Big and Little Coloring Devotional by Rachel Swanson and Jacy Corral (Illustrator)
 
I hadn’t really explored the whole adult coloring book world, so I was eager to check out this one. The first thing I noticed were the cheerful illustrations. The adult side has a more complex picture to color with a devotional and a scripture (at the very bottom) to meditate on. Meanwhile the child side (on the flip side of the coloring book) has a similar style of picture to color, but a simpler illustration. I found there were days I didn’t want to deal with the small spaces to color and found myself using the child’s side as well. So if you weren’t planning to use this with small kids, you might still want to consider purchasing this for your own use.

This is a great way to bring parents and kids together to share their faith and talk about scripture. The devotionals aren’t so personal that you can’t relate (the way they sometimes are in some devotional books), but are open so you can see yourself in them and apply the lesson to your own life easily.

I was surprised how much I got into using this coloring book. I found that I liked to end my day with it focusing on the devotions and tuning out the world. I can see why these have gotten so popular as they are a great way to calm and center yourself while reflecting and meditating on God’s word. 5 stars!

​I received a free copy of this coloring book from B&H Publishers for the purpose of giving an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mere Hope: Life in an Age of Cynicism by Jason G. Duesing

                This new book from Jason G. Duesing tackles the topic of hope in a modern day cynical world. Duesing shares ways to combat this in each chapter labeled: look down, look in, look out, and look up. He uses familiar examples to illustrate his points such as the work of C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. His examples using Tolkien’s work drive home his points and make them more accessible to the reader.

                The book is filled with scripture highlighting his points such as when he says, “Belief, trust, and even hope in the unseen dwell at the core of Christian life, as Hebrews 11:1 reminds us: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not see.”

                His story about the people in China not wanting to stop until each village had a church is inspiring and so many bits of the book will help you to see hope in a world where we often just hear the worst on TV.

                The book had a bit more of an academic feel than I was expecting. This would make an excellent gift.
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I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.