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. 

Two Owls at Eaton ~ Jonathan Franklin (narrated by the author)

(4.5)  N/F Memoir  pub 1960

A charming memoir about  Jonathan’s life with two rescued owls, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee.  I love real life stories about owls and this one strikes all the right notes;  it’s an informative read about two engaging birds and their often humorous interactions with humans.  My family would have loved this as a read aloud during the children’s younger years especially since Owls in the Family ~ Farley Mowat became such an enjoyed read.

http://www.jonathanfranklin.name/two_owls_at_eton.htm

Irena’s Children ~ Tilar J. Mazzeo

narrated by Amanda Carlin   

(5)  pub 2016  N/F      Mazzeo does not try to paint Irena as a spotless saint but shows her as a woman with very real faults and foibles raising to the challenge and choosing to act with courage and focus, despite the great risk to herself,  to save lives in Warsaw during WWII.  With her husband taken by the Nazi war machine Irena  "lives in adultery" with her, also married, Jewish lover, Adam.  The fact that she is not married to Adam saves her from being sent to the ghetto and he is a deciding factor that initially draws her there.  

So many seemingly ordinary Jewish and Polish people acted with absolute bravery to effect rescues of Jews and Poles during this dark portion of history.  
I’ve seen the movie, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, but appreciated this audio so much more once I got past the first few chapters and became used to the narrator – she’s actually very good.  

This no holds barred biography is rich with good storytelling detail and is one I’d totally recommend to my IRL associates who also ‘like’ reading WWII non-fiction.

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.”

All Roads Lead to Austen ~ Amy Smith

epukapuka  N/F  (3-)

(This is a Latin American adventure with Austen’s books on board.)  

The writing style made for easy and an engaging, enough, book to keep me reading.  I skipped past the excerpts on Amy's personal love-life  - she’s romantically entangled with one man, moves in with him for a while,  and then once back in California decides she’d rather have this other, new, one she met before coming home … according to the last chapter ;) –  I just wanted to read the portions detailing the travelogue with Austen's books and the ensuing group discussions;  those were very interesting! 

For others that like to know things like this too, when tossing up between audio and written: there is some swearing (which would be hard to skip on audio). 

A Circle of Quiet ~ Madeleine L'Engle

Crosswicks Journal Series: Book 1     epukapuka copy  (4.5)

  

I found this to be an interesting and thought-provoking read. Some of L'Engle's thoughts are diametrically opposite to my own (ever developing) beliefs.  Portions of the prose are absolutely beautiful, and, if you're not easily offended by another's differing point of view about God, I'd recommend this for the language usage alone.  

I did come away a little unsure of whether L’Engle came to believe in God or not? 

She says early on in the book (pg147 of the e.book)  I was earnestly explaining to the young minister that I did not believe in God, “but I’ve discovered that I can’t live as though I didn’t believe in him.  As I long as I don’t need to say any more than that I try to live as though I believe in God, I would very much like to come to church – if you’ll let me.”

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.