Bible Reference(2,832)
Bible Studies(1,762)
Biblical Studies(1,368)
Biography(2,779)
Business & Careers(260)
Catholic(238)
Children(2,090)
Christian Living(10,120)
Church & Pastoral(2,380)
Church History(627)
Closeouts(4,017)
Commentaries(2,237)
Devotionals(5,886)
Family(5,942)
Fiction(25,281)
Gift Books(406)
Other Languages(12)
Personal Growth(8,613)
Philosophy(50)
Prophecy & End Times(1,030)
Theology(2,461)
Shop Now At Christianbook.com
Shop Missions or
Choose a Category
- Academic
- Accompaniment Tracks
- Advent
- Adventures in Odyssey ™
- Audiobooks
- Bible Accessories
- Bible Covers
- Bible Studies & Curriculum
- Bibles
- Blooming Bargains
- Books
- Catholic
- Children
- Christian Living
- Christmas
- Church & Pastoral
- Church Supplies
- Closeouts
- Clothing & Accessories
- Crafts & Recreation
- DVDs
- Download
- Easter
- Education
- Fall
- Family
- Father's Day
- Fiction
- Focus Magazines
- Focus Resource
- Focus Reviewed
- Focus on the Family
- Gift & Home
- Graduation
- Homeschool
- MP3 Music Downloads
- Mother's Day
- Music
- New Release
- Patriotic
- Pre-Order
- Radio Theatre
- Slightly Imperfect
- Software
- Spanish
- Spring
- Subscriptions
- Sunday School
- Teens
- Thanksgiving
- VBS
- Videos
- Winter
- eBooks
Top-Rated Products
Customer Reviews for Thomas Nelson Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Thomas Nelson Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
If your husband asked you to leave your safe, middle-class life and move to rural Guatemala, what would you do? Moston said "yes"---although her husband's request conflicted with her own desires. In this candid account of a modern-day seeker, she introduces you to a God who makes cowards courageous, ordinary lives purposeful, and dried-up dreams fruitful. 192 pages, softcover from Nelson.
Average Customer Rating:
(14 Reviews) 14
Rating Snapshot (14 reviews)
5 stars
7
4 stars
5
3 stars
1
2 stars
0
1 star
1
13 out of 1493%customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Review 1 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Date:May 24, 2013
Salina
Location:Sinton, Tx
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
I requested this book a couple of months ago from booksneeze.com and barely started blogging about it, it's better late than never. The book is called Call Of A Coward, The God of Moses and the Middle - Class Housewife by Marcia Moston. It's a soft cover book with 148 pages. The book is about a lady and her family who became missionaries in Mexico. It's not what they thought it would be like since they were use to their home in New Jersey, it was way different. I personally don't think I could do what they did I would be scared not knowing what to expect. They followed God's calling and His calling for their lives was to leave the comfort of their home and work for God. Marcia also puts in detail what she saw while being there and her feelings. Through writing this book the Author wants us to know that "God is very real and in control, cowards become courageous and ordinary people and find great purpose." I would recommend this book to my family and friends it shows us that we don't know the Plans God has for our lives only he does so we need to be ready to do what he wants us to do.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 2 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
A very real missionary story
Date:April 5, 2013
Kristin
Location:Fort Worth, TX
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson to review, and I really enjoyed it. It is kind of like a missionary biography of a modern day woman. Marcia and her husband lived an average middle class life, until her husband came home one day to tell her that he had felt God’s call to foreign missions. She felt so inadequate and didn’t really want to go, but the book tells the story of how God changed her heart in a little Mayan village in Guatemala. I found it so interesting to hear her story of not feeling the same call as her husband at first, but trusting him, and trusting that God had a plan through it all. I was also struck by her struggle with trusting that they were doing what God wanted them to do, but struggling with the impact that this life would have on her daughter. She tells the story with humor, but also with raw honesty. She is so candid about the way she felt and the thoughts that she had through the whole process of becoming missionaries to Guatemala, and also how God changed her. She talked about many of the day to day happenings in the small village that they ministered in, but she focused more on what God taught her through the day to day life as a missionary wife. If you like missionary stories you will definitely like this book.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 3 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Answering the Call
Date:November 6, 2012
JohnDeereGirl
Location:Plainfield, Indiana
Age:Under 18
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
3
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
I have often asked myself what my reaction would be if God called me to foreign missions. How would I obey? Would I question? I think that is why I was so intrigued by Marcia’s story of the call God had for her and her family. When Marcia’s husband informed her that God was calling them to foreign missions in Guatemala, she was hesitant. She attempted to excuse herself, convinced that her life in New Jersey was full of work for the Lord. However, God worked in her heart. They went. This book is the story of the ups and downs of the Monstons’ time doing God’s work in Guatemala.
I was quickly drawn into this book. Mission work has always interested me, and I love to hear about the work being done abroad. I literally found myself smiling and laughing at the family’s higher points, and nearly in tears as she recounted the trials they experienced. God’s hand was at work in every situation, which was interesting to see unfold. Call of A Coward was an easy read. It is written in a simple format, and with small chapters. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to you!!
Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. However, my opinions are my own
I was quickly drawn into this book. Mission work has always interested me, and I love to hear about the work being done abroad. I literally found myself smiling and laughing at the family’s higher points, and nearly in tears as she recounted the trials they experienced. God’s hand was at work in every situation, which was interesting to see unfold. Call of A Coward was an easy read. It is written in a simple format, and with small chapters. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to you!!
Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. However, my opinions are my own
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 4 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
A quick read about trusting God when He calls you.
Date:October 3, 2012
RamblingsMom
Location:Ontario
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
Ever since I became a Christian I’ve had a heart for missions, so I was really attracted to this book as soon as I read the description. It did not disappoint.
Marcia, her husband, and their daughter are the typical “family next door.” Suddenly, God calls them to serve as missionaries in Guatemala!
Marcia has to swallow her fears and rely on God to keep her family safe as they drive to Guatemala and settle into their new surroundings. Before long, the family falls in love with the country and its people. Marcia shares the ups, downs, and miracles they experience throughout their time in Guatemala.
As abruptly as God called them to Guatemala, however, he unexpectedly calls them to return home. And then, once they’re settled back in their home state, the family feels God urging them to move yet again, this time across the country to Vermont, where they once again have to trust in God to meet the needs of their family.
While I felt that this book was a great read, I did feel like there was something missing to it. I’m not even sure what, exactly. Maybe more details of their life prior to being called to Guatemala? I'm not sure...
Either way, if you’re interested at all in reading about missionary families, or want to read a story of having to trust in God when logic seems to it just won’t work, this book would probably interest yo
Marcia, her husband, and their daughter are the typical “family next door.” Suddenly, God calls them to serve as missionaries in Guatemala!
Marcia has to swallow her fears and rely on God to keep her family safe as they drive to Guatemala and settle into their new surroundings. Before long, the family falls in love with the country and its people. Marcia shares the ups, downs, and miracles they experience throughout their time in Guatemala.
As abruptly as God called them to Guatemala, however, he unexpectedly calls them to return home. And then, once they’re settled back in their home state, the family feels God urging them to move yet again, this time across the country to Vermont, where they once again have to trust in God to meet the needs of their family.
While I felt that this book was a great read, I did feel like there was something missing to it. I’m not even sure what, exactly. Maybe more details of their life prior to being called to Guatemala? I'm not sure...
Either way, if you’re interested at all in reading about missionary families, or want to read a story of having to trust in God when logic seems to it just won’t work, this book would probably interest yo
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 5 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Faith Building!
Date:September 24, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Wow, what a story teller!
Call of a Coward (The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife)
Okay, the title really says it all. Intriguing, yes?
I started reading this book, the story of a journey, on a bit of journey myself. After prayerfully and hestitantly taking in a 3rd baby last week, one with special, life-threatening needs, having a frighteningly in-over-our- heads few days, a hospital admission and me tearfully entreating the Lord for relief...which He graciously answered with a phone call before I had finished praying...and finishing the book a few hours after releasing the baby to some of his relatives...I was so grateful for an escape into a well-written, humorous, and unflinchingly told story. This book reminded me again of just who my God is and gave me a very much needed faith boost.
Call of a Coward (The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife)
Okay, the title really says it all. Intriguing, yes?
I started reading this book, the story of a journey, on a bit of journey myself. After prayerfully and hestitantly taking in a 3rd baby last week, one with special, life-threatening needs, having a frighteningly in-over-our- heads few days, a hospital admission and me tearfully entreating the Lord for relief...which He graciously answered with a phone call before I had finished praying...and finishing the book a few hours after releasing the baby to some of his relatives...I was so grateful for an escape into a well-written, humorous, and unflinchingly told story. This book reminded me again of just who my God is and gave me a very much needed faith boost.
I found myself scribbling down chapter heading quotes, laughing, and tearing up as I related to my Lord and remembered His great kindness and thoughtful care of us as I devoured chapter after "just one more chapter" late into the night.
Read it. Woven into an extremely rich narrative is a huge dose of faith strengthening personal testimony.
No wonder this woman won the Women of Faith/WestBow Presss writing contest. (YouTube interview).
Book Description
Read it. Woven into an extremely rich narrative is a huge dose of faith strengthening personal testimony.
No wonder this woman won the Women of Faith/WestBow Presss writing contest. (YouTube interview).
Book Description
The problem with promising God you'll follow Him wherever He leads you is that you just might have to go.
When her husband returned from a church mission trip and disrupted her tidy, middle-class afternoon with the conviction they should pack up and move to a Mayan village in Guatemala, Marcia Moston had to wonder: faithful or foolish?
On a journey that leads from the highlands of Guatemala to a small Vermont village, Marcia follows God's call for her husband even though it seems to conflict with her own dreams, requires credentials she lacks, and demands courage she doesn't feel she has.
Written with humor and insight, Call of a Coward is a candid account of a modern-day seeker and a very real God who makes cowards courageous, ordinary lives purposeful, and dried-up dreams fruitful.
_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_
I recieved this book free from the publisher in return for an unbiased review.
_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_
I recieved this book free from the publisher in return for an unbiased review.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 6 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Wonderful Memoir
Date:September 22, 2012
steffanie
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
This is a wonderful book. It is a moving memoir. I was hoping it would make me wonder what I would do should my husband be lead somewhere I didn't think I would want to go and it did just that. I really enjoy how Mrs. Moston takes us through the journey of her feelings and the process of this major decision. I enjoyed that it wasn't just a "Disney" type ending or situation once the choice was made.
I would recommend this book for any Christian, it would be a great one to pick up to take on a vacation or over a holiday break because it is not too long and is very enjoyable yet challenging.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 7 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Great Challenging Read
Date:August 23, 2012
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
I love missionary stories!
They inspire me, as well as, build my faith, so I was really looking forward to reading Call of a Coward, by Marcia Moston. It did both of these things.
Marcia Moston in honest in her journey to Guatemala. There were many times she spoke of sinful attitudes that arose to the surface from the time her husband decided they were going to the end of the book. But, just like all of us, she acknowledged repented and returned to serving the Lord. She does a great job of bringing to light child-like faith along the road of uncertainty. God's hand is seen all the way from home to Guatemala to Vermont.
They were only on the mission field in Central America for a few months, but those months were the launching point to a closer walk with God. He also used the trip and experience for so many other ministries once they came back to the states.
Willingness to obey Christ. That is the key to effective ministry. Going where and when He desires you to go. Stepping out in faith and seeing God open and close doors. He answers prayers as part of this process as well.
This book is definitely worth reading and may be used as a mirror in your own life. How is God wanting to use you? Are you willing to do what He calls you to do?
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 8 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Is Moving to Guatemela REALLY Cowardly?
Date:August 21, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Call of a Coward
The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Marcia Moston ©2012
Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN 978-0-8499-4730-8 (trade paper) 184 pp.
The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Marcia Moston ©2012
Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN 978-0-8499-4730-8 (trade paper) 184 pp.
Call of a Coward is a warmly written, honest account of following God even though full of doubts. Moston didn’t want to move to Guatemala. Then she and her husband spent only six months in a primitive village caring for widows and orphans. When clearly directed by God to leave, they wondered if their time was a waste, since so short. Years later, she learned the value of their work in a special way.
An easy to read, enjoyable and inspiring book proving the value of obeying God even if we don’t understand all the why’s.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 9 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
A Well-written Memoir
Date:August 6, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Some people ooze a sweet, sweet spirit. You can sense the presence of God when you're in their midst. They appear to be surrounded by a peace that passes any human understanding. I met Marcia Moston at a writers' conference in May of 2010. She is one of these people.
When she won the Women of Faith writing contest and asked if I'd be willing to review her book, I gladly accepted the opportunity. Expecting to find myself immersed in the busy ordeals of a missionary and her work, I was rather surprised to read about a woman and her fears. As I read on, I kept wondering what was going on in the home for the widows and orphans, all the while reading about the happenings in Marcia's heart, home and travels. This intrigued me.
God doesn't always work in ways we expect Him to. He has His own ways, which are higher than ours. We plan and put our feet in front of each other, working out our walk with Him, but He is the One who directs our steps. Which Marcia knows very well. It's through putting her trust in God and allowing Him to lead her life and the lives of her husband and daughter that she has become the woman of peace that she is today.
And that is what we read in Call of a Coward. It's a story of a woman who laid aside her hopes, dreams and fears to follow God even though where He led seemed to require credentials she lacked and courage she didn't think she had. And in doing so, she discovered just how personal and gracious He is.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 10 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Inspiring, humorous & interesting
Date:August 2, 2012
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
CALL OF A COWARD by Marcia Moston is a missionary autobiography. It mainly tells of the six months that the author spent in Guatamala but also includes the eleven or so years after that.
Marcia interestingly tells of her calling to this Central American country as well as her arrival and adjustment there. She may not have thought it humorous at the time that she went through these things but she was certainly able to write about them that way! Not all the time, of course, but often enough to hold the reader's attention. She was sad to leave the people which captured her heart but was able to finish her story on a postive note as she related how the Lord used her and her husband's experience and contact there to take other groups on missions trips...even eventually back to the little mountain village where they had served.
I personally could relate to many things about which she spoke as I recalled my own experiences in Brazil. Not everything that a missionary goes through is a positive, I'm-proud-of-this, worthy-of-telling-the-world experience, but is interwoven by the difficult, struggling times. Thankfully, some missionaries, such as this author, feel compelled to put it in a more permanent form than just their thoughts: a book from which the rest of us can read and learn. I give this book a 5.
(I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.)
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 11 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Following God's Lead
Date:July 30, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Years ago, I was meeting with a young woman weekly to talk about spiritual things. There was one thing holding her back from becoming a Christian. What if God asked her to be a missionary to Africa? That would just be too much!
Finally, she made the decision despite her fears and accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. Within months she said, "You know what, I heard they need logistical help in Africa as support for missionaries. I want do that!"
The idea that God could and may call us out of our comfy middle-class American lives honestly frightens some of us. In some cases, it prevents us from "going all in" in our relationship with God. It certainly scared Marcia Moston when her husband announced that he believed God wanted them to move to Guatemala. But when we've decided to follow God, we can watch in amazement as He changes our hearts, cares for our circumstances, and guides our steps.
Marcia's story here is truly honest, talking about how scary it really was to drive into the jungle and live without a refrigerator. Then, just as they finally settled into life in a Mayan village, God moved them back to New Jersey. Not long after that, God moved them to Vermont of all places. It's a story of following God wherever He leads and trusting that He'll care for you along the way.
Sometimes we want missionaries to fake it and make their journey out to the field sound simple (because God is with them) and the sacrifices they have to make sound painless (because missionaries are less selfish than normal people). We don't want them to ever question God's leading or prefer an easier path.
Call of a Coward, though, dares to be vulnerable and real and it's beautiful for that. It's not so much about the people in Guatemala and not really about the actual work Marcia Moston and her family did there. All of us, even those who never venture out of our hometowns in middle America, need to learn how to hear God and obey His leading. That's what this story is all about: What to do when we sense God leading in an unexpected direction.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Share this review:
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
Review 12 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Less than what I was hoping for.
Date:July 29, 2012
Quality:
3
out of
5
Value:
3
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
1
out of
5
I love missionary stories and devour missions books every chance I get, so naturally I jumped at the chance to read this one.
However, I was disappointed with Call of a Coward. The author, Marcia Moston, was an average Christian housewife until her husband decided that they needed to move to Guatemala to manage an orphanage for a year. The bulk of the book was taken up solely with her accounts of how hard it was for her to cope with the situation and deal with moving from the USA to a third-world country, and how afraid she was of this and that. It was like the ministry they were there to do was playing second fiddle to the hardships they were suffering to do it. Throughout the book I kept thinking 'Okay, when are we going to move on and talk about something besides you and how hard it is to go without your chocolate?' Honestly, aside from a few small mentions of projects here and there, I didn't feel like I got any real information about the actual ministry they were there to do. It was all focused on the author's personal struggles.
But then, after they had moved back to the States and had been called to a church in Vermont, the author suddenly starts talking about how much she doesn't want to go to Vermont and how much she does want to go back to Guatemala. And I, the reader, am left thinking 'Really? When did this sudden love of Guatemala come about? Last I checked you had spent three chapters complaining about how miserable it was.'
Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but I really did feel like the entire book was 'all about me' from the author's perspective, and I really have no use for that kind of a book.
I received a copy of this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for my review.
Share this review:
-1point
0of 1voted this as helpful.
Review 13 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Great Summer Read
Date:July 30, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Last year, Marcia Moston entered the first Women of Faith Writing Contest and won the Grand Prize with her book, Call of a Coward. Today, she’s a published author with a book contract from Thomas Nelson Publishers!
If you ever surrendered your life to God than you have made a commitment to serve Him how He wants. Call of a Coward The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife is such a book. It is a book about one’s woman’s promise to God to serve how He wants. Little did the middle-class housewife know that God would call her on her promise to Him. In the story the character’s husband comes home from a mission trip, and lets his wife know that he feels the call to go to Guatemala and help with a women and children’s home. The readers sees how our character comes out of her comfort zone and take a leap of faith and allow God to guide them on this magnificent journey of service and growing richer in their relationship with God. I really enjoyed a part of the book when our character makes a deal with God and just when she begins to think that she won her deal. God reminds her that if a door opens no one can shut that door. I learned a great deal from this book about the seed God planted in my heart a long time ago and how I have been avoiding it, but after reading this book I am beginning to make my plans for that long awaited mission trip. Thank you Marcia Moston for this inspiring book.
I loved the book it makes the reader think about what God is asking of them. I would recommend this book it is a wonderful summer read.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Share this review:
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
Review 14 for Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
Overall Rating:
Date:July 25, 2012
Call of A Coward
The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife
By Marcia Moston
Published by Thomas Nelson
Published by Thomas Nelson
The problem with promising God you'll follow Him wherever He leads you is that you just might have to go.
When her husband returned from a church mission trip and disrupted her tidy, middle-class afternoon with the conviction they should pack up and move to a Mayan village in Guatemala, Marcia Moston had to wonder: faithful or foolish?
On a journey that leads from the highlands of Guatemala to a small Vermont village, Marcia follows God's call for her husband even though it seems to conflict with her own dreams, requires credentials she lacks, and demands courage she doesn't feel she has.
Written with humor and insight, Call of a Coward is a candid account of a modern-day seeker and a very real God who makes cowards courageous, ordinary lives purposeful, and dried-up dreams fruitful.
I enjoyed this book. It's an easy read. Marcia is committed to her faith and obviously has a special relationship with God, but the book is more than a testimonial. It gives a good picture of the problems of the Mayans in Guatemala. They're people, delightful people, but they have so little.
I highly recommend this book. It will open your eyes to the good work done by Christian missions.
I reviewed this book for the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze Program.
I highly recommend this book. It will open your eyes to the good work done by Christian missions.
I reviewed this book for the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze Program.
Share this review:
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.