42. Finding God by Larry Crabb

 I read Effective Biblical Counseling in the 80's, and it was helpful in many ways with identifying the problem underlying much of my problems. I have read most of Larry Crabb's books, attended the Institute of Biblical Counseling (ten days after the death of my dad in 1985), went through a biblical counseling class (PEOPLE Class - People Encouraging Other People to Live Effectively) where we practiced group interaction and "telling our stories" over the course of a year, and led a discussion group from the book Encouragement by the same author. 

This book is really more of the same. I thank Dr. Crabb for giving me a Biblical basis for looking at issues. I think counseling, in general, is very good at helping one understand why we do what we do. I do not necessarily think it completes the process of healing to finding Him. Only God can do that:"No one comes to the Me unless the Father draws Him...And they will be taught of God" (John 6:44,45). I think Dr. Crabb puts far too much importance on his method than on the power of God to draw us to Himself and to speak to our souls which gets to the core of what he says is the core problem: Doubting God and His goodness because "He who comes to God, must believe that He is and is a rewarded of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

It reminds me of a time I was really struggling, and I went to pray, and I said to my husband that I would not leave until I heard from God. So I was there four days, and God spoke to me. I believed Him. I found Him in that carved out time. I did not doubt His goodness in the thing that had happened to me. I forgave the people who wronged me (and have not struggled with anger or unforgiveness since then). It was all through meditating deeply in the story of Joseph with the Holy Spirit. I was released.

I went up to the church, and there was a woman there who asked me what I had been doing, and I told her. She said, "You know I struggled with depression for years, and I started going and just doing extended days of prayer just like you, and I no longer struggle with depression. He is the Wonderful Counselor, isn't He?"  AMEN. 

Larry Crabb is not the Wonderful Counselor, and I feel like he almost knocks any kind of supernatural experience one might have with our Wonderful Counselor where He might truly speak to us.

I think this is Crabb's attempt at helping people go past just looking at problems to finding God. He says at the beginning that it is not about spiritual disciplines, but his solution at the end is to tell your story (more of what he has said before in his other books, but he has gone from a one-on-one counseling approach to being in community to tell our stories, which is good) and read your Bible by the fireplace with the Holy Spirit. So I do not feel he really contributes much to truly finding God that has not already been said before. He almost contradicts himself by saying that it is not about spiritual disciplines but yet saying to read your Bible. 

I have found that it helps for people to tell their stories and be validated and then create space for God to speak to the person. Crabb doesn't really deal with the whole idea of that intimate encounter where we hear the voice of God who speaks truth to us in our innermost being. I feel when we create space to hear in the midst of our pain (like I did on that prayer retreat), we find Him and learn to trust Him (because he says that doubting God and His goodness is at the core of our issues). 

This can be a facilitated sort of thing with a prayer counselor where that space is created and encouraged with a loving person (or group of people which is even better but some people are not always able to open up to a group, and we must respect how God made them) who helps the person to listen to and find God. 

I think Crabb makes it far too complicated with his charts and diagrams. 

I feel like he is on a journey and decided to write a book. He wrote this book several years ago, and I hope he has gained more intimacy with Him. It seems like he really intellectualizes the whole process FAR too much! 

Hard to articulate what I really feel about this book. I had some quotes I thought were great, a few I disagreed with. 

2013 Reading Wrap Up

1. How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal? 

I read 66 books. I beat my personal goal of 52.

2.What are your top 5 (or more) favorite stories?  Top 5 least favorites? 

TOP 12 (or 15 if you count the trilogy)

15. Of Virgins and Martyrs: Women and Sexuality in Global Conflict (ER)

19: Booked:Literature in the Soul of Me

26. Waiting for God (ITC)

38. Call the Midwife (all three in the trilogy)

40. The Reading Promise

54. This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral and Valet Parking

56. Heidi

58. Silence, Solitude, and Simplicity

60. Persuasion (second time but loved it all over again)

64. Divine Conspiracy (third time finally did it!)

65. Searching for God Knows What

66. Behind the Beautiful Forevers

BOTTOM 5

2. Dandelion Wine (SBC)

5. A Year of Biblical Womanhood (SBC)

16. Warrior: Fighting for Your Faith, Family, etc (ER)

28. The Twilight of the Idols (ITC)

33. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (ITC)

3. One book you thought you would never read and was pleasantly surprised you liked it? 

If I can say "one book I thought I would never REread and was pleasantly surprised," I would say The Divine Conspiracy. Willard is so intellectual he makes my head hurt, but I was surprised at how much more I grasped this time around and understood his heart. 

4. Most thrilling unputdownable book? 

It was not "thrilling," but I loved Silence, Solitude, and Simplicity because it was right where I was at. I read it while on a prayer retreat, and I ate it up. So wise and profound. 

5. Did you come across a story that you enjoyed it so much, you turned around and read it again or plan on  rereading it again in 2014? 

I could see my self rereading Silence, Solitude, and Simplicity on a yearly basis.

6. One book you thought you would love, but didn't? 

A Year of Biblical Womanhood

7. Which book or books had the greatest impact on you this year? 

Silence, Solitude, and Simplicity

Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me

Divine Conspiracy

Searching for God Knows Wha

8. Do you have a favorite cover or quote from a story you'd like to share? 

9. What book would you recommend everyone read?  

Silence, Solitude, and Simpicty and Divine Conspiracy or Searching for God Knows What - Divine Conspiracy is really hard for some people. 

10. What was your most favorite part of the challenge? Did you do any of the mini challenges? 

The discipline of writing a review for every book. No, did not do any mini-challenges.

Here is the whole List:

JANUARY

1. Les Miserables - Radio Family Theatre (ER)

2. Dandelion Wine (SBC)

3. Pensees by Pascal (ITC)

4. Pocket Your Dollars (ER)

5. A Year of Biblical Womanhood (SBC)

6. The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico (ER)

7. Institutes of the Christian Religion: Book I (ITC)

8. Keeping Christ in Ministry (ER)

9. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

FEBRUARY

10. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

11. The Catcher in the Rye (BD)

12. Institutes of the Christian Religion: Book II (ITC)

13. Practicing God's Presence 24/7

14. Getting Out of Bed in the Morning (ER)

15. Of Virgins and Martyrs: Women and Sexuality in Global Conflict (ER)

16. Warrior: Fighting for Your Faith, Family, etc (ER)

MARCH

17. Institutes of the Christian Religion: Book III (ITC)

18. Institutes of the Christian Religion: Book IV (ITC)

19: Booked:Literature in the Soul of Me

APRIL

20. Apologia Pro Vita Sua (ITC)

21. The Second Shepherds' Play (ITC)

22. The Federalist (ITC)

23. The Fast Diet

24. I am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced

25. Four Quartets (ITC)

MAY

26. Waiting for God (ITC)

27. Life of Johnson (ITC)

28. The Twilight of the Idols (ITC)

29. My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper

30. Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (ITC)

31. Doctor Johnson's Prayers (ITC)

32. The Temple (ITC)

33. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (ITC)

34. Fear and Trembling (ITC)

35. Go Down, Moses (ITC)

JUNE

36. Selected Essays of Samuel Johnson (ITC)

37. Watership Down (BD)

38. Call the Midwife

39. Happier at Home

40. The Reading Promise

JULY

41. Swann's Way (abridged audio)

42. Swann in Love (abridged audio)

43. Forty Days with the Messiah

44. Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People

45. Out of the Silent Planet

46. Call the Midwife: Shadow of the Workhouse

AUGUST

47. Till We All Have Faces

48. Perelandra

49. The Fifth Season: A Daughter-in-law's Memoir of Caregiving (ER)

50. Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End

51. That Hideous Strength

52. Be Myself (Warren Wiersbe Autobio)

53. Forgotten God

54. This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral and Valet Parking

SEPTEMBER

55. The Great Gatsby

56. Heidi

OCTOBER

57. Walden on Wheels

58. Silence, Solitude, and Simplicity

59. Three Men in a Boat

60. Persuasion

NOVEMBER

61. The King Jesus Gospel

62. The Daughter's Walk

63. The Christ of the Indian Road

DECEMBER

64. Divine Conspiracy

65. Searching for God Knows What

66. Behind the Beautiful Forevers

66. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

"One of the most powerful indictments of economic inequality I've ever read." Barbara Ehrenreich

This may seem like a very unusual book to be reading at Christmas Time, especially since I only read Christmas books last December (I had a backlog of free audiobooks, "gift" books, and an early review book that had been given to me - most of them pretty boring and some downright BAD!). But this book is a perfect for this time of year because it opens your eyes to what is happening to people in underdeveloped countries.  This won the 2012 National Book Award.

This is a profound read that reads more like a novel than non-fiction. I will let the video speak for itself. 




See her website for more informaation: http://www.behindthebeautifulforevers.com/

65. Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

I am not sure how I missed this one. I think I like it better than his more famous, Blue Like Jazz! I read it after reading an article that he wrote in a magazine. I knew that this must have come from a book he was writing, and somehow I stumbled across this. Donald is intellectual but more accessible than Dallas Willard in that he does not make your head hurt. He makes a compelling case for the Gospel being more more about relationship than "systematic theology." 

“I think Jesus is saying, Look, you guys are running around like monkeys trying to get people to clap, but people are fallen, they are separated from God, so they have no idea what is good or bad, worthy to be judged or set free, beautiful or ugly to begin with. Why not get your glory from God? Why not accept your feelings of redemption because of His pleasure in you, not the fickle and empty favor of man? And only then will you know who you are, and only then will you have true, uninhibited relationships with others.” ― Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What

I don't necessarily agree with some of his preachy political conclusions though. He should have left politics out of the book.

64. Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard

This is my third time reading this book. The first time made me head hurt, the second time I grasped a little more, the third time was when I realized that Willard was a genius. While I was blessed to be involved in intentional discipleship through the ministry of the Navigators, I know that most have not had this kind of blessing. That is why I think The Divine Conspiracy is an important read for believers today. 

This is a beautiful book about being intentional about becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, not just someone who has made a decision and never done anything since. The culmination of the book is the "Curriculum for Christlikeness."  We have led three groups through this book, and we have every write one and submit it to others for accountability.

 Here is mine:

Carol’s Curriculum for Christlikeness 2013-14

Life Mission

To Abide in Christ so I can overflow as I encourage women toward abiding fruitfulness in Christ through relational evangelizing, establishing, and equipping.

I.            Enthralling My Mind and Heart with God Through

A.   His Creation

1.     Walk out and worship in creation at least three times a week

2.    Look at pictures of God’s creation when the weather is bad

3.    Look at pictures of peoples whom God created, especially those from other cultures

B.    His Word

1.     Spend daily time in Old Testament with Bible Book Club

2.    Focus on Jesus’ life through daily Jesus Story/Gospel reading

C.     Experience of Jesus

1.     Daily Jesus Story/Gospel reading

2.    Listen to His voice 24/7/365

3.    Theophostic prayer

4.    Read God Guides

II.         Acquiring the Habits of Goodness through the disciplines of . . . 

A.   Solitude and Silence

1.     Daily prayer before everyone gets up

2.    Day of prayer Labor Day, New Year’s Eve, Spring Break, Memorial Day, and mid-Summer with one-two overnighter at St. Benedict Lodge/Shalom Prayer Center/Abbey Retreat Center/Trappist Abbey/The Upper Room

B.    Study and Worship

1.     Daily Creation to Christ Meditation with daily “I wills”

2.    Romans (Knowing the cross) with Rachel and Stephanie every other week

3.    Worship Walks as above

4.    Worship through music by singing and dancing

5.    Worship through the Psalms 

 I love what he says about the Bible, and I could not agree more:

Its purpose is practical, not academic. An intelligent, careful, intensive but straightforward reading—that is, one not governed by obscure and faddish theories or by a mindless orthodoxy—is what it requires to direct us into life in God’s kingdom. Any other approach to the Bible, I believe, conflicts with the picture of the God that, all agree, emerges from Jesus and his tradition.
Willard, Dallas (2009-02-06). The Divine Conspiracy . Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

This is precisely why I started the BIBLE BOOK CLUB in 2007. If anyone reads this post and wants to come along, feel free. It just involved reading the 1-2 chapters of the Bible over a three year period. The people who have finished the previous two cycles have been richly blessed, and maybe you will be too! We start a new cycle on January 1!

63. The Christ of the Indian Road

This was a reread for our ministry. This time, our leader assigned certain chapters, but I think he left out the better ones! I was sorry that the people new to the book didn't get the whole thing!

I love this book. E. Stanley Jones was often called the "Billy Graham of India" and was ahead of his time when it came to having open inter-faith dialogue and understanding the cultural context in which to have that dialogue. He introduced "indigenization" in India. 

Jones was an American missionary to India from 1907-1973. He was a close confidant to FDR in the months leading up to December 7, 1941, trying to avert war with Japan. As a result, he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.  His biography on Wikipedia is fascinating. You can read it HERE.  

Also, the book can be viewed in a PDF HERE.

62. The Daughter's Walk by Jane Kirkpatrick

This is an Oregon Christian author. I read another book by her that was written in 2009 called A Land of Sheltered Promise. I enjoyed the historical subject matter about Oregon's history of the Rajneeshee, a cult that took over the little town of Antelope, Oregon back in the 1980's.  We prayed and prayed, and they left as quickly as they came. Now it is a Young Life Camp (Two of my friends were instrumental in acquiring the land, and they are mentioned in the story with pseudonyms.). It was fascinating history, but I did not care for the fictional story that surrounded the history. 

This story is different. Two more years of writing under this author's belt has produced an exceptional story. I had read the biography Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America for my other book club. So, when my new book club decided to read this fictional account, I was not very excited, but this one is very well-written and goes into more detail about what happens AFTER the walk across Victorian American and is told in first-person from the daughter's perspective.  I have love for first person narratives (think Jane Eyre) so I was more inclined to love this book. 

Hega Estby was a Norwegian woman who wanted to save the family farm near Spokane, Washington. So she learned of a challenge by sponsors who would reward her $10,000 if she walked from Spokane to New York wearing a "reform dress" that made exercise for women easier and scandalously exposed the ankles! In the process, she dragged her daughter along. I will not tell you the outcome of their journey, but that part is only about 40% of the book. The rest of the book is what happened to the daughter afterwards! I still need to look up what really happened historically, but I will not spoil the book for you by researching and reporting it here. 

This is a worthy read about women's roles, family, faith, community, and love. I really enjoyed it.

The narrator for this audiobook was excellent. She did the Norwegian accents really well.  

61. The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight

I did not dislike this book, but it just seemed to drag on and on. He made his point and drew it out too long. I know many people like this book. So no offense. 

Here is his point:

The gospel is the declaration that Jesus is Messiah and Lord and that gospel declares that the Story of Jesus completes the Story of Israel in a way that saves. This gospel counters the shallow and superficial gospeling today that reduces the gospel to four simple points and eliminates the confession that Jesus is Messiah and Lord.

Here is the video that introduces the book:



He advocates that "Creation to Christ to End Time Consummation" is the whole gospel. He looks at what Jesus, Peter, and Paul meant when they said "gospel."

We have our groups go through the whole book of Acts and try to define what the gospel was that the apostles were preaching. His book does this for you, but I think it is better to look at the Scriptures directly for yourself! :) 

60. Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Book Dames was tired of reading depressing books (Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby were two of our more recent books). So, we wanted to read something happy and settled on a wonderful Austen! I had a major back blow-out and was confined to bed, but this book kept my spirits high though my body was brought low. I love Austen. I really, really do!

I read Persuasion back in 1999 when I read all the Austen books upon my return from two years overseas. This was the only one I had not re-read, and I do believe that it has increased on the list of favorite Austen books! 

This was also my first time listening to it as an audiobook and Nadia May has done it again! She is a fantastic narrator.

59. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

From Library2Go Website:-

• If you've never read anything by Jerome K. Jerome, you'd be well advised to heed this warning by theGlasgow Herald: "It would be dangerous to [listen to] this book in any place––say a full railway compartment––where the reader was not at perfect liberty to laugh as loudly and as long as he chose." And the passage of time has not altered that verdict. Here is a perfect picture of those lazy summer days "messing about in boats."
  After his final trip up the river Thames with his three companions––Harris, George, and Montmorency the dog––Jerome K. Jerome sat down to write his proposed book, The Story of the Thames. But before he could tackle the work in the serious manner intended, his humor took over and gave birth to a masterpiece of unquenchable comedy. This is a classic of English humor, justifiably loved around the world.

About the Author-

• Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927), English humorist, novelist, and playwright, was born in Staffordshire and brought up in London. Successively a clerk, schoolmaster, reporter, actor, and journalist, he became joint editor of The Idler in 1892 and launched his own twopenny weekly, To-Day. His magnificently ridiculousThree Men in a Boat (1889) established itself as a humorous classic of the whimsical. Other books include The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1889), Three Men on the Bummel (1900), Paul Kelver (1902), the morality play, The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1907), and his autobiography, My Life and Times (1926).

58. Silence, Solitude, Simplicity: A Hermit's Love Affair with a Noisy, Crowded, and Complicated World

This book was absolutely precious to me. To hear from an octogenarian nun who had lived this kind of life was very powerful. Her wisdom is unparalleled compared to some of the "wisdom" bestowed in some of the popular Christian books today by people who just want to write books and speak out of ignorance and immaturity. She walks her talk. She has lived the life of pressing in closer to our God! 

I had borrowed it from my retreat center library; but when my hand got tired of writing down gem quote after gem quote, I ran down to the retreat bookstore and bought it. (I only BUY books when absolutely necessary and usually just borrow them.)  It is all marked up now.

It is about monasticism, but it is about going to the desert in order to emerge with God's love and compassion for others. 

In quoting Gregory of Nyssa, she writes:

Speaking of Moses' desire to see God, Gregory writes: "And the bold request which goes up the mountains of desire asks this: to enjoy the beauty not in mirrors and reflections, but face to face." God's response to Moses: "He would not have shown himself to his servant if the sight were such as to bring the desire of the beholder to an end, since the true sight of God consists in this, that the one who looks up to God never ceases in that desire, " Gregory concludes: "This truly is the vision of God: never to be satisfied in the desire to see him. But one must always, by looking at what he can see, rekindle his desire to see more." (p.6)

More of her own thoughts on Moses: 

Then don't I need to be tested in the desert, challenged, purified, to become aware of my frailty and God's strength, of my infidelity and God's unending faithfulness, to be healed of my enslavements and set free at the heart of my being, to learn to trust deeply in the God of promise? I need to learn not to try to program God, but to believe in divine love, the divine will and capacity to care -- I need to rely on it and accept it as gift. I need to leave it to God to choose the time and place where, like Moses, I meet God and come to know divine love in direct communication. Must I not, like Moses, ultimately come to God healed of my radical self-centeredness, and with deep compassion for others and concern for their needs? (p.67)

AMEN! YES! YES! WOW!

Another favorite quote:

A favorite image of the monastic person in the modern world is as sacrament -- an outward and visible sign to others -- of desire for God, for God's reign, for the nurturing and extension of God's life and love in the world. It is so easy to have desire eroded, to be diverted or enticed away from that central hunger of our being. We have to keep it alive. And how much the church and the world need free men and women of desire, who truly, effectively believe that God seeks them in love and desire, and that they will be found. Such persons -- whether inside or outside the monastery -- communicate a constancy of hope, confidence, and joy -- not a shallow optimism, but the living fruit of faith. Thus they become, as well, sacraments of thanksgiving and gratitude. (p.10)

Thus why, since 1980, I have taken regular, extended times of solitude with the Lord: to press in closer. I hold no illusions that anything I do "for" Him is because of my doing. I am just a conduit, and those times of pressing in help me to make sure all the plumbing is working correctly in order to ensure a free flow. 

I highly recommend this book. It is so precious to me that if someone doesn't like it, I do not want to know!

57. Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas

From page 73-74: 

I was bearing witness to an ancient ritual that I felt I'd seen in a previous lifetime. I was being reacquainted with the images processed by a million eyes before me, reveling in the privileges of the great human experience. Money, prestige, possessions, a home with two and a half bathrooms -- these aren't the guiding lights of the universe that show us our path. How can we dedicate our lives to such things when we can see the impermanence of everything above and below us, in the flicker of a dying star or the decay of a rotting log? The statues, the paintings, the epic poems, the things we buy, the homes we strive to attain, the great cities and timeless monuments. In time, they'll all be gone. And the names of the great kings and queens who shook the world will be forgotten, carried away like crumpled leaves for autumn limbs. Stare -- really stare -- into the womb of creation, and it will be impossible to dedicate your life to mindless accumulation. When you see the aurora, the only logical choice you can make is to spend the rest of your life seeking the sublime.

This is about the journey of a 20-something who got into debt while getting a liberal arts degree at a four, and the crazy way he gets out of debt and learns life lessons along the way.  

There is some unsavory language and sensuality, but Ken is a beautiful writer and makes some very astute observations about the beauty of living in simplicity.  I really enjoyed this book. 

56. Heidi by Johanna Spyri

This book made me want to jump on a plane to Switzerland and live in the Alps forever!

The author's writing is delightful and engaging, and I never read it as a child so I am making up for lost time. It is written for children and those who love children. It is also one of the best-selling books of all time! I listened to the Blackstone Audiobook by Johanna Ward. It was excellent! Such a positive and uplifting book too. I needed that after reading The Great Gatsby!

The author was born in Switzerland in 1827 and the reflects the landscape from Spyri's childhood. 

She does not look very happy in the picture below, but it is certainly a charming book. 

Here is a tidbit though:

In April 2010 a professor, searching for children's illustrations, found a book written in 1830 by a German history teacher, Adam von Kamp, that Spyri may have used as a basis for Heidi. The 1830 story is titled Adelheide - das Mädchen von Alpengebirge—translated, "Adelheide, the girl from the Alps". The two stories share many similarities in plot line and imagery. Spyri biographer Regine Schindler said it was entirely possible that Spyri may have been familiar with the story as she grew up in a literate household with many books.^[1]

55. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgeral

This was the only classic I read in high school, and I did not like it or get it. I read it again about 9 years ago, and I liked it. This time I proclaim that there is a reason why this is considered the "great American novel"! I know it is not very happy, but his writing is lyrical. The thoughts are profound and deep.

54. The Town: Two Parties And A Funeral — Plus Plenty Of Valet Parking! — In America's Gilded Capital

Whew! It was a race to get this thing finished before it was due today (because the worst thing in the world would be for me to have a library fine). I am the first person in the library to read it (I requested the library purchase it after hearing a review of it somewhere.)  I am a news junkie, and I knew most of the people that Leibovich talks about in the book. 

I am not sure if this would appeal to everyone, but it was fascinating to read how MONEY motivates everything in the US Capitol! 

Here is the blurb:

A New York Times political feature correspondent examines the power wars and exploitative practices of the government in Washington, D.C., revealing how journalism careers are made and broken while news events and scandals are used as networking platforms.

The following excerpt really sums up Washington, D.C. The context is a group of Sarah Palin loyalists protesting at a party for Game Change, a movie which portrays Palin in an unfavorable light: 

They [the protesters] reiterated the former Alaska governor's oft-quoted charge that Game Change was based on "false narrative." Whether it was or not, much of Washington ceased being about true narratives long ago, anyway.  It is about virtual reality the video game is which we are all characters and try to be players It brought to mind a line that I had underlined years ago, in 1993, from the late great Michael Kelly, in a New York Times Magazine profile of David Gergen ("Master of the Game," it was titled). "What happens in the political world is divorced from the real world," he wrote, "It exists for only the fleeting historical moment, in a magical movie of sorts, a never-ending and infinitely revisable docudrama. Strangely, the faithful understand that the movie is not true -- yet also maintain that it is the only truth that really matters." (I didn't write down the page number before I returned the book! Sorry!)

This sums up much of what the book is about. The games that all the people in Washington play, and much of it comes down to greed (Washington, D.C. has a very low unemployment rate compared to the rest of the country because government is BIG BUSINESS!). 

This book made me want to walk the streets of D.C. and the halls of Congress and just pray. I even looked up how much it would cost for a plane ticket to go and do just that. I still might. I am troubled by what this book brings to light, but I sort of already knew how bad it was. I wish that could all change, but the power is not in the people. In fact, the book makes a point of saying that the Washington elite think we are too dumb to really know anything! So sad!

53. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

My pastor preached on John 14-16 yesterday and mentioned this book as a possible follow up. We were going up to have a family reunion, and I knew I had a lot of time in the car. I downloaded this from the Kindle Lending Library and read up and back and finished it by the time we reached the turn off to our neighborhood. 

It was refreshing and simple. Most of us do neglect the Holy Spirit, and it was nice to have that reminder not to do so. This is very basic, but sometimes going back to the basics is really important, and Chan makes this easy to do. He uses lots of Scripture and makes it practical. 

I had mostly negative reviews from others for his more popular book, Crazy Love, so I was a bit hesitant to read this book and was refreshingly surprised at how much I liked it! I will have to ask those people whey they did not like the book, but it was at least four people who told me, but I think it might be because they thought it would be too basic for me. I really like the basics though. You can never get enough of them! So, maybe I will read that too. :) 

52. Be Myself by Warren Wiersbe

I have had this sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. What pure blessing to finally read this autobiography of one of my favorite Bible commentators!  Warmed my heart. I want to meet this man in person.

I received The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament as part of a LOGOS Bible Software bundle long ago and fell in love with this man's down to earth, practical style of Bible exposition. Then I noticed that Kay Arthur from Precept Ministries often recommends his commentaries for her studies. About ten months into the Old Testament with the Bible Book Club, my husband bought me the entire LOGOS Old Testament "Be" Series for a gift, and I love them too. 

The fact that he grew up outside the Chicago area, is Swedish, and is the same age as my Chicago-born, Swedish mother made me even more excited to read his autobiography! I think I will recommend it to my pastor. What a life this man has lived!

We have much to learn from this saint. 

Favorite quote: 

"It's not the strong but the weak who draw back in fear and refuse to love people with whom they disagree." Warren Wiersbe

51. That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

YAY! I finished the Cosmic-Ransom-Space Trilogy. This one was different from the rest and had much to think deeply about. I do like the way it ended, and I wonder why my friend, Elizabeth, thinks that this last book ruined the Trilogy. I must investigate. There is much symbolism in these books. I loved them though, and I am not even a Sci-Fi fan!

50. Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End

This is the last book in this wonderful series. I wept as I read the final pages, not wanting Jennifer to leave the East End. I have fallen in love with all the colorful characters in Worth's memoir. I highly recommend these books!

There are a few differences between the stories and the television series; but they are close enough for me. I cannot wait for Season 3! There are many more stories to tell based on Worth's books.

Here are my reviews for the first two books:

Volume 1: A Memoir of Birth Joy and Hard Times

Volume 2: Shadows of the Workhouse 

49. The Fifth Season: A Daughter-in-Law's Memoir of Caregiving by Lisa Ohlen Harris

This is a lovely memoir of a daughter-in-law who lived with and cared for her mother-in-law in the final seven years of her life. 

I fell in love with Lisa's writing style when I read Through the Veil a few years ago and was pleased to see she had written another book!

Lisa is brutally honest about her feelings, and I find that very refreshing. Life was not easy for her during those years. Her self-sacrifice is admirable considering she was the daughter-in-law and had four young daughters at the time! It is such a beautiful thing that a daughter-in-law, who lacks that heart tie of "blood" relation, would take on such a challenge.

I find the book a sad indictment on the medical people who surrounded her and did not encourage her to seek out Hospice care much earlier! Thank the Lord that when my mother had heart disease, we had a doctor that said it was crazy to take our mother into the emergency room every time she had an incident when Hospice could come to her and give her the medication she needed. I think that Hospice rules seem to be different for each state. The rules for when to call in care have also changed, as we did not call in Hospice until the last few days of my father's 4 1/2 month battle with pancreatic cancer in 1985. 

I believe my mother had Hospice care for over 9 months, but we were told we could call for it 1 1/2 years before death.  My mother received regular visits from nurses, clergy, and even a podiatrist who came to her place and lovingly cared for her ailing toes. 



The only person I never saw was the doctor, and I was there day and night for the last month of my mother's life. But the nurses came regularly and were a great support! They became great friends as the month progressed. 

My mother was ready to die long before we even called in Hospice, but this was not the case with Lisa's mother-in-law, and that broke my heart. 

This book is a "must-read" for anyone who will be involved in end-of-life care.

Mom and Me - November 2007