She Walked Before Us: Grace, Courage, and Strength from 12 Women of the Old Testament, (Paperback)

In "She Walked Before Us", author Jill Eileen Smith provides awareness and encouragement as she relates the true stories of women who walked before us. As we read about these twelve women from the Old Testament, we are shown that they dealt with many of the problems that still plague women today. Trust issues, dealing with heartache, suffering disappointment, and learning to forgive are all covered, along with the subjects of physical and sexual abuse and infidelity. Smith doesn't gloss over these hard subjects or pronounce judgement. Instead, she offers her sympathy and her prayers and she reminds us that the God who witnessed Old Testament problems is the same God who sees what women are facing today! He is here and He is aware! In each of the twelve chapters, Smith combines non-fiction with fiction, as she shares Bible scripture, a biblical narrative, and a fictional scenario that allows us to 'Imagine'. Each chapter also has 'Ponder This' and 'Taking It Further' and these sections help to deepen our understanding even further. The stories of Naomi, Ruth, Rahab, Hannah, Miriam, Deborah, Abigail, and Bathsheba are well-known but what about Michal, Peninnnah, Akinoam, and Maacah? They aren't as familiar to me so reading She Walked Before Us has taught me so much! I'm always eager to increase my knowledge of the Holy Bible and I recommend this outstanding resource for both personal or group Bible study. I voluntarily accepted this book from the publisher and Blog About Blogger Network. I was under no obligation to write a favorable review. These are my honest opinions.