining a lot from!

Final Rating: 10

Extra photos below~~