Snuggle UP With "Journeys Of Faith" by Sarah Clarkson

"Life is a journey, and all throughout history there have been people who were call to walk their journeys on a less-traveled road to walk the road to God..." That is the first sentence that I read in this book. That is the first sentence in the introduction by Sarah Clarkson. Before I get started with telling you about how much this book has impacted my Walk With God, I want to tell you a little about Sarah Clarkson, the author.

The author of this wonderful book is Sarah Clarkson, daughter of Sally Clarkson. Sarah is a 17-year-old homeschooled girl. She is a dedicated writer for God. She shares the love of books (like I do!) She also loves drinking strong British tea from one of her pretty china teacups and saucers. She loves Celtic and Classical music (so do I). Long walks and travel-adventures are one of her favourite outdoor, nothing-else-to-do things to do. When she is not at home writing a book or reading a book, she loves to travel with her Christian parents. Speaking and helping them with at their conferences is what she likes to do while traveling with them. Sounds a lot like the women she tells stories about in her book. ;) Loving, honouring, giving, encouraging... no wonder she has such a knack for writing about these women in the Bible. Onto my review!

Miss Clarkson wrote about four women in the Bible. You are probably familiar with them or you have heard of them. Those women are Mary of Bethany (you may also know her as Martha's sister Mary,) Esther, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Ruth. There are three stories about each of them, 12 stories in all. Miss Clarkson has very cleverly taken the stories from the Bible and kind of fictionized them, but left them like the Bible, so to speak. I really love reading the stories from the Bible, so this was a great way to get my attention in reading about these four godly women. Miss Clarkson brought to view something I had not even thought of thinking about - what those women were thinking when these stories were taking place. If we could look into the mind of Mary of Bethany while Jesus was being crucified, or Esther while she was preparing to go before the king, Jesus' Mother Mary as her Son was taking on the sin of the world, and Ruth while she peacefully and lovingly honoured her mother-in-law, I do wonder what we could learn from them, those God-fearing young women.

After each story, There is a section at the end of each story that is Miss Clarkson's reflections on the stories she has just told you about. She gives you some Scripture to look up and read to make your own reflections with, and ask some questions about the Scriptures. There is also a 1 1/2 page section that is for journaling about what you just read and what you learned from it. It's your "Journey Journal," as she calls it. That is a very good idea, I think. That way, you can discuss what you wrote down with your mom or older sister, even your aunt or grandmother. Wouldn't that be neat to sit with a family member and talk about the things you learned and ask their opions on the matter? I think it would.

I have learned a lot from reading these stories. The first 'story' in the book is about when Mary (Martha's sister) is supposed to be helping Martha prepare Jesus' supper and she is at His feet, listening to Him, while Martha was busy at the well getting water for the supper soup. Martha gets angry, and tells Jesus to tell Mary to help her. Jesus lovingly corrects Martha's angry attitude, and tells her that Mary has "chosen the good part." When I first read that in the Bible, I was like "What does He mean, 'the good part'"? I know (of course) now that He meant she had chosen to come and follow Him and want to be by Him instead of scrubbing the floors and making the dinner, thinking that since she was serving Him, it was enough and that she was doing what needed to be done. I can see why Martha was angry; I would be angry too if my sister left me with all the work. But we must remember the words of the Master. He gently, lovingly corrects and then tells her that she needs not to be angry. WOW! Even when Martha is so angry with Mary that she wants to explode, Jesus gently calms her and shows her her mistake. How great is His love that He would take the time to show mercy and love to a self-righteous woman who is angry with her sister! Martha had the pride of her works being better than her sister's because she was doing all the work for her Master. I sometimes get that way too. I think I am doing something, so I deserve something better than the one who didn't really do anything at all. Beware of Pride!

I could go through all of the twelve wonderful stories and tell you about them, but then you would never get to the end of this review! (Ok, maybe you would in the next year. :) There are many lessons that can be learned from these four Godly women. For one thing, you can learn about how to trust God through all the trials and learn not to make the same errors that these women made. Some lessons I learned were - how to give more of my devotion to God, to give Him my best in the morning, Learning to have peace. Trusting in God's promises and His good will for me even when things don't seem to fit what I think they should. Learning to be content. Learning that prayer can effect you. Being courageous for the Lord. Being ready to answer if God calls me to do something for Him (that means my heart has to be in the right place). How to let Him shape me and mold me, and to have a heart of diligence. Many more lessons are in this book.

Any girl should read this, from ages 4 and 5 to their early twenties, and even beyond that! I must say I really enjoyed this book and am so glad that I was given it to review. It's really wonderful! I wish I could write something like this to encourage girls with, but I have not the talent. This is a book I think every girl should read. Miss Clarkson really captures the reality of the women behind the stories and brings them to life. It's a great book that should be read along with your Bible Study. It can be used as a devotional for younger girls who don't really understands what the older girls are reading them. It would be a great story book too, for quiet time.

Different girls may get different opinions and lessons from this book, and that is ok. I am sure that my sisters' might get a different opinion about some stuff then I do, but that is ok. I just hope that you can learn something from this book as I have and act on it for God's Glory. "Prepare ya the way of the Lord, make Him a straight path to follow," John the Baptist cried out to the people. We can do the same by opening our hearts and letting Him take charge of our lives. I rate this book as a five-star. It's wonderful!

WholeHeart Ministries has donated a copy of this wonderful book to giveaway, and we would love for you to enter the drawing! Please leave me a comment and tell me your favourite Bible heroine and why. Also you can be given a second entry if you add the icon in your sidebar and announce this giveaway on your blog.

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The end date is October 17th at midnight PST. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

With much adieu,