Customer Reviews

What Southern Women Know about Faith: Kitchen Table Stories and Back Porch Comfort

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a wonderful blessing it was to listen to the audio version of this book which is actually narrated by Ronda Rich. With her stunning Southern voice, she speaks of both happy and sorrowful times which will tug at your heart causing tears to flow, but a smile to catch them. Ronda's words brought back so many memories including spending weekends and summers with my now deceased Grandparents in North Georgia, Camp Meetings and Sunday "dinners" with friends and relatives. This book makes me cherish even more my upbringing, my family and having such a sweet Lord to praise and watch over me and the people I love so dearly. Thank you Ronda for something so beautiful and truly unforgettable.

Let me begin by stating that I am a Christian, but times in my life and especially recent events in my life have resulted in some very trying times, and questions and doubts sometimes arise as to how to carry on and stay strong in my faith in God. I have read Ronda Rich's new book, "What Southern Women Know About Faith." As I read this book and the real life stories and trials that these real people lived through and how they handled them, I began to feel my heart lighten and an increased courage to continue to be strong when I get so weak and feel inadequate in my daily walk to live the best life I can and be a blessing to all those around me. This book is jam packed with beautiful and funny stories of women and men and the troubles, sometimes horrific, that they have had to face, and despite all that they went through, their faith in God actually saved them and brought them through the trial. I laughed and then I cried and then I laughed again all through the book. Nobody can tell a story better than Ronda Rich and the people in her new book are people that we would all be blessed to know, but we actually can know them and be encouraged by them through this beautiful book that Ronda has written. I read a great deal of inspirational books by many wonderful men and women of God. This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It has helped me and will continue to do so as I go back and reread my favorite chapters for years to come. Whether you are a Christian or not, you will be blessed and receive joy in your heart by reading this beautiful book, "What Southern Women Know About Faith."

I'm a Southern woman with a strong faith heritage very much like the one that Ronda Rich writes about in What Southern Women Know about Faith. Now living in the Northwest, I could not wait to settle into my favorite easy chair with a good cup of hot tea and while away the time "back home" with Rich's Southern women. And, once I began reading, I could hardly put the book down. This book was like a wonderful home-coming! It is the spiritual faith that shaped me. It is the cultural church that shaped me. It is the Southern women (and men) who shaped me. I've decided to buy several copies and give them to my Montana friends with a note, "This is me!"

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I am a reader of all books inspirational by authors such as Max Lucado, Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. I was profoundly blessed by this book, needing that blessing at a time in my life like I never have before. I read the book slowly, savoring each page, and I hated that it was over when I turned the last page. As a child of the rural south reared by God-fearing parents, the stories told and the scriptures referenced touched my soul. This book is God-breathed, without a doubt. I wept through the foreward, and then intermittently laughed and cried throughout the book. The piano-playing story in the 'Glory Be' chapter had me laughing out loud and inspired me to get out an old hymn book and practice my piano! This is a must read for any woman (or man) of faith, as it was surely written by one. I've made a list of my loved ones who will get the book as an Easter gift from me (if I can wait that long). What an uplifting experience!

As a transplanted northerner, I thoroughly enjoyed learning of southern women and their faith. I was often wiping a tear and soon after, laughing out loud from what Ronda was relating. I had the good fortune of listening to the audio version and getting the full flavor through Ronda's voice. I highly recommend this to anyone, male or female, from any part of the United States. It is a great way to learn about southern women and what they have meant to this wonderful region of our country.

I just finished "What Southern Women Know About Faith" this minute and it had such a profound effect on me that I wanted to review it immediately.

While I could have easily finished the book in one sitting, it actually alotted several weeks so that I could savor every moment and let it all sink in..nice and slow...I sat, day after day, with my trusty Sharpie highlighter, allowing myself a few pages of Ronda's divine inspiration, underlining sentences and passages that both uplifted and enlightened.

Thanks to Ronda, I have better come to understand the glorious South, a region so unfamiliar to me. Although I grew up in a religious family it was based more on traditions than faith....I have been fortunate to lead a very spiritual life but this book has taken it to a new level. Ronda Rich is obviously not only a gifted storyteller, but an extraordinary talent, as well.

I both laughed and cried, with abandon. Thank you Ronda Rich for so honestly sharing your heritage, trials and tribulations. I very much look forward to your next literary endeavor.

I am a very secure in my masculinty male, a Christian, who was born and bred in the south, and I strongly endorse Ronda's book on Southern Women and Faith. I laughed and cried from start to finish, unashamedely. This

book will move you greatly on many levels as she remininces about all those "precious memories" those of us who grew up in the south have had.

This is also a deeply spiritul book that will cause you to hit the pause

button many times just to stop and reflect on the simple truths she relates in that inimitable Ronda Rich style. You can't go wrong with this

one, and if you are like me, you will end up buying one for all your favorite Southern Ladies.

This book had a profound effect on me from the very first page! I couldn't put it down. Ronda's storytelling ability, her obvious faith, and sense of humor make her one of my favorite authors! What Southern Women Know About Faith is a WINNER!

"What Southern Women Know about Faith" lifted my spirit and had my soul singing. The stories are told in Ronda Rich's Southern perspective but have Universal themes of the ties that bind us together-family, friends, faith, hope and love. Ronda Rich has once again proven herself as a talented story teller and faith warrior. I loved this book.

OK, having Dolly Parton and Jeff Foxworthy on the cover, talking about the high spiritual content of this book should give you a good idea of how deep this book is. She believes Southern women have a special understanding of God, higher than anyone else, and claims that satan attacks her by giving her troubling phone calls, bad emails, causing her "writer's block," and even making her cat sick!

There are some sweet and touching stories about her childhood, including the death of her father, who was a pastor. What I kept asking myself is, "If this lady grew up with such a wonderful Christian atmosphere, why is this the first Christian book she has written, and why is it so, so, so shallow?"

Most of the book follows the same format: She (or one of her friends) faced some trying time (i.e. she talks about one of her dogs dying and then says her children just shake their heads when she gets all teary-eyed -- because they've not had to hurt like she has). Through her strong, wonderful prayer life she overcame the devil's attempt at making her unhappy, then she lived happily ever after.

However, the problem is that Christ did not die on the cross to make us happy, nor is our prayer life the means for making us happy.

In fact, one chapter is about the Golden Rule, which she finishes up by teaching that you are supposed to follow the Golden Rule so that others will see you do that, and they will in turn respect you, and you will be paid back in kind for your good deeds.

Sadly, this teaching has more to do with Karma that Christianity.

In short: This book is about modern-day spirituality, personal church traditions, and bragging about prayer time, but has little to do with Christ. It has some emotional stories and is an easy read. As I read the other reviews I noticed that most of what the reviewers talked about was the short chapters, Southern women, and tear-jerking stories. The book has those things, but the title says: What Southern Women Know About Faith. The book doesn't measure up to its title.