Mennonite Girls Can Cook- Celebrations { A Book Review}

This book could not have landed in my mailbox on a better week than this! Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I can almost guarantee that this is THE go-to gift this year. Let me tell you why.

First of all, I’m going to change up how I review books. I would like to break my posts into three sections:

The Bones(the physical appearance and structure of the book)

The Flesh( the content and meaty portions)

The Soul( this is the part where I give you my honest opinion)

The Bones:

I have never owned a MGCC book before so I wasn’t sure what all the fuss is about. After all, they have a website(it’s fabulous) and who really needs another cookbook in their collection?  Well, this is somewhat different than a cookbook. It is about 8 1/2 ” wide by 10 1/4″ tall. It is a hardcover and the photography on the cover is absolutely stunning. The inside is equally as beautiful: full colour photos, 2 page layouts, step by step instructions all meticulously chosen for their inviting warmth.

I love how this is a book about celebrating ALL of the seasons of life. Whether it is a Christmas family dinner or camping around a fire, there are recipes and ideas for how to make each occasion simple yet special. But I digress:

Broken into “Celebratory” sections like  Celebrating Birth, Family, Community, Hospitality, Milestones and more, there are recipes for every occasion.

The final sections of the book focus on Gluten-Free Cooking, Hosting tips and a thorough index.  There is even a nice little biography about each of the contributors in the MGCC group.

Each recipe is very clear and easy to follow and the book opens nicely to allow you to read while you work. Photos are so important to me and this book has TONS!

The Flesh:

I touched on this above a bit, but the recipes are definitely the star of the show in this book. And you may wonder who really needs another cookbook? The way this book is broken into life celebrations really adds to the value for me. Who of us doesn’t have a community picnic, potluck, anniversary, holiday or gathering to plan something for? The recipes are so easy to follow and use ingredients you already have on hand or can access easily. This is a major plus for me!

The added bonus in this book is that each section begins with a memory, an essay, an encouragement from one of the authors. Gentle reminders of how gathering around a table is so important in every family and also how we pass these simple traditions on to our children and grandchildren.

The photos are inspiring enough to make this a coffee table book ready to browse, filled with stunning photography and inspiring messages.

I particularly love the personal touches each author adds to her recipes.

You will find recipes from Taco in a Bag for the hiking trail to Chocolate Sheet Cake to Gluten Free Baked Rice Pudding. This book has it all!

The Soul:

With online sources like Pinterest and All Recipes it might be easy to ignore another cookbook on the shelf that may or may not ever get used. I certainly feel that way about my recipe book cover.  But this book will make you put down your smartphone or tablet, walk away from your computer and sit with a solid, beautiful book in your hands and be inspired. It truly is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever seen in the ‘cookbook’ category.  Useful for empty-nesters and new brides-to-be, oozing with encouragement and wisdom and inspiring enough to make even the most timid cook want to try something new. Soul-full with just the right amount of faith-induced messages of comfort and hope for your journey, whatever that may be.

And if that isn’t enough of a reason to buy this book, the royalties from the sale of this book will go to provide safe,clean drinking water in Africa.  These women embody what it means to give and be hospitable, celebrating all things around the table!

You might still have time to order one from Amazon and have it arrive for Mother’s Day. The price is worth it~you won’t be disappointed! (hint, hint, family reading this) .

“Book has been provided courtesy of MennoMedia and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Herald Press, a publishing imprint of MennoMedia”.

Lifelong Love Affair~Jimmy Evans {Book Review}

I love hardcover books. Somehow, when a book is in hardcover with a beautiful dust cover it just feels special. It feels important and worthy of cherishing. That’s this book.  A beautifully put together book; thoughtful in content and layout, eloquent and detailed.

Jimmy Evans shares stories. Stories of marriages that nearly failed, including his own. Marriages that have triumphed. Marriages that were heading down the wrong tracks.  And all of these stories are linked by the grace of God and a common commitment to do better and to have passionate marriages that last.

The title’s tag line says “How to have a Passionate and Deeply Rewarding Marriage” .  This is not  a short read or a quick fix. This is a book for the journey of life. I would suggest working through this book as a couple as there are many scripture references and talking points. There are also questions in a study guide at the back which would make it appropriate for a small group discussion.

If you are at your wits end. If you are worried you’ve made a mistake or if you feel like giving up, this book will steer you back on track.

“We gave up.  At some point in time, we both realize that we simply could no longer make it on our won. We finally came to grips with the reality that we were completely incapable of putting our marriage back together again~at least on our own power~so we gave up trying. We put down our weapons and raised the white flag. We surrendered.”~p.34

“We start remembering what it was that first brought us together, and those giddy feelings we felt the first time we met start to resurface. We find ourselves falling love all over again……and that’s not all God does.” ~p53

 

Most men have four basic needs that they want met by a marriage partner: (from page109)

1.They need to feel honored and respected by their wives.

2.They need sexual intimacy.

3.They need friendship~a wife who enjoys doing fun things together.

4.They need domestic support~a wife who takes care of the home.

The final chapters in the book discuss covenant and what that means. Why is the Biblical version of marriage so special? And what steps to restoration do you need to take in order to achieve that love that lasts?

 

Truly a lovely book and well written. This would be a great gift for a newly engaged couple , wedding gift or anniversary gift. The kind of thing appropriate for gift giving as we come up to Valentine’s Day in the next couple weeks!

 

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

The Marriage of Your Dreams~Rick Johnson {Book Review}

I read three books on men and marriage in the last 2 weeks. It’s kind of hard not to compare them to each other. I’m one of these women that will read everything and anything on marriage because I want mine to be better. I am not satisfied with where we’re at in our marriage and I don’t think any person ever is. It’s always growing, always changing and always challenging.

That’s why this title intrigued me.  Who doesn’t want the marriage of their dreams? The tag line on the front cover says ” A Woman’s Guide to Understanding Her Man” which piqued my curiosity too! However, I had just finished reading What Your Husband Isn’t Telling You which I thought was the most concise, complete commentary on men I had ever read. Certainly there isn’t more, is there?

From the publisher’s website, here is a quick bio on Rick Johnson:

Rick Johnson is a bestselling author of That’s My Son; That’s My Teenage Son; That’s My Girl; Better Dads, Stronger Sons; and Becoming Your Spouse’s Better Half. He is the founder of Better Dads and is a sought-after speaker.

 

The synopsis of the book(as written on the back cover) :

The marriage of your dreams may be closer than you think

It may surprise you to find that men are fairly simple creatures with fairly simple needs. Understanding and responding to his needs is a positive step that can help him realize and fulfillyour needs. And when both of you meet each other’s needs, your marriage becomes stronger–and a lot more fun.

Relationship expert (and fairly simple creature himself) Rick Johnson gives you an open and honest look inside a man’s world. With candor, humor, and insight, Rick shows you how to understand your man, including

• his need for respect and admiration
• his sexual desires
• his communication style
• his work
• his emotions
• his relationship with the “other woman” in his life (his mother)

With Rick’s help, you’ll learn how best to use your considerable influence in his life to have a satisfying and exciting relationship that lasts a lifetime.

First of all, I will say that there were sections and passages of this book that I felt were redundant and repetitive. The point is made and it’s clear and then the author re-states it and re-words it~but it’s still the same point.  I found that to happen periodically throughout the book and I figured it might detract from the message. But honestly, the first couple chapters had my attention. Why? Because they jumped into the topic of a man and his relationship with his own mother and his mother-in-law as telling indicators of how he may or may not treat his wife. I found them fascinating. Perhaps because my husband’s relationship with his own mother is somewhat of a mystery to me and yet this was extremely enlightening. For the first two chapters alone, this book is worth the read and worth buying. I think we often underplay how our husbands were raised and how they view their own mother.

“A wise(and healthy) mother realizes that a wife supplanting her role as the most important woman in her son’s life is the natural course of life, and she allows her son to go without clinging to that queen bee status she has held in his life since birth. A mother who won’t willingly relinquish this role frequently resorts to emotional manipulation to control him. She attempts to subtly undermine or sabotage his relationship~all very innocently of course.” ~p.27

The other thing that makes this book stand out is that Rick Johnson uses years of counseling and speaking experiences where he has gathered common questions that women ask. This is actually the foundation of the book and what moves it along.  The questions run the gamut from childhood abuse to pornographic use to adulterous affairs to spiritual leadership. Women have questions and we want answers. The author does a great job in pointedly answering these questions and it is a valuable resource.

This book, is kind of like an encyclopedia for women about those things that bug us and threaten our marriages and our relationships with our husbands.

I would recommend this first to mothers of sons(if only just for the first 2 chapters) and then for women planning on getting married soon, those who have been married for a short time and are confused about  what is going on and for women who have been married for many years.  Even if you think you’ve got your husband figured out, it never hurts to have an outside viewpoint of the influences on our men.  And there are many.

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

What Your Husband Isn’t Telling You~David Murrow {Book Review}

Wow. Let’s get right to it: this is THE BEST book I’ve read on men. Ever. Blunt. Revealing. Profoundly enlightening.

I’ve been married for almost 21 years and I’ve learned a lot about men that I never knew or understood. I have read a lot of books on marriage and men and our relationship with them.  But I have had questions and some things have never been clear. This book, written by a man, is the answer to pretty much all of those questions.

Written from the viewpoint of a man who was deeply wounded by a difficult past that threatened all of his relationships and who is not shy about addressing a broad range of topics, I found it easy to get into, extremely captivating and thorough in every respect.

Warning: some of this book may come across sexist or even chauvinist.  I would urge all women to read it with an open mind and hear the voice of a man. The fact is, we are different creatures and trying to fit us all into a universal non-specific gender role is NOT working. Read this book and hear the heart of a man.

From the introduction: If the shrinks are right, about 80 percent of a man’s thought processes are opaque-even to him.  This is why committed family men suddenly leave their wives for no reason. Why deacons smile at church and then scream at their children in the car all the way home. Why men who are normally wise with money sink their cash into ridiculous Ponzi schemes. Why men who truly love their families suddenly abandon them- if not physically, then emotionally. -p.7-8

The most telling chapters were those written in the first person perspective of Provider and Protector.  Women, we might have had a clue but we didn’t really understand.

“When your man is secure and balanced as a protector and provider, he’s happy. So is everyone around him. Life is good. But when he’s out of balance in one or both, expect trouble. And that leads us to the great problem with me: most are either over- or underdeveloped as providers and protectors.” ~p.18

This book is a must on every home book shelf. For every woman in a relationship with a man, married or not, I cannot recommend this highly enough.  And yes, there are sections on sex but more so the chapters that reveal the heart of our men are priceless. Women are initiating divorce two-thirds of the time and over 90% of those divorces are not related to abuse but rather, discontentment.

“If you penalize your man each time he tells you his true feelings, here’s the message you are sending: ‘if you want your life to be hell, tell me the truth.If you want things to go smoothly, lie to me; tell me only those things that will keep me happy in my delusions.’ ” ~p.130

The last third of the book addresses something that I rarely gets talked about: a man’s spiritual aversions and his discontent with organized church.  I will admit that there are places where some women may take offense to the generalizations that David Murrow makes but he is careful to not lay blame solely on either men or women but rather on misunderstandings.  Church leaders would do well to read and understand why men are falling away from church in record numbers.

My book is ear-marked, highlighted and written in. I’ll be keeping it close by.  I’m a woman and I need reminders …often.

“So ladies, here’s the big secret to getting the man you want: Stop trying to improve him. Stop trying to fix him. Start trying to free him.” ~p.159

 

UPDATED: From my FB page came this comment from Jenna: “On your urging I read it tonight and liked it a lot. I appreciated that he was direct and to the point, without being wordy and redundant. I find a lot of Christian books on marriage, gender and family that are written by men to come off as patronizing, by this one wasn’t like that.”

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

I receive no monetary compensation for reviewing books.

Debt-Proof Your Christmas {Book Review} by Mary Hunt

This book is a golden-nugget in a sea of monochromatic stones.  There are literally thousands of books on debt-proof living and how to manage finances when money is tight. I’ve read a lot of them and truthfully, there’s a lot of redundancy.

In this book, Debt-Proof Your Christmas, Mary Hunt goes to the heart of the matter.  Because let’s face it, most of us give at Christmas because of societal pressure and guilt.  We do. Admit it. I love Mary’s soft heart. She’s been there. She feels it and she totally lays out the honest “talking to” and makes you sigh with relief.

This is not a 10 step program or list on how to get out of debt or how to spend your money for Christmas.  This is a book about attitude and changing our perceptions of why we spend the way we do.

Page 27:  “No one can force me to spend money I do not have in order to pay for Christmas.  No one.  If I feel pressure to do that and then cave in, it is my fault. I am the one who did the forcing. “‘ …..did you just have an ah-ha moment like I did?  Wow.

What I particularly love about this book is all of the practical advice and tips Mary shares.  She gets right into the trenches with her readers and walks us through giving at Christmas with heart-felt affection , making the gifts meaningful, without spending a lot.  Take for example gift baskets; yep, she actually walks you through putting one together for a neighbour or friend!

Page 49: ” A note of caution for you:  Come Christmas, as you are putting your baskets together, a little voice may start whispering in your ear. It will suggest your gifts aren’t good enough, you need to go buy some real gifts, and your biscuits and jam them is silly. You know it’s going to happen, so plan on it. Then determine that you will not listen, choosing rather to trust yourself and to believe in your plan.”

Or what about the guilt associated with giving at all? We’ve all been there; giving when we really didn’t want to.

Page 61: “Gifts are messengers. They are tokens of the esteem we hold for people we care about. They deliver our love and our best wishes. Gifts express fondness we have for another person. Without the care, love or concern, the gift is empty. Giving a gift just so you can mark a name off a list is a hollow effort that is likely to fall flat no matter how much money you spend. “‘   Wow. I just love everything about that!

Later in the book Mary shares list of gifts to give to teenagers ,adults, kids and whomever you may have on your list. She shares recipes! Yes, really! This is not your average financial advice how-to book.  This is practical and right on target for the Christmas season.

The primary focus of this book is targeting those who may have or still do use credit for getting through the Christmas season. If you are struggling with this or have struggled in the past, by the end of this book you will never go back to paying for gifts, travel, food with credit again. Mary’s use of her own family’s struggles and anecdotes makes this a personal journey and so you know that you are getting advice from someone who’s been there.  I only wish I would have had this book many years ago.

Full of ideas. Full of testimonies. Full of hope for having a debt-free holiday.  A great book!

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

C is For Christmas {Book Review}~D. & W. Wiersbe

I haven’t done any book reviews for quite some time.  November is busy transitioning from fall to winter; from busy to busier!

So, when I had the chance to read and review TWO Christmas-themed books I jumped at it. I love Christmas and my 31 Days to Redeeming Christmas series in October has opened my eyes and my heart to the desires of so many of you out there to do Christmas differently than you have in the past.

That’s where this book comes in.  C is for Christmas is an A to Z guide to find the real meaning of Christmas,which could sound fairly daunting.  But it’s not. This is a paperback book, not any bigger than most books you are already reading, but it is broken down simply and efficiently to allow for maximum knowledge in minimum time spent reading.

Back of the Book synopsis:  David and Warren Wiersbe cut through the fancy wrapping paper and pretty bows to give the background of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.  They also explain the reasons for our various Christmas symbols and beliefs. From angels and Bethlehem to yuletide and Zechariah, the authors shed light on a wide variety of Christmas-related topics.

And by “wide variety” , they’re quite literal.  Just look at some of these topics: Advent, Epiphany, Gifts, Rush, Tidings, “Unto Us” and Xmas.    What I love is that each topic is no more than a page or two long allowing this book to be a great companion to your December Advent devotionals, sermon prep, Bible Study or even just interesting coffee table reading. You certainly don’t have to start at the beginning;  you can open up to any topic and find out something you may have never known or be challenged to think of Christmas in a new and exciting way.

One of my favourite topics is the one on gifts.   This is what they write: ” When we give gifts to others at Christmas, we are imitating God. Of course those who don’t know God do it unconsciously.  God’s giving was intentional…….A good starting point is why we give. What are our motives? Giving should be a joy, not a burden. When we give because it’s tradition or because it’s required, it can get to be a seasonal expense that we resent……..(The wise men)’s gifts were appropriate for a king, and they gave according to their means(going into debt to give Christmas gifts is not good stewardship).  Their gifts were planned long before they found the Child.  ….When we actually present the gift, we should do so thoughtfully, deciding ahead of time what we will say to the person as we place the gift in his or her hands.”

The section on the wise men is enlightening. Why have we always thought there were only three? That’s not in the Bible. Debunking some of our perceptions about the Nativity story is a great place to begin to make Christmas real again. It’s a real story with real characters set in a real place.  Like Bethlehem.  Have you ever stopped to consider the significance of Bethlehem throughout history before Jesus was born there? It’s fascinating and you begin to see this story over centuries rather than in the light of one silent night.

If you love Christmas as I do, if you are looking for some deeper food for thought this Christmas season, if you don’t know why we use Yule Logs or what role Elizabeth plays in the story, if you’re seeking and wondering….this book is for you.  And if you’re a young person or have children or teens in your home, you’ll be pleased to know that this book is something for everyone.  It’s a great tool and a great literary addition to your Christmas library.  Go out and get one today!

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

Dear Deb ~ Book Review

“‘ What stories could possibly make cancer worth it?” ~This is the question that Margaret Terry had before her as she proceeded to write letters to her friend, Deb, in her final months of living with cancer.

Book description: 

“I want you to know that if my illness inspired you to write these stories, the cancer was worth it.”—Deb

What stories could possibly make cancer worth it?

Stories that represent a miracle—a lifetime of miracles. Stories that changed the writer as she wrote them and stories that will touch the heart of the reader, one by one by one. Stories that are not just stories.

They started out as words of encouragement to a dying woman. They turned into a collection of sparkling and intimate moments, pulled from the past to finally be understood and shared with new meaning.

Story by story, letter by letter, Margaret Terry uncovered powerful pictures in her own life of the one truth that could help carry her friend Deb from this life to the next: God is at work.

Together, Deb and Margaret found renewed hope in all the ways God shows up right to the very end. Which is where they found the miracle they’d been praying for all along. In each other.

 

Probably one of the most unique books I have ever read.   The premise is simple: letters written from one friend to another while she struggled in the remaining months of her life. Over the course of 6 months, more than 100 letters were written to Deb from Margaret.  Letters that started out as encouragement quickly turned into stories from Margaret’s life and pain as a single mother, estranged from her own dad.

Each chapter is a letter~55 in all. Short stories is what they are. Each one carrying a theme of redemption, grace and hope. Simple stories that we all have but sometimes miss the point. Margaret, through her letters, is showing us all that our stories have merit. There is a purpose.

” I kept writing. She was too sick to eat, but not too sick to read. Deb’s illness gave me the chance to press my face against the window of my life, and what I saw was startling~ I saw miracles that had been waiting for me to give them a voice.”‘ ~ xviii (The Inspiration~Foreword)

” Grace has always been a mystery to me, how it appears when I least expect it. How it sometimes makes me feel unworthy instead of grateful.” ~Page 19

Letters like “When God Shows Up” gave me chills.  Or when Margaret talks about her son’s drug addiction.  Or the one about her dad coming to visit after a 20 year absence.

Stories of hope for everyone.  Touching.  Inspiring. Full of grace. And she has a great sense of humor too.

This book is a gem. It is a great gift book but such an easy read , it is perfect for those days when you just need a lift.

 

 

“Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson“.

What a Difference a Mom Makes~Book Review {Dr.Kevin Leman}

I’ve had the privilege of seeing Dr. Leman speak in person on a couple of occasions.  He is just the best. A tender, funny, grandpa-type of wisdom just oozes out of him.

I have read quite a few of his books…he has published more than 30 I believe!  He always has such common-sense approach to the struggles and dilemmas of parenting.

I wasn’t sure that there was anymore that I could be told about parenting that hadn’t already been written.  When I started to read this book I was immediately drawn in by Dr. Leman’s good-natured  ribbing and his hands-on approach. Things I had wondered about, questioned and pondered began to make sense.

I only have one son and he is in his late teens. I almost felt sad that I had missed some key moments and times in his life. But there is redemption! It is never too late to learn and to redeem the time with our kids. What was surprising to me were the enlightening points that Dr. Leman makes about the importance of the mother~son relationship.  I learned a lot.  And it has already impacted my relationship with my son. There is so much good advice in these pages.

“Did you know that your son will fly high for days on just one compliment from you?  That’s because you’re so important in his world. But that compliment has to be sincere. Your son’s smart enough to know the difference. “‘ ~ Page 51

“Parents have been rearing adolescents for centuries. You’re not the only mom to go through this wild ride. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel…..It might now always be a ride you’re thrilled about. But you need to remain calm, even when the waves are starting to wash over the boat.” ~Page 160 

” If your son sees a close, loving relationship between you and your husband, he’s more likely to have the same type of relationship with his future wife.”~ Page 202

” How are you using your words? Your little boy or big boy is so much more tender inside than you’ll ever know. And the one he wants to please the most is you. What you say to him matters deeply and will be ingrained on the man he will become. “‘ ~ Page 237

This book is a MUST read for all mothers of boys no matter their age.  The book is laid out into sections on age, your marriage relationship, the family dynamics, and what boys are all about. I found it to be a great resource ~almost like an encyclopedia for boys. There are boxes with things to remember and a few anecdotes about famous “boys” and their moms.  A really great , great tool in the raising of boys into men.

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

The Bridesmaid~Book Review {Beverly Lewis}

From the Publisher’s website, here is a brief synopsis of this latest book from Beverly Lewis:

Joanna Kurtz has made several trips to the altar, but never as a bride. The young Amishwoman is a closet writer whose stories aren’t her only secret. 

Eben Troyer hopes to make Joanna his bride–if he can ever leave his parents’ farm in Shipshewana, Indiana. Yet Eben’s hopes to build a life with Joanna hinge on his brother’s return from the English world…

 

Beverly Lewis is pretty much the founding mother of Amish fiction. She has been writing stories of the “Plain People” for about 15 years and I am always delighted with her novels.   I don’t have a lot of time to read fiction but when I do, I am always craving a good Beverly Lewis novel.  Her knowledge of this particular group of people is so vast; there simply aren’t very many authors who have the history and experience with the Amish as Mrs. Lewis.

In this particular story I was captivated by the character development. It was as if you could predict how each character in the story would respond to various situations.  I especially loved Joanna and her unique gift of writing stories~as if Beverly Lewis herself was giving us a glimpse into her own world of how she develops characters and the process of creating a great tale.

This novel isn’t a mushy romance. Yes, there is a love story. But more so than other novels I have read in this genre, this book tells the story of family dynamics when personalities collide. It is very much a story of patience and unconditional love.

The other thing that Mrs. Lewis seems to be getting better at(as if she wasn’t already fabulous in this area) is painting a visual image with words.  I cannot tell you how many times I would put this book down after reading a couple of chapters and feel like I had just stepped out of Pennsylvania .   It is like watching a movie. Her use of language, appealing to our senses(I’m sure I smelled pie on at least 3 occasions) and making us love the family is a true testament to Beverly Lewis’ keen ability to draw her readers into the pages.

I loved this novel and you certainly don’t need to read the one that precedes it(I have not) to appreciate this book.

For any Amish-novel lover or even for those who are curious about the Amish life, THIS is definitely the book to read!

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. 

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

Anything~By Jennie Allen {Book Review}

I am very late with this review. Oh dear, so late. Why? Not because I didn’t read it in time. No, I started the day I got it. The deadline approached but I was having trouble.  And it has nothing to do with Jennie Allen, her writing style, the number of pages or anything else. It has everything to do with me, where I was at in life and how much the words on the pages were/are speaking to me.  I have never read a Jennie Allen book before even though I have been following her blog for a while.   I wasn’t sure if this would be “just another Christian living how-to book” or what.  WRONG.  Jennie Allen and her husband have gone where few dare to tread.

So we prayed. As sincerely as I have ever prayed any other thing, I prayed in my heart as Zac spoke:

“God we will do anything. Anything.”

Anything: The Prayer that Unlocked my God and my Soul

I knew this was going to be a different book when I started ear-marking and underlining on the first page.  And then the second. And then….. well….the book is a mess. It will be mine for a long, long time because I have claimed and cried over the words of someone who has walked and is walking where I feel I am .  And it finally validated so many of the things that I thought we had messed up on.  I figured we had missed the point. Missed what God said or where He was leading . But in these pages I found a friend and a hope.  And I realized, that we too had prayed “Anything” and it has wrecked us in a whole new way.

 From page 9:  ”To risk is to willingly place your life in the hand of an unseen God and an unknown future, then to watch Him come through.”  Wow.

From page  47(and this is where it starts to get uncomfortable) “I don’t know what God’s plans are for you, but I do know that we don’t hear from Him until certain things die. He doesn’t compete. And when He does speak, it typically costs something. ”  ouch.

From page 53: “What if he lets me suffer? What if He asks me to sacrifice? What if none of my dreams come true?  The very thought of doing anything demands everything.  We have to face our fears.  If we believe He is real, if we believe He has an eternal heart, we have to face the fact that a God like that may mess with our temporary comfort and fictional scrapbooks. ”   Yikes. (getting pretty personal for me at this point)

And then from page 93:  ”If God is really real and we are going to live with Him forever, shouldn’t He be the ONLY thing?”  

And my friends who know our journey will laugh at this. HELLO!!   From page 103: ” We press through the doubts and the fears and we trust because God is trustworthy, and He knows how life is best lived. The more we jump and see our God come alive around us, the more we jump without fear~and the bigger the cliffs get. ” AMEN!

Okay….are you getting it?  This book MESSES with you! It takes living the kitchy little story-book Christian life out of the suburbs into the slums.  It takes you off of your leather couch, away from your Sunday football and propels you into  the filthiness of a world dying and in need.  If you pray “anything God, we’ll do anything.”  Expect HIM to take you up on it and then hang on for the ride.

THE MOST CHALLENGING book I have EVER EVER read.  And Jennie writes out of her own pain, fears and failures.  It’s not easy. It’s not fun a lot of the time. It is hard. And she admits that.  I love the honesty and openness in sharing her life, her heart and the struggles she and her husband have faced in the process of giving God EVERYTHING.

Get it. Read it. Give it.  Live it.  Anything.  Best book .  Why is there this theme happening with books this year?  I mean…it’s like God is awakening the sleeping giant that is His church. There is something happening people. This book is proof.  It follows well after Brandon Hatmaker’s  Barefoot Church, Jen Hatmaker’s  7,  Pete Wilson’s  Empty Promises,  Bob Goff’s Love Does….it just goes on and on and on.  Radical. Life Changing.

“Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson“.