Nick Vujicic's Story

The story of Nick Vujicic is amazing, and I'm looking forward to reading his book, Unstoppable (coming out in October). Below is a short video about his remarkable story. Look for a review in the near future!



Book Review: 90 Days of God's Goodness (Alcorn)

There are many books out there that address the problem of evil and seek to answer why difficult things happen.  90 Days of God’s Goodness not only addresses the theological implications spot on but is an amazing tool for a hurting person.  Grief usually lasts much longer than the time allotted to read a book on loss.  Alcorn breaks this book into ninety easy to read segments that allow a person a minimum of three months to process if they read one section a day.  What I like about this book is that it walks along with the reader as they slowly work through the feelings and questions related to the problem of evil.  I found this format encouraging to a hurting soul, allowing the reader time to read, digest, feel, and fight through what is true about God. Alcorn empathizes and allows room to ask questions and feel, but he does not shy away from the truth.   90 Days of God’s Goodness is a patient, but challenging process book, rather than a quick fix book.  As a counselor, I appreciate this perspective, as I believe grief and sanctification are processes.

"Truth matters.  To touch us at the heart level – and to keep touching us over days, months, years, and decades – truth must work its way into our minds.  Never seek comfort by ignoring truth.” (p. 12)

A theme that Alcorn weaves throughout all of his books is the idea of having an eternal perspective on life here on earth.  90 Days of God’s Goodness picks up on this theme, forging a way for the reader to understand (as much as we humanly can) how God sees His big story unfolding on earth and in our lives.  Alcorn continually points back to God’s glory shown through the Gospel as the ultimate backdrop.

“The Cross is God’s answer to the question, ‘Why don’t you do something about evil?’  God did do something…and what he did was so great and unprecedented that it shook the angelic realm’s foundation.  It ripped in half, from the top down, not only the temple curtain but the fabric of the universe itself…Evil and suffering formed the crucible in which God demonstrated his love to humankind.  His love comes to us soaked in divine blood.” (p. 75)

“Whenever you feel tempted to ask God, ‘Why did you do this to me?’ look at the cross and ask, ‘Why did you do that for me?’” (p. 92)

Alcorn also upholds who God is throughout the book and helps the reader wrap his mind around the problem of evil with God’s attributes at the center.  He never minimizes who God is or His attributes to attempt to explain suffering from the human perspective.  Alcorn is able to insert truth appropriately and point the reader to Scripture.  Overall, I would highly recommend this book to someone who is experiencing loss or to someone who wants to help a friend through it.  Alcorn does an amazing job of speaking heartfelt truth in these pages.


(Waterbrook Multomah Publishers/Blogging for Books provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.)

Book Review: Blind Hope (Meeder & Sacher)

Let me start out by saying that I am a huge fan of dog books in general.  I started out as a young girl, reading James Herriot books, and over the years have added books such as The Art of Racing in the Rain, to my list of all time favorites.  Therefore, I was excited to read Blind Hope, by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the way the story was told.  The book is narrated by Meeder, the owner/operator of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch.  She tells the story, mainly through dialogue, of Sacher, a staff worker at the ranch.  Laurie, in turn, tells the story of her blind dog, Mia, and the lessons she learned from her.  Don’t get me wrong, the story is good, and the lessons learned, admirable, but the relaying of stories from one person to another and finally to the reader allows the plot to become rather lackluster.  As the reader, I found it somewhat monotonous to overhear a conversation that someone had with someone else about their life.  I would have found it much more interesting if Sacher just wrote her own book.

Aside from the storytelling aspect, the book is sweet.  Themes of brokenness, trust, and hope run through, all pointing Sacher back to her relationship with God.   Some of the lessons seem rather cheesy, but I chalk it up to the writing, not to the actual story.

In the end, I would probably skip this book if you are an avid reader of dog/animal books.  There are many more out there better written.  However, if this is your first go around with a canine story, I think it is a sweet, simple read to add to your library.


(Waterbrook Multomah Publishers/Blogging for Books provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.)

Book Review: Shattered Dreams (Crabb)

As a counselor and someone who has asked where God was in the midst of difficult times, I decided to read and review Shattered Dreams.  Crabb artfully weaves together sound theology, self-disclosure, case studies, and the stirring Biblical story of Naomi to explain God’s purposes for unfulfilled dreams and what we learn are often sinful expectations.  Truly, I believe, Crabb is a gifted writer who speaks not only to the mind, but also to the heart in the area of sanctification.  Oftentimes after reading a book like this, I have the “right” theological answer, but am left to still struggle with the daily application and the emotions that don’t seem to change with just knowing the right answer.  Crabb is not afraid to ask the hard questions or to even voice those doubts and thoughts we often think we need to hide as Christians.  I’ve come across many friends and clients who, in their darkest moments, voice the same tear-filled thoughts, and this book could help to put more than a band-aid on their pain by lovingly and truthfully pointing them to God.

Crabb’s main point is that God uses suffering to create in us a desire for an encounter with Him that not only points us to a better hope, but fulfills God's own purposes of His glory.  This encounter with God allows for community and our lives to be transformed to be more like Christ.  He takes us on a journey the first few chapters, acknowledging that bad things happen and expressing the frustration we often feel towards God when we think He is absent from our pain.  He then proceeds to strip away the too-often believed idea that God’s purpose is to make us happy and that He is an object to be used to get what we want.  Crabb painfully extracts the hidden ways we do this, oftentimes laced with good intentions or Christianized meaning.   He weaves in the story of Naomi, inviting the reader to experience her loss of hope and struggle towards seeing God for who He, desiring an encounter with Him, and creating in her a deeper hope.  As a gifted writer, Crabb keeps the reader’s attention, as the chapters are short and cliffhangers or questions to be answered are presented at the end of most chapters.

By the end of the book, the reader has read the initial discouraging thoughts of Naomi, felt the painful emotions of shattered dreams, and has rejoiced with her in her better hope.  The reader hopefully comes out the other side more inviting of these shattered dreams, even seeing them as desirable and good, knowing that the hope from God that comes from these trials is far richer than anything that this world has to offer.

Crabb assumes the work of Christ in the reader’s life, so this wouldn’t necessarily be a book for a non-Christian.   He also leans heavily towards the use of the name “God” (though uses “Christ” interchangeably), speaking to, but not obviously fleshing out the Gospel.  This would be one area that I wish would have been stronger and a little more complete.

Overall, this book is most helpful with changing our paradigms of who God is and His purposes.  I echo Crabb in his desire for a revolution that focuses more on a hunger for God than fixing problems and feeling better.


(Waterbrook Multomah Publishers/Blogging for Books provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.)

Blogging for Books

I confess..I've struggled to finish a book since graduating from grad school.  It's not that I haven't read in five years, but getting to the end of any book has been somewhat daunting.  So, I've found something that will not only provide the books to read, but will keep me accountable to reading them (and reading them well!).  Blogging for Books is a book review program through Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing that sends bloggers books for free.  The catch is that you must post a review of that book within 30 days of receiving it.  Not bad, huh?

So, I'm being shipped Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb, a book I've been wanting to read for awhile.  There were about 25 books offered to me to review.  A few that I'm planning to read in the future include:







Click here to check out this program and to sign up.  Wish me luck on my new reading adventure!