Some lessons are best learned through story.
In our spiritual growth, we often tend to seek out direct instruction, a list of dos or don’ts, or counsel that tells us what to do. It's easier to be told than to search for answers, easier to follow a command than understand an illustration. Consider Jesus' teaching with parables, the narratives that line Scripture, stories touch us in the deepest ways, not only in teaching us, but in how they affect us.
In 5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love, Jenny-Lyn shares with us the stories of five women, devoted to the Lord, with a spiritual maturity that imprints the relationships in their homes - both their physical and spiritual homes - which developed through their commitment to abiding in the Lord.
5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love | Book Review
Content
Purpose of the Book
Table of Contents
Summary
My Take
My Recommendation
Quick Stats
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Scriptures About Spiritual Maturity
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Content
Purpose of the Book
The author writes this collection of short biographies to give you an opportunity to meet women from generations past that will inspire your spiritual journey.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION Testimonies of Love
CHAPTER 1 Agnes Beaumont: Daughter as Evangelist, Using Memorization
CHAPTER 2 Lucy Hutchinson: Mother as Theologian, Using Fellowship
CHAPTER 3 Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick: Wife as Philanthropist, Using Meditation
CHAPTER 4 Anne Bradstreet: Grandmother as Homemaker, Using Prayer
CHAPTER 5 Lady Brilliana Harley: Matriarch as Physician, Using Spiritual Conversation
CONCLUSION Spiritual Loving Care
Summary
Jenny-Lyn takes us into the lives of five women living in the 17th century who teach us about faith and love. These women were Puritans, a movement in church history - though often misaligned - who had the distinct ability to apply biblical truths to every aspect of life.
Each chapter provides a story and commentary on the life of the woman, highlighting their writings and how their spiritual practices impacted their life.
My Take
For this review, I highlight a quote from each chapter that challenged and encouraged me from each of the women.
On Agnes Beaumont - A Daughter as Evangelist, Using Memorization:
“Though it seemed the world, and even her own father, were doing everything they could to set her desire to love God at odds with her desire to love people, she strove to be simultaneously bold in the faith and at peace with those who did not share it.”
On Lucy Hutchinson - A Mother as Theologian, Using Fellowship
"Borrow a page from Hutchinson’s story and not give up when its proving difficult to learn and teach or become hateful when it feels like the world is against you, but take the initiative to fulfill God’s call of spiritual parenting on your life and maintain love for all believers, no matter their tradition, and even all of humankind, with whom you share the many blessings of life on this earth."
On Mary Rich - A Countess as Philanthropist, Using Meditation
"What Rich teaches us is that when we sincerely and intentionally apply our whole selves in times of devotion, we will be led to a true spirituality, one that makes room for a daily repenting of our own sin, finds a reason for gratitude around every bush and creek, enjoys intimacy with God, and loves others instead of despising, coddling, or looking down on them."
On Anne Bradstreet - A Grandmother as Homemaker, Using Prayer
"When Bradstreet was penning such praises and laments to God about her life, she was not only writing them to express her own emotions—they were also meant for her family."
On Lady Brilliant Harley - A Matriarch as Physician, Using Spiritual Conversation
"While we might feel tempted to devalue the thousands of acts of care we do for our many loved ones because, in and of themselves, they seem small, we must remember that the love that is given through them will live on in the ones who receive it."
My Recommendation
I hope you will enjoy meeting these women as much as I did! Jenny-Lyn's writing is engaging, drawing you easily into these women's lives and experiences. I highly recommend this title, particularly if you enjoy short biographies!
Quick Stats
# of pages: 160
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars
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Scriptures About Godliness
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Prov 30:31)
For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.(1 Tim 4:8)
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Tit 2:3-5)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Ps 1:1-3)
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*A big thanks to Netgalley and Crossway for the ARC and for the opportunity to post an honest review.
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