Book Review: Devotions from the Garden - Finding Peace and Rest from Your Hurried Life by Miriam Drennan

I love this little book. It is just so sweet. The reason I originally chose to read Devotions from the Gardedn: Finding Peace and Rest from Your Hurried Life by Miriam Drennan was my love of gardening. Honestly I'm not much for devotionals. I don't know why, they're just not my cup of tea. But I was drawn to this book for it's garden photography.

What I found - aside from the beautiful photographs - was a devotional that I actually love to read. The author uses 90 widely varied topics, familiar to people who garden, and then draws parallels to how life with God is similar to that particular topic.

Each devotion is about 5 to 6 paragraphs in length and is followed up with a lovely, grace-filled prayer. For instance, the one devo that strikes a chord with me currently is called "Root Systems," and begins with a description of the unseen job that various root types perform for plants. She talks about what roots need in order to keep plants healthy and thriving. Then she poses questions to the reader as a way to help gauge how well you are (or are not) tending your own spiritual root system.

I know I'm not doing any justice to just how much I love this book. It's a small book, and the pages are nice and heavy because of all the photos. But it's just so much more than that. Her analogy to Christians as honeybees is a great reminder on being willing to do what needs to be done, no matter how menial the task may seem.

This is clearly written by someone who knows the joy found in gardening and the joy found in following God and beautifully intertwines the two. This would be a beautiful addition to the library of any gardener.

Book Review: Spiritually Strong by Kristen Feola

I have been becoming more and more interested in the spiritual disciplines/spiritual practices as of late. I have been reading a lot about the various disciplines and trying out a few to see how they fit me. When I came across Spiritually Strong: The Ultimate 6-Week Guide to Building Your Body and Soul by Kristen Feola, I figured it was worth a try.

The book is separated into three main parts: The Core, The Exercises, and The Plan. The gist of the book is that your spiritual core is just as important to exercise as your physical core. In the first 2 parts, Feola describes both the physical and spiritual "muscles" as well as how to go about getting and keeping them fit.

The third part of the book is a 6-week plan implementing the information presented in the previous parts with the goal of transforming your body and soul for the better.

While Feola definitely has some solid information in here, I'm not entirely sure what I thought about the delivery. At times it came across a little heavy handed and left me feeling like there was no way I'd EVER be able to get my spiritual act together. The laundry list of things I do wrong, or don't do enough of, was a little overwhelming.

All in all, I'm glad I have this book, but not necessarily for its intended purpose. Rather than use it as a 6-week program, I intend to use it as a reference in my on-going study of the spiritual disciplines.

...in God's likeness...

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness... Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" ~ James 3: 9,12

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of James. I am a very practical, common-sense kind of person. I don't do well with abstract thoughts and I often miss symbolism. But James is about as practical and easy to understand as it gets. Here is a man writing to Christians who, presumably, have put true faith in Christ. His letter is a "how to" guide for Christian living. It is a "how to" guide, that in my humble opinion, needs to be taken out, dusted off, and re-read by some of my modern day Christian brethren. 

I saw on social media recently a call to help support a Christian couple who own a store of some sort that are currently facing a pretty steep fine for their refusal to serve a lesbian who came into their store. This request went so far as to call the owners of this store "persecuted." (I looked up the definition of persecuted to see how accurate that descriptor was. The definition said "to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religious or political beliefs, ethnic or racial origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation." Hmmmm....)

Anyhow, when I saw this story and some of the comments on it - from PEOPLE OF FAITH - I was pretty angry (but I'm Unoffendable now thanks to Brant Hansen, so it didn't last long) and then I was terribly sad.

My initial anger was at the thought that a fellow follower of Christ, who, by nature of being Christian, is shown unimaginable grace and mercy every day, would be so quick to think refusing to serve a person based on outward appearance is God-honoring. (Do you see the irony in that sentence? A Christian is refusing to serve..... That's our whole raison d'etre!!)

After my anger subsided, my emotion turned to sadness. I have a wonderful relative who happens to be gay. I pictured that person going into a store and being refused whatever it was he wanted to buy because the person who stood on the other side of the counter was passing judgement on him. I imagined how humiliating that would be for him and I wanted to cry. I also wondered why he would ever want to know my God (assuming, of course, that he doesn't - but how do I know? Maybe he knows Him better than I do!) based on the "loving" reception he just received on God's behalf.

This brings me back to my favorite book, James. The wisdom of this book which can so easily be grasped by anyone, is something believers should be striving to live out. One of the most instructive parts of this letter is as follows:

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ~James 2: 8-13

Don't miss that line. Mercy triumphs over judgement. Think about what that really means. And that's what we are told to do - be merciful. And just in case we aren't sure why mercy triumphs over judgement, keep reading in James. Chapter 4 verse 12 tells us all we need to know. "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"

I'll tell you - we're nobody.

And yet, we are of infinite worth to God.You know who is also of infinite worth to God? My relative. And you know what? The woman who was refused service in the name of my God? She is loved infinitely more than she will ever know - especially when those of us who do know tell her she isn't. That she's broken. That she's a sinner. If I knew who she was I would have one thing to tell her - "Welcome to the club." We're all broken. We're all sinners. And that's the beautiful thing about God's grace. It's big. Really really big. And his love? Even bigger. (John 3:16) Thank you, God.

One last thought - if you read the gospels and you understand Jesus even a little bit (if you need a little help on this, read Mark 2: 13-17), then ask yourself this question: If Jesus was in the store with the woman being refused service, which side of the counter do you think he'd be standing on?

Book Review: Unoffendable by Brant Hansen

In this easy-to-read, straight forward, and often times very humorous book, Brant Hansen has written a fantastic, thought provoking work based on the idea that, as Christians, we do not have the "right" to be angry. We should be, as he puts it, Unoffendable.

For the past several years my family and I have been huge fans of Hansen.We listened to him faithfully when he was on the radio, and I still listen to him via podcast. So despite my initial skepticism at the thought of giving up my right to being angry, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. (His track record of honesty, humor and biblical knowledge made that easier for me to do!)

And in all honesty, this book was fantastic. Using stories from his own life (some of which made me laugh out loud), as well as illustrations and quotes from other authors, Hansen effectively puts forth his argument.

Using Scripture, from both the Old and New Testaments, we are shown what God has to say about anger, and who has the right to be angry (not us!) as well as how we are supposed to live our lives with gratitude, love and forgiveness, sharing God with those who may not know Him... and being blessed by the choice to live that way.

As an experiment, I decided to try being unoffendable. (By the way, it's amazing how much practice you get when you make a decision like that!) But it has actually been a pretty cool thing. Not that I have a bad temper or anything like that, but I make the choice each time that something that would normally bother me just doesn't have the power to do so. Mostly it's stupid stuff like other drivers on the road or things like that. But the other day my teenage daughter was in a "mood." She was cranky and just generally not nice to be around. Rather than play into it and argue with her (like I normally do) I just walked away and did something else. A couple hours later she came into the living room and sat next to me and apologized to me for being mean before. She knew I was reading this book, so I said to her, "Thanks for the apology, but don't worry about it. I'm unoffendable!" She smiled, put her head down on my shoulder and said,"I'm so glad you're my mom."

Thank you, Brant!

Newest Pursuit

Last year I was asked to share my story ("testimony" in church-speak) at a Valentines's Day event at my church. When I agreed, the organizers were hoping for a turn out of about 30 - 40. In actuality it turned out to be about 200!

After weeks of writing, editing, stressing, etc. I found myself sitting at at table with a bunch of women - some that I knew and some that I didn't. They were all eating and laughing, and having a great time. I was doing my best to not throw up!

And of course - I was slated to be the first to go. So when my time came, I stood up (shaking) and climbed the stairs onto the stage. As soon as my foot hit the top step I was completely calm. It suddenly became fun and I was totally at ease. I told my story, improvising and ad-libbing like I had done it a million times. The audience laughed, they seemed to enjoy what I shared. It was an amazing experience.

Not long afterward, I was approached by one of the members of the leadership team of the weekly bible study I attend. They were wondering if I was interested in becoming part of the lecturing team. I brought the idea home, thinking I would have to decline. (I have a tendency to over commit to lots of stuff - but I'm getting much better at picking and choosing!) But my husband was completely on board with me joining the team!

During the summer when the team met we looked at what the weekly topics were for the year and chose the topics that looked interesting to each of us. I chose a lesson called "Joy in Serving Others." It was based on a small section of Philippians (2:19-30), in which Paul speaks about Timothy and Epaphroditus.

I was supposed to write enough to fill between 20 - 30 minutes. My first draft was almost one hour long! After some serious editing, I was able to get it to about 25 minutes. It was definitely a LOT of work and studying, but it was so worth it. I have a whole new appreciation for that section of Scripture, that's for sure!

Delivering the talk was a little more intimidating than just sharing a story, but I did it and, again, I totally loved it! I only signed up for one lecture this year. Next year I hope to sign up for 2 - maybe even 3.

If you're interested in hearing how it came out, check it out. Click on LAUNCH MEDIA PLAYER. It will bring up a list. Look for the podcast from 2/24/2015, called Lesson 7: Why We Do What We Do.

Book Review - Simply Open: A Guide to Experiencing God in the Everyday by Greg Paul

The list of books published each year telling us how to live-an-amazing-life-now in just ten easy steps grows each year. Some of these are well worth the read, but after a while you start to yearn for something…deeper.

Simply Open: A Guide to Experiencing God in the Everyday by Greg Paul is that something deeper.

Paul, author of such books as The Twenty-Piece Shuffle: Why the Poor and Rich Need Each Other and Close Enough to Hear God Breathe: The Great Story of Divine Intimacy, has taken a different path for his latest by plumbing the depth of the often overlooked Christian practice of contemplative prayer.  This simple practice of prayer and awareness can turn the ordinary into something extraordinary, a deeper spiritual journey in the midst of everyday life.

Paul uses something readily available to each of us as the gateway to spiritual awakening basing each of his first five chapters off a different sense.

Open My Eyes

Open My Ears

Open My Nostrils

Open My Mouth

Open My Hands

He then broadens his scope with the final two chapters, Open My Heart and Open My Mind, showing how to take the everyday awareness and make it something more.

If you have never experienced contemplative prayer this book is a great place to start.

Book Review: Vanishing Grace by Philip Yancey

I have never read anything by Philip Yancey before, but I am so glad I picked up his newest, Vanishing Grace: Whatever Happened to the Good News? This book was thought-provoking, well-researched and very well written. In it, Yancey basically poses the question from one Christian to another, "Why doesn't the world see us as dispensers of God's grace?"  He then goes on through the book to tackle that question as well as propose solutions to how we can better serve a thirsty world with the life-giving water of Christ.

Yancey gives examples of how humility, self-sacrifice, and confidence in God are essential to being the type of people we are called to be. He shows, through various examples of people from different walks of life, how we can be "dispensers of grace." 

This book is encouraging in that it inspires the reader to want to be better at sharing the love of God that we are so willing to enjoy ourselves... that never ending grace that we are partakers of that, if we are honest, we should be tripping over each other in order to share it with those in need.