FIRST Wild Card Tour: The Skin You're In: Discovering True Beauty

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:

Nancy Rue

and the book:

The Skin You’re In: Discovering True Beauty

Zonderkidz (April 9, 2010)

***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween and teen issues. She and husband Jim have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.


Visit the author's website.


Product Details:

List Price: $7.99
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz (April 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310719992
ISBN-13: 978-0310719991

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Review:
This book is written for girls who are becoming women. Girls (10 and up) will probably enjoy this book and find it useful. It covers beauty tips for the outside and inside. It talks about taking care of our skin, hair (wherever it grows), and nails. More topics such as clothes and what some see as “beauty bummers” (glasses, braces, etc.) are also included. It ties quite a few things in with the Bible and shares verses. Thankfully, the author acknowledges that true beauty is impossible unless we’re beautiful on the inside. My word of caution would be: don’t become overwhelmed. Personally, I felt there was a bit too much focus on this list of things to do to keep yourself beautiful. Washing your hands and face is great, of course. But don’t become obsessed with keeping your nails nicely filed :). Focus more on your character and blessing others. I think there is a tendency for girls (and women) to spend too much time in front of a mirror that could be spent in more fruitful ways. The quizzes are cool and there are places at the end of each chapter to write down your thoughts and what you've learned.

The Week in Words #4

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." (~Helen Keller) It's an encouraging reminder for us when we go through trial and suffering.  James 1:2-4 says: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

"May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." (John 17:23)  This verse made me think of the song, "They'll Know We Are Christians."  We are one in the Spirit.  We are one in the Lord.  We are one in the Spirit.  We are one in the Lord.  And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.  And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love...

"Educating our children includes more than arithmetic and spelling; it includes building character. No educational pursuit can replace the deep need for a generation of children to be brought up first in the 'nurture and admonition' of the Lord." (~Rick Williamson)  That's one of the reasons why we homeschool our kids :).

"Keep me from saying words that later need recalling; guard me, lest idle speech may from my lips befalling...When dangers gather round, oh, keep me calm and fearless; help me to bear the cross when life seems dark and cheerless. Help me, as You have taught to love both great and small, and by Your Spirit's might, to live at peace with all." (~Johann Heermann, 1585-1647, from his hymn, "O God, My Faithful God" in the book, Mr. Pipes And Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation, page 92)  That's my prayer!

"In a sense we become gardeners tending the spiritual development of our kids. God places the spark of life in the seed. We can't control that or how the plant eventually matures. But we can make sure the soil is rich, the ground is generously watered, the weeds are kept at bay, and the opportunity for sunlight is freely available...In the long run, the goal of parenting isn't for our kids to be known for how well-behaved they are, but for how well they know and respond to God." (~Mark Matlock, from his book, Real World Parents, page 13)  That's my goal, too.

What Would You Like on Your Tombstone?

I'm not talking about Tombstone pizzas and toppings here.  Have you ever wondered what people will remember you for once you leave this earth?  “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.”~Charles Spurgeon

Silly or not :), I told my family that I would like this inscription on my tombstone: "She lived for God.  Now she lives with God."  I like this one, too: "Don't leave earth without JESUS!"  What would you like on your tombstone?  What would you like people to remember you for?  Just being alive each day is not the same as "living."  "Teach us to number our days aright--that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)  What are our days filled with?  Whatever you do, don't waste your life.

"Now, if the day has been filled with duty and love and service--its page written all over with pure, white thoughts and records of gentle deeds--then it is well; its passing need not be mourned over. But merely to have to rub it off at the setting of the sun, leaving in it nothing but a story of idleness, uselessness, selfishness, and lost opportunities, is a sad numbering!" ~J.R. Miller, "Numbering Our Days", 1912

Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I'll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.
                                                     ~Unknown

"We have eternity to tell of victories won for Christ, but we have only a few hours before sunset to win them." ~Unknown

"I'm in my 83rd year, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'm wiser or stronger. It doesn't mean I've done more. It's not the stretch of life that matters. It's the depth of life. It's not how long we live. It's how we live. Keith was a man who seemed to live on the edge of eternity. And he was ready to step into it." ~Leonard Ravenhill spoke of Keith Green after his death (quote taken from "No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green" by Melody Green & David Hazard)

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." ~Jim Elliot

Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts. Have a blessed day in the Lord, everyone!