Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

I loved reading this book!  A very inspiring man, who truly lived what he preached, and was killed for it.  Bonhoeffer opposed the Reich Church of Germany under Hitler, which was very much against Jews and any kind of Jewish teaching (effectively saying most of the Bible was worthless to them).  He also took his faith a step further in becoming a key player in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and undermine the Nazis.

I was actually not excited to start it, even though I wanted to know more about this man.  I was a little intimidated by the number of pages (542!), and I sometimes get bogged down in the facts (dates and places, etc) in biographies, but this one was so intriguing to me, in part because of the way the author wrote it but also because WWII history fascinates me, and it was so interesting and uplifting to read a lot of Bonhoeffer's theological thoughts.

Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews

This book is one author's interpretation of the story of Job from the Bible. I love reading Bible stories made into fiction even though author's have to take poetic license. And that very fact makes me go back to my Bible and read the story for myself again to know what parts of the novel are fact, which is always a good practice too. 

This story follows Dinah, daughter of Jacob (brother of Esau), who has been shamed her whole life because of a mistake she made as a young woman, and the misinterpretation that came from that. She finds her way into Job's home and life and witnesses all his suffering. The author does a fairly good job of portraying Job's suffering, although the loss of all his children didn't seem to be grieved as much as I thought would be. But his unswerving faithfulness to Yahweh is an incredible example for us today to follow, no matter what hardships come our way. The story, and the way this author writes it, reminds me that God's ways are better than mine, He always knows best, and yet He is okay with us questioning Him. He is a loving and caring God. 

One thing I found a little hard to believe while reading, aside from the minimal grieving over lost children, was that Job's wife, named Sitis in this book, who was completely turned away from God and worshipped idols, seemed to transform completely into a woman entirely devoted to Him after one conversation with Dinah about God's forgiveness. And then I thought, why couldn't that happen? God can do miracles in people's hearts, and no doubt stuff like that has happened before. Why don't we expect miracles like that more often? 

This book was an interesting read and made me think about God's forgiveness and His power to heal, physically and spiritually

Invasion by Jon S. Lewis

Ok.  I think it's safe to say I'm a geek.  I guess I've always known it, as I've enjoyed such shows as Star Trek and Stargate-SG1.  But after reading this book, I must admit it in writing.

The story is about a 16-year-old boy, Colt, whose parents are killed in a car accident, and when that begins to look suspicious, he is pulled against his will into a world that most people on planet Earth know nothing about.  It's filled with 'bridges' from our planet to other, often more dangerous worlds, and there is an agency on Earth called CHAOS who secretly fights to keep the bridges closed and take care of any ill-intentioned aliens that might sneak through a rift.

Of course none of the book is believable, in that its all about monsters and highly sophisticated scientific advancements and technology gleaned from other planets.  But it's still an enjoyable read for those who enjoy sci-fi.  I'm going to say it's target audience is teenage boys, as the main character is a teenage boy and his two 'side kicks' throughout the book are also teenagers.  Though the publisher of the book is Thomas Nelson, the story is not overtly Christian; the only inclusions are a reference to a Bible study, mention of a church service where the story of King David sending Uriah to his death in battle is briefly touched on, and Colt's romantic interest inviting him to sing a duet with him at the next service.  But the impression is that Colt's grandfather deems church attendance as very valuable, as does said romantic interest.  And even with all the alien fights and sci-fi stuff, it's not gruesome or offensive.

** I received this book free from booksneeze.com to review.**

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I've been waiting for a long time to read this book!  It was so popular at my library that I was about 12th on the reservation list, they changed the check-out time to two weeks instead of three, and I couldn't renew if I wanted to.  So I was hoping it was as good as all that.  And it sure was!

The story is set in Mississippi in the 1960's, and follows the lives of black women working as household servants and child care.  The attitudes of most whites in that time and place are still that of blacks being inferior, but one young white woman hatches a plan to expose the horrendous, but also often heart-warming, treatment of the 'help.'  She has to very secretly meet with house maids, gain their trust, and compile their stories, all while faced with unreasonable deadlines and an editor from New York who has shown only mild interest in the idea.  Throughout the book, the treatment of these women range from tragic and outrageous, to kind and generous, and sometimes they fight back in their own subtle and funny way.

This was an enjoyable book to read, even though it had its low points as far as the hardships the author writes about.  I definitely recommend it!

The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook by Jeff Kinley

I must say I'm a little embarrassed, based on the title/cover, to have people know I read this book.  I'm not a zombie kinda girl.  But the title is precisely what prompted me to want to read it.  From the second I saw it on the list of books at booksneeze.com, I knew I wanted it.  The title was compelling, and based on the subtitle, "Slaying the Living Dead Within," I figured it was a non fiction Christian self-help type book with a catchy title to get people like me hooked into buying (or otherwise acquiring).

The book was not a whole lot like what I was expecting, but it was very intriguing!  It is half fiction and half non fiction, which is weird to read together, but the author makes it work.  For every 'episode' of the zombie story (which is pretty gory and grotesque at times), there's a corresponding chapter on how our sin nature is like a zombie, how when we succumb to it we are like the living dead because we die inside.   Humans do wicked things, and that capacity to do wrong is born into each of us.   Paraphrasing from the book: 'It affects everyone; male and female; old and young; civilized and barbarian; religious and pagan; ancient and postmodern...  Our default mode is self and anti-God.'

Kinley pulls some amazing analogies, describing how horridly wretched we are from birth, explaining in detail how the fall of Adam is the beginning of our downfall.  When Adam and Eve sinned they died inside.  It was like a virus entered them (just like a virus passed from person to person makes people become zombies; at least in Kinley's created story).  "This sin virus is 100 percent lethal and 'heir'-born, passed from parent to child in an unbroken chain of humanity.  Currently 6 billion carriers worldwide."

Most of the book is actually quite negative, as Kinley writes again and again how we are dirty and not worthy of God's salvation, but it is somehow written in a way that doesn't feel overly depressing, but as to make you really want to change and strive to be free in Christ from your 'inner zombie.'

I felt the book was written with teens in mind, though it definitely applies to my life as well.  It is culturally relevant, with references to Facebook and even Justin Beiber, and of course the zombie genre is currently fairly popular.  And the way he explains our downfalls and how we can redeem ourselves, not through our own works, but only through a real relationship with Jesus and by accepting the salvation He's bought for us, just totally clicked with me and I imagine would with many people.

I enjoyed this book, even though this was not the kind of book I anticipated.  It is well done and interesting.

**I received this book free from booksneeze to review.

Ascent From Darkness by Michael Leehan

Whoa.  Deep.  Heavy.  Compelling.  Scary.  These are words I thought of as I read this book.  And the retelling of the story is at times so intense with evil that I had to put the book down and pray that God would cover me and my house.


It is the true life story of a man who gave himself to Satan and served him for 20 years.  What I read in this book is unreal.  I've always believed that a Spiritual world exists and we have to be on guard against evil.  But this story added new information to that realm for me.  The author committed ritualistic blood sacrifices, animal killings, and did the bidding of Satan and his demons.  He would sneak into churches and leave satanic bibles for people to find, in the hopes of confusing them.  He suffered incredible oppression, and almost carried out the assignment of Satan to kill a pastor, and then almost killed himself when Satan told him to.  He had many, many close encounters with demons.


After 20 years of serving the devil, Leehan found God in a pretty incredible way.  He totally committed his life to God, renounced Satan's hold on him, and prayed God's protection over him and his family.  He even told Satan that every time he attacked him or his family, he would witness Jesus to at least 5 people that day!


A few things in particular that were interesting to read was his perception as a satanist of Christians.  He noticed again and again how weak-minded Christians seem, and how most are luke warm, sitting on the fence.  He spent a lot of time studying the Bible and memorizing Scripture, so much that he got very good at manipulating verses to unknowledgable Christians and, in his mind, hopefully causing doubt and making them turn away from God.  One in particular he remembered was the verse "Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (Jamie 4:7)  He says "I would throw out the phrase 'Resist the devil and he will flee!'  Sounds right on and harmless, but it is far from the truth.  These people would go on about their business, thinking that if they just resist the devil when they feel oppression, they would be okay.  I didn't tell them the most important portion of that Scripture: 'Submit yourselves, then, to God.'  That is the crux of that verse.  The adversary is going nowhere unless one is in submission to God!"  I like that Leehan chose to give this example of his manipulation in the book because I never thought of the two sentences in this verse going together, that one was useless without the other.  Powerful knowledge to glean.


As I put the book down when I finished, a few other words that came to mind were mercy, change, redemption, peace.  I am so happy to read the end of this story, that Satan was defeated in this situation, and Michael Leehan is now living as an amazing Christian witness.  He has a passion that was used for evil and is now being used for God's glory.  What an amazing testimony to read!

I received a copy of this book from booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review.

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

I was very excited to buy and read this book, as I've been seeing it everywhere, with people quoting from it on Facebook, and seeing lists of 'One Thousand Gifts' on many blogs.  And after reading it, I don't quite know what to say about the book.  The thoughts in it were insightful, when I could get around the odd, verbose wording to discover the meaning underneath.  Some of the insights did change my heart to how I live, how I can become more grateful, but I found the book extremely difficult to get through because of the author's style of writing.  Reading a phrase or two at a time is easier, but to put oddly worded phrases into paragraphs that fill whole chapters makes it all begin to blur into words that don't seem to come together properly and create an artsy-sounding jumble.  I can't think of a better way to describe it.

Something in particular that stuck out to me in a positive way was when Voskamp quoted her mother: "Expectations kill relationships."  How true.  I would love to live without expectations from people.  In fact, I have begun this process before reading this book, to look to God for comfort, love, acceptance and affirmation, for only He can give it wholly, and he knows exactly the way I need to feel each of those things.  I long to not expect it from people, even those close to me and that love me.  Because they are human and they can never give me all that I need.  I don't want to rely on any human, but rest in the strong arms of God who knows me better than I know myself.

Voskamp includes some very powerful insights into living fully, living full of gratefulness to our God, but despite that and the fact that many others obviously enjoy her style of writing (since it is a New York Times Bestseller), I would't recommend this book. 

Kaleidoscope Eyes by Karen Ball

This book was good, the story was intriguing, somewhat intense, with a great romance plot.  However the style of writing is not my favourite.  Very cheesy at times, little things added in for reasons other than the plot of the book.  But I am very picky when it comes to style of writing.  I think I read into things too much, and sometimes don't just enjoy a book for the entertainment factor, getting too bogged down in some minor stylistic annoyances.

For example, the main family in the story has a short discussion about the death penalty, with members quoting Scripture to back up their reasons for supporting it or not.  Doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the story so I felt that the author just wanted to get people thinking even though it doesn't necessarily fit into the story.

I also found that the basis of the title of the book was an addition that didn't really add to the plot.  The main character has a condition called synesthesia, which is an actual condition where a person sees colour in numbers, letters and people, evoking personalities just by sight.  In the book, this character, Annie, is exceptionally good at her job of search and rescue because of this condition.  Maybe it just wasn't explained well enough, but that didn't make sense for me, and I thought the book would have been great even if she was a normal person who did search and rescue.  Her condition did make her very good at her other job, as a stained glass artist, which does play into the plot as well, but again, she could have been a very good artist without the synesthesia.  It wasn't melded into the plot well enough for me to see it as necessary.

Besides all of that, when the plot thickens just after the middle of the book, I found that I could not put it down and was so invested in the characters and how everything would play out.  I want to give this book a good review because of that.  It is a good read, minus a few dispensable portions.

Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaf

I was very excited to receive this book in the mail from booksneeze.com.  (I received it free in exchange for my honest public review.)  I love to read arguments supporting the Bible or Christianity as a whole.  And I have heard great things about this author, about how very knowledgable he is and that he seeks to lead people to the true God.

In this book, Hanegraaf divides his arguments into an easy acronym, M-A-P-S, which stand for Manuscript Copies, Archaeologist's Spade, Prophetic Stars and Scriptural Lights.  Each category is also broken down into acronyms to make the book more concise and easy to follow.

It is altogether a very interesting read, though some parts (like those on typological vs. predictive fulfillment of prophecies) went way over my head!  There were a few parts that felt a little repetitive, but for the most part the writing was concise and pretty easy to follow.  I absolutely love reading about archaeological finds that prove stories in the Bible or show that people in the Bible are real from a purely historical standpoint.  And I like reading an author debunking some of the major theories used to explain away Jesus' resurrection, the most laughable being the swoon theory, hypnosis of the disciples or hypersuggestibility of the disciples.

This is a good book for those who want to brush up on their apologetics, and have more answers for things like how our Bible today can still be accurate even through centuries of copying and recopying.  It is fascinating to learn some of the practices of early scribes, and why the message we read today is unchanged from when it was written.

Allah's Fire by Gayle Roper and Chuck Holton

Allah's Fire is basically about modern terrorism, the mindset of the people believing Allah wants them to martyr themselves, the devastation of those caught in their attacks, and how good people fight back.  The book starts out as two separate stories, one of an American young woman who grew up in Lebanon and is back for some journalistic work, another of an Explosives Specialist team leader in the US Army who is sent with his team to Lebanon to investigate a new kind of explosive that's been used by terrorists.  The two stories eventually mingle into one, and comes to a nail-biting conclusion.

As I've said before, I love reading about the Middle East.  It fascinates me, and I enjoy learning about different sides to a story, so it's interesting to hear some of what fundamentalists believe, and it's incredible that though a lot of women live destitute lives and feel lonely and abused, a lot of them agree with what they've been taught; that women are to be completely submissive, should be allowed to be beaten or killed by their husbands if they disobey, and shouldn't have any rights.  It's very sad, but educational and opens up my worldview.

I also really like reading military operations books.  I think very highly of men and women brave enough to protect the innocent by knowingly putting themselves at risk.  And though I know there is a lot of corruption with military personnel, and between them and governments, it is interesting to read how they get things done, the levels of classification, and even how foreign governments covertly ask for help from the US (or other) Army, but will publicly deny asking them to intervene.

Anyway, this book was a really great read, and I'm anxious to find the next one in the series.

When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker

Alright, this is now the third Ted Dekker book I've read, and I'm sorry to say I haven't liked any of them.  I keep reading more because I have friends who tell me even if I didn't like that one, I'm sure to like this one!  This one was the best of the three, but his genre is too weird for my liking.  The books I've read all have some grand analogy that the reader is supposed to relate to something spiritual, some unseen battle or grand revelation and I just never quite get the connection he's trying to make.  There are good parts about all of the books that kind of keep me guessing and wanting to find out what's going on, but I do find a lot of the smaller plots are never fully resolved.

For example in this book, right at the beginning a woman discovers a new plant growing out of a rose bush that just died.  This plant is unfamiliar to her, and within 2 weeks it has almost taken over her garden, blossoming with huge beautiful, yet unfamiliar white flowers, with a smell that almost overpowers.  When she brings in her botanist friend, he studies it and concludes it's a new type of flower.  This subplot with the flowers is underlying throughout the book.  Near the end, the botanist tells her he has discovered something special about this plant, but she tells him to wait to tell her until later.  Then it never comes up again in the book.  Unless I completely missed some deeper meaning.  After all, the whole book is about some deeper meaning of the depth of God's love for us, and I didn't completely get that analogy either.

Now I'm going to just be nitpicky, but another thing that bugs me is name choice.  If you're writing a fiction novel, you have free reign of choosing whatever names you want for your characters.  The main character in this book, as chosen by the author, is Janjic Jovic.  Tell me, how do you pronounce that?  I know he's supposed to be from Bosnia so the name has to fit that style, but even in the book there are other Bosnians with easier names, like Mosolov.  I looked up the pronunciation of the first name, which is Yanic.  So then is the 'j' in the last name also pronounced as a 'y'?  Then it just sounds kind of funny. I just figure if you can choose any name in the world, or even make up your own, couldn't you pick something that's easier and flows better?  Even if I'm reading it in my head, I like to know how to pronounce something, and Janjic Jovic never rolled off my 'tongue,' so to speak, and it bugs me.

Something got me thinking however.  I have always really liked books by Frank Peretti.  And after contemplating some of his novels, they are no more 'weird' or less filled with analogies than Dekker's.  Their styles of writing aren't that different.  But I think Peretti's analogies must be easier to follow, because I generally get all of his (which maybe says too much about what my brain can and cannot comprehend)!  So sorry to anyone who has recommended Ted Dekker to me.  I'm a lost cause...

While Mortals Sleep by Jack Cavanaugh

Man, that Jack Cavanaugh is one talented author.  I've enjoyed every book I've read by him so far, and I've read a lot now!  This book takes place during World War II, and is about a pastor who has to decide if he will follow the new leader of Germany and abandon some of what he believes is right, or endanger his own life as well as that of his young wife and unborn child to stand up for what he believes in.

There's also some horrendous descriptions of things that went on, not including concentration camps.  This was just at the beginning of Hitler's reign of terror, and to read what was happening to Jews on the streets (since they weren't all rounded up and sent off yet), the medical experiments performed on live humans, the 'cleansing' of those deemed less than human, especially babies (handicapped or disabled in some way), and how Hitler preyed on young boys and basically brainwashed them into joining his forces and believing everything he was doing was right and good, raising up a nearly unstoppable army with the vigor and passion of youth.  Those things are hard to read and I even cried in some parts, but I like that I learn things or see with greater clarity when those stories are made personal, even through fictitious characters.

It's another great page-turner, one that I read far into the night, not wanting to stop at the end of each chapter.  There's twists and turns you'd never expect, and also some insight into why so many pastors in Germany during that time did choose to follow Hitler, especially at the beginning.  All in all, a great historical fiction.

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

This book is amazing!  It's all about changing the world one life at a time.  It's about showing people Jesus, but also serving those less loveable by the world's standards, saving children from death by adopting or giving money to helpful charities, visiting lonely elderly people or those in prison, and praying with intensity, even for those we may think of as unreachable.  I love Lucado's way with words, how he makes ordinary, often-repeated Bible stories come to life in a new way, and how he uses stories or word pictures to make his point stand out, and to make a big lump of emotion stick in my throat.  I love how the book is so encouraging, not guilt-inducing.  It's so positive and challenging.  Definitely two thumbs up for this one!

With by Skye Jethani

In this book, the author, Skye Jethani lists five ways people relate to God.  There is Life Under God, Life Over God, Life For God, Life From God and Life With God.  I will try and paraphrase the examples Jethani gives of each posture.

The Life Under God posture  is like when a business man seeks to make things right with God so that God will bless his business.

Life Over God is like a leader of a church putting prayer on a back burner and rather adopting a more contemporary approach to running a church like secular organizations, by understanding market forces and such.

Life For God is like the young student of a Christian college who is not sure anymore that she should go to medical school because she thinks she needs to ‘make something of her life’ and become a missionary.  She feels if she doesn’t do something the Christian world would think is significant, she has failed God.

Life From God is like the mother who is in despair because her teenaged son is depressed and using drugs and other destructive behavior, and she’s hurt and angry that God is not intervening.  She’s always raised her son on biblical principles, and honoured God in her home.  She feels like God is punishing her.

Any one of these postures is probably eerily familiar to all of us.  But they are all ways of controlling God for our own benefit.  We can’t control God, and trying to will only lead to a desperate cycle of trying more of the same.  The main point Jethani makes is that God just wants to be with us.  He wants us just as we are, and he wants to be in communion with us, to have a deep relationship with us.

This book really got me thinking.  I was kind of back and forth deciding if I liked it or not in the first few chapters, just because a lot of what the author says seems very controversial.  But in the end I realized I agree with him.  The other postures are ways that we seek to control God, not have a relationship with Him.  Jethani suggests we should live so that 'God would cease to be how we acquire our treasure, and he would become our treasure.' He states that even though the aspostle Paul was a great leader and missionary, and it seems as if God’s mission dominated his life, it did not define it.  If you study Paul’s letters closely you will see that ‘everything in the apostle’s life, including God’s mission, took a backseat to his paramount goal: God himself.’  The Life with God posture is different than the other four listed because 'its goal is not to use God, it's goal is God.'  

This is a very thought provoking, liberating and encouraging book.  I definitely recommend it.

Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman

I finally got around to reading this one.  I've had it on my 'to read' list for a long time, but other books always caught my attention before I could get my hands on this one.  I finally saw it sitting at my Grandma's house and was going to borrow it but she just said I could have it.

It is an amazing book!  It went way beyond my expectations!  The author is the wife of singer Steven Curtis Chapman.  For those who aren't familiar with the Chapmans' story, about four years ago their 17-year-old son accidentally hit their 5-year-old daughter with his car and killed her.  The book is Mary Beth's life story, but a large majority of the book focuses on this tragedy and the aftermath.  I love true stories and biographies, especially about Christians making it through tough times.  I loved that in this book she is totally honest about her grief, how she would get so mad at God and yell at Him, how she would break down remembering her daughter in the weirdest places, how she has this head knowledge that God is in control and there is hope because they'll get to see their daughter again in heaven, but it's so hard to believe it and live it on a daily basis.  I know the death of a family, especially a child, must be the worst kind of pain, but as I'm going through other losses in my life, it's encouraging to hear other peoples' stories, even if they're completely different situations.  It's nice to know grief is not cut and dried; everyone handles it differently.

I also liked reading about the blessings they received in the little things after their daughter's death.  Things like after returning to their house, they found a picture she had drawn of a flower with six petals (they had six kids) and only one petal was coloured in, in her favourite colour.  On the back of the paper she wrote SEE, a word they'd never seen her write before.  It spoke to them that she was the one 'petal' of the family who was safe with Jesus.  And the word SEE was like her saying "SEE?  Can you SEE?  Everything is going to be all right.  I am here with Jesus.  I am fine.  Heaven is real, the gospel is true, you just have to SEE!"  Obviously this little girl didn't know she was going to die and wasn't prophetic, but it's like God used her before she died to give the family a measure of peace afterwards.  Some people say it's a coincidence, but I like thinking of it as a miracle.  I heard a sermon a while ago about how God still does do miracles today but we often just sweep it under the rug or discount it as coincidence, when really God is always working.

Another very cool thing was that their daughter LOVED ladybugs.  When they went to pick a burial plot for her they found a ladybug there, and almost every time they've visited they find a ladybug.  One day when they were releasing balloons with notes written on them as a memorial, their other young daughter suddenly had a ladybug land on her finger, sit there for a bit and then fly away with the balloons.  How cool that God would do that!

Here is a verse she included in the book that is encouraging to me.  It is Psalm 30:5 in The Message translation: "The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter."

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner is a fictional story about an Afghan man named Amir who immigrated to America with his dad when he was 12, leaving behind the family's beloved servant Ali and his son Hassan, who was just a year younger than Amir.  The two boys grew up playing together and had a very interesting relationship.  Even though it's a work of fiction, the book is filled with what would be normal daily activities in Afghanistan before the Taliban took over, as well as what has likely happened aplenty after they marched in.


I really enjoyed this book.  It is a very intriguing page-turner, with some very emotional parts, and many tragic and horrendous events, and even though the book is fiction you can't help but believe those kinds of injustices really happen over there.   I love reading about Afghani people just to remind myself that they are not all Taliban, not all hateful warmongers. They love their families, they want the best for them, they are kind to beggars and orphans, they feel guilt, they take pleasure in life's simple things, they have a rich culture.  I really enjoyed this look into their lives and what Afghanis think of the Taliban insurgents.  It was interesting to me that at first everyone was joyful at the arrival of the Talibs to rescue them from Russian oppression, but that joy quickly turned to hate and fear.  It just makes you take a different look on what is happening over there even now.

The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha

This book was totally awesome!  I loved reading it.  It contains some very short, some long blurbs discussing various 'awesome' things in life that just make you smile.  And many of them did make me smile.  It contains such gems as bakery air, finding money in an old coat, old dangerous playground equipment, sleeping in freshly laundered bedsheets, watching the Price is Right when you're home sick, and when cashiers open new check out lines at the grocery store, and of course many more.

It's a very easy read, easy to finish quickly, as I did.  It would also be very easy to read a little bit at a time, and you can always come back to it after a long time since you don't have to remember a story line or pick up where you left off, it's always a new topic.  It's just fun and uplifting.  I highly recommend it as a quick pick-me-up.  And I plan to get The Book of (Even More) Awesome soon!

Billy Graham in Quotes by Franklin Graham

This is an interesting book.  It is a great compilation of quotes from an amazing man of God.  The book is divided into 107 topics, such as The Blood, End Times, Eternity, Jesus, Greed, Heaven and Hell, Peace, Suffering, Surrender and more.  It is laid out really well, all topics are in alphabetical order, making it very easy to find a quote on a particular area of interest.  The forward, by Franklin Graham, and the introduction, by Billy Graham himself, are a great way to start in, giving a bit of background on how he teaches and why he uses the Bible as his ultimate authority.

As a book to sit down and read, it was difficult.  Besides the forward and introduction there are no paragraphs to further discuss any of the quotes.  It is quite simply the topic, a verse related to it, and then the quotes.  It's a relatively quick read because everything is in short little blurbs, but just something different than reading your regular book.  To me it feels more like a handy tool than a book to curl up with a read straight through.

Many of the quotes were very moving and inspirational to me.  I think Billy Graham is an incredible man with great insight into tough topics and questions people have.  I'm glad I own this book and can refer back to it when I need just the right quote for something, or even to boost my spirits or give me extra umph in my Spiritual journey.  Overall it's a very good book showcasing a very devoted follower of Jesus, a model to us all.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

I'm just going to come right out and say it, my review of this book is not positive.  And I think it's the first time I feel bad about giving a less than stellar review because my cousin recommended it to me and she loved it, and so I guess I feel guilty for not enjoying it.

Having said that, I don't know what it was exactly that didn't grab my interest.  It wasn't that I vehemently hated the book, it just was rather boring to me.  I didn't like the writing style, with some strange (though I admit, still correct) grammar, especially in the long descriptive paragraphs.  Which is another thing I couldn't get into, the descriptions that seemed to go on and on that just didn't have anything to do with plot or characters.  I know all books have description that's just added fluff, but something about the way this author wrote was, to me, very tedious and unnecessary.

The story itself was very sad and I did find myself wanting to find out what happened in the end, though that, too, was disappointing.  And there was no exciting sub-plot or a character that I absolutely hated or loved.  I just couldn't get into it, plain and simple.  Sorry Allison!

The Peacemakers by Jack Cavanaugh

As I anticipated, the most recent book I read in the American Family Portrait Series (as showcased here) was not as good at the first 6.  And I just found out there's one more, but the jacket blurb sounds better than this one.  The setting for The Peacemakers is the 1960's, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, the war in Vietnam and the protests in America over it's involvement in that war.  It is a time of hippies and free love and peace protests, not a particular point in history that overly excites me.  Still, the writing is good, and despite my lack of interest in the 60's, the author still kept my interest.  The characters are intriguing and likeable, even though I don't like their lifestyles and choices (protests of any kind tend to disgust me).  I could go into more detail about this book, but I'll just leave it at that and hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on the final book, The Guardians, soon.

The Allies by Jack Cavanaugh

I have been reading a fiction series by Jack Cavanaugh called American Family Portrait.  I just finished book #6 and they still hold my attention.  I like this series because though the books follow the same family through history, it spans many centuries so the characters are still different in each one.  The first book is in the early 1600s when the Puritans first fled persecution in Europe and travelled to the new colonies of America.  On it goes through the first settlements in America, the American War for Independence, the Civil War and slavery, pioneering the west, and the first World War.  Through each difficult set of circumstances, the characters come to know God or strengthen their faith in different ways.  Though the plot and settings are so different in each book, they have all been so easy to devour.  And because it's all the same family, you feel connected to each new set of characters, especially when their ancestors or parents from previous books are mentioned.  I thoroughly enjoy historical fiction, so I'm hoping the last book in the series, set in the 1960's will still be captivating.

This book, The Allies, starts just as America joins the war in Europe against Germany in 1917.  It follows a young American nurse who was turned down by the London Missionary Society.  She then volunteers at a hospital in France and ends up behind enemy lines.  Her brother, a stubborn, cocky young pilot who doesn't need anybody, earns his wings in the army, wanting to get as many kills as he can.  He cares for no one and nothing except taking down German planes, until his decisions cause a tragedy.  He too ends up behind enemy lines.  Meanwhile, their father begins work as a personal aide to the President of the United States working as a spy.  There is a lot of page-turning action, and the characters are very likeable.  But, if you're up for tackling something big, I would recommend reading the series right from the beginning, rather than just this one book.  Because each book contains different characters it does stand alone, but the series contains such richness as a whole.  I will definitely be reading more books by Jack Cavanaugh when I finish these.

A Reluctant Queen by Joan Wolf

This book is the love story of Esther from the Bible.  I so enjoy reading Bible stories made into fiction as, even though a lot of details have to be fabricated, it makes the story come vividly to life.  This story is written mostly from the perspective of Esther (though not in first person), and it was very interesting to read about what some of her feelings might have been to be chosen out of all the beautiful women in the king's harem to be his queen, and what her life of luxury might have been like.

There were a few places where this book deviated from the true story written about in the Bible.  One small example is that, in the book, Esther confronted Haman at the first banquet she invited him and the king to, instead of at the second banquet.  Another change that was baffling to me was the author's naming of the king, Ahaseurus.  Growing up I knew him as King Xerxes.  After very minimal research I found that this is the English equivalent of the name Xerxes, which is Greek.  However, I was baffled further by this because in the book, the king's brother is named Xerxes.  So I'm not quite sure how she got to naming this family as such.  One other change I will mention is that the king gave Haman his royal seal when he went away to lead a military battle, and Haman took this opportunity to issue a decree to have all Jews slaughtered by a certain date, signed with the king's seal, without his knowledge.  In the Bible the king is fully aware of Haman's evil plot, though he doesn't know which people group Haman wants to destroy, only that they refuse to obey the king's laws.  Because the author made the king very noble and compassionate in the novel, I suppose she couldn't have him agreeing to the slaughter of an entire people group.

I loved reading along and imagining all the details I never really thought about when reading this story in the Bible, even though I know they are just what one author fabricated.  Things such as the preparations that went on to beautify the women in the harem, the king's and queen's possible feelings for each other, Haman's jealousy, the assassination plot foiled by Mordecai, and the circumstances and feelings surrounding Esther's uninvited entrance to the king's court.  Overall this is a very well-written, entertaining read.

The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher

I received this book free from booksneeze.com to review.  It is from the Ancient Practices Series, which includes topics such as tithing and fasting, and in this book, Communion.  I recently participated in a Bible study which briefly covered the Last Supper and it so intrigued me that I was very excited to read this book and get more in depth with the significance of modern day communion and how it relates to the Last Supper and ancient Passover.  This book attempted to explain why we take Communion and how it brings us closer to God, went over a brief history of it, and touched on the debate about whether the bread and wine really becomes Jesus' body and blood.  I found the book, quite frankly, disturbing.

This book, purporting to speak of Christ's resurrection and how we are to remember the sacrifice He made, describes some events that were very unsettling to me, and barely speaks about the fact that Christ rose after He died.  There was also very little Bible references, and some of what she said seemed to be even antithetical to Christianity.

Gallagher explains a few Communion experiences she had of feeling nearness to God akin to reaching a higher plane as in Buddhist meditation.  She talks of one time when she celebrated Ramadan with some Islamics, and participated in their standing up, falling to their knees, leaning forward, pressing their foreheads to the floor, rising to their knees and then repeating it.  She says "It was amazing.  It was the most bodily prayer I have ever experienced.  The closest thing I had done to it was during yoga."   Embracing another religion in such a way and feeling 'fed' after speaks to me of an 'all roads lead to heaven' belief, which clearly goes against the Bible.  But besides that, for all this wonder she supposedly experienced then, there is no mention of God or how she felt His presence or drew nearer to Him.  It was simply a feel-good experience.

She also states that "at the altar, we are invited into what Jesus called heaven."  She seems to imply that the bread and wine we partake of have special powers: "I see nothing wrong in the desire for magic; it's who we are" and that the Communion wafer "points to what has been and what can be but also opens your eyes to what is right now.  This will put you in the role of prophet."

Sentences like that left me feeling very disturbed and made me very turned off from the content of this book.

On This Day in Christian History by Robert J. Morgan

This is a dated yearly devotional.  Each date tells a shortened version of a story of a saint, martyr or hero.  I chose to read it all at once instead of stretched out over a year, but will probably do it as a daily thing another time.  I would say it wasn't devotional material as in growing closer to God, but it definitely contained interesting stories, inspiration, and appalling tales of Christians who were tortured yet never recanted, or conversely, how some carried out horrendous acts in the name of Christ.  It was very interesting to me, but wouldn't really be to anyone not interested in history, particularly church history, as the title makes obvious.  If I were to summarize, I would say the majority of stories were of martyrs and popes.

I felt that the author did a good job of staying neutral, denominationally speaking.  Each date has a relevant verse at the bottom, so it's decidedly Christian.  But the author mostly just states facts, shining light particularly on the good.

I enjoyed this book and learned a whole lot.  But it was hard to keep things straight in my head.  The way he organized the book was that each day of the year had something significant pertaining to a certain story on that date.  For example, the birth of a man who would become pope or preacher, a convening of church leaders, the date of an imprisonment or execution, etc.  So it was definitely not in chronological order.  I would like to someday figure out a way to read them in order so that I can get the facts and important events straight in my mind and better know about my heritage and history as a Christian.

Reggie by Reggie Dabbs with John Driver

Reggie is an autobiography and inspirational book in one.  The author is a motivational speaker in high schools all around the world and in this book he shares a lot of what he speaks to those kids.  He shares funny anecdotes, childhood memories, narrates Bible stories in a modern way and includes questions at the end of each chapter, some simple, some pretty deep.

I found the very beginning of the book to be a little bit arrogant.  He talks a number of times about how many kids he speaks to, how he's invited all over the world, and proclaims how he is considered one of the most popular public school and motivational speakers in the world.  After that I found it hard to continue, but I had to, partly because I don't like leaving a book unfinished, and partly because I received this book free from BookSneeze to review.

A lot of the book is filled with analogies, so much that I found it sometimes hard to follow and to remember what he was even talking about.  I also thought he was maybe a bit crude in some instances, though you can tell he is gearing his book mostly towards teenagers and young adults, so then those kinds of references are forgivable.  I also did not like how he used the story of creation to state that since God didn't make His usual "It was good" comment after what He created on Tuesday (or the second day of creation) to say that a "Tuesday" in your life is a time when it's difficult to see the good, implying God had difficulty seeing the good in part of His creation.  Seemed like a bit of a stretch.

The saving grace of this book was his modern takes on Bible stories as well as the entire last two chapters of the book.  For as much as I was lost amid the analogies and motivational-type writing throughout most of it, I was enthralled with his renditions of well-known stories from 'his favourite book,' as he calls the Bible.  As well, the last chapter in particular focuses on how important a father is in every person's life, and he explains very well how God is our Daddy.  He breaks down what people today think of the concept of how God is our Father, and revamps it to better suit the Biblical Heavenly Father.  He also gives a couple powerful examples of God working amazingly through the lives of mere humans.

This book is probably very well suited to high schoolers, or even adults, who feel lost, trapped by their past and worried about their future.  It gives hope through God and he explains the plan of salvation well.

Thr3e by Ted Dekker

I just finished my second Ted Dekker book.  I was not a fan of the first one of his I read, called Skin, but I've heard so much good about his books that I decided to give him another try.

This book is about a man, Kevin Parson, who receives a bomb threat and is forced to confess a secret sin or it will blow up.  When he doesn't confess and his car blows up, things become hot.  His past is dredged up and he remembers things he wishes he could forget.  The madman begins playing a game with Kevin, getting him to solve riddles before another bomb blows.

Most of the book was great, a good page turner, but once again I was really disappointed byt the very strange ending.  I don't necessarily feel that all endings have to be happy and work out perfectly, but this was too bizarre.  So my impression of this author is that he goes for the weird stuff.  I can't see him ever being one of my favourite authors, but I may try reading some of his stuff again.  Like I said, for the most part, the book kept my attention and was entertaining.

Max on Life by Max Lucado

I'm super excited to have received my first free book in the mail from BookSneeze!  And it was a good one!

The book, Max on Life, is filled with questions author Max Lucado has received over the years, on a number of broad topics, and him answering them.  The topics included are Hope (God, Grace, and "Why am I here?"), Hurt (Conflicts, Calamaties, and "Why me?"), Help (Prayer, Scripture, and "Why church?"), Him/Her (Sex, Romance, and "Any chance of a second chance?"), Home (Diapers, Disagreements, and "Any hope for prodigals?"), Haves/Have-Nots (Work, Money, and "Where's the lifeline?"), and Hereafter (Cemeteries, Heaven, Hell, and "Who goes where?").  Each answer is about a page in length.

I thought Lucado's answers were incredible!  I found myself saying 'Wow!' out loud numerous times and dog-earring many pages.  He answers all questions while teaching Biblical truths, he is compassionate in his answers, and adds some humour too.  A very apparent theme is hope.  While he chastises sin, he always ends his answer with encouragement of God's love and the hope we have in Christ.  I learned new ways to look at things and had many of my own questions answered.  As well, some of my currently held beliefs were confirmed in his writing.  I particularly liked his answers on prayer, as this is dear to me and I struggle with a consistent prayer life.  But even the topics that don't pertain to my life were interesting to read and provided ideas on how to help others with these particular questions.

I did find a few answers that never got to the crux of the issue, but still, Lucado leads the reader to seek God, and in these cases he has generalized, out of necessity, to incorporate more than just a very specific question.

This is a fantastic book for people in all walks of life.  Despite the heavy content, it is a quick easy read, and I know I will be reading it multiple times, and even going back to look at things here and there as they arise.  The entire book is filled with encouragement and answers to many difficult but common questions.  I give it five stars.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

When I heard all the buzz on facebook about this book, I just had to pick it up and read it for myself .  And I had watched a preview for the movie based on this book and wanted to see it, but I always like to read the book first.  So when I went to the library to ask if they had 'Water for Elephants,' the librarian looked at me blankly for a split second, then said, "I'm guessing that's the title of a book."  Yes, I wasn't actually asking if you had water for elephants!

The basic premise of the book is a young man, Jacob Jankowski, living in the 1930's who runs away from his life when his parents are killed in a car accident and their farm is repossessed.  He was literally just about to write his final exams at an ivy league school to become a veterinarian when he gets the news of their deaths.  In desperation to escape his new reality, he jumps a train which he quickly finds out is part of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth and he ends up becoming their vet, working in the menagerie with lions and other large cats, monkeys, zebras, giraffes, horses and an elephant.  What follows is kind of a coming-of-age story, where young, innocent Jacob is thrust into a lifestyle that includes seediness, brash and immoral living, and cruelty to animals and humans, and he is forced to make very difficult life and death decisions for love and friendship.  The author, Sara Gruen, obviously did her research, and included many aspects of circus life at the start of the Great Depression.  I found a lot of it really interesting and scary and quite sad, like the ring master withholding pay from the roustabouts (labourers) for months on end, men being redlighted (thrown from a moving train, often while passing over a bridge, to get rid of unwanted mouths to feed), lewd sideshow acts just for 'red blooded American men,' and of course a head honcho that cared only for profit, not for his animals, and even less for his people.  The whole book being about circus people really isn't as cheesy as you might think.

However, the first chapter I read of this book made me a little cautious in continuing.  I do not like reading fiction books written in the present tense.  It really bothers me.  In addition there is some crude language and taking God's name in vain, which I hate reading.  In my mind, I try to skip over it, but you still see it in black and white in front of you.  The same goes for overly graphic sexual scenes, of which there are at least three in this book.  In my mind, those things are completely unnecessary and the author could still make her point without being so explicit.

This novel was definitely intriguing and contained enough to keep me reading.  But I can't quite pinpoint what made it so interesting.  There's not a lot of suspense but I did find myself really rooting for Jacob and wanting to know how his life turned out (as the actual novel is flashbacks of a 93 year old man reliving his early circus days, so we know he lives a long time).  I was especially captivated in the last 100 pages or so.

So with my mixed feelings about it, I can't decide whether I'd recommend it or not.  It definitely kept me hooked, as I finished all 331 pages in 4 days (fairly good considering my busy week with the kids), and was quite an entertaining read.  And yet the faults were such that they quite turned me off.  So based on my very short review here, I'll leave it up to you.

Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

I am very disappointed to have to say I was not overly impressed with this book.  I think very highly of Dr. Dobson, who wrote it, and it is still an interesting read.  However, the subtitle, which states "Practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of women" is not a good summary of the book.  It contains chapter after chapter of how the world is corrupt and pop culture is ruining our kids (especially girls) and the teen sex rate is high, as is drug use, puberty is happening earlier, bullying by girls is on the rise, as is sexual assault, and more and more girls are cutting.  It's very disturbing and very hard to read.  I found there is actually very little practical advice.

The advice that is included is largely for fathers.  I completely agree with Dobson that daddy's are so very important to little girls, as there have been studies proving girls that have good relationships with their dads are less likely to engage in early/pre-marital sexual activity, less likely to do drugs, more likely to make it through their teen years happy and unscathed.  It was all really great advice...for dads.  There is a whole chapter of short proverbs like "Her mom will show her how to bake chocolate chip cookies.  You show her how to dunk them in milk."  "Remember, if you yell at a boy not to play with a wall socket, he'll either stomp off or do it anyway.  A girl will cry."  "Never laugh at her dreams." "Never forget that supportive fathers produce daughters with high self-esteem."  There are many, many more, and a lot of those can easily pertain to moms too.

I loved how Dobson talked about when girls reach puberty and a lot of fathers will start to pull away physically because they're just not sure how to hug that new womanly body or are too scared they'll touch a girl in a way that makes them uncomfortable.  He says girls need continued hugs from their dad, they will notice if you suddenly stop.  He calls when dads lean away from hugs the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It's incredibly hurtful to a girl going through major hormonal changes.

He also states an incredibly interesting fact about girls reaching puberty earlier than decades ago.  Again it's been proven that 'daddy's girls' physically mature later (which is a good thing).  In response to a question about why, he says, "We now know from recent findings that fathers emit chemical signals that inhibit menarche [the first period] and delay the onset of sexual maturity.  These emissions are called pheromones, which are hormones detected through the sense of smell, although neither girls nor their dads are aware of them.  When fathers are absent or uninvolved and the pheromones are not emitted, menarche occurs earlier.  Interesting, huh?  This is just one of the reasons I wrote earlier that girls need their dads as much as boys do.  They unwittingly "engineer" the timing of their daughters' maturation!"
Isn't that incredible?  That blows my mind!  And after reading that to my husband, he promptly went to the kids to, in his words, 'give them a good dose of his pheromones!'

As I stated, there is some really great advice, but the majority of the book is facts and studies.  In the last chapter he lists four components he believes are our primary tasks as parents: 1) Talk to your children about the Lord and His mercies continually [as Moses commanded in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 'These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframe of your houses and on your gates.']  2) Begin teaching your children to pray as early as possible.  3)If you want your children to be guided morally when they are beyond your reach and after they are grown, you should begin teaching favourite passages [of Scripture] to them when they are young.  4) "Pray without ceasing" for them (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

This is heartening because I work at doing all those things.  I'm no where near perfect but if Dobson is to be trusted, and I think so, I have a good start.  Now if I can just get my husband to read the book...

A Royal Mess

As I said at the outset of starting this blog, I don't think it will be solely book reviews, but I don't think I'll be including anything personal here.  I do want to branch out a bit to include other subjects and topics of interest to me.  Right now I'm seeing it as kind of a place to state my opinion on things that get me worked up, either in a good way or a bad way.

Yesterday I came across something that got me quite worked up.  I just recently became interested in the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  I used to be quite interested in the British Royal family, mostly because my mom is.  I even had a crush on Prince William when I was a teenager.  And I knew they'd gotten engaged last fall and thought it was great, but didn't delve into it further.

Until yesterday.  For some reason I started searching out information about them, watching some interviews with them, reading a little about their wedding plans.  As everyone says, it's so 'fairytale.'  She is a commoner, and it's every little girl's dream to marry a prince, so I just find their story very quaint and it almost makes me giddy for her.  But after following some links I found this video. It disgusted me and made me so angry!  I have no idea who to get angry at, but it makes me sick that she has to be the target of so much hate because she's marrying a prince or even just because she's in the public eye.  Whoever made this short video found every picture of her taken at the worst moments to vilify her.  They used pictures taken mid-blink and stated she's a drunk and a party girl.  They took pictures of her getting out of cars wearing a skirt and zoomed in on her private area, I'm assuming to show that she's raunchy, though you can't see anything, and it does happen to be extremely difficult to get out of a low vehicle while wearing a skirt and still seem ladylike!  The video just smacked of immaturity and lack of facts.  Poor Kate.

Like I said I just began to be interested and read stuff about them, so I don't know if she really is a party girl, or if she has bad work ethic as some people are viciously plastering all over.  I don't know if she will devote herself to humanitarian work like Princess Diana, but it seems cruel to constantly be comparing her to her husband's late mother.  I like to imagine their marriage will last, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't; who could be exposed to those kinds of attacks on a constant basis and not have it affect them?

I've learned that when I peruse the internet and read opinion columns/blogs or comments on news stories  it gets me highly worked up; maybe irrationally so.  And yet I seem to find things like this everywhere.  Is humanity as a whole just getting nastier to each other?  Or are we seeing it more because public forums and technology are growing?  Maybe a combination of both.  Either way, things like this make me sad for famous people.  Some of them choose to be famous (though still don't deserve some of the treatment they get) but someone like Kate Middleton, for example, just happened to fall in love with a prince.

Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

This was a good, short, easy read.  And at the same time it was very convicting.  The subtitle basically describes the book to a 'T': Confronting the Sins we Tolerate.  The author, Jerry Bridges, includes the sins of ungodliness, anxiety and frustration, discontentment, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience & irritability, anger, the weeds of anger, judgementalism, envy & jealousy, sins of the tongue (gossip, etc) and worldliness.  The purpose of the book, as I saw it, is to bring to light these sins that are 'better' in today's society than, say, murder, adultery, or theft.  Popular secular, and even Christian, culture says it's more acceptable to gossip than to embezzle.  You're not really that bad if you judge, as long as you don't commit rape.  But he gives solid biblical evidence that sin is sin.  To God, no matter what sin we commit, we are breaking His law and this greatly grieves Him.  As evangelical Christians we should not tolerate sin of any kind.


Throughout the book Bridges uses many Scriptures to back up his lessons.  He is very thorough.   He's not at all 'fire-and-brimstone' in his teaching.  He shows how these sins can creep into our life and we often don't even notice a lot of them, but gives such reassurance that God will point these hidden sins out to us if we ask and He is so ready to pour out His grace on us.  


I didn't agree with everything Bridges says, but those instances were all what I consider minor differences so I chose not to get worked up about that and I continued reading until the end of the book. He definitely seems to be genuine about his faith.  He gives examples from his own life and states numerous times that he himself is far from perfect, and he makes it clear he is not writing this book to judge or to place blame on everyone else, but includes himself among the guilty.


The writing style was not my preference, as it seemed he must have written it with a thesaurus by his side, and at times I felt he reiterated the same fact more than once in a chapter, but there were too many good tidbits inside to let that stop me.  I would recommend this book to people who are concerned about their 'subtle' sins, but really any Christian should read it. It is a real eye-opener.

The Shack by William P. Young

Two and a half years ago, I read The Shack (William P. Young). It was really not my cup of tea. It's not the type of book I usually read, and I had a very hard time getting through it. It's a book not completely based in reality or necessarily in Scripture. It's supposed to be spiritual, and it is, but it's also fantastical and almost sacreligious to me.

And though I'm fairly unimpressed with this book, there have been moments of redemption. Like what I read about priorities. The main character is asking a question of the Godhead, who is a big black woman named Papa (God), a jovial man (Jesus), and an Asian woman/fog (The Holy Spirit). He wonders about God wanting us to live with Him as our top priority; God first, then so and so, then such and such. The "Holy Spirit's" answer intrigued me:

"If you put God at the top [of your priorities], what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go on about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more?"

Then Papa jumps in: "You see...I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day."

And Jesus adds: "I don't want to be first among a list of values; I want to be at the centre of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile, where everything in your life--your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities--is connected to me but moves with the wind, in and out and back and forth, in an incredible dance of being."

These few paragraphs really spoke to me. Especially since I often struggle with putting Satan behind me, not giving in to his temptations, to spend time with my Lord. I also often feel awkward when, after reading the Bible and spending some time in prayer, I just stop. I feel like I'm being rude to God to just say Amen, and then go on about the rest of my day. I don't know how to transition. This spoke to me that you shouldn't transition. God is still with us, following us around the house as we do our daily tasks, feed the kids, visit with friends, and everything else we squeeze into our waking hours. I can just continue on my conversation with him, even though I'm no longer sitting in peace and quiet. I truly want God at the centre of my life, rather than just giving him a piece at the top. I have yet to fully comprehend what exactly that means, how it will look as I live it out. But that is the joy of journeying to know Christ better, it will become clearer as I grow closer to Him. God wants to show me, and He and I will enjoy this journey together.

The Title

I have a decision to make, the most important at the outset of a blog: the title.  I'm not good with titles.  I usually have an easy time coming up with content but titles stump me.  So I enlisted the help of my husband.  And now I need your help to decide which of the following two should be the winner.

My husband came up with Scribed, among others, and I really like it.  A scribe in ancient times was usually a person who copied text but in this case I would use the more modern meaning which includes various forms of writing, or anyone who writes.  I like that it has a more ancient feel to it and lends itself perfectly to using great looking ancient books as a header picture.

In some more searching I also came up with Maven, which is a Yiddish word meaning accumulator of knowledge.  I love the word itself, I like that it's a foreign word and I think the definition suits this particular blog perfectly, as I'm starting this up mainly as a book review blog,  but also to impart tidbits I learn from life in general as I'm living it.

Which title, Scribed or Maven, would you choose and why?