I just finished reading, When Others Shuddered: Eight Women Who Refused to Give Up by Jamie Janosz and it was a fascinating short read. I must confess I was first drawn to this book because I loved the cover art.
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This book tells the stories of eight different Christian women from the turn of the century where “skirts trailed the floor, hats were a must, and corsets were commonplace.” This time period has always fascinated me so to be able to peak into the lives of women who lived and served God in this era was really interesting.Â
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The eight women in this book come from hugely diverse backgrounds with various ranges of abilities, but they all had a strong faith and determination to live a sacrificial life of service for their heavenly father.Â
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Two of the women in the book include:
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Fanny Crosby, a women who was blinded as an infant, but was determined to keep a positive spirit and make her life count. She went on to write many famous hymns.Â
When told it was a “great pity that the great master did not give her sight,” she replied, “Do you know that if at my birth I had been able to make one petition to my Creator it would have been that I should be made blind?”
When told it was a “great pity that the great master did not give her sight,” she replied, “Do you know that if at my birth I had been able to make one petition to my Creator it would have been that I should be made blind?”
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When asked, “Why?” she replied, “Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my savior.”
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Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American women born just after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared her family free who eventually went on to open a school for African American girls.Â
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One night the KKK visited her school where she quickly ordered all the lights across the campus to be lit so the men couldn’t hide. She also told her students to sing, “Be not dismayed, whate’er betide, God will take care of you,” and they sang the men right off of the campus!
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In the conclusion of the book, Janosz encourages her readers to “become a women who doesn’t shudder in the face of fearful or uncomfortable situations, but who does the right thing and bravely steps forward in faith.”
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I would highly recommend this book to any woman of faith. It will not only entertain, but challenge you to live a life in service to your creator! Reading it has definitely challenged me and given me things to think about.Â
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**I was given this book for free from Moody Publishers for this review, however all opinions are my own.Â
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