Book Review: "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan

I was recently sent a complimentary copy of the book "Then Sings My Soul: Special Edition" by Robert J. Morgan from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of the Booksneeze book review program. The opinions listed below are my honest opinion of the book.

In "Then Sings My Soul," Robert J. Morgan has compiled many favorite Christmas, Easter, and other famous hymns and the stories about how the writers of these wonderful songs came to write them. The book is beautifully done and each page has the actual song on one side and then the story of the writer's life and how they came to write the song. It is a wonderful inside look at many favorite songs sung in churches and around the world today. I found it inspiring to read the stories behind the songs I have sung for years. It makes the songs mean so much more when you hear the background of how the words and music came about. The words really come alive to you after hearing how these songs of praise to our Lord were written. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves music and wishes to know more about the hymns we sing. It is a wonderful teaching tool you could use in Sunday School or other areas as well. I will keep this book for years to come to share with others the meanings of all the wonderful songs we sing around the holidays and all year long.

Book Tour and Review: "Run to Overcome" by Meb Keflezighi

I recently received the book "Run to Overcome" by Meb Keflezighi with Dick Patrick as a complimentary copy from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their bookreview program. This book is the wonderful, true story of Meb Keflezighi who started as a young boy in the midst of a war between his country of Eritrea and Ethiopia. He lived in poverty, but his family raised them to believe and trust in God, to work very hard, and to never give up no matter what. Meb's father left for Italy in order to work to bring his family to join him later. This was a hard time for Meb's family and especially his mother. They were reunited in Italy and then through God ordained circumstances were finally able to come to the United States. Meb had never heard of running as a sport until he arrived in the USA. Not knowing any English he had to work very hard in school and eventually went to UCLA. He ran in high school and discovered his God given talent for running. He ran and won many races throughout his years in high school and college and then his career turned professional. He won the silver medal in Athens. One of his biggest accomplishments was winning the New York City Marathon in 2009. He continues running and has a wife and three little girls who support him.



The part of this book that I loved was just how Meb never gave up his faith and trust in God no matter what. He had injuries that prevented him from participating in the Beijing Olympics and had several close running friends that passed away. He never once gave up and he fought back to win the NYC marathon. My favorite part of Meb's story is that he encourages his readers and fans to persevere no matter what and give everything your best and then you will be "running to win." A wonderful story and I am now a Meb fan and hope to see how he will do in his next marathon run on November 7th in NYC.



If you are interested in learning more and possibly winning a copy of this book head on over to the Run to Overcome website where from November 1 through March 31 they are giving away one signed book per day. There will also be chances to win other prizes monthly. You can go there to learn more about Meb and his amazing journey of running and his faith through it all.

Meb Keflezighi