Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole

A very good read . Talks about Angie hardship and makes you think how bless we are .. a must read and I hate to read

I loved the book and the whole thoughts behind why she wrote it. I am forever lifting up other women but struggle to find my own worth. I love the pure message that God has mended our broken places. She is an amazing author and I would highly recommend you check out her literary works. I really can see God putting me back together as I accept that after reading this book... Beautiful. YOU can read this cover to cover or you can read it out of order chapter by chapter especially if you find something that really speaks to your heart. It is a defiantly a new favorite book!

This book is helping me through God's grace to mend my life, broken recently by the loss of a child. The image of a broken pitcher really grips me as the Master Potter puts it back together. There are so many touching touchstones by the author. I can go back to them daily for a short spiritual feast. Some samples:"Your splendor is waiting, somewhere beyond the brittle branches.""But I also want them to consider the beauty of what God does with the sketch when we hand over the pencils.""Lord, I believe that you see me when I am in the shadows, doubled over with grief and the temptation.""In a world run over with choices, He is our choice."Dozens--hundreds--as powerful and touching as those! You will be blessed, I'm sure, as I was.

I love the way Angie speaks directly to you in her writing. She has a conversational tone that pulls you into her world and tells you it's ok to be broken but God doesn't want you to stay that way. She inspires you to seek God and let Him heal you.

Angie Smith writes this book with the voice of a best friend sharing her most intimate feelings. From the first chapter I knew that I needed to take this no faster than a chapter a day and sometimes even re-reading a chapter day after day until the honest truth was absorbed. I start my devotions by reading a chapter and it has made me crave my Bible even more. I have highlighted and made notes in the margin, which is a sure sign of a great read on my shelf. I love when honest Christian women shatter the man made expectations for acceptable behavior and simply live real lives that include mistakes, tears, grief, disappointment, hope, joy, forgiveness and the hope of eternity with Jesus Christ.

This is a wonderful book. It's written as a daily devotional type book, with a challenge at the end of each chapter. My sister and I read it together and each week would come back together and talk about what we were thinking about regarding the book. It's not a lot of new, profound thoughts, just a lot of very good reminders.

I tried to read this book as slow as I could to absorb all that I could out of it and savor how brillantly Smith spilled her heart on the pages of this book. Quite literally, this book mended together pieces of my heart that I did not know needed mending. It is one of the most encouraging books on the Christian walk I have ever read. I know that I will read it time and time again, as it is highlighed thoroughly and the stories in it are stuck in my mind for good. I would HIGHLY suggest reading it, it has blessed my life beyond what I could say in words. I cannot find another book quite like it, that's for sure.

I started reading What Women Fear by Angie Smith, and it seemed pretty good. My friend suggested we read Mended together and share what we learnt every week. After the 5th chapter, I realized some things that I really didn't like about this book.1. There seems to be no focus. The author's thoughts (and writing) goes all over the place. In each chapter, she tells a story from her life, then talks about how it made her think about something in her relationship with God, and at the end, she gives us some questions for reflection. In almost all the chapters, I found that these 3 elements in each chapter didn't compliment each other. Instead of working together to make her point stronger, all 3 elements had different points that weren't related (or were very barely related, in fact some seemed quite far fetched), and it frustrated me. It seemed like the author wasn't sure of the point she wanted to make, which was very evident when you read this book.2. She likes to use flowery language, or talk in a way that beats around the bush. I like a book that gets to the point. Say what you need to make the point stronger. Don't add extra stuff just for the sake of giving your book a few extra pages. One example is Chapter 14 where she talks about being 'all-in' when you follow Christ, and how there was a fire on the beach when Jesus came to look for the disciples after he'd risen from the dead, and how she thought Jesus was the one who lit it and she'd explain why. Right after that, she launches into how she thinks it's amazing how Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him and will feed His sheep. She never explains why she thinks Jesus lit the fire, or how it's even relevant to the chapter. I can only think that the fire was important so that they could keep warm and cook the fish, but that's still not so relevant to the main point.3. She asks the same questions over and over again. My friend and I would feel frustrated that every few chapters, she'd ask the same questions she'd asked before. Sure, sometimes we need to be asked the same questions over and over to check ourselves and make sure we're on the right track, but I didn't pay money to be asked that in a book. I'd just read the book over and over!4. She assumes certain things about the reader that don't apply to my friend or I. One chapter, she said we sometimes look back to our sinful past and miss that. I never miss that. She says things like we'd rather be somewhere else than near God, and that doesn't apply to me. I'd rather be close to God than anything else. So her advice sometimes doesn't help at all.I don't think I'd recommend this book to anyone. I think there are better books to read for mending your heart.

An excellent book... written from the heart -

Great book. Highly recommended!

I found the passages I did read very interesting and warming to the heart.

Angie makes you feel like you are sitting with her in her front room having a talk with your best friend. Her message is life changing!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - loved the personal stories and the spiritual lessons learned through them. Lots of highlighting happened as I read it.