I hope everyone has been enjoying the March book selection "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha's World" by Joanne Weaver. I must say it has challenged me in my growth just this past week!
The one story, in chapter 4 I believe, talks about God giving a man a task to do for him. He must take 3 little stones in the cart up to the top of the mountain and leave it there. The load was light and the man gladly took the job with a cheerful heart to bless God. But along the way, he ran into people who also wanted him to take their rocks to the top of the mountain as well some were small and some were big but his cart kept filling up. He thought God would be proud of him for doing a "Christian neighborly" thing for these other people. But before he got to the top, he broke down and starting resenting God for giving him such an impossible task. The cart load was too heavy and he couldn't pull it at all. God came to his side and slowly unloaded all of the extra burdens he had taken on thinking it was the "good" thing to do for others. But God removed his burden that God did NOT intend on this man to carry. Although he was being kind to others, it took away from his focus to excel with a happy heart with the small task God had intended just for him.
Boy, I thought about the bible studies and the child care and the favors I do for others and when we do that, I feel a lot of the time that that peace and joy of serving God I once had,... is gone. Serving God and doing the things he intended us to do with the gifts he gave us is what brings so much joy to his heart and we grow spiritually and can help others with a fresh and joyful spirit but not feel like we need to help the world. That IS, unquestionably, God's job, to help and save the world.
So think about how you can best serve cheerfully what God has already put in your life before you start saying "yes" to everyone who requests something of you. Be that Godly, happy mom who spends lots of time with her children, be the career women who does her work with honesty and integrity because she is refreshed with God's spirit daily and not bogged down but life outside of work. God wants you to feel His peace and joy when you live every aspect of your life... do you feel it in every activity of your day?
I can't wait to hear some of your thoughts on Thursday! I hope to see you then!
Monday, March 31, 2008
April Book Selection
For the month of April the book genre will be FICTION. There have been 4 book suggestions from women in the group. Please send me an email with your pick and I will let you know the final book selection on Wednesday (4/2).
Women’s Christian Book Club
Meeting: Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 7pm
April’s Book Genre is FICTION
1. The Oath, Frank Peretti
www.christianbook.com - $11.99
www.amazon.com -$8.50+
Something sinister is at work in Hyde River, an isolated old mining town in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Something evil. Under the cover of darkness, it strikes without warning, taking life in the most chilling and savage fashion. The latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping in the mountains. The harder townsfolk are pressed for information, the more they close ranks, as if sworn to secrecy. The discovery of the old letters and diaries of the town's forefathers begin to peel away the layers of mystery surrounding Hyde River. What is discovered is a predator more terrifying than anything they had imagined and a town in the grip of unspeakable evil.
2. The Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English, John Bunyan
www.christianbook.com - $10.99
www.amazon.com -$10.39
At last---an unabridged contemporary English translation of Bunyan's enduring classic! Children will be swept away by Pilgrim's adventures, while mature believers can savor the gems of wisdom hidden in every chapter---from Christian's flight from the City of Destruction to his homecoming in the Celestial City. Features a helpful index and over 50 illustrations. 450 pages, soft cover from Bridge.
3. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice
www.christianbook.com - $18.99
www.amazon.com -$10.20
Based on a thorough familiarity with New Testament scholarship, the noted novelist gives us a stunning fictional re-creation of the life of Jesus. She vividly paints in the first-century milieu, showing how Christ's unique presence affected all around him. Causes one to furiously rethink one's assumptions.
4. Blue Heart Blessed, Susan Meissner
www.christianbook.com - $9.99
www.amazon.com -$10.39
In this sweet contemporary romance, Meissner (A Window to the World) explores one woman’s response to rejection and hurt. When a man she’d trusted jilts Daisy Murien almost at the altar, bitterness colors every aspect of her world. Admirably, she parlays her betrayal into opening a secondhand bridal gown store, Something Blue, where each gown has a story and a tiny blue heart is sewn into the seams and blessed by Daisy’s friend and mentor, the elderly Father Laurent. When the kindly priest is felled by a heart attack, a new romantic interest (predictably) enters Daisy’s life. Lurking on the sidelines is a high school friend who may have feelings for Daisy, and a wealthy single Christian man who can’t seem to make the sparks fly. Meissner tells her story well, and her Christian themes are interwoven throughout with a deft touch. Readers will appreciate some fresh elements: an Ecuadorian couple that cooks for the apartment dwellers every Sunday, and the one gown in Daisy’s inventory she does not want to sell. The ending is well told if conventional, with all the loose ends neatly tied up, which should please fans of “happily ever after” romance novels. (Feb.)
Meeting: Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 7pm
April’s Book Genre is FICTION
1. The Oath, Frank Peretti
www.christianbook.com - $11.99
www.amazon.com -$8.50+
Something sinister is at work in Hyde River, an isolated old mining town in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Something evil. Under the cover of darkness, it strikes without warning, taking life in the most chilling and savage fashion. The latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping in the mountains. The harder townsfolk are pressed for information, the more they close ranks, as if sworn to secrecy. The discovery of the old letters and diaries of the town's forefathers begin to peel away the layers of mystery surrounding Hyde River. What is discovered is a predator more terrifying than anything they had imagined and a town in the grip of unspeakable evil.
2. The Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English, John Bunyan
www.christianbook.com - $10.99
www.amazon.com -$10.39
At last---an unabridged contemporary English translation of Bunyan's enduring classic! Children will be swept away by Pilgrim's adventures, while mature believers can savor the gems of wisdom hidden in every chapter---from Christian's flight from the City of Destruction to his homecoming in the Celestial City. Features a helpful index and over 50 illustrations. 450 pages, soft cover from Bridge.
3. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice
www.christianbook.com - $18.99
www.amazon.com -$10.20
Based on a thorough familiarity with New Testament scholarship, the noted novelist gives us a stunning fictional re-creation of the life of Jesus. She vividly paints in the first-century milieu, showing how Christ's unique presence affected all around him. Causes one to furiously rethink one's assumptions.
4. Blue Heart Blessed, Susan Meissner
www.christianbook.com - $9.99
www.amazon.com -$10.39
In this sweet contemporary romance, Meissner (A Window to the World) explores one woman’s response to rejection and hurt. When a man she’d trusted jilts Daisy Murien almost at the altar, bitterness colors every aspect of her world. Admirably, she parlays her betrayal into opening a secondhand bridal gown store, Something Blue, where each gown has a story and a tiny blue heart is sewn into the seams and blessed by Daisy’s friend and mentor, the elderly Father Laurent. When the kindly priest is felled by a heart attack, a new romantic interest (predictably) enters Daisy’s life. Lurking on the sidelines is a high school friend who may have feelings for Daisy, and a wealthy single Christian man who can’t seem to make the sparks fly. Meissner tells her story well, and her Christian themes are interwoven throughout with a deft touch. Readers will appreciate some fresh elements: an Ecuadorian couple that cooks for the apartment dwellers every Sunday, and the one gown in Daisy’s inventory she does not want to sell. The ending is well told if conventional, with all the loose ends neatly tied up, which should please fans of “happily ever after” romance novels. (Feb.)
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