Terribly Interesting

I had purchased this ebook quite a while back because it was on sale on Amazon. I didn't start reading it until recently after a nudge from the Holy Spirit and my friend Jana. I could identify with the story right away. This woman and her husband had fancy government jobs and the perfect little farmhouse in the country. Then our wild God decided they would be best suited to live in a run down neighborhood in the inner city.  She goes on to document how God taught her to interact with people nothing like her, people who were scary. Her neighbors were in and out of prison. She brought some of them into her home. This is a tale of laying down expectations, perfection, and control. It'a lesson I have learned in all the stages of construction. Let the people in anyway. The people are what matter. We aren't here to build a facade of loveliness for people to admire. We are here to build into the hearts of human beings.That will hurt more than anything else you will ever do,...

It took me several weeks to get through this book. It may be the most intense and bloody book I have ever read. Someone, or many people, died on every one of the 528 pages. It was brutal. Another reviewer stated how heavy and packed with information it was. I can second that. I do have to say that Mr. Paul Andrew Hutton did his homework. I was truly amazed at how he was able to get all of this information in here and still tell it like a story instead of as a text book. Bravo. I learned many terrible things while reading this book. People this short time period ago were pretty heartless. A few short generations back, people were literally violently killing everyone they didn't agree with. I learned that the Europeans are the ones that brought scalping to our country. The Apaches would rarely even do it because it was so brutal. Reading about how one goes about scalping another person almost did me in. There were bad people all around in this story. The white man stealing...

Let me be honest. I didn't read this book when it came out because of the title. I never even read past the title to what the book was about. It was too goofy for me. Recently, as I was trying to find something to give to a friend of mine, the cover flashed in my head. Then I ran across it and actually read the premise. I thought, oh, I need to read this. So, I bought a few copies. Sophie is a great author. Maybe you remember her from A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet. My friend Amy and I at book club. We ate Southern fare and discussed A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet. Amy was crowned Queen of the South and led from her throne...complete with dog. A post shared by Stephanie Cherry (@heystephcherry) on Apr 27, 2014 at 8:21pm PDT I loved that book. This one did not disappoint either. I needed to read it because I was reading some other heavy books and even though Sophie deals with hard hitting subjects, she does it in light-hearted story form. Sometimes, she dr...

I decided to purchase this book to read for two reasons. It was a hot summer read and I am curious about what people around me are drawn to. It is also something I wouldn't normally read. Let me tell you, I had a difficult time getting going with this book. As I began, I was sure all of this book's readers were crazy. It's written as though you are reading portions of diary entries from people who could not spell or formulate sentences. My head wanted to implode. Even at page fifty, I tried to come up with how I would describe this book for a review. One line from from Truvy in the movie Steel Magnolias came into my head. "The nicest thing I can say about her is that all of her tattoos are spelled correctly." I read on. Let me tell you, I finally came to see how George's writing style is brilliant. I actually felt like I was interacting with these people. The book made me do quite a bit of research. The story is based off of evidence that when President...

I was reading an article the other day telling moms that being overwhelmed and unable to think is completely normal. It's called mental load. I have since dubbed this inability to think, process, conjugate, or think of what to make for dinner the MOTHER LOAD. Can't remember how to make pb&j? That's the mother load. Can't remember your first name? That's the mother load. Most days we coast on through and no one gets hurt. The thing about mother load that drags me down is that often I cannot even think of what I would like to pray for my children. There are basic reactionary prayers and response prayers to scripture I am hearing or reading. I am always left wanting more.  When I saw this book, I felt an ache to have it. Reading through it, I was truly overwhelmed by the wonderful, thoughtful prayers and guidance it offered. I prayed through the hundred or so prayers over my girls. They are beautiful. Praying them prompted me to start writing them ou...

Most of the books I read and review are given to me by publishers, but I chose to buy this one. I had been waiting on it since I heard that it was being written. I had purchased to audio book because I was making a lot of long trips to care for my parents. Audio books seem to make the end of long drives go faster. I knew that the words in it would be encouraging. It turned out to be something I needed more than I realized. Sweet Maria's voice coming through my car speakers soothed my weary soul. It was like having a dear friend speaking into my heart when I desperately needed it. Being honest, I have had days where I have cried all day through this. Waves of emotional exhaustion overtook me when I stopped moving for a second. Then I'd hear her voice. It felt okay to cry. She kept reminding me that love is always the best option. It sows a deep unseen harvest in the lives of the people we are loving and those watching us. Love does live here.  In this book we follow Maria...

I was about to go on a road trip when I saw this book pop up in my queue to review. I thought it would be a great thing to accompany me through a few states. It was a bit difficult to get into at first. I don't know if it was my mindset or what felt like choppy story telling. Never the less, I pressed on. The stories were pretty interesting, but I was rarely drawn deeply into them. There were several things I could connect with personally. Most of us can connect with loss. Roger shares about losing people he loves and why he loved them. He tells of how adventure connected them. His story is one of redemption. His grandparents ended up raising him. I think the main thing I took away from the book was to go on adventure and create memories.  *There are maps in the chapters of different states and things he loved there. That could be helpful if you are experiencing some wonder lust. Happy travels. This book was graciously provided by Waterbrook Publishers for review. ...