Next Book Discussion Starts Jan.10, 2011

Preview of In the Presence of My Enemies, by Gracia Burnham:

How would you react if you were suddenly snatched away from the life you knew and the people you loved?

Imagine the terror of being roused out of bed one morning at gunpoint. Of being kidnapped and held captive for more than a year, living on the run without warm clothes, enough food, or adequate shelter. Of being chained to a tree each night, sleeping on the ground despite painful body sores and debilitating intestinal viruses. Of never knowing if you’d have food to eat or water to drink, if you’d be shot at yet again by your would-be rescuers, or if your captors would make good on their threat to behead you--as they had several of your fellow hostages.

Martin and Gracia Burnham lived this nightmare as captives of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, having been kidnapped while celebrating their wedding anniversary at a resort in the Philippines. During a yearlong ordeal as hostages on the run in the jungle, the missionary pilot and his wife struggled to live the faith they had come to the Philippines to proclaim. In the process, they discovered the true condition of their own hearts--and of the heart of God.

Get a 30% discount on the book by ordering it through Inklings Bookshop...see sidebar for details!

Caring without Wearing: Week 8

This is our last week to study Caring without Wearing and this lesson gives us an opportunity to reflect on Carol’s teaching and to decide how we want to incorporate her wisdom into our lives. While each question is important, I’d like us to take time to share our responses to questions 4-12. You don’t have to comment on each of those, but what stands out to you from this set of questions?

What do you take away from the case study about Jim and the one found in Numbers 11: 10-23?

As we close our time of study together, which of the goals on pages 72-73 do you chose to pursue?

One last comment—How does this study impact your life, your choices, your ministry?
Thank you for studying this book with me. I’m very thankful for God’s ability to love the world through us while also loving and caring for us. May we practice caring without wearing.

Editor's Note: Have a great holiday season as you bring "joy to the world"! Join us back here on January 10 when Linda begins the New Year with a new book: In the Presence of My Enemies, by Gracia Burnham. It's the true story of a couple serving cross-culturally who are kidnapped by Filippino rebels. (See sidebar for ordering the book at a discount!)

Caring without Wearing: Week 7

This may be my favorite chapter in this book. Do I say that every week? Carol’s practical insights and helpful suggestions hit the mark for me. As you prayerfully study this week, ask God for understanding into the motivations that drive you.

This morning, a friend wrote these words on her blog: “I’m feeling like I’m out of balance with my personal, work and spiritual life. It seems that at least once a year I come to this place. This place where, even though I didn’t plan it, all the things in my life converge and I try to be in four places at once. Then, I step back, take a look at my lack of exercise, poor eating habits, restless and nightmare-filled sleep and try to rein it all in again.” Do you identify with her words? Well, take heart—this chapter gives us an opportunity to take a “time out” and examine why we get in these places and how we might get out.

Would you please post your answers to questions 7, 8 and 9 this week? Thanks. I’m looking forward to your comments.

Caring without Wearing: Week 6

I work for Link Care Center, a counseling center that serves pastors and missionaries around the world. Many people come to Link Care because they become overwhelmed or burnt out in their work. Self-care hasn’t been on their priority list and they’ve fallen into depression or discouragement because they only cared for others. Learning to have balance in our lives is so important and it is what Carol is writing about in this chapter.

I’m just going to ask you to share your answers to three of this week’s questions: 1,2 and 9. Thank you for taking time to prayerfully consider your answers. May each of us sense how God is teaching us how to better live as care-givers.

Caring without Wearing: Week 5

I love the title of this chapter, “Be Gentle with Yourself.” Do you need that reminder as much as I do? The five expectations that Carol lists in this chapter have all been present in my life at one time or another, though I think the first one has been the most persistent. Carol imagines Jethro encouraging Moses to be gentle with himself. To be realistic about what he can expect from himself, is an admonition I need to hear, too.

As you read this week’s chapter and answer Carol’s questions, please share your responses to question 2, 3, 4 and either 9 or 10. I’ve already started my answers, but I need to stop and pray and let the Holy Spirit search my heart. I want to continue to care for people and be there for them—but I want to take advantage of this study to learn about my motivations and discover if better way will allow me to care without burning out.

I will be praying for you as you prayerfully complete this study with me. I’m looking forward to reading your comments.

Caring without Wearing: Week 4

This week’s chapter, “Common Hindrances to Caring Responses,” wasn’t a real happy read for me. I felt sad as I realized how many times those hindrances had been present in me when I had tried to be caring to those in my life who were hurting. Yikes! I have so much growing to do in this area.

It is really, really easy for me to feel overwhelmed and condemned to bad patterns when I read a book like this. I wonder if I’ll be able to change. Do you? Well, for this week, let’s choose one of the four hindrances and present it to God in prayer and ask Him to help us grow in that area. So, for our sharing comments, please tell us which one you chose and why, and what kind of change you’d like to experience.

Then, since we aren’t able to listen to each other, find someone to listen to. Practice just being quiet while they talk. At the end of a few minutes, reflect back to them, “You seem to be feeling ________.” Then, share with us what that felt like to purpose to be still, listen and reflect.

There is one more step I’d like us to experience if we can. Do you have someone in your life who you could ask to just listen to you? Could someone close to you give you the opportunity to talk, while they listen and then reflect back to you? If you have someone like that, please set up a time this week to practice this listening exercise and share what that was like with us.

I’m looking forward to growing in all four areas Carol writes about in this chapter, but I know I need to start with a bite size step. The first three seem very connected to me—I see themes of me in each one, but I think I’m going to settle on number 3, needing to fix, as my improvement project this week. Since my aunt has moved into the assisted living home and isn’t doing well, and since my mom is trying so hard to help her sister, and since I live far away and can only listen by phone to their woes, I will have plenty of opportunities to work on this.

Caring Without Wearing: Week 3

As I studied my way through this chapter, I found myself day wishing we could be in one room together, practicing and discussing what we are learning. Hopefully, we can each stretch a bit and enjoy a great practice and discussion session. Are you ready?

Carol says our most valuable caring skill is listening. I found this to be a very hopeful concept since I often don’t know what to say or do in difficult circumstances. Her definitions of active listening were helpful—I think my favorite was the simple statement that “listening is the conscious effort to hear.” (pg. 28) And, as I continued my reading, I could immediately think of people with whom I need to practice active listening.

For your comments this week, I’d like to ask that you start by answering question #1 on page 29.

Then, choose one of the ‘A-E’ situations and share your answer with us.

We’ll each need to do questions 4 & 5 on our own. Please share your response to Mary (question 5 on page 33.)

Then, let’s close this week’s time together by sharing our response to questions 8 & 9. My mom is the person for whom I need to grow my listening skills. She is 80, lives far from me, calls often and my role in her life is to fix things—relationships, problems, even her days. I’m praying I can practice more active listening with her.

I’m looking forward to sitting in this chapter this week and learning how to actively listen. Please share your responses with us—let’s grow together!

Caring Without Wearing: Week 2

I’m imagining we have gathered at my house for a fall supper of soup, hearty bread and a yummy pumpkin crisp dessert. Now, we’re sitting around the living room and it’s time to share about our Week Two study from Caring without Wearing. Each one of us has cared for someone this week—we each have hurting people in our lives. We have much in common, much to share.
As you dive into this week’s study, be prepared to be surprised at how much you do to care for others. I sure was! Take time to soak in the scriptures and consider how these truths are lived out in your life.

I just got home from a week spent in Washington where my husband and I moved my aunt who is losing herself from her Seattle condo to an assisted living apartment in Bellingham. I cleaned, sorted, packed, moved and settled, while my husband oversaw painters, carpenters, and carpet layers so her condo can go on the market this week. The actions of my hands served, but my heart loved as I tried to prepare my aunt for the huge, confusing changes. After the work was done, I gave her a tour of her new apartment, hoping she will eventually adjust to her new life. My heart is so sad for the changes I see in her even as I’m glad I was able to help her move into a safer place.

Help is often given in sad situations. For me, the work is less of a burden than the emotions that go with the situations loved ones, needy ones, are facing. Carol’s goal is to help us learn how to care appropriately while also learning how to go the distance and not burn out.

This week’s lesson has so many wonderful questions, but again, we only have space to share a few answers with each other. May I please stress how important your participation is to our progress in growing in this area? Thank you for taking time to share what God is teaching you. We will learn and be changed, too, through the lessons you are learning.

1. In questions 1-7, Carol had us look at several scriptures. What is one take-away lesson you have from this part of our study?

2. The list on page23 revealed surprising results for me. How did you respond to question #10?

3. Now, please share a story from your life for question #12.

4. Choose either question 13 or 14 to answer.

Carol’s story about the healing power of being there reminded me of something Dr. Brent Lindquist, President of Link Care Center (and my boss) recently shared about people in Haiti. He said so many Haitians have nothing to give and yet they have so much to give to each other. They can attend to each other, give the gift of time/presence, and affirm one another’s life/experiences. Simple, amazing treasures we can give when we think have nothing to give.

Caring Without Wearing: Week One

Week one—Welcome to our small group study!

Yes—this book club selection is really a small group study! Carol Travilla’s book, Caring Without Wearing, is going to be a blessing to each one of us as we read and reflect on her wisdom. This selection is a bit different than our past books as it is written as a small group guide. That means, if you are reading this book with us, we are going to need to hear from you. Your participation is going to be so important to the success of our book study and to your ability to really take in what Carol is teaching us.

We won’t be able to take the space on the blog to answer every question Carol presents. I’m hoping to be able to choose the questions we should each answer—so this book study will be a bit more directed than other books have been. I’m looking forward to reading your responses and to learning with you how to care without wearing out.

Questions:

1. Carol suggests that we introduce ourselves and I think that is a great idea. In just a few sentences, please introduce yourself, telling us what you think we should know about you. (I realize there may be security concerns so we won’t press to get information you don’t feel safe to share.)

2. Share one experience when you needed and received care. What did that care look like? List words to describe the kind of care you received.

3. When you read the story of Elizabeth and Mary in Luke 1, what thoughts about their situation inform your idea of caring?

4. Is there a person you are being called to care for? Can you share that person’s name and situation? How can we pray? Please, everyone—take time to pray for these people who need care.

New Book: Starts October 11

The Next Book: Caring without Wearing: The Art of Self-Care While Caring for Others, Carol Travilla

Starts: October 11

Order yours by clicking on the book cover.

From Carol Travilla: "If the terms 'self care' or 'soul care' seem selfish to you, I invite you to engage in this study with other people on a similar journey as yours. Take time to notice in Scripture how Jesus cared for people in need and learn from His great example. My prayer for you is that you will receive His invitation to learn the 'unforced rhythms of grace and live freely and lightly' (Matthew 11:28, The Message)."

As We Forgive: Week 7-- Pages 232-264

The quote that opens this section is from Mary McCarthy. She says, “In violence we forget who we are.” Mary, who was orphaned at 6, knew a bit about violence from the abusive relatives that raised her for a few years before her maternal grandparents intervened and rescued her. And, though she was raised Catholic—she walked away from the Christian faith. In our book, we have read how violence did cause people to lose themselves—to be swept away by something horribly huge—something that changed them forever.

This last section tells another story of transformation. By now I know the pattern our author, Catherine, takes in her storytelling and I have to steal myself to fall in love with people who will be hurt in incomprehensible ways.

We first read of Claude—an innocent you man, and then we read of Innocent—a man who kills members of Claude’s family. We read how the violence took root in Claude’s heart and grew hatred, bitterness and a plan to return violence for violence. And, then we see God intervene, transform and bring amazing forgiveness that not only touches Claude but the people he purposes to meet and forgive.

Claude’s life is dramatically changed during his journey towards forgiveness. “I feel as though I’m free in my heart now. Before I forgave, I was small. Now I’m big.” Though his life is completely different- Claude has to continue to choose to forgive, to live peaceably with the people who had been his family’s enemies. The scars of his life will always be with him. Parents and a sister are missing from his family circle—killed with unforgiveable violence. Yet, Claude has turned from death to life, living forgiveness and working with other victims to help them rebuild their lives with forgiveness in their hearts for those who took so much from them.

Catherine ends her sections with interludes and this time, the interlude is a postlude. I am a bit relieved to be at the end of this book—the stories have been hard to read and convicting. What huge lives our forgiving heroes are living. They are really following in Christ’s footsteps. I’m sure it isn’t easy, that they have bad days when evil feelings threaten to steal the peace they’ve come to know with Christ’s help. And, it really is only because of Christ that they have been able to forgive, reconcile and help rebuild their beautiful country. Jesus, when he rose from the grave, still had scars—like our heroes. His scars were visible proof of the violence he had suffered and the forgiveness he had given.

Catherine writes on page 264, “When God raised this man, Jesus Christ, from the dead, he didn’t take away his scars. These scars testify to his pain, to his love, and to the extent to which God will go to conquer the evil of the world through the active suffering of forgiveness.”

There are scars in my life—real ones that have changed me and people I love. My daughter was sexually abused as an MK—though healed and whole, she isn’t the same person she would have been if this had never happened. I struggle with forgiveness—doing much better when the scars aren’t visible, but when they are rarely apparent, I feel emotions I thought were gone forever. And, I have to confront those feelings, the lies that come with them, and—all over again,seek truth and the ability to forgive.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive others debts…” Please God, help me to forgive. No matter what! I have been forgiven so much—may I always be willing to live in forgiveness with those you have placed in my life.

This is our last week to post on this book. Do you have a transformational forgiveness story of your own to tell? We’d love to hear it and praise our Lord with you. Do you have a story that hasn’t reached forgiveness yet? We’d love to hear it, too—and pray with you.

If those stories aren’t yours, please post how this book has impacted you. Thank you for reading this life-changing book with me. I’ve grown as I’ve read and your comments have been a very important part of my rich experience with, As We Forgive.

NEXT BOOK CLUB: OCTOBER 11...see sidebar for book and ordering info for Caring without Wearing, by Carol Travilla

As We Forgive: Week 6 -- pages 189-231

If you watched me read this book, you would see mixture of expressions—disbelief at the horror, incredulity at the forgiveness, amazement at the redemption. This section had it all—but with amazing courage thrown in.

As we read these pages, we’re introduced to young people who will be confronted with terror, torture and death. We read of their baby steps towards recovery after the killings, and then of the renewed killing that demands courage beyond what I’ve ever had to practice. These kids are heroes! I have so much to learn from them.

After the violence, through God’s call on his life, one of the young men, Phanuel, becomes an ambassador of reconciliation. He often talks to large groups, and young people are his favorite audience. Part of his message to them would be a message fit for anyone who has suffered something that seems unforgiveable. He says, “We must find a way to forgive. I stand before you today as someone who has personally wrestled with this…. The only way that I’ve found, the only way I know to tell you, is through Jesus Christ. Beaten, mocked, despised, tortured, Christ in his final words here on earth called out, pleading for God to forgive the perpetrators. He was pleading for the forgiveness of you, of me, of the people who have hurt our families and our friends…” (Page 223) This powerful passage reminds me that in Christ the unforgiveable sin is forgivable because He already forgave.

I think you will find the reflective passage very helpful. The author shares how “growing empathy, seeing another person in a larger context, rehearsing positive traits, increasing positive interactions and decreasing negative ones, cultivating cultures and characters of forgiveness, and making meaning together to restore relationships can work to maintain the reconciled relationships we have worked so hard to build.” (Page 231) Personally, I find great hope in these well-thought out tools.

As we post this week—and yes, I really want you to post—we need your thoughts, please reflect on your forgiveness journey. Have you ever forgiven an unforgivable? Have you been able to build any kind of relationship with someone who hurt you or those you love? What did that look like? I look forward to reading your posts!

As We Forgive: Week 5 -- Pages 163 - 188

This section opens with the chapter, “Snakes in the Grass,” which has so many meanings. I read this phrase and I think danger—the kind that lurks, sneaks, hides but is determined to hurt, maim or destroy. We talk about bad people being snakes in the grass—hidden, yet threatening our world with their dark plans for destruction or greed. We hunt for snakes in the grass—we want to flush them out and kill them. In this book, the victims are hiding like snakes in the grass while their tormentors are the real snakes in the grass.

As I read today’s news, a little boy has been taken from his school in Portland OR—I would have to guess by a real snake in the grass. If that person is ever found and goes to jail, it will be hard for me, and for most people I guess, to take that label off of him and trust him out in society once he has paid for his crime. We want to know when a sex offender lives in our neighborhoods. We want parole officers to do their job and keep criminals from repeating their crimes—while we never let them forget that they owe us big time. Their debt to society may never be paid because they will always be known by what they did—how they behaved badly—how they brought evil into someone’s life.

In this book, though, I’m confronted over and over again with a different kind of response to evil. Real repentance! Real forgiveness! Sometimes one comes first and then the other follows. But, not always. Devota’s incredibly story is told in this section. We learn of her amazing strength and God’s amazing care for her even as her two children are killed. And, in Devota, we learn new lessons of forgiveness and healing. As she extends grace and mercy with forgiveness, men who killed respond with questions: “How can this be when we behaved like such animals?” “Who are these people?” when Devota told them people were ready to forgive. And, others simply saying, “Thank you, thank you. God is merciful.”

I am thankful this section ends with some very practical steps to facilitating healing and forgiveness. I’m wondering if we can post about those steps this week.

• Have you ever practiced any of them?
• What were your results? Which ones look feasible to you?
• Do you know of situations where you could apply these steps?

Please share your experiences of reconciliation with us this week.

As We Forgive: Week 4--Pages 132 - 162

Jesus knew incredible, real, physical pain causing grief—the kind that rips you on the inside so you sweat drops of blood. The people in Rwanda knew this kind of grief, too. For so many reasons, grief glazed over eyes and built walls around hearts. Monique’s story stands out for the terror she experienced for herself, her husband and her four children. I can’t imagine being able to contain my fear if I would have been in her place, living her suspense, horror filled drama.

The heart of darkness is introduced in these pages as one of this book’s themes. Evil seeks to rob us of hope, faith and love. Have you ever lived with a fear that robbed you of these life essentials? What does fear do to you today? Are you impacted by fear? What does that look like—where does it show up? And, more importantly, how do you deal with fear so that its evil doesn’t rob you?

Life has taught us many lessons about grief, fear, evil—our relationship with God has brought us faith, hope, trust, and love. A question for me to consider this week is where do I live—in fear and grief with evil robbing me, or with hope, faith, trust and love.

Like always, I look forward to reading your comments. Please take time to post your thoughts!

As We Forgive: Week 3--Pages 94 - 131

Chantel’s story starts with a celebration. Wearing a new white dress her father had given her for her Confirmation and First Communion, she whirls on the hillside with her father watching her dance. The dress and her world spin around her and joy in the moment and beauty of the day take her breath away. To make her day completely special, John, a Hutu neighbor, was hosting a party in her honor. It was unthinkable that John--a man her father drank beers with--would one day brutally kill the man he stood with that day while they both enjoyed a little girl’s joy spilling over into dance.

This story is so sad—I struggle to understand how neighbors can enjoy meals together and then kill each other. It is also amazing to me how thorough the brainwashing was that somehow made it OK. John felt great guilt at killing Chantel’s father, and hid so he’d never be forced to kill someone else. But it wasn’t till the preachers began to come to the prison that John understood the depth of the evil he had done(page111). Crying out to God for forgiveness, he wondered if Chantell would ever be able to forgive him.

These pages tell the story of transformation—change that took these very real people into a hell we can’t imagine, and then brought them out again. They also tell the story of Pascal—a man God called to the mission of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is amazing what God was able to do through this faithful and obedient man. We’ve seen people like him in the preceding pages and more will come later in the book.

But, what I want to stress right now is that God used a very humble man to do incredible things for Him; however, the path was extremely hard. Who in their right mind would have accepted this assignment, moved their family to such a troubled nation, and walked into prisons and talked to people who had skinned their neighbors, raped their friends, brutally murdered children. Pascal. Amazing.

Can you identify in some way with Pascal?

Is God asking you to do something hard right now? Or, has He in the past?

Do you see how He is using you in a very ugly setting?

Let’s tell those stories this week as we post. Not to brag, or to be proud—but to rejoice that God invites us to partner with Him in His redemption/transforming work in this world.

As We Forgive: Week 2--Page 60-93

I don’t like scary movies or adventurous rides at the fair. My life holds plenty of drama and I don’t need anything else to force me to the edge of my chair or to put fear in my stomach. I don’t like being afraid—it is one of my besetting sins—one I often confess. With God’s help, I’m being transformed into someone more courageous—someone who is learning boldness. Still, I don’t know if I could watch a movie of these pages, let alone live them or relive them over and over again. I can’t imagine being Joy—living and reliving her life over and over again…

Joy was a little girl when violence broke out and neighbors killed her father and then hunted for her, her sisters and her mother. In that violence, many things broke for each of them, including the neighbors. Joy’s world fell apart—even when she was “safe,” she wasn’t. Her memories were tearing her apart and teaching her hatred, while her orphanage’s lack of food, kindness and its culture of meanness continued to reinforce her conclusions about life, adults, safety, and family.

I have to believe God never left this little girl’s world. The machete and the violence didn’t trample out His church or His people or His Holy Spirit’s power to move people into situations of reconciliation that they could not have imagined. As we read and then comment this week, please tell us where you saw God in Joy’s life—in the lives of the other people who populate her story.

Do you have experiences in your history that mirror what you see in Joy’s life?

What do you think of the steps to forgiveness that are presented in the interlude?

Do you have your own healing path of forgiveness?

Take a look at the questions on page 93. Would you like to answer any of them for us? Your thoughts are important to our discussion—please comment, OK?

As We Forgive: Week One--Pages 9-59

As We Forgive by Catherine Claire Larson

Welcome to the WOTH Book Club Blog. I’m so glad you are reading As We Forgive with us. I hope that each one who reads with us will take time to invest in this group by commenting each week. We will be a better book club because of the insights and lessons you share. May I please urge you to comment? The comments that were made during our last read really encouraged me and taught me to see things I would have missed on my own. Plus, I loved that we could pray for each other as we talked about different topics the book brought up. So, again—please share yourself with this book club. We’ll be better because of you! (If you have any trouble commenting, please email Cindy at: editor@womenoftheharvest.com)

This isn’t a light read—it isn’t a book you want to lull you to sleep at night. If you read it right before bed, your dreams may be filled with images too horrible to imagine as you read the words in black and white. This is an important read, though. It shows us the horror that people just like you and me faced when neighbors and friends became fearful enemies and family members were killed with violence we really can’t fathom. What makes this book important for us to read, though, are the redemption stories of forgiveness, mercy and grace that transform those who suffered from this violence—both those who held the machetes and those who saw their lives destroyed from that sharp blade’s destruction.

I first read this book over a year ago and could hardly put it down as the stories captured my heart with their incredible sadness and the amazing hope they offered. Now, reading it for the second time, I’m compelled to read it with more respect—the first rush read has been replaced with a solemn pace—and I have to take breaks away from the intense emotions these pages bring to my heart.

As I read, I’m pondering forgiveness in a whole new light—a light that shines where you would think it could never, ever in a million years shine. It shines from the mother, widow, dad, and son. It shines from the ones forgiven—and the ones facilitating the process. I’m reading this book in early June, when the oil spill has passed people’s patience limit and hateful words are spewing thicker than the oil is coating the marshlands. I’m reading while people are irate about what just happened in Gaza with the relief flotilla that was stopped by Israel. N Korea is making threats of war, the war on terror is still droning on producing more people who will have reasons to hate. Forgiveness in this world seems like a lost ideal. But, the people of Rwanda offer hope that from the darkest of evil, relationships can be reconciled through forgiveness, mercy and grace.

This book will teach us about forgiveness. And, my hope is that we’ll learn how to offer, practice, and receive it in new, deeper ways. I really can’t say, “Happy reading.” This just isn’t that kind of book. But, I do welcome you to this study. I believe our lives will be forever changed if we’re willing to learn new lessons in forgiveness from people who had so much to forgive—so much to be forgiven.

For our first week, please read pages 9-59. You’ll find questions for reflection on page 59 and you may want to comment on one or more of them. Or, you may have your own response to this chapter. I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Next Book Club Starts August 16

Here's what one Book Club reader had to say about participating with Linda and reading Gilead:

"This book has been so rich. I'm glad that we have some time before the next book because I am still processing Gilead, and will be doing so in the next several weeks! Thank you again, Linda. This isn't a book that I would have thought to read (I hadn't even heard of it!), but am so happy to have read it!"

The next thought-provoking and timely book discussion starts on August 16.

Don't miss it!!! Plenty of time to order from Inklings Bookshop @ 30% off...see sidebar for details.

Next Book: As We Forgive, Catherine Claire Larson.

Based on personal interviews and thorough research, As We Forgive returns to the boundary lines of genocide’s wounds and traces the route of reconciliation in the lives of Rwandans—victims, widows, orphans, and perpetrators—whose past and future intersect. We find in these stories how suffering, memory, and identity set up roadblocks to forgiveness, while mediation, truth-telling, restitution, and interdependence create bridges to healing. The result is a narrative that breathes with humanity and is as haunting as it is hopeful.

Gilead: Week 6 - pages 191 to the end

This section of our reading takes us to the end of the first chapter of this book and through to end of the 2nd, which is also the last chapter. And while we read, the author revisits all of his relationships—from his love of Gilead, his complicated relationships with his grandfather, father, and brother, to his oldest and dearest friend and that friend’s son, his first and second wives, his first and second children. We see life celebrated, pondered and understood in new ways. As we read, John wrestles with himself, and looks again at doctrine, belief, loyalty, love and family. He sees himself as honestly as he can, and he uses his writings as a mirror to capture the truth and as a picture to frame that truth.

As I neared the end of the book, I felt sadness to say good-bye to John, this pastor, husband, father, friend, son and grandson—gentleman. He has taught me many lessons and some came in the closing pages.

“If you want to inform yourselves as to the nature of hell, don’t hold your hand in a candle flame, just ponder the meanest, most desolate place in your soul.”

“Let’s just be honest with each other for five minutes.”

“But dishonesty is dishonesty, a humiliating thing to be caught at.”

“And what purpose is a prophet except to find meaning in trouble?"

“There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient.”

I loved the redemption of the hand on the boy’s brow, the honesty of imperfect relationships and broken lives lived with hope and yearned for with love. I find myself grieving for a son who will have to get to know his father through his father’s writings, and thankful that his father wrote so honestly, so well, turning phrases into word pictures to introduce his son to himself, to his family history, to the mysteries of faith and to God.

This is our last week to post our thoughts about Gilead. How would you sum up the impact of this book on you? What lessons do you take away from a life so honestly written about? Thanks for reading with me. Thanks for posting. I have enjoyed your companionship while reading this very special book.

[Editor's note: I had the privilege of meeting with Linda, in person, at the WOTH Furlough Retreat four days ago. What a heart she has for you all! We set the date for the next Book Club to start on August 16 with the book, As We Forgive. (See sidebar.)]

Gilead: Week 5 - Pages 141-190

Doctrine and theology take center stage in this longer section, but the real content is relationships—the difficult ones that make us less than we want to be. Those messy relationships are the ones where we respond with less love, forgiveness, grace, mercy and graciousness then we expect. Sometimes, when I’ve been in those awkward places, the walls of my heart have gone up without a conscious thought on my part, and hardness and coldness have crept in where hurt and disappointment were still setting the mood.

In this section, we learn why John doesn’t like Jack and why he struggles to forgive him—to trust him. Page 164: “Or say at least that harm to me was probably never a primary object in any of the things he got up to. That one man should lose his child and the next man should just squander his fatherhood as if it were nothing—well, that does not mean the second man has transgressed against the first. I don’t forgive him. I wouldn’t know where to begin.” Now we know why the relationship isn’t working—and we can see the depth of the pain goes incredibly deep. Recognizing his heart’s turmoil, John says without much hope (on page 179), “I do hope to die with a quiet heart. I know that may not be realistic.”

Relationships gone awry do not lend us peace. Our hearts mourn, wrestle, relive, and seek solutions for the differences, the difficulties, the problems our broken relationships present. Like John, we may wrestle and even believe the worst (bottom of page 188). When John wrestles, he finds that what he assumed to be true wasn’t—and he is glad he faced his wretchedness and found that his conclusions weren’t based on reality. “Because now I realize it isn’t true. And that is a great relief to me.”

Have you ever wrestled with ugliness and found buried treasure—truth that surprised you?

Let’s share our stores of God’s redemptive, transformative power in our lives when we post this week. I’m excited to read what you have to share. And—BTW—didn’t you just love his thoughts on persuasion, doctrine, theology? You may not agree with all he said, but, his points are very well made. I appreciate his candor and his authenticity. And, the wisdom in this sentence is something to rejoice in, “If the Lord chooses to make nothing of our transgressions, than they are nothing….”

Lots to ponder there...

Gilead: Week 4 - Pages 116-141

Memories are a recurrent theme in Gilead. And, often, they are general memories or impressions. Like the one on page 117, “Children seem to think every pleasant thing has to be a surprise,” which paints a picture I recognize from my own childhood and from my children. “Wait, wait! Don’t look yet! We have to get it ready!” Such fun memories! But many of John’s thoughts center on death, or on difficult relationships. That’s why I found two passages in this section to be very intriguing.

At the top of page 124, we read the wisdom of John’s father and grandfather passed down to him. “When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you. So you must think, What is the Lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation?” And, on page 126, he offers another choice we get to make. “I have decided the two choices open to me are (1) to torment myself or (2) to trust the Lord.” Both of these questions ask us to look at our hearts—do we trust that God is in the moment? Do we trust that He is working in discomfort?

Right now, my life is full of opportunities to ask these two questions and seeing them in black letters on white paper has stopped me in my daily drift and reminded me to be more purposeful in how I receive the events/news of each day. John ends this section on page 141 with the words, “The fact is, I don’t want to be old (I identify with that though I’m not old like he is) and I certainly don’t want to be dead.” I don’t either! But I can often say I don’t want to be lonely, far from family, without my community, or waiting for answers/direction/guidance. In those words, in the moments when I want to speak those words, I get to choose—will I trust the Lord or will I torment myself. Will I ask what is God asking of me right now, or will that teachable moment be lost? I hope I will choose to trust and learn.

Yesterday in church, my husband, who happens to be my pastor, spoke from the passage in Luke 14:26-27. This is a very hard passage for me to read, to understand. During his sermon, my husband explained that this teaching is more about comparison—I love God so much it is as if I hate my family. God isn’t asking me to despise them—in fact, He commands me to love them, to honor them. But, He is asking me to have no greater priority than Him. So as I live far away from family, I have a choice—to love Him first above all else and to trust Him with my family, with the dramas I’m not there to help with, with the separation I find so hard. I get to ask Him, what are You asking of me in this situation—and then I get to wait for Him to teach me as I trust Him.

What are you asking God to show you? Where is it imperative that you learn to trust Him more? I’d love to read your thoughts on those questions this week. I look forward to reading your posts!

Gilead: Week 3 - Pages 72-115

A friend’s daughter gave birth this morning. We’ve known each other since our college days, had our first two children within months of each other and somehow managed to match their gender to each other—boys first, followed by girls. Her children have been able to have one child each—my children have struggled with infertility. Our stories are the same and yet different. In these pages, John weaves his best friend’s story into his own—and their stories are different. John lost his first wife and child while his friend, Boughton, had four children and a home that seemed full of love. But, both homes knew sorrow and heartache. Their stories were different yet they each knew grief and sorrow. In past pages we’ve seen divisions—a family divided from a grandfather and from a son. Beliefs and perspectives led to relational conflicts and separation. Now, we begin to see that trend in another family’s home.

I have to admit our family has known heartache and separation. A brother went AWOL when his wife struggled with alcohol. For over 10 years, we didn’t get to be with them, hear from them, or know their 3 boys. That was amazingly tough. And, my own children, for perfectly healthy and good reasons, live far away from us—our daughter and her husband are in Taipei, and our son, his wife and our grandson (special delivery adoption) live in Chicago. (We’re in CA) We miss them—and I find myself wanting to know the details of their lives while wishing they could know mine. There are probably countless paths to separation from family and longing for them. Have you walked down any? Are you there now?

Besides family dysfunction, appearance also shows up as a theme in this section. How things appear to us—how we see them, our concern for what we see or how we’re seen. “It is the kind of thing that might appear to have no value at all.” (pg 91) I’d love to hear your thoughts on sight-- both as we see and as we’re seen, and appearance—have you ever been taken in by appearance only to learn later the true value, the true meaning of what you were seeing?

Please share these stories on our blog this week. I look forward to reading your thoughts. As we read, and learn—we can enrich each other’s lives as we share. Thank you for taking time to interact with us—your fellow blog readers!

Gilead: Week 2 — Pages 44-71

Have you had a “dark time” in your life? Or known loneliness that goes deep—all the way deep? “My own dark time, as I call it, the time of my loneliness, was most of my life, as I have said, and I can’t make any real account of myself without speaking of it.” This authentic confession is made on paper to a son our author is already lonely for—a son he may not live to see grow up—a son he wishes he could know and be known by. The phrase, “was most of my life…”

I’ve known loneliness before—our first term in Venezuela, subsequent moves that made me the new one, the outsider. It seems like our pastor, the hero of our book, somehow made peace with his loneliness, learning to live most of his life lonely. That wouldn’t be my first choice! For this husband, father, pastor, friend, the seasons passed, baseball was played and listened to on a radio that sometimes received a strong signal, people came to talk to him and he listened. And, now, in writing this book, it as if he is asking to be listened to—asking for someone to take the time to hear his memories, and understand his heart.

He weaves his thoughts together as if he is showing us the fabric of his life. And, in doing so, he writes of baseball, his grandfather, a seashell, heaven, snippets of sermons and thoughts about communion. He ends this section with these words, “ If you remember me at all, you may find me explained a little by what I’m telling you…I hope you will understand that when I speak of the long night that preceded these days of my happiness, I do not remember grief and loneliness so much as I do peace and comfort—grief but never without comfort; loneliness, but never without peace. Almost never.”

This week, please write about the lonely times in your life and how you lived them—or how you are living them. How would you describe your loneliness—how do you, did you, pass the lonely days? Are you, were you comforted, filled with peace? What helps when we are lonely?

Two last questions for our comments: is there someone you wish you could be known by? How can you share yourself with that person?

I hope you write—I’m looking forward to learning from you.

Gilead: Week 1- Pages 3-43

“I told you last night that I might be gone sometime and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Lord God, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I’m old, and you said, I don’t think you’re old. And you put your hand in my hand and you said, You aren’t very old, as if that settled it.”

Clear and concise, the first sentence introduces us, the readers, to the world of a pastor who married late and had a little boy. This book is his farewell to his son as well as his way of introducing himself to his boy. He doesn’t want to be forgotten, to not be known. And, that is probably why this book fits my soul. I want to be known, too. Most people do.

How would you pass on a life time of observations and learning to your child if you thought you might not be there to raise the one you love so much? How would I teach about anger, work, and attitudes as well as pass on family history and legends? You might write a book. Like this one that recounts so much while striving to teach, inspire, lead and guide from the grave.
Our story-teller, the pastor, husband, father, friend, seems to skip randomly from subject to subject as he tells bits and pieces his upbringing, his work, his philosophy of life. He tells of traveling in dust-bowl mid-America with his father to find his grandfather’s grave, of marrying young and experiencing death too close and personal. He critiques his sermons, “Sifting my thoughts and choosing my words. Trying to say what was true,” and confesses to cat baptisms and a brother who walked away from family and faith.

I grew up a PK and I raised MKs. I see myself over and over again in these pages—in the poverty, in the scrutiny of the community, of not always knowing how to teach what I want to pass on. I love how Marilynne Robinson writes—spare, clean, eloquent. If I was to grow up and be a writer, I’d like to be just like her.

In our posts this week, let’s share our first impressions of this book—Do you like it? Why? Does it say anything to you? What? I can’t wait to read your responses. And, may I just say—our book club will be as rich as each of us post—it will take all of us to make it great. So, please, post your thoughts—you will enrich us!

Next Book Club starts: Monday, June 7

Book: Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

ORDER @ INKLINGS BOOKSTORE for a 30% Discount: see sidebar for details.

See you back here on June 7. It is a great book. Hope to have you reading with me!

Cries of the Heart: The Cry of God for His People

The surprise ending of this book takes us to the subject Ravi says connects the cry of God’s heart with all the cries of our hearts—Worship. Such a controversial subject—a subject that has divided churches and caused church people to de-church. But, that is the narrow aspect of worship. Worship can enrich every aspect of our lives—every activity, every encounter, every motive, every purpose. Worship can transform our lives and give us tools and means to live our faith well.

Satisfy My Thirsty Soul, by Linda Dillow is a wonderful book on worship. I read it twice last year—I’m a slow but steady learner! One of the important concepts Linda discusses in her book is repeated here in Ravi’s. If we live without authentic worship, if we live with "shoulds" and "oughts" and acts of worship that don’t come from our heart but are preformed robotically, then we become weary in our faith and we lose the joy of our salvation. Ravi teaches that our cries to know God, to feel our faith, to understand and know how to live with suffering, guilt, pleasure and loneliness, are met when we truly meet the cry of God’s heart and worship Him.

As I process this week’s reading, I’m going to be very curious to see if you agree with Ravi in his assertion that worship is the consummate answer to the cries of our heart. He says, “Our cries meet up with the cry of God’s heart for His people—for that is what He seeks for us.” Please blog your response and how it will impact your life with God—your worship of Him.

This is our last week to study this book together. Thank you for making the journey with me. I’ve been challenged by our reading and the Holy Spirit has used Ravi’s writings to help me understand and live my faith in new ways. I hope you’ve been encouraged also. May God richly bless each of us as we learn how to worship Him in deeper ways in each area of our lives!

[Editor's Note: Next book, Gilead, starts June 7. See sidebar for book ordering details (30% discount!) See you in June!]

Cries of the Heart: The Cry of a Lonely Heart

I read this week’s chapter as a woman who has struggled with loneliness in several different settings. Language school was a lonely time as I learned to live in Latin America with my husband and two babies. No one else from our mission was there, and while we built friendships, it seemed we were just getting close and comfortable with a few people when it was time to move to Venezuela. And, once there, I was again lonely.

As missionaries in a declared Catholic town, we weren’t allowed to attend church. Our town was very isolated—people traveled by river or by the expensive, once-a-day flight to the capitol. All strangers were suspect—including Venezuelans from different parts of the country. Over the years we made great friends, but those first years were lonely as my husband was away long hours each day flying for missionaries living in the jungle while I was at home with babies and the HF radio to keep in touch with the pilots with no car, no phone, and no neighbors.

Those early years of loneliness taught me many lessons—lessons I’ve learned a lot more than once! And, now, many years later, we’re on the move again and I’m facing that same loneliness. I miss having familiar faces in my life, knowing my community, living near friends and family. Even as I write this I know we’re moving again—I just don’t know when or where. Life is changing again.

The lessons I’ve learned have been rich, and sometimes, time and place specific. Sometimes the lessons have had to be repeated, but often God has had new things for me to learn. Ravi’s lesson on loneliness includes concepts I’ve never before considered, like, “Our experience of loneliness is universal, and love alone is not the answer. There is a ‘beyond’ in all of us that love does not satisfy.” As I’ve thought about that sentence, I think it explains some of my loneliness.

This may be our deepest chapter to read yet.

I know the concepts tended to fly over my head as I read and I needed soak time to consider if what Ravi wrote made sense to me. With time, I think I’ve come to understand what he is saying. This week, as you write your response on our blog, instead of just responding to what Ravi writes about, would you be willing to write about a lonely episode in your own life and the lessons you learned during that time? We’d find your insights helpful.

And, if you are dealing with loneliness right now, maybe you’d like to pose a question for us. We can prayerfully respond to each other and hopefully be an encouragement to one another.

Cries of the Heart: The Cry for Freedom in Pleasure

Honestly, this isn’t my favorite chapter in our study.

Pleasure seems to be something the church hasn’t known how to deal with or teach—and I’ve been strangely OK with that. I’m a bit of a serious person—maybe that is why I’ve not struggled with pleasure the way I’ve wrestled with pain and suffering. But, taking time to consider where pleasure fits into God’s heart for us is important and worth the time it takes to dig into and honestly think about pleasure.

A question that Ravi poses at the first of this chapter captured my attention. “Is it not also instructive of our bias that society popularly brands all tragedies as ‘acts of God’ but fails to attribute equal credit when we enjoy something good?” At this point, Ravi has my attention because this is an observation I can agree with. He goes on to share 3 principles and 3 applications about pleasure in this chapter. And that is what I’d like us to focus on this week as we read. Please choose one of the principles and one of the applications to write your comments about. It can be that you agree or disagree with him—or you can see ways to apply his points in your life.

I’m looking forward to re-reading this chapter and considering how I can grow in my understanding of pleasure. Your comments will be very instructive and helpful for me—I hope to hear from you!

Cries of the Heart: The Cry of a Guilty Conscience

Chapter 4: The Cry of a Guilty Conscience

This chapter stirred my heart as I read of six different ways people deal with their guilt. Except for the last, these mechanisms are useless and add pain to our lives. Only the last way of surrendering our guilt to God’s grace can bring the freedom from guilt and sin that we so desperately need. But, it is sad to realize that we often default to irreverence, pride, fear, devalue it from a cultural perspective, or declare ourselves innocent. What bondage and pain we endure when we don’t bring our guilt to our Savior.

Which makes me ask the hard question—how do I deal with guilt? What do I do with my short-comings, weaknesses, sins? Do I treat them differently? Are some given readily to God and others explained away, or made excuses for? Do I justify, cover up, minimize? I’m afraid I have tendencies to do each of these.

In this Easter season when we remember our Lord’s death and resurrection, it seems so sad to me that my response to my sin sometimes ignores the incredible painful price He paid for my sin. Ravi says, “Only in the admission of sin is there a genuine restoration, because guilt is first a vertical problem before it is a horizontal one. God is the one who has been violated before humanity has been wronged.”

He also says, “I have a Savior for you. He went to the cross to carry that penalty and pay our price. It was not cheap; it was God’s priceless gift of His Son to bear the guilt brought by the sin of the world.”

We have been so blessed by Christ’s death—by the price He paid. As followers of Christ, we believe He died for our sins and rose again. But, sometimes, in the blush of realizing our guilt in daily sins, we don’t live what we believe—at least I don’t always live this truth.

So my questions for us this week are:

• How do you respond to your guilt? The past guilt? The present, daily guilt?


• How do you live every day as a person set free from death to life? Or, do you?


• What helps you respond with humility and acceptance of God’s grace when confronted with guilt?

I look forward to letting the Holy Spirit search my heart this week and writing my response on our blog. I hope you’ll be posting your thoughts there, too.

As I close, I offer this prayer for us:

Dear Forgiving God, who with unimaginable sacrifice paid for all the sins of the world—and all of ours, please help us to realize when our pride refuses your forgiveness for whatever reason. Please help us to turn to you in humility and genuine repentance to receive your grace, mercy and forgiveness. Help us to see the times we ignore, hide, minimize, trivialize, or justify our guilt and free us from those prisons. We love you, our amazing Heavenly Father, our generous and loving Savior, our faithful Teacher and Comforter.
Amen.

Cries of the Heart: The Cry for a Reason in Suffering

Chapter 3: The Cry for a Reason in Suffering

Suffering has hit me hard in life. My father was very ill and died when I was a child. Living overseas with poverty on my street showed me suffering I’d never seen in my stateside neighborhoods. Our family went through different traumas while overseas, including our daughter being sexually abused. I’ve had several serious health challenges. My trips to Thailand, Mexico and Ghana this year have given me opportunities to hear horror stories of women and children being used as sexual slaves. Examples from DRC, Darfur, Afghanistan, and Nigeria crowd the news of unimaginable tragedies.

Your list of sufferings may even be longer than mine. Suffering confronts us everywhere—it is something we dread, try to avoid and struggle to explain. When Ravi addresses this topic in chapter 3, he starts with a quick lesson about suffering from a philosophical perspective. Then, he dives into Job—the Biblical Poster Person for suffering.

G.K. Chesterton is quoted in this chapter. What he says is reminiscent of what Peter said to Jesus after many of His followers abandoned Him. “When belief in God becomes difficult, the tendency is to turn away from Him; but in heaven’s name to what? “ Peter said it this way, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We've already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God." (The Message, John 6: 68-69)

How is your faith in God impacted when life is difficult—when suffering makes belief seem impossible? As you read chapter 3, please be honest with yourself about the suffering you’ve experienced or witnessed. What are the real questions suffering has raised for you?

May I give you a head’s up? Ravi’s explanation of God’s work in Job’s life is one of the best I’ve ever heard. I love how Ravi describes how Job’s faith grows from knowing God as Creator and Designer, to Revealer, Comforter, Mediator and Savior, Strengthener and Restorer. Job started his journey focused on himself—his character and purity. By the end of the book, he’d come to know and understand God much better and was now focused on His character.

Please pay extra attention to the conclusion of this chapter where Ravi notes four extremely important and encouraging truths about suffering we’re able to learn from Job. I hope you find them as helpful and insightful as I did.

I look forward to reading your comments on this chapter.

Cries of the Heart: The Cry to Feel My Faith

Last night was a sleepless night for me triggered by an emotional day yesterday. Life felt “too.” Too serious, too overwhelming, with too many prayer requests, too much to do, too many concerns. My heart was focused on problems and challenges, heart aches and people in pain. And, though I prayed and processed my pain, I obviously wasn’t done since part of the night was dedicated to more honest prayer and wrestling with my Heavenly Father.

Knowing how I feel and why I am emotional is important. But, more important—I need to know God’s truth about Himself and me when I’m faced with life out of control. In this chapter, Ravi asks, “How may we blend knowledge of the truth with a proportionate feeling so that we will lead our emotions rather than being guided by them?”

I’ve already read this chapter two times and it is highlighted in multiple places with two brilliant colors. So much of it confronted my emotional lifestyle. Ravi isn’t just dealing with emotions in this chapter—he is teaching about our emotional response to God when we don’t feel His presence, when we don’t feel connected to our faith, when our Christian life isn’t making sense. He says, “And if our feelings regarding our physical well-being are so important to reckon with, how much more important it is that those same feelings be informed when struggling with the nearness or remoteness of God. Feelings on such a matter become life-defining. The imperative is obvious. We must know what is real so that we might base our feelings on what is true."

As you read, notice what Ravi says we need to understand about the emotional baggage we bring into our relationship with God. Do you recognize anything you carried into your relationship with Him?

Notice, too, the languages we should be cultivating to have healthy emotional processes with God. Are you strong in any of those languages—are any of them growth areas for you?Ravi’s conclusion in this chapter probably spoke the strongest to me. How do you respond to his challenge? I’ll be posting my response with you. I look forward to reading what you have to say. Again, I ask you to contribute—our book club will be great if each of us shares our thoughts.

Cries of the Heart: Intro & Chapter One

Do you have a favorite place to sit when you are reading a good book? Are you looking forward to retreating to that spot with our book club choice, Cries of the Heart, by Ravi Zacharias? I don’t think you will be disappointed as you dig into this book—though I have to admit this isn’t a light read. Ravi is a philosopher, and though he writes for the average lay person, his concepts take some deep thinking on his readers’ part. I hope you’ll agree with me when I say mining this book is worth the effort required.

You will need to allow at least two hours to complete our first assignment which is to read the Introduction and Chapter One. I probably took twice that time—I needed soak time to grasp what Ravi was communicating. The subject of Ravi’s first chapter is God—defining who God is.

As I read this book, I can’t help but wonder if it was taken from a series of sermons. The book reads as if it was spoken, not written. In Chapter One, historical, philosophical, and biblical accounts of who God is lend depth to our reading, but also help us realize man’s search for who God is has taken him in many directions, to various conclusions. Ravi uses history, philosophy, sociology and even theology to show us how little we understand God—the weaknesses of man’s approaches to discover who God is. Isn’t this what we struggle with when we try to understand God? I greatly appreciate our author’s honesty and the conclusions he presents.

I wonder, will you agree with Ravi’s conclusions?

That is what I’d like you to blog about this week as we discuss chapter one of this great book. How does Jehoshapat’s prayer help us understand who God is? What do his questions teach us in our search to know God?

I look forward to blogging with you and reading your responses. And, that brings me to this—if you are reading this book with me, please don’t sit in the blog’s shadows without a voice. Your thoughts are important to our discussion and this blog will be as good as each of our contributions. Please write—please comment—please let us hear from you.

Read the Book and Join Us!

Something New for You: Women of the Harvest will be launching this blog on Monday, April 5.

The WOTH Book Club Blog will be a place of community where women serving cross-culturally will gather to read and discuss great books--fiction and non-fiction, Christian and secular--with other cross-cultural women. Participants will be exposed to new authors, stories and concepts while reading writers who think like us and others who may disagree with us. Readers will be challenged to think, consider, and find words to respond to new thoughts, disagreeable conclusions, and age old dilemmas staged in new scenes. There will be content to wrestle with, to laugh about, to ponder, and hopefully, growth in understanding the world around us and how God would have us respond to it.

Linda Swanson will be our host and moderator.

Linda served as a cross-cultural worker for 28 years with MAF, both overseas and at headquarters. During eight of those years, she helped direct Fairhaven Ministries, a retreat center for pastors and workers. Now, Linda serves as Executive Assistant to the President and Coordinator of Communities for Link Care Center, a counseling ministry for workers and pastors in Fresno, CA. Linda’s husband, Kevin, is a pastor of a Covenant Church in Murphys, CA. Their two children are married, and they have one grandson. Linda is a speaker, writer, spiritual director and loves hiking, canoeing and learning to paint.

From Linda:
Hi to all! I would like to choose Cries of the Heart, by Ravi Zacharias for our first book. From the back cover:

*A dream job.
*Beautiful kids.
*The best marriage.

*And a growing feeling of absolute emptiness...

In Cries of the Heart, Ravi Zacharias explores the inner feeling of futility that can overwhelm a human heart and help us to:

*See a reason in our suffering
*Ease our guilty consciences
*Find freedom in pleasure
*Be comforted in our loneliness
*Truly know God
*Experience an abiding faith in our daily lives

This is a book that both inspires and reassures... a search that uncovers our hidden sentiments and reveals God's continual, inescapable presence in every moment of our lives... a journey that ends in the consummate answer to the cries of the heart.

This book club offering will cover 8 weeks, with week 1 being introduction to the 7 chapters.