The Middle Place

"The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan

I really enjoyed this book a lot.  The author, Kelly, was born into a very close family, she was the only girl with two brothers.  She was adored by her father who was a very positive, outgoing man.  She never doubted what she could do because she had the constant encouragement from her father.  She grows up and gets married and has two little girls of her own and is told that she has breast cancer.  She wants to be a grown up and be strong but she feels so small and needs to be taken care of by her family.  It is a story of triumph, love and strength.  It is the story of being someones child, mother, wife and friend.  "When you're a mother and your kid's in pain and you can't stop it-it's hell.  Absolute hell." Such a true statement and one that is hard to accept.  We can't shield our children from every pain, life is full of it.  We must guide them through it and help them to be stronger because of it.  This story is also full of pain but the triumph that comes with enduring and the importance of fiercely loving those around us.

The Glass Castle

"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

This book will astound and amaze you.  It is a memoir about the authors childhood.  She had a drunk father and a mother who didn't want the responsibility of raising children.  They were always moving from place to place, as her father could never hold down a job.  He was not an abusive or mean drunk but he could never provide consistently for his family.  The children learned to fend for themselves, often went hungry and helped each other.  The circumstances that were endured were crazy but this family still stuck together.  The oldest sister ended up in New York and soon the other three followed.  The children were able to build their lives.  Their parents eventually followed them there and even though their children tried to help they preferred to be homeless.  This is a very eccentric family and very resourceful.  The children were determined to get out of the situation they grew up in and make better lives for themselves.  They didn't let where they came from stop them from their future.  This truly is an astounding book.  A very good read.  

Though Waters Roar

"Though Waters Roar" by Lynn Austin

It took me a couple chapters to get into this book but, once I got into it I didn't want to put it down.  It isn't a fast read and you have to keep track as the story goes from present to past back and forth a lot.  But I liked that the flow was a little different, it kept my attention.  A woman finds herself and jail and looks back on her life to figure out how she ended up in this place.  She never wanted to be like her beautiful sister and mother or join their social circles.  She loved and wanted to be just like her Grandmother Bebe. Her grandmother fought for justice and had meaning to her life.  Harriet wanted her life to mean something but she was afraid that she landed herself in jail for all the wrong reasons and would break her grandmothers heart for those very same reasons.  "But someday when you're all grown up, God is going to give you a task to do in your own time and place.  Then you'll have to put your faith in Him as you follow your conscience."  We all have a task that God has given us, each different.  What He has called me to isn't necessarily what He has called my children to.  We must help each other realize what that task is and encourage one another in it.  "When the sun comes up, we need to ask the Lord, 'What would you like me to do for you today?' That's how you'll find contentment."   We find contentment in doing the work of The Lord not in our own agendas.  "It's a wonderful thing to fall in love.  But make sure that both you and the man you marry love the Lord even more than each other."  He is what will hold you together because love ebbs and flows.  "We can't expect other people to meet all of our needs, all of the time.  Only Christ can do that perfectly.  That's why I know that if you turn to Him, you'll find contentment."  Another reason that God be the center of your marriage because we fail each other, we can't meet all of our spouses needs but God can.  "When we don't get our own way, and when our life doesn't turn out the way we think it should, we face a choice.  We can let bitterness grow or let the love of God grow."  It is so very easy to let bitterness grow, but that only hurts ourselves in the long run.  Life rarely turns out the way you thought but God can use is all.  He always turns beauty from ashes, always. "Ask God to heal your broken heart.  He can put the pieces back together the right way so you'll be able to love your husband the way God does-forgiving him seventy times seven and wanting only the best for him.  Ask God to give you Christ's love for him, not your own imperfect love."  We can only love like this with God.  We can only chose to forgive and love after hurt with God.  "There is no shame in changing direction.  In fact, once you've see the warning signs, it's always wise to turn around."  Nothing wrong in admitting you are wrong or that you took a wrong choice.  If you know its the wrong path, turn and take the right one.  "God loves her, even if I find it hard to.  And I'm responsible before God for how I treat her."  Some people are hard to love and may not be kind but we are only responsible for the way we treat them.  "Love isn't always a feeling.  Sometimes it's a decision."  Sometimes it's a very hard decision and that is why we need God.  "Harriet has to find her own happiness in life, and living to please another person is never going to accomplish that.  Living to please God is what matters.  Meanwhile, we have to trust that He'll arrange the events in Harriet's life in order to lead her to the purpose He has for her."  When we live to please others we always fall short but when we live to please God we are always enough.  

A Winter Dream

"A Winter Dream" by Richard Paul Evans

I've read a couple of books by this author and I really do like him.  He writes quick little books but they pack a good punch.  They always get me thinking and have great messages.  I often wonder how he can pack such powerful messages in such short books.  That takes a good writer.  This book is about a man named Joseph who dreams things that become reality.  It has a really unique take on an old story.  It is actually the modern day story of Joseph from the Bible.  This was a great read.  Another Christmas book in May.  "I think it's beautiful that you would sacrifice yourself for your brother, but I hate that your brothers used your love against you.  Love should never be used as a weapon."  I agree, but it often is, isn't it?  Love gets twisted and distorted and used against us when it isn't God's love.  "Relationships either grow or die, but they never stay the same."  If we don't take care of our relationships they die, they take work and they are always changing.  "Relationships, by nature, require trust, and trust cannot grow in the fog of secrecy."  Trust begins and ends with honesty and so do relationships.  "Is it wisdom to search out what will hurt us most?  Is painful truth better than ignorant bliss?"  I'll just let you ponder that one.  "Sometimes our cruelest acts come not from meaning to do wrong but from not trying hard enough not to."  Sometimes we hurt because we haven't tried hard enough not to hurt.  "Caution never breeds greatness.  Caution is the birthplace of mediocrity."  Nobody wants mediocre, throw caution to the wind.  "Even a broken heart can still hold love."  Sometimes in our brokenness is when we are able to love the best.  "Oftentimes it's the smallest, seemingly inconsequential acts that make the biggest differences in our lives."  And oftentimes we don't even know it. "Life's greatest lessons are often those we most wished to avoid."  Oh how very, very true.  We avoid the hard stuff, wanting to shelter ourselves from pain but in the hard stuff we find out how strong we really are, how loved we are and often, who we really are.