Book Review--Chicken Soup for the Soul, Devotional Stories for Women

• Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies
• She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness

I was recently given the opportunity to review a new devotional book for women, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Women: 101 Daily Devotions to Comfort, Encourage and Inspire Women, brought together by Susan Heim and Karen Talcott.

The forward to the book is a very touching testimony by Jennifer Sands, a 9/11 widow and cancer survivor.

Then the introduction quotes two of my favorite scriptures--John 16:33, where Jesus tell us "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world". I can't tell you how many times in years past I held on to that promise. And of course Proverbs 31--"Who can find a virtuous woman?" (They quote a version that says 'woman of noble character'.)

The main part of this book is 101 devotionals, each with a scripture, short story, and brief prayer. Each of these is written by real women of various ages, from all different walks of life, including two additional devotions from Jennifer Sands. None of them take more than a couple of minutes to read.

One of the things that I like about this devotional is the way it's arranged. There are sections grouped by theme--Faith, Motherhood, Life Lessons, Illness, God's Helpers, Parenting, Relationships, Loss, Service to Others, Marriage, and Self-Esteem. You can use this as a daily devotional, starting at the first one and reading straight through, or you can use it topically by going to the sections. I haven't used it every day, I tend to pick it up and read 5 or 6 at a time once or twice a week or so.

Another feature that I really like is section at the back where there is a brief "meet and greet" introduction of each of the contributors--it really drives home the fact that these are a diverse group of ladies, offering testimonials of encouragement from their real lives and from their hearts.

And last but not least, there's a page at the end that tells you where you can send your own story, which could possibly be included in a future "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. Isn't that cool?

This is not heavy-duty Bible Study, or deep spiritual stuff, it's exactly what this kind of devotional should be--brief snippets of brightness to encourage us along the way in our walk with the Lord.

(Disclosure--I received a free copy of this book to read and review, but did not receive any payment or other compensation for doing so. The opinion stated is that of my own. If you decide you'd like to buy this book , if you click on the underlined link above or the Amazon widget on the right hand sidebar, you can order it from Amazon, and I'll eventually get a few pennies from the purchase. Someday, when I reach my associate pay-out threshold, in a galaxy far, far, away)

Until next time...