Book Review - "Choose Joy" by Kay Warren

I have joined Revell Books Blog Tour and they have provided me with the book "Choose Joy" by Kay Warren to review on my blog.  The thoughts in this review are completely and utterly my own.

I had learned of this Blog Tour on Twitter and sent them a message requesting I be a part of it.  I had only done one other book review so wasn't sure that I would be accepted, but I was.  I received an e-mail with some information that I needed to return and it took me a week or so to do, since life gets very, VERY hectic.  The same day that I returned my information, I received information about the first book that was available to me.  It was entitled, "Choose Joy:  Because Happiness isn't Enough."  Immediately I was intrigued and knew that I wanted to read that book.  You see, raising three special needs children, there are a lot of times that I do not feel very joyful.  There are a lot of down days.  We do have our up days; however, it seems that lately there are more down days than up.  

As I started reading "Choose Joy," the one thing that impressed me the most was how open Ms. Warren was with her own struggles.  Here she is a pastor's wife and she still struggles with finding joy in certain circumstances.  Ms. Warren tells of her struggles with cancer, her grandchild's difficult birth, her "daughter-in-love's" medical issues, and a family member's battle with mental illness.  I felt like I could relate to her and that we were sitting across the table from one another while I was reading.

At the end of each chapter, Ms. Warren has a prayer and a couple of thought provoking questions to help dig a little deeper into what is keeping you from choosing joy or giving you some ideas (like keeping a "joy journal" for thirty days) to help you look for joy.

Another thing that stood out to me was that we need to "live in the moment" and "not for the moment."  (Emphasis mine!)  There is a big difference!!!!

Ms. Warren uses a LOT of scripture references, which I am planning on putting on index cards that I can go to when I am needing some extra encouragement to choose joy.  

Ms. Warren also stresses the importance of taking care of YOU!  We cannot take care of our families in a healthy way if we are not taking care of ourselves.  This is something that I am working very hard on doing!!!!!

In my opinion, this is a wonderful book and highly recommend it.  Because of my time constraints I wasn't able to "dig in" as deep as I wanted, so I definitely will be reading this book again to dig in and "CHOOSE JOY."