Book Review: CHOOSE JOY: FINDING HOPE AND PURPOSE WHEN LIFE HURTS

Good morning! I hope this post finds you well. :) Life has been different and busy, and I really am sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. :D

Today I want to tell you about this book; I am on the launch team, and the book goes on sale TOMORROW! You can find out a lot more on the book's website, including places it's available. Because I don't want you to miss this book.

Here's the "official" synopsis of the book:

Sara Frankl knew she had a terminal disease, but she didn't let it stop her from living. In the face of immeasurable pain, Sara chose joy--again and again. Her unforgettable message of hope and purpose lives on, even after her death, in her words.

CHOOSE JOY is a compilation of the lessons Sara learned while she was dying, written in her own words and sewn together by her close friend Mary Carver. It is a reminder to see the beauty in life, even when it looks nothing like you hoped or planned.

In a world full of tragedy, choosing joy is no small task--but, as Sara knew, the importance lies in the choosing. Once you learn to make that choice, every day, no matter what happens, joy will come.

This book has been a true life-changer for me. It helped me to have a couple of difficult discussions about my own health with loved ones, conversations that are they types I avoid at all costs. It has challenged me, made me examine my own heart and walk with Jesus, and helped me (by Sara's ability to put what she believes about healing into words) to have peace that what I believe may not be so whacked, after all. :)

 

 I've already told my mom she NEEDS to read this book; there are several people I know who may be getting a copy from me during the year. Life is not easy; just because we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior doesn't mean everything is going to be smooth sailing, or that we can have everything we WANT. That includes health and wealth - and I think we get in real trouble when we believe otherwise. (Disagree all you want, but I won't get into it any further! :D )

Sara's words will make you laugh and cry; Mary's way of knitting her blog writings together into a cohesive whole makes the book flow easily. Not only is it broken into chapters - SO many great topics! - but each chapter is also broken up, so if you only have time for a page or two at a time, you'll still be able to really chew on the meaning of what you've read.

I had never heard of Sara Frankl before joining this book team; what I've read makes me wish I had known her when she was alive. Her deep faith in Christ continues to point the way to Him through this book - and I look forward to spending eternity with her.

I can't pick my favorite part of the book! There's SO MUCH richness here. I will read it again and again throughout my life; I need the reminder to choose joy in the middle of pain, of trial, of hard times. And to hear it from someone who actually made the choice herself - there's a depth to that voice I can't explain.

I guess you'll just have to read for yourself!

(All images in this post were given to the launch team to use for promotion during the pre-launch efforts.)

Book Review: INTERRUPTED by Jen Hatmaker

Happy Monday Morning! How are you today? Did you have a good weekend? Was it eventful, or relaxing? :)

Today, I want to talk about Jen Hatmaker's revised and expanded INTERRUPTED. As a disclosure, I was one of 250 bloggers to receive a copy of her book to read and review. Opinions will be all mine. :)

Here's what the back of the book says:
Have you ever felt like you are completely missing the point?
Are you one of the millions who crave a new direction in the church, fed up with religious games, empty promises, and cultural Christianity? You are not alone You are not crazy. Maybe Jesus is ready to interrupt your life.
In 7, Jen Hatmaker and her family started an experimental mutiny against excess. Interrupted is the prequel, the story before the story - when God stepped into their comfortable faith and called them to join Him in something greater. Walk with Jen into a transfomrational journey that began with one dangerous prayer: "Raise up in me a holy passion," and concluded with a life of service to the last, the least, the forgotten, and the forsaken. Transparent and imperfect, Jen will engage and inspire you to go beyond comfortable and answer for yourself the question she faced: is there more to faith than just safe and sequestered, predictable and boring?
God is moving and stirring our generation. Are you ready? 

I started this book last week, and devoured the first two sections. And then I put it down, because I feared what the book's call to action might be. But that part of it never really showed up. Let me try to explain. :)

The first part of the book, Jen talks about how she and her husband were on their way up the comfortable Christian ladder. I think anyone who grew up in the church in the last 30 years, especially, knows what she's talking about: knowing the right things to say, knowing how to talk the talk and walk the walk and wear the T-shirt. Her husband, Brandon, was on staff with a growing church. They were making a good living, both ministering to the flock, but underneath it all was the "Isn't there more to it than this? I'm just not feeling FILLED." And so, Jen asked God, "God, raise up in me a holy passion."

Have you ever noticed that God's just WAITING for you to ask Him something like that? :D

The second half of the book talks about how our concept of church needs to change to reach the postmodern person in America. It talks about doing missional work where we live. It talks about how Brandon and Jen and Austin New Church all started, and there's a LOT of great information in here.

Jen writes the same way in her book as she does her blog (jenhatmaker.com), with a lot of love, a tiny bit of sarcasm, and a little flow-of-consciousness. :) She has SO much passion for this book, and for its themes. I, too, have been trying to find out how to live more as Jesus would. I think the best thing about this book is that Jen is honest in showing the steps she and Brandon went through - from asking the questions to how they walk it out. And perhaps, no matter how much *I* want it, the greatest things she's done in the book is NOT give us a checklist to work from on how to accomplish living a missional life. (And that is where the "call to action" became different from what I wanted/feared!!)

I really recommend you read Jen's blog post about Interrupted if I haven't convinced you to read it.

And to one person, I will send you a copy straight from Amazon.com! Just enter the Rafflecopter below. :) Have a wonderful day, my friend! Be BLESSED!
a Rafflecopter giveaway