Book review - Have a little faith

by Mitch Albom

p. 93

This was a story that Reb gave in one of his sermons and Mitch recounted it. I really liked it alot.

Here it is:

"A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, 'He sleeps in a storm.' The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man. Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the middle of the night a powerful storm rips through the valley. Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his new hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly. So he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed. He runs out to the field. He sees bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped with tarpaulins. He races to the silo. He doors are latched and the grain is dry.

And then he understands. 'He sleeps in a storm.'

My friends, if we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of 'I could have, I should have.' We can sleep in a storm."

I pray that my husband and I are doing what we need to do so that when those storms of life come we can sleep in the storm. We will know that we are secure in God's hands and that we have done all we can. We will have left no unfinished business. How often though have we not said the things we should --- the I love yous, the I forgive you. Have thought that we will still have tomorrow and those things can be said then? Or maybe we are too afraid of what the other person will think that we never really feel comfortable saying what needs to be said. I know that I have several relatives that most likely don't know Christ and if they do know about Christ they are most likely not following him. I want to ask, I want to be a witness to them but haven't really felt comfortable. Not sure why - if I am afraid of their reaction or what is exactly holding me back. Unfinished business.

book review - Have a little faith

by Mitch Albom

P.144 "Remember the only difference between 'marital' and 'martial' is where you put the 'i'!"

Isn't that fantastic! I just love that quote - hadn't ever heard this one before but think it is so true. What is the focus of the marriage? If all you are focused is on I - and what do I get out of this - then I could see how it could turn into a battle ground.

book review - have a little faith

by Mitch Albom (same author of Tuesdays with Morrie)

This is a very well written book that centers on Mitch himself. He is called back to do the eulogy for his rabbi. The interesting twist is the the rabbi is not dead yet but in his 80's. The rabbi himself asked Mitch to do the eulogy. Mitch agrees as long as he can spend time with the rabbi so he can get to know him on a personal level and make sure the eulogy truly captures the rabbi.

I have not finished the book yet but have found some interesting aspects.

p. 39 "The most inspirational man I knew only reached his potential by helping a child reach his."

Isn't this interesting. In a world where only 'me' matters, here someone got ahead and achieved their goals by giving up their own goals and needs and helping someone else to become all they could. It also came to mind that this is the definition of a mother. We give of ourselves, give up ourselves - so that those little souls that we have been entrusted with can learn and grow. It can be an amazing road. And we gain each time that little soul learns something new - because in that process we learned something new too - maybe it was how to teach a new concept, maybe it was the joy of reaching through a mind that had been blocked. But there is growth in that process for both the mom and the child.

p. 44

"Mitch, faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe."

How often do our actions speak louder than our words. We can say we are a Christian but do our actions bear false fruit. And if we believe - is it just a belief or have we put our belief into action. Do we live out Christ's example? And do we do it every day or just when it is easy and convenient.

p. 45 - 46 The rabbi was speaking about rituals and their importance.

"My grandparents did these things. My parents, too. If I take the pattern and throw it out, what does that say about their lives? Or mine? From generation to generation, these rituals are how we remain .......... connected."

Mitch thinks about what the rabbi said ---

"I'd once had rituals; I'd ignored them for decades. These days, I didn't do a single thing that tied me to my faith. Oh, I had an exciting life. Traveled a lot. Met interesting people. But my daily routines - work out, scan the news, check e-mail - were self-serving, not roped to tradition. To what was I connected? A favorite TV show? The morning paper?"

I started to think about this. What traditions and rituals do we as a family have that we are 'hopefully' passing on to our children? How will those rituals help them stay connected to God and to their faith in Jesus Christ? What should we do differently? Or stress more strongly? Will they remember? Will it help their faith to be deeply rooted?

This book has been very thought provoking.

One Perfect Day - Book review

by Lauraine Snelling

A very interesting book. The book centers on two families. One loses a child in a traffic accident and the other one has a child that is extremely ill. She needs a heart transplant and receives it from the other child that dies in the traffic accident. I have to admit that there are times when I was just sobbing while reading this book. As a mother, I could just feel both women's pain. I can only imagine what it must feel like to lose a child --- and know it must be the worst pain imaginable.

The book also speaks to the idea of sharing organs and the need for organ donations to save the lives of others. It was a powerful book. One of the side themes is the concept of where is God in the face of tragedy. The one woman who had the sick daughter needing the transplant spent many years praying with seemingly no answers. Where was God? Was he listening? Did He actively answer prayers. In her case, the prayers were very much so answered but the answers came in His timing (which of course was the perfect time). Still, I could relate to the impatience that the mother felt to have answers quicker. We all want things to be done according to our time schedule and forget that it is God's timetable we should be working with.

The other mother who lost the child really struggled with Where was God?? (Another book I have to read but that ties in with this theme.) She did realize that it was not God that moved but that she did. She was so wrapped up in her own pain that she didn't let Him in, didn't allow Him to comfort her. She, in essence, moved away from Him - God never left her - she left. And healing took a long time. Partly because healing just takes time and partly because she wouldn't let God in to do His work in her.

This was a powerful book but parts of it were very, very sad. It is just hard to read about the loss of a child. I enjoyed the book and got alot out of it but also many times had to put it down. It was just so packed with emotion that sometime I needed a bit of a break. I also couldn't read it out in public as I felt silly sitting there with tears streaming down my face. But I think that speaks to the author's great writing that I could really feel that sadness - feel those emotions just from her words. She painted a very vivid picture. I really, really enjoyed this book but it is not a funny or uplifting book. Still, sometimes it is nice to have a book that really let's ya have a good cry.

Winter Garden - book review

by Kristin Hannah

A fantastic book. A (male) friend of mine asked if this was a women's book - meaning the gushy romance stuff. And it is not. But I still would say it would appeal more to females than males because it deals with relationships - specifically the relationship between mothers and daughters and between sisters. That is the focus. It does touch on the relationships the women have with men. Mostly these relationships are discussed because the women are broken in spirit due to their lack of relationship with their mom - and therefore the other relationships in their lives suffer.

The books begins with the death of the two sisters' dad. On his deathbed one sister makes a promise to take care of Mom and one makes a promise to Dad to listen to Mom's fairy tales. Both sisters find Mom to be very cold and uncaring. They never felt loved by her. Spending any amount of time with her is difficult. Still they loved their father and feel compelled to honor their promises.

While listening to the fairy tales they begin to realize that the tales are about real places and real events. Mom tells the tales in the 3rd person and so they wonder how their Mom fits into the stories.

The stories all surround the time of Stalin's reign and his purges in the 1930's. It covers WWII and the siege of Leningrad.

It is a great book that intertwines relationship issues with real historical events. It really was very hard to put down. Very good book.