The Stress Cure: Praying Your Way to Personal Peace by Linda Evans Shepherd (Revell)
Got stress? Author and radio personality Linda Evans Shepherd has a cure. Her latest book, The Stress Cure: Praying Your Way to Personal Peace, resounds with the authority of one who has walked through painful valleys. Each chapter examines a root of stress and guides the way to peace through prayer.
Using personal stories, teaching points, biblical characterizations and specific prayers, Shepherd shares what she calls “the stress cure.”
In the chapter titled “Frustration,” she relates how her daughter was in a terrible accident and remained in a coma for a year. When none of the doctors believed she could recover, through prayer, Shepherd fought for her daughter’s life and battled her own doubts.
Whether you are a novice at prayer or a seasoned prayer warrior, this book will prove a valuable addition to your arsenal. Answers for the difficult areas of life often seem elusive, but Shepherd clearly points the way to a peace-filled life.
Got stress? The cure is prayer.
Mary Pat Johns
Victoria
Parker Valley-Jennifer by Candace Jane Mann (Next Century)
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The Parker Valley Series contains three titles. Candace Jane Mann’s first book, Parker Valley-Sondra, introduces the four sisters and includes profound messages, including marriage as covenant and the importance of prayer.
The second of the series, Parker Valley-Jennifer, immediately grabs the reader when the main character, Jennifer, the youngest, wakes up in her date’s bedroom. She later discovers she has been drugged and raped. The young college student struggles through painful decisions relating to abortion, adoption and forgiveness.
Mann’s secondary character, James, a colorful playboy, must face the consequences of his actions, and he enrolls in Teen Challenge, a Christian rehab program. Through that experience, he confronts his guilt and remorse, and he discovers God’s plan for his life.
All the loveable characters introduced in Parker Valley-Sondra continue to play an important role.
The author dots the book with a suspenseful kidnapping, but it is foiled by Andrew, a Navy SEAL. The book concludes with a cliffhanger; therefore, the reader must wait until book three, Parker Valley-Claira, to see how Mann pulls it all together.
Threads of profound messages such as faith in God, surrender and the importance of prayer fill the pages of Parker Valley-Jennifer. Mann’s characters clearly show the reader broken lives can be restored if they accept God’s offer of forgiveness.
Bobbie Bomar-Brown
Estes Park, Colo.
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