It's Just You and Me, Lord by Marion Stroud, ©2012

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!


You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Marion Stroud

and the book:

It's Just You and Me, Lord : Prayers for a Women’s Life

Discovery House Pub (September 2012)

***Special thanks to Susan Otis, Creative Resources, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marion Stroud has been a bookworm since she memorized the rhyming couplets of the Rupert Bear stories when she was three years old. Marion always wanted to be a writer but trained initially to be a physical therapist.
     As soon as Marion “retired” from physiotherapy to have her first baby, she decided to fulfill two ambitions at once: to become a mother and a writer. She now has five adult children, seventeen grandchildren from ages eighteen months to nineteen years, and twenty-four published books to her name, many of which have been translated into up to fourteen different languages.
     Living in Malaysia as a child gave Marion a heart for people from different nations. She works with Media Associates International to mentor and encourage writers in countries where little Christian literature is written or published.
      Marion and her husband love entertaining, walking, reading, and traveling. They are active in the church they helped to found more than thirty years ago. They also lead a small group where they offer pastoral support, and together learn more about living out their faith in daily life."

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

As women journey through life a lot can be said about their relationships, responsibilities, and concerns. Often influenced by emotions and feelings, women are most likely to express their deepest thoughts to a trusted friend.

It’s Just You and Me, Lord offers heartfelt prayers to inspire and encourage women no matter where they are in life’s journey. Addressing common issues and providing practical prayers, Scripture, and quotes, author Marion Stroud encourages women to express honest and heartfelt communication with God.

From personal prayers to prayers about family, friends, and the world, this inspirational resource helps women of all ages to genuinely connect with God, talk with Him about their concerns, and build and maintain a strong prayer life. Discover how you can go to God in prayer and have confidence in knowing He is your trusted friend.

__________________________________________________________________________

MARION STROUD lives in Bedford, England. She is an established and popular author and sought-after speaker whose books have been translated into fourteen languages.

It's Just You & Me, Lord

Product Description:
Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: Discovery House Publishers (September 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1572935731

ISBN-13: 978-1572935730

Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Introduction

One of my favorite ways of spending an evening is to share a meal with old friends. What we eat and drink is not particularly important—it’s the conversation that matters. We look back and laugh about our youthful escapades. We talk about the issues that confront us now and wrestle with questions of faith and family. Nothing is off-limits. We challenge each other’s presuppositions and get fresh glimpses of truth through the eyes of a trusted companion.
     Prayer, at its best, is like sharing a meal with a loved and trusted friend. Jesus says, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Revelation 3:20 NLT).
     Some of the topics I have written about in these pages spring from my own experience, but many are rooted in the pain and challenges faced by others. In some cases the details of the situation have been changed to protect their privacy. But all these conversations with God spring from life as we experience it in the twenty-first century.
     You may want to make my words your own, or simply use them as a prompt for your own communication with our loving heavenly Father. Whatever words you use, you can approach Him boldly, confident that as you honestly and openly share your joys, your pain, and your perplexity with Him, you will come away from the encounter changed and strengthened.

Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement.
Properly understood and applied,
it is the most potent instrument of action.
~*~ MAHATMA GHANDI

A WOMAN WITHIN

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe
with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor
measure words, but only to pour them all right out just as
they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful
hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping,
and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.
~*~ GEORGE ELIOT

God loves me unconditionally. And He will love me into perfection. With Him I can be absolutely open, sharing the best and worst of my life, my joys and my sorrows, because He knows about every detail already. Nothing I can say or do will affect our relationship for good or for evil. I am His beloved child who delights His heart. He is the always available, unshockable friend, the relentless lover, and the hiding place in which I can rest safely, whatever storms may rock my world.

~*~

Summer Suns Are Glowing

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

and come with me.

See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:10-12

  ~*~

Summertime,

and the livin' is easy.

Fish are jumping,

and the cotton is high.

DuBOSE HEYWARD

__________________________________________________________________________

The long dark days of winter are over, Lord,
and everything within me
wants to make the very best
of this bright time of year.
As I awaken to the song of birds,
cause me to add my song of praise
under my breath,
beneath the rattle
of the commuter train,
or ringing round the bathroom as I shower.

Thank you for opportunities to walk and talk with you

while, as the old song puts it,^

the dew is still on the roses,
and the earth
smells fresh and sweet.
Thank you for ripening fruit on trees,
fields of standing corn,
and farmers' markets
overflowing
with fruit and vegetables of every hue.

Thank you for opportunities
to stop and stare, dear Lord.
For some there will be no vacations
in peaceful countryside or by the sea.
But all of us can pause for
   one brief moment
to smell a rose,
to watch a spider spin its
   web,
or simply be aware
of all the little things

that bring your joy into
the present moment.

Thank you for the fun of
the present moment.

Thank you for the fun of
outdoor eating.

The clink of ice in glass and fragrant smoke
from barbecue or campfire embers.
Help us to grasp the opportunity
to open up our hearts and home

to old and young,
inviting friend and stranger
to share in our enjoyment.

And as the evening darkens,
calm our hearts
to see the glory of the sunset,
and the bright twinkle of the stars
against the velvet darkness of the sky,
as treasures from your hand,
filling us
with reverence for the things you have made,
and thankfulness
for summertime.

_________________
^C. Austin Miles, "I Come to the Garden," 1912.

You care for the land and water it ...
You crown the year with your bounty,
   and your carts overflow with
      abundance ...
The meadows are covered with flocks
   and the valleys are mantled with
      grain;
   they shout for joy
   and sing.
~*~ PSALM 65:9-13

It’s Just You and Me, Lord: Prayers for a Woman’s Life
© 2012 by Marion Stroud
All rights reserved.
Discovery House is affiliated with RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Requests for permission to quote from this book should be directed to: Permissions Department, Discovery House Publishers, P.O. Box 3566, Grand Rapids, MI 49501, or contact us by e-mail at permissionsdept@dhp.org
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Published in association with the Books & Such Literary Agency, Mary Keeley, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370. www.booksandsuch.biz
ISBN 978-1-57293-573-0
Printed in the United States of America
First printing in 2012


MY REVIEW:

It's Just You & Me, Lord: Everyday Prayers For A Woman's Life

Contents ~*~
A Woman Within  ~ 14
A Woman And Marriage ~ 7
A Woman And Her Children ~ 13
A Woman And Her Friends ~ 9
A Woman At Work ~ 7
A Woman And Her Family Of Faith ~ 7
A Woman And The Wider World ~ 9
A Woman Growing Older ~ 7

Wisdom gleaned from God's Word shines through. Join Marion as she meditates and reflects on Scripture, our Guidance. While reading through the first time, you may want to journal your own thoughts and prayers to the Lord. Leisurely read and add to your own, noting answered prayer, through each season of the year. There are 73 entries and five times through, you have 365 days of devotions. A nice book to come alongside another's life as you share together God's triumph, while catching glimpses of seasons in your life. Everyday prayers for a woman's life joins together sharing hope and a smile, and how it comes together when we lean on Him.