Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic ~ Max Lucado

(4+) Library ebook

I started out with the audiobook narrated by Ben Holland which nosedived to a 2-*  after chapter one, so I skipped ahead to chapter four, then switched from audio to ebook at chapter six,  and ended up rating this book at 4+*

The first chapter had some really interesting, sobering, facts in it that I want to check out.  I then skipped through some of Max’s personal stories and over the ‘plan of salvation’ portion in part one of the audio and was then away again in chapter four (part 2 on audio).  Ben Holland and I absolutely had to part ways at chapter six or this book was going to hit the abandoned read stack.  His narration of this book is not a good fit for me, the content was easier to absorb and appreciate by reading it to myself.

The Church Planting Wife: Help and Hope for Her Heart ~ Christine Hoover

(4.5)  Kindle edition

I've had this book on kindle, waiting to be read, since October 2013 and though I did start it  I just couldn't seem to settle and connect with the content.  This month was the perfect time for me to read it:  God knew I was in the right space to be encouraged by the encouragement and find positive self-analysis in the more challenging portions.  

I found this to be a very good, thought-provoking, read and went haring off down scripture studying trails of my own.  I know an author can't cover every scenario in a book, but I was really keen to see if Christine addressed the specific issue of dealing with manipulators and narcissistic personalities during her church planting time.  Sadly for me, she didn't.

This is not just a book for church planting wives, women in or around those in a ministry/ Christian serving role, or who is a Christian home educating mum,  could also find this a beneficial read.

Here are a few of the encouraging excerpts I jotted down from Christine's book:
   Is there any area of life not characterized by constant demand and limited supply?
In the end, however, we can only give so much. According to our human limits, as we give out to others, our supplies must be replenished. If they are not replenished, we become like a lion tamer fending off weariness, discouragement, dryness, or emptiness. Or perhaps anger, bitterness, or feelings of being unloved or alone.
Who will care for us? The Lord will, for He never grows weary of demands, never needs a break, never sleeps, never takes time off. 

   We often associate peace with changed circumstances or a lack of busyness, but as Jesus modelled, God’s peace comes through dependence in the midst of busyness. Approaching God through prayer, Bible reading, and worship, in which we bring our needy selves to receive from Him, are acts of need. Peace comes through this dependence, through ceding control into more capable hands. 

The Mission Walker ~ Edie Littlefield Sundby

narrated by Jaimee Paul  (3.5) 

(epukapuka) Non Fiction / Memoir / Christian / Inspirational 

Whew!  The first quarter was an emotive listen: swallow, blink hard, and continue tomorrow….  I need the map to able to appreciate the actual 'walk portion' of the story - the chapters detailing Edie's walk tapered off into interesting, not riveting. Once Edie got to Sierra Vista I was back to fully engaged, for a while…..   the walk is interesting but I was so glad, yes glad!, when Edie hopped in the vehicle and was driven towards the border and her husband Dale.  I was ready for the narrator to be done and for Edie to go home and spend Christmas with her family too.    

I greatly admire this woman, and her inspiring journey of faith - my rating is for the audiobook, not Edie as a person: she's a solid 5*.

I appreciate the wise insights she sprinkled throughout her book.

Here are a few I jotted down:

“Probabilities are just numbers, whereas possibilities are endless.”

“Acceptance of death and cancer did not mean I intended to give up, just the opposite. I was prepared to fight cancer not out of fear of dying, but out of joy of living.” 

“I thank God every day for this life, and I want there to be more, though that’s not known. What is known is that I’m alive today, this minute. And that’s pretty much what we all have – this day, this moment.” 

“I came to realize we are held in the arms of God and are utterly completely safe - in life and in death; whether walking alone or with others.” 

“Through the Grace of God and His medicine I am healed,” became my constant prayer. The prayer awakened with me each day, coming on the wings of the morning. It followed in my heart through the day, and was on my lips as I drifted to sleep at night.” 

“When I put down Lance Armstrong’s book, I understood something profoundly. Edie, if you can move, you’re not sick. I decided right then and there that no matter what cancer did to me I would continue to move. Movement was what the physical body was designed to do; it was how it coped and functioned. Movement was vitality. It was life. I would move. Always. No matter what. Until my last breath, I would move.”

“Sometimes we have to move others out of our lives, so we can move on.”

The Autobiography of George Muller ~ George Muller

narrated by Derick Perkins (3.5)

Brit Trip Locations London/ Devon/ Bristol/ Wiltshire.

  

Diaried books, or those with constant ledger tallying – so dry!! , are never favourite reads, so those factors definitely affected my rating of this book.  A good indication of how much I’m appreciating a book is how often I plague my family with details from it – this book got some mentioning, but not lots.  I did find it an encouragement to be more given to prayer.

Gray Matter: A Neurosurgeon Discovers the Power of Prayer... One Patient at a Time ~ David I. Levy, M.D

Narrated by Larry Wayne     N/F.   Medical/Memoir/Christian  (audiobook)  (5)

  

This quickly became my best-loved book for 2018 with its unashamedly Christian content. A few may find it preachy as he spends some time on a Christian approach to dealing with unforgiveness and bitterness.

More than just a collection of surgical stories, this is the surgeon’s testimony about praying over and with his patients.  This book details his own journey with faith and learning to trust God while he interacts and operates on his patients.

Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret ~ Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor

Narrated by Raymond Todd (4) N/F. Christian.

It took me a while to settle into this book, I nearly abandoned it a few times.  I’m so pleased I stuck with it as I started appreciating this biography more once Taylor actually got to China. This is definitely a book I recommend to other Christians to read. 
The hardship Taylor and his family endured.
As a random aside, the amount of accumulated time Taylor spent in sea travel was phenomenal.

When Sorry Isn’t Enough ~ Gary Chapman & Jennifer Thomas

Narrated by Kelly Ryan Dolan (2)    N/F. Self-help, Christian. 

I did skip portions of this as the authors seem to belabour the point that real? deep? effective? forgiveness requires others/us to apologise in the love language we/others speak for the forgiveness process to be effective and accepted - ☺not what my bible says 

 - and that asking for forgiveness seems to be best achieved by a formulaic process Chapman outlines to follow.