Customer Reviews

Stepping Heavenward: One Woman's Journey to Godliness (Inspirational Library Series)

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I agree wholeheartedly with the excellent reviews of this book, but this particular edition (2008 hardcover) is an awful edition. It looks like a photocopy of a paperback (the photocopied pages being much smaller than the page area in the book) with an ugly hard cover slapped on it. I am so disappointed in the quality of this product.

Really nothing I write will do justice to this classic biographical/novel of a young woman's journey through life and love. It is highly recommended by Elisabeth Elliot one of my spiritual mentors and those who have read her books will know what that means. I was immensely influenced by "In His Steps" in my teens, but needed a heart to heart view of another young girls's struggles to grow into a godly women as I moved into my twenties as an unmarried young woman. Elisabeth Prentiss' book addressed a real need I had as a young woman yearning to become a godly woman in a modern and sin ridden culture.

This book sat on my shelf for 2 years before reading it--wow how I wish I would have pulled it down sooner! It has been very readable--better than most novels! It puts in very approachable and applicable ways some of the most profound spiritual concepts of growth, obedience to God, and the strangeness of God's purpose for each of us. Do your self a favor and get this one--you will never be the same. Worth every late-night moment of lost sleep to read it!

This book was a gift to me from my mother - who said it really inspired her. After reading it, I immediately purchased three copies to give to close Christian friends. Amazing in its portrayal of honest emotions and human weaknesses, yet powerful in the way the heroine overcomes her trials with the Lord's help.

"Stepping Heavenward" was an infusion of light and whole living. The book is wondrously devoid of Christian buzzwords, formulas and codes. It was published in 1869 and is an account of a young girl's day-to-day activities, interwoven with her quest to better her life. Watching her godly Mother, with whom she becomes easily irritated at times, Kate learns about striving for excellence. The book portrays a no-nonsense approach to Christian living; still the romantic, artistic qualities of the author shine through without unctuous fluff. The book lacks not in laughter all the while inciting the reader to ponder deeper, eternal matters. The early writings of this nineteen-year-old part child, part woman, reveal an innocence coupled with an acute awareness of her human nature, that is, the selfish, sinful side of humanness, unchecked by the Almighty. The author doubtlessly reflects a typical 19th century young woman in certain ways. Yet one may see that small matters sometimes are pivotal. Indeed the continual, though not necessarily consistent, exercises in noble deeds and hard self-examination propel this young woman to attain a rare depth of character. Her brutal honesty and freckle-faced candor are truly refreshing, and her artfully penned expressions provide great reading - entertaining, spontaneous and articulate. Though written in diaried form, a theme surfaces here as in the hymn, "More Love to Thee, O Christ," also written by the author of this book.

My best friend and an incredible Christian gave me this book and I've already begun saving to buy copies for many of my Christian friends. This is a book which, if you let it, will change your walk with Christ, and I just thank God that He dropped it in my lap just at the moment when I needed to be reminded of His closeness and greatness. I can give it no higher praise than this: I would break off in the middle of fast-paced chapters because I couldn't go another moment without praying or reading the Bible. Definitely DEFINITELY *DEFINITELY* something to buy for yourself or a friend. Ideally, buy it, read it, and then loan it to the friend. There is no Christian whom this book wouldn't help.

I thought I was a well read Christian, but I had never even heard of this book. A dear friend recommended it, saying it had helped her in her spiritual growth and progress.

I was not able to find this book anywhere in the St. Louis area libraries, so I purchased this copy.

About the book - I found it to be an incredibly helpful resource in gaining a deeper understanding of our spiritual mission on this earth. And it is a very interesting book.

The author really lays her heart on the line - and tells in wonderfully frank language how hard it is to truly live the spiritual axiom - "Not my will - but thine be done."

And it also sums up Maya Angelou's maxim that "we are all more alike than we are different."

"Stepping Heavenward" was so close to my own life that I felt compelled to keep reading it and find out how everything turned out! I read the book in two days, snatching every spare moment I could to race back to the book and see what happened next!

I loved it. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. In fact, I'm buying more copies for Christmas presents and I've handed it off to a school teacher hoping that she'll consider putting it on the required reading list.

If you only buy three Christian books this year - I'd recommend this book, Stepping Heavenward, along with "What's so Amazing About Grace" and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

Three powerful books. Along with the Bible, of course, but EVERYONE has a Bible. :-)

If you order "Stepping Heavenward" you won't be disappointed. And if you are, donate it to the local library. This book will be the answer to many people's prayers.

I began this book not expecting much more than the typical inspriational coming of age of a young girl. I did not get what I expected. This is written in the fashion of a diary from a girl through the 1800's with all the fears, failures, and honesty you would expect to find in a girls diary. The issues she deals with in the book are as relevant today as they were then. Only proving the more things change the more they stay the same. It is an easy book to relate to from her feelings of coming up short in her walk with God to the long spaces between entrys in her diary. Reading and seeing Kate blossom and grow into a woman is an encouragement to anyone who reads it. I highly recommend this for young women ages 15 to late 20s, however it is enjoyable at any age. This is a great book to give to those hard to buy for teen girls.

This book was devoured and pondered deeply. It is a TRUE treasure that everyone should read. Katherine's journal, which begins at age 16, reveals human nature such as it is in all of us. Her life unfolds through the years, and she grows in her trust, relationship, and understanding of the Lord Jesus as a true personal friend - not One who is far off and unreachable. I wish her mother, had written a journal also - that would have been a delight to read ! I will also purchase several copies of this book to give as gifts.

I am not quite finished with this book, but have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. In the 270+ pages I have read, Mrs. Prentiss has shown an astounding ability to put into words the struggles that I believe are universal for men and women who desire to live out their faith in Christ, yet who are continually confronted with their flawed humanity, i.e., sin!

There is humor, seriousness, sadness--all the emotions one can imagine, since the book is designed to depict the different eras of a woman's life from age 16 onward, through courtship, marriage, and motherhood. I eagerly anticipate finishing the book, and then picking it up again and again as I go through my own life. I plan to have my teenage daughter read it, and will suggest it as a must-read to all my friends.