Book Review - Let Go by Sheila Walsh

"I will deliver you." 

Sheila Walsh, Women of Faith speaker, opened her book with these words from God spoken in her spirit.  She felt "discouraged and bone weary."  Just like so many of us women at so many times in our lives.

She needed "more peace about the issue."  So she began a "quest to study and understand what it means to be delivered."

A sense of frustration dogged my reading in the beginning because I wanted Sheila to "bleed."  I wanted to know exactly what struggle, what issue required deliverance.

I continued to read in my usual manner with pencil in hand, marking statements that spoke to me or seemed to relate to the theme of letting go.

Stuff like...

• Accepting what is enables us to embrace a different future.
• What should have happened did.
• When we are unable to forgive or refuse to forgive, we become hostages to the pain of the past.
• Forgiveness unclenches our fists and allows us to let go.
• The most difficult person to forgive can be the one we see in the mirror every morning.
• Resting in the love of God means letting go of all the broken pieces we cling to and clinging instead to him.
• It's hard to fall off a pedestal when you are washing someone's feet.
• Guilt tells me I've done something wrong.  Shame tells me I am something wrong.
• If I place my hope in anything or anyone other than Jesus, I will be disappointed.

And then she bled.  She shared the story.  And the intense spiritual struggle.  And wise words from a child.

And what seemed disjointed (which is often the way of healing) and all of my markings came together.  And carried more meaning.

Sometimes in order to hang on, we have to let go.

Thank you, Sheila, for being open and vulnerable.  For letting go of the need to protect yourself.  We've all been there in some form, and your overcoming gives us hope.

Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King

Book Review - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

See how you can get a free copy of this book below.

"Ooohhh, Grandma. You are writing in your book!”

“I know, but there are a couple neat things here I want to remember.”

As I thumbed through the book again, though, I discovered I had underlined and starred areas on almost every page.

I had no idea, really, of what to expect when I began to read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. I read the entire book in two days—an easy, yet very deep, very powerful read. I laughed and I cried. And when I put the book aside, I felt kind of a mellow inspiration.

I’ve had recent conversations with others about writing a new story, but I couldn’t really wrap my head around the concept.

Now I get it!

Don is forced into editing his past life when he works with a couple of screen writers. He considered the role he played in his story to date and realized he spent a lot of his time daydreaming. He acknowledged that his life was actually empty of real stories and felt the “absent glory of a life that could have been.”

He writes, “I wasn’t living any kind of sacrifice. My entire life had been designed to make myself more comfortable, to insulate myself from the interruption of my daydreams.”

And so he sets out to intentionally create a new life story filled with meaning, risk, and beauty. And he shares the stories of others who are doing that, too.

He reminds us that our own country is “connected by roads one can ride a bike down. If you watch the news and there’s a tragedy at a house in Kansas, that guy’s driveway connects with yours, and you’d be surprised how few roads it takes to get there. The trip taught us that we were all neighbors, that my life is connected to everybody else’s, that one person’s story has the power to affect millions.”

And he expresses that it seems as though God is saying, “Write a good story, take somebody with you, and let me help.”

If you want more meaning in your life, this is a must read. I am starting my second read tonight with pen and paper in hand as I begin to write a new story of my own. Will you join me?

I have a free copy of this book!  

Everyone who leaves a comment on this post between now and Saturday, October 3, will be entered into a drawing. 

Answer this question: Do you think it's possible to "write" a new life story?

Member of Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Program http://brb.thomasnelson.com/


Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King

Book Review - Fearless by Max Lucado

"Be afraid.  Be very afraid."  We quote this warning from the 1986 horror film, "The Fly," in fun.

But real fear isn't fun, and we don't need encouragement to be afraid.  Fear permeates personal life situations like yeast.  News pundits feed it and knead it.  Fear hovers around us in financial disasters, terrorism, kidnappings and rapes and murders, H1N1, prodigal children, troubled marriages, natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars, doubt, and death.

Max Lucado, in his book, Fearless, published by Thomas Nelson, reports that "ordinary children today are more fearful than psychiatric patients were in the 1950s." 

Fear stalks adults, too.

Max reminds us that "Jesus takes our fears seriously.  The one statement he made more than any other was this:  don't be afraid."

In his descriptive and transparent style, Max helps us examine and confront various types of hurtful fears that threaten to smash through our defenses and take control.  "Fear will always knock on your door," he says.  "Just don't invite it in for dinner.  And for heaven's sake, don't offer it a bed for the night."  He describes our greatest weapon against fear and ends the book by identifying the one "healthy terror."

Fearless speaks courage into our lives.  I would loan you my copy, but my markings, stars, and underlinings would distract you.  I see several rereadings in my future.  I plan to hold this book close.

If you are tired of fleeing fear or being fear-filled, you will definitely want your own copy.

Now.

Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King

Book Review - Faces in the Fire by T.L. Hines

Faces in the Fire (published by Thomas Nelson) was my introduction to the work of T.L. Hines. The book pulled me in immediately, but it took me a few chapters to realize that they, the chapters, were all mixed up, disjointed, and set within stanzas that served to separate the stories within the story. I also noticed the shadows of handwritten titles and chapter numbers behind the printed ones. That in itself was intriguing, and although this is a fiction suspense thriller, described as “noir bizarre,” I found myself underlining character quotes, phrases, symbols, names, and other bits of information—trying to put pieces of the puzzle together. I finished the book a few days ago, but it continues to haunt me.

“Sometimes as humans, we need to move backwards before we can move forward.”

Faces in the Fire revolves around 4 characters. Kurt is the truck driver/sculptor who can’t remember his past but is haunted by ghosts. Corinne is the e-mail spammer diagnosed with lymphoma who embraces the basement of her past. Grace is the tattoo artist/heroin addict running from her past, and Stan is the hit man who is a prisoner of his past.

In a sense, the book reminded me a little of the concept of 6 degrees of separation. The lives of major and even minor characters are “coincidentally” intertwined through their attempts to find some sense of identity and significance. Threads of numbers, catfish, ghosts, shoes, locked doors, fire, human and supernatural touch and voices run throughout.

This is an easy read and will appeal to anyone who wants to sit on the edge of their seat, continually turn just one more page, and be surprised in the end. It’s a great, yet weird, story with loose ends attached--much like our own lives, often disjointed and frayed at the edges, with shadows of the past that we can choose to embrace or overcome in time.

I saw hope, redemption, and freedom for those facing the fires of life, those who have been burned, and even “bottom feeders” when grace knocks on the door and is invited in. We can find our true face, and old things can indeed become new.

I recommend this book and will likely read it again.

The Noticer by Andy Andrews

"Sometimes all a person needs is a little perspective."

I don't usually read fiction. But I had heard so much about this particular book (published by Thomas Nelson) that I had to take the time to see what all the buzz was about. It didn't take a lot of time though. The book is short--only 156 pages, 10 chapters. Once I started it (at 1:30 in the morning), I could hardly put it down.

Jones (just Jones--no Mr. to it) has a gift of noticing things that others miss. He comes and goes in the small town of Orange Beach and seems to show up suddenly, almost miraculously, at the most opportune times. He confronts the hurting and the struggling with truth, love and humor. He helps them gain a new perspective on their circumstances, giving them a new vision for their future. He's never in a hurry and just seems to meet people where they are at the moment, challenging them to rise higher with words of wisdom such as:

"Whatever you focus on increases."

"It's time to stop letting your past control your destiny."

"Every single action a person takes has far-reaching consequences."

This allegorical and somewhat autobiographical story contains many other quotable quotes to ponder. Reading it has caused me to move into the light and be inspired to develop a new perspective, to notice others and be more aware of those who have noticed me, and to really grasp that even the small stuff is important, that my actions can have an effect generations from now.

There is a reader's guide at the end of the book with thought-provoking questions for each chapter. It would be suitable for group study.

This is a book that will be read many times, marked up and beat up.