Shelbie Mae

This is an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, thoughtful and encouraging devotional that was written for younger women but would be a welcome book for women of any age who want to read the Bible and might be intimidated or think they don’t have time. Shelbie explains how she wrote this book especially to help girls navigating high school, college, first jobs, boyfriends, new husbands, and new babies read the Bible more, and discover how their life is similar to those of the women in the Bible. I currently don’t fit any of these categories, yet still felt it was a valuable read.

Author Shelbie Mae writes from her own experiences, in a gentle and warmhearted style that is non-judgmental and full of understanding. I appreciated that she didn’t try to use heavy-handed humor or drama, and her tone is that of a supportive friend.

She uses experiences and emotions from her own life as examples that anyone could relate to. She explained how “Acceptance of God was only a stepping stone on a journey I am continuing to take. Over the years I have dealt with mental health, crippling fear, and depression, an eating disorder and self-harm.”

The 12 short Bible studies focus on biblical women, with a format that encourages thoughtful introspection. Some of the studies are three days in length, some are longer or shorter. Each has a “Before you start” explanation, “What to read” which lists the Bible passages, how to relate the girl in the Bible to experiences in your life, what to do, a question to consider, and at the end of each study she writes a “Letter from A Girl Who Cares.”

This book is offered free on Shelbie’s website https://shelbie-mae.com/freebies/ as well as Amazon’s kindle store. If you’re looking for a simple way to read your Bible more, discover how your life is similar to those of the women in the Bible, and consider a challenge to live a life of meaning and purpose, I highly recommend reading this book.… (more)

Being a 70-year-old nondenominational Christian who is trying to be a good Christian woman, I found this book to be an enlightening reading experience for all young teenage Christian girls, as it brought back memories of when I was that age.

These days I can't get enough of reading nonfiction Christian books, as I had been away from my faith for far too young, only finding myself again after publishing my first two Christian books on January 11, 2020, that had been inspired my having reviewed over 260 books of which approximately 45% had been for nonfiction Christian books during 2019.

I loved how author Shelbie Mae integrated her life experience with that of 12 biblical women. By doing this, the author demonstrates to her readers that their harried lives today are not too dissimilar to those of these biblical women. As Christian women, we possess the same kind of accomplishments and have faced the same challenges as these biblical women did.

For each of the twelve women, the author breaks down studying them over several days. Each day is broken down into four components. GIRL READ, where readers are given a biblical selection to read and reflect on. GIRL LIFE, in which the author presents a life experience from her life for readers to compare their lives to. GIRL DO, is an invitation for her readers to discover applying their lives to what they've just read. GIRL ASK, readers, are asked a question for them to consider and reflect upon.

For wanting her readers to possess an understanding that their lives are the same as the dozen Biblical women discuss, and more importantly, to have her readers read the Bible more often, I've given Shelbie Mae 5 STARS for her endeavor here.… (more)