Be Still My Soul by Randy Peterson

We have been getting a ton of snow here in Ohio, which means we've been participating in being snowed in!  Not really, but since hubby has to work when it snows and I am a chicken when it comes to driving in snow, we have stayed home for the past 48 hrs!  Honestly, it's been great!  We missed out on a euchre party with extended family yesterday and going to church today, but it has been nice to just stay home and relax.  We have watched movies, done a few sewing projects, and I have been catching up on some reading! Which brings me to my next review...

When I received Be Still My Soul by Randy Peterson, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the pages of the book look sort of torn or worn giving it an old-time feel.  And rightly so since this book is full of hymn after hymn and the stories behind them.  I remember my pastor once telling the story behind the hymn "Peace Like A River" and it was so profound to me.  I have always preferred more contemporary Christian music, but now, every time I hear that song I remember the story behind it and it means so much more to me.  Because of that I was excited to dig in to this book! 

The book contains 175 hymns and their back stories.  I will have to admit that there are A LOT of hymns in the book that I am not familiar with so I felt a bit disconnected with those hymns, but there are many that I am familiar with.  I love knowing the stories of why the writer wrote the words to these beloved songs.  From Fanny Crosby's "Blessed Assurance" to Jusdon W. VanDeVenter's "I Surrender All", this book covers them all!  I know that when I hear these hymns being sung or played, I will remember the story that brought them into existence.  And what's even more amazing is the fact that most of these hymns were written by common folk...and little did they know that their words would be sung by many for generations to come!

* I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for this honest review. *