Sand to Pearls, a review

Sand to Pearls, a review

At the moment, I feel a bit behind on my reading.  Life threw me a curve ball and some things got put aside for a bit.One of the books I am enjoying, but have not spent enough time giving it the attention it deserves is Sand to Pearls by Heidi McLaughlin.

This book asks the reader to consider ways to break the bonds of ‘obligations’ that weigh us down and start living our lives in ways that build us up.  While I am sometimes a bit leery of books that promote personal growth in a way that removes faith and religion, Ms. McLaughlin does a great job in bringing Christian living into practical life.  At the end of each chapter, she has the reader STOP (Scripture, Thanksgiving, Observation, and Prayer) and ask God to help transform sand into pearls.  You can’t get more practical with your application of Christian living than that!
One of the first topics covered (in 2 chapters) is  friendship. Some of us have spent time nurturing a relationship that was not a true friendship and drained our energy that could have been directed elsewhere.  Reading through that portion of the book helped to reinforce the need to make the ‘real’ friendships a priority rather than the ‘fake’ ones.  Life is too short and we need those relationships which help us become the holy women God wants us to be.

I found it a little ironic that the topic of resentment comes up right after friendships.  More often than I care to admit, resentment arises from bumps in the road of relationships, especially those people I call friend.   I really enjoyed her separation of the language of our lips and the language of our hearts.  This is definitely an area where I will suffer in silence while the opportunity for resentment to grow is present.  I need a resentment box like Ms. McLaughlin talks about in the book.  While I have gotten better through the years (mellowing with age, maybe?), I still have to work towards a balance she calls ‘sweet reasonableness.’

Other topics include the desire for instant pleasure versus waiting, comparing to others versus being content, and regrets versus rejoicing.  All of these are areas where I have struggled at one time or another.
Overall, this has been an interesting book to read.  I must confess that as I write this review, I have not finished the last few chapters.  However, I expect it to continue along the same lines as the preceding chapters…calling me to live my life in such a way that God can make pearls from sand.

Sand to Pearls retails for $12.99 and is published by Deep River Books.
You can find Heidi McLaughlin on the web, Twitter and Facebook.
Disclaimer ~ This is a Mama Buzz review.  I was provided a copy of Sand to Pearls by Deep River Books for the purpose of this review.  No other compensation was given and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.