​In his first book, Happy, Happy, Happy, Phil Robertson of the popular reality show Duck Dynasty shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of the journey that led him to become known as the Duck Commander. He describes his humble beginnings living in a log cabin house, where he learned to work hard and live simply off of the land. He eventually met Kay Carroway and fell in love, getting married when he was 16 and she was 15, having their first son before she graduated high school. Not long after, even as their family was growing, Phil fell into a period of living wild and recklessly, struggling with drinking, drugs, and lawlessness that was common in the cultural revolution of the 60s. It was a difficult, dark, and uncertain time for their whole family, especially his wife and their three sons. It wasn’t until he ran all of them out of the house that he realized that needed help and was finally open to hearing the gospel. He was baptized shortly after and his life and family were never the same. He eventually went on to revolutionize the hunting industry with his duck calls and founded Duck Commander, which eventually became a multi-million dollar company. However, he never forgot his roots and chose to do his best to live simply while also growing in his faith and loving his family. All of this story is shared in the context of a lot of practical wisdom, honest opinions, and solid gospel truth. You will hopefully be moved, inspired, and a little amused by Phil’s story. Get a copy or plan to go see the movie The Blind, in theaters on September 28, 2023 (check out the movie trailer below).

​This review is special because it happens to be the 100th book I’ve reviewed on this blog (There have been a few unofficial reviews I did of supplemental material to other books that would put me over 100 earlier this year, but I am counting mostly full reviews that explore the content and give my recommendation of a book). It’s hard to me to believe that I have reached this milestone. When I started this blog in late 2014, I didn’t really have much direction for it until I was accepted onto a social media book team for the first time and eventually started reviewing books. Within a few years, that became the exclusive focus of this blog. This blog has been a fascinating journey, leading me to meet many great people on their pages (and in some cases real life), learn so many valuable life lessons, and support some great authors in the process. I also had no idea when I started how writing these reviews would become training ground for my eventual work as a self-published author, teaching me about the publishing industry, review site systems, and book marketing strategies. I am so grateful for this continuing journey and everyone who had supported it along the way, especially the authors who have inspired me.

​In her book What Are You Waiting For, author Dannah Gresh addresses many of the difficult questions that teen girls and young adults have about sexuality, including the most significant question: Why should we wait until we are married to have sex? This question is addressed by exploring the meaning of the word that the Old Testament uses to talk about sex – yada. This word describes a deep and intimate knowing that not only is used to a married couple having sex, but also the deep knowing and trust that God wants to have with us. Seeing sexuality through this lens helps us to see God’s plan in a new light and illustrates the problem with doing things our own way. She then dives deep into the questions that many want answers to but most are afraid to ask when it comes to what is appropriate with our sexuality and how to repent and start over if you recognize that you have fallen short of God’s plan for your sexuality. It goes deeper and is intentional about addressing many girls’ questions about sexuality while remaining grounded in Scripture. It even gives biblical guidelines for qualities you can look for in a man who honors Him. 

However, this book does have a few minor problems. This book was released toward the end of the purity movement and it does share a few of the same problems as many of the books that were part of that movement. In Dannah’s attempts to be honest and blunt, her wording and methods for resolution have the potential to cause guilt or shame for anyone who has struggled with sexual sin. Even the title indicates that you should be a virgin when you get married, which was one of the purity movement’s most faulty goals. As she has done in several of her books, she defines sin as “to miss the mark” and uses an archer’s target to illustrate that anything that doesn’t hit the bullseye on the target is sin. While I agree with the premise of this definition, it can come across as legalistic when you start pairing it with man-made methods of how to walk away from sin, which can lead to guilt and shame. As Christians, we have to be careful about the way that we define sin and make sure that we carefully explain God’s ability to redeem our sins for His glory so they can feel free to come into the light.
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Secondly, this book encourages young women to find a godly older woman to confess their sins to and hold them accountable so that they can overcome their sins. This method was a common remedy of the purity movement and is largely based on common misconceptions about confessing our sins to others as it’s encouraged in James 5:16. That verses says that we should confess to one another and pray for each other, not to confess and then rely on them to help you get out of your sin. In my opinion, seeking an accountability mentor should not be a catch-all solution to overcoming sin, especially sexual sin.

Please understand that I am not saying that younger women shouldn’t learn and be taught by older godly women. Titus 2 encourages older women to teach younger women and I am not trying to discredit that. I also understand that when sin becomes any sort of addiction, a person probably will need outside help to overcome it, such as programs, support groups, or counseling. What I’m trying to communicate is that the Bible doesn’t talk about mentorship the way it is described in most Christian circles today (when a younger and older person meet for coffee once a week while the mentor does a colonoscopy on the young person’s personal life). Asking another sinner to hold you accountable in many cases diminishes the power of self-discipline (or self-control) God had already given to each one of us (2 Timothy 1:7). If you want to stop any sin, you have to be fully convinced in your own mind that it is a sin that you want to leave behind and never return. Once you have determined to walk away from your sins, then you can confess your sins to someone you trust, not to tattle tale on yourself out of guilt, but to give you other Christians in your corner praying with you through the battle.
Lastly, there were some assumptions made about a few of the specific sins addressed that were clearly assumptions that could not have been backed by readers, especially in Chapter 10 (which I am avoiding mentioning by name for the sake of younger readers).

Aside from these issues, this is a good book that could be a good tool for helping teen girls and young adults develop a biblically grounded view of sexuality. If this appeals to you, it’s worth checking out.