Most of these books – read over the past year or so – have a
faith component. Still, I
don’t know whether my choice of books is typical. I am single by choice and I’ve never been to
a Women’s Retreat or attended a Bible Study where people gather in a large room
and watch a DVD. I read about topics that interest me.
FALLING INTO PLACE: A
MEMOIR OF OVERCOMING
Hattie Kauffman, in 1989, was the first Native American
correspondent to have a story appear on a network news program. Falling
Into Place is the story of not only her career in television news with CBS
and ABC but also the story of growing up in a poor family with seven children
and two alcoholic parents. Hattie struggles
with alcoholism as an adult, her husband divorces her, and she wrestles with faith
issues. I heard Hattie interviewed on a
Moody Radio program and bought the book (used on Amazon) because it did not
sound like the typical inspirational tear jerker. It was a great book with a redemptive theme,
but I wish it had been a little longer.
GO TELL IT: HOW AND
WHY TO REPORT GOD’S STORIES IN WORDS, PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
Authors Jim Killiam and Lincoln Brunner, in the introduction
to Go Tell It, state ‘This book is
for anyone working in and around missions who wants to learn a few basic
techniques for telling better stories via the written word, photography, and
video. It’s especially for anyone who
wants to pose two questions that can change lives: What is God up to? How can I get in on it?’
I resonated with this quote from the first page of the
photography chapter. ‘But at its core,
good photography is about composition, lighting and intuition. The best photographers can do that with a $25
Hello Kitty camera. The worst can’t
accomplish it with a $10,000 DSLR.’ Amen.
If I were giving advice to missionaries and people starting
faith-based non-profits, I’d tell them to share their story in the way they
feel most comfortable. Just share it! Your supporters and friends won’t know what
you are doing if you don’t share with them.
If you need help telling your story, ask someone to help you. With the growth of online blogs, Facebook, email attachments and the like
– issues with printing and postage are a thing of the past.
I purchased Go Tell It
to learn how to use social media – Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, and the like – to tell faith stories. The authors – surprisingly – did not touch on
social media. The information contained
in the book was quite good – but I have a journalism degree – so it wasn’t new.
ISAIAH: FEELING
SECURE IN THE ARMS OF GOD
Isaiah: Feeling Secure
in the Arms of God is the third Bible study I’ve done by Warren
Wiersbe. Dr. Wiersbe, who served as
Senior Pastor at the Moody Church in
downtown Chicago and was the teacher on the Back
to the Bible radio program, is now in his late-nineties. He writes particularly insightful life
application questions. It was great and
I learned a lot, but any study that addresses Isaiah’s 66 chapters in detail is
challenging. I just finished John: Get to Know the Living Savior. It was far less mind-numbing, but just as
engaging.
LOVED BACK TO LIFE: HOW I FOUND THE COURAGE TO LIVE FREE
Loved Back to Life: How I Found the Courage to Live Free,
chronicles Sheila Walsh’s
experience living with depression. Not
long after she moved to the United States from Scotland and became a co-host of
the 700 Club, Walsh checked into a psychiatric hospital to be treated for
depression.
I have heard Sheila
share her story from the platform at a Women of Faith conference, and
found it more compelling than Loved Back to Life. Still, the book contains a powerful
message. If you are struggling with
mental illness, get treatment.
In this
day and age, there are still people who remain untreated or inadequately treated
for diagnoses such as depression and anxiety. If you
know someone who needs treatment for a psychiatric diagnosis who is hesitant to
see a mental health provider, offer to accompany him/her to an appointment.
Furthermore, if a mental health provider suggest medication, try it! Psychiatrists write lots of prescriptions for mental health diagnoses, so that's the best place to start. People don't question when a healthcare provider writes a prescription for high blood pressure, for example, but they become uncomfortable when that same provider suggests an antidepressant.
I'm just a lay person - but I have travelled this road - and I am passionate about encouraging my friends and acquaintances to obtain adequate care.
SAVOR
If I were 20 years younger and still lived in the Chicago
suburbs, Shauna Niequist and I could be best friends. She loves Jesus, writing, cooking for friends,
and based on the picture I saw of her kitchen – knows her way around Crate and Barrel. Savor is a 365 day devotional book that encourages readers to enjoy life wherever they are. There are conversation starter type questions for each day and recipes scattered throughout the book.
Niequist has written several other books with a food/faith
theme including Bittersweet, Cold Tangerines, and Bread & Wine. Though Bread
and Wine is a cookbook, I promise that you won’t find any margarine,
imitation whipped topping or green jello anywhere. She's not that kind of church lady - nor am I.
STITCHES: A HANDBOOK ON MEANING, HOPE AND REPAIR
“Lamott’s …most
insightful book yet, Stitches offers plenty of her
characteristic witty wisdom…this slim, readable volume [is] a lens on life,
widening and narrowing, encouraging each reader to reflect on what it is, after
all, that really matters.”—People
I generally love Anne Lamott’s books. Her latest – Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair – not so
much. It’s only 96 pages. Ordinarily, I’d finish a book like Stitches
in an hour or so. I didn’t finish it. In short, I don’t agree with People magazine’s assessment of the
book.
There are several possible reasons for this. First, I’m relatively familiar with the
subject matter. Stitches addresses how to put your life back together when it’s
coming apart at the seams. I took a
great class called Redemptive Suffering when
I was at Denver Seminary. It was the last class Bruce Demarest taught before
he retired. People who were not enrolled
in the class showed up to hear what Dr. Demarest and his compelling guest
speakers had to say.
I’ve also read a
number of good books on suffering – most notably A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss, by Jerry Sittser
and A Grief Observed by C. S.
Lewis. Second, I like clear, concise
writing. Stitches is a short book, but it lacks her usual laser-like focus. Third, Lamott’s books typically contain
compelling anecdotes or stories.
Suffering is not funny, but the author has experienced more than her
share of challenges and I thought she would share more personal stories than
she did.
TALKING TABOO
Talking Taboo:
American Christian Women Get Frank About Faith, contains 30+ essays
addressing hot-button issues like women in church leadership, domestic violence
and male headship in marriage. Though I
am more liberal than many Evangelicals because I support the full-participation
of women in church leadership, I’m more conservative than some of the authors
that contributed to Talking Taboo. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about
the issues these women dealt with and the questions they ask. Asking questions is healthy.
Undaunted: Daring to Do What God Calls You to Do
In Undaunted, Australian author Christine Caine chronicles how her faith enabled her to conquer life-long fears and led her to found the A21 Campaign with her husband, Nick. The A21 organization is dedicated to the eradication of human trafficking, a deplorable practice that, most likely, has been
going on since the beginning of time. It
also is a hot topic among Evangelicals as of late. I’m more interested in hunger and access to
maternal-child healthcare, but that’s just me.
I had trouble reading this book - not because of the discussion of human trafficking - but because I'm not convinced that I am doing all that God has called me to do/be.
YOU’LL GET THROUGH
THIS: HELP AND HOPE FOR YOUR TURBULENT TIMES
I am not a huge fan of Max Lucado’s books. I much prefer Philip Yancey and John Ortberg’s
non-fiction books. I got You’ll Get Through This as a gift and I
really liked the cover illustration – a tiny green plant that has pushed
through the cracks in a crumbling cement sidewalk, so I read it.
Lucado uses the story of Joseph – he of the Technicolor Dreamcoat and those nasty brothers
who threw him into a cistern – to encourage Christians who are experiencing
challenging times. Lucado’s point is ‘If
God redeemed Joseph, he’ll redeem you.’ He
also includes some anecdotes about well-known people who’ve thrived in the
midst of chaos. I LOVE the Joseph story
that begins in Genesis 37. There’s so
much good material with real-life applications for kids of all ages. My advice?
Bypass Lucado and read Joseph’s story straight from the Bible.
RIGHT NOW
Currently, I am reading Vanishing
Grace: Whatever Happened to the Good News by Philip Yancey and True Woman 201: Interior Design – Ten
Elements of Biblical Womanhood by Mary A. Kassian and Nancy Leigh
DeMoss. So far, I love Yancey’s
book. True Woman 201 is a Bible study
that addresses a variety of virtues.
While I don’t agree with Kassian and DeMoss on some issues, this book
appears to be as well-written and thought-out as True Woman 101 was and I will get a lot out of it.
Ebenezer prefers picture books.
