Book Review: The Whispers God Gives by Ellen Senechal

Hear God whisper as you read!

Have you ever found yourself questioning God’s will for your life? Are you battling things nobody else seems to relate to? What about bitterness after losing a friend? Perhaps you’ve scoured the Internet and came up dry because you couldn’t find anything that spoke directly to your teen or pre-teen heart. 

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this book is for you.

In The Whispers God Gives, teenaged author Ellen Senechal speaks from her heart and from God’s Word. She longs to share what she couldn’t find no matter how hard she looked – a clean, wholesome Christian devotional that’s short, sweet, and to the point. A book centered around strengthening your relationship with God your Savior, Counselor, and Friend in thirty days.

Let God’s whispers begin!

My rating:

(First of all—isn't that cover the most adorable thing ever?? It just makes me smile!)

When Ms. Senechal approached me about reviewing her debut, I was super excited! Having read her review of my own book, I knew that her writing style was going to be fabulous—and I was right!

Each of the lessons in this 30-day devotional holds an everyday illustration—baby sister + soggy pretzels, food allergies, Band-Aids, rolling office chairs.

The lessons contain life occurrences and just all-around wisdom that every teenager can relate to—the betrayal of a friend, the impact of words, jealousy of others' stronger faith, personal mission fields.

Ms. Senechal's short, sweet, to-the-point devotionals pack a punch for just a few hundred words per day!

The lesson that impacted me the most, though, was when she used the phrase, "You don't have to; you GET to."

Now, these are the words that my father is famous (in our household) for saying...and when these words showed up in this book, I had to do a double-take.

When my dad said it my whole life, I hated it. As a whiny kid, I would say, "Do I have to?!"
Daddy would say, "No, you don't have to." But before I could fully enjoy the relief that I felt, he would amend his statement by saying, "you get to." Oh, that was annoying. We (my siblings and I) always hated it because 1) it was said frequently, and 2) he made it sound like a privilege.

Having abhorred that statement for years, when I read it in Ms. Senechal's book, I was curious where she would go with it.

But y'know what? She had a very interesting thought:
"How about taking that dreadful word 'have' and replacing it with the sweet word 'get'?
'I get to wash these dishes.'
'I get to clean this table.'
'I get to sweep this floor.'
When said this way, the sentences let us know we're given privileges, special gifts God designated for us. And when we shift our perspective in this way, to view our tasks as such gifts, our grumpy moods dissolve into thankfulness."

Somehow, I'd never thought of my father's dreaded words in this way. What I saw as annoying was actually his way of trying to get us to appreciate the fact that we're healthy and able to do the things, even when we hate them. That, as inconvenient and dreadful they may be, they really are privileges.

But, I mean, he loved annoying us, too. (That devious smirk? Mhm, he's famous for that, too.)

There's so many good lessons in this book, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone! Though, being a bit old for the target age audience, I think, I wasn't quite able to relate to all of the lessons, and thus four stars. ;)

All in all—I'm so excited for you, Ellen! Congratulations on your upcoming release!

I was given a free e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.