Grace Unplugged and Own It

Taking a short break from vacation to pop in and share a review and give-a-way for you!

Two for One Special!  One reader will receive TWO books and they are both FANTASTIC! Fantastic.  Double fantastic!

Grace Unplugged

Written by: Melody Carlson

Publisher: B&H Books

Paperback: 304 pages 

Release Date: September 1, 2013

$15.99

Own ItWritten by: Hayley and Michael DiMarco
Publisher: B&H Publishing

Paperback: 192 pages
Release Date: September 1, 2013

$14.99

Stay Connected: 
Grace Unplugged Movie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graceunplugged

Grace Unpluggled Movie Twitter: @GraceMovie
Grace Unplugged Website: www.graceunplugged.com

B&H Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhpublishing

B&H Twitter: @BHpub

And remember to check out the Grace Unplugged movie trailer. 

Grace Unplugged (My take)

My daughter and I have been VERY excited to see this upcoming movie (releasing Oct 4), so I jumped at the chance to read the book.  Absolutely was NOT disappointed and it makes me that much more excited to see the movie (with musical performances by Chris Tomlin and Jamie Grace).  In the novel, Jamie Trey is blessed with an incredible singing talent and wants to pursue that dream. However, her father is set against it.  As a one hit wonder talent, he is reluctant to let her pursue her talents because he knows first hand what the "real" word can do to a young talent, most especially a Christian.  Jamie takes things into her own hands and soon finds out many of those lessons her father wanted to shield her from. Painful lessons that separate her from her family and cause her faith to be put to the test.  When I first agreed to review the book, I didn't really pay attention to the author, but I was thrilled to find out it was by Melody Carlson.  I've read several of her books lately and have enjoyed them all.  My absolute favorite part of the book is that you can read it from both the perspective of Jamie and her wanting to grow up and break away from her parents AND also from the parenting perspective.  The author does a FANTASTIC job of presenting both sides.  This makes it extra appealing to be read by teens AND adults! Not only was it a great story for entertainment value, it has some great moments about faith!  How do you come back from mistakes? What do you do when you are forced to make a choice that compromises your faith? EXCELLENT book!

Own It (leaving behind a borrowed faith) (My take)

A book mentioned in "Grace Unplugged", one that is crucial to Jamie's story, is "Own It".  It goes hand in hand with "Grace Unplugged".

This book is EXCELLENT.  It's not a fast read if you read it to truly change your life and to increase your faith---but it is GREAT.  Definitely recommend it for teens on up. My favorite part of the book is the highlighting.  I'm a highlighting, note taking nerd when I read and most important points are already in bold print.  GREAT VISUAL. It's a powerful book.  It explains how to truly embrace our faith as our OWN...not just the faith of our family.  It goes through explaining what owing your faith means and how truly owning your faith will save you, cost you, change you, complete you and free you.  I could write countless quotes, but a couple that jump out in my memory are:

• "When you own your faith, His will becomes your will."
• "The degree God intervenes in your life will be directly proportional to the time you spend with Him."
• "If you struggle with wanting to be in control, of needing to manage not only your life but the lives of those around you, then what you are doing is playing God."
• "Worry is your heart calling God a liar."  (This one really hit home! ouch!)

Though the book is targeted more to older teens and young adults, I found it to still be beneficial to my heart as well. 

Give-a-way will conclude at the end of  October 2nd.  One reader (USA and Canada only) will receive BOTH books.  Simply leave a comment to enter and BE SURE TO INCLUDE A CONTACT EMAIL....or I can't contact you if you are the winner (that has happened TWICE recently and I had to go onto the 2nd winner!)  

Thanks for taking the time to read the reviews, checking out what the books are about, and entering! 

Back to vacation world we go.....definitely loving the time with my husband and kids, being back in the Smokey Mountains and looking forward to being back "home" in a few days to see my little brother get married and spend some time on the family farm in gorgeous middle TN! 

*Disclosure of Materials Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."