BOOK REVIEW: The Women of Christmas

The Women of Christmas: Experience the Season Afresh with Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna, by beloved author Liz Curtis Higgs, is a beautiful addition to any Christmas preparation in your home. Taking the verses in Luke apart a few at a time, Higgs leads us through close up looks at these three women so instrumental in the life of our Savior as He made His earthly appearance in Israel. We look at Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and the beautiful grace visited upon a barren older woman. We look at Mary and her simple faith that defied the social stigma she surely faced. And we look at Anna, an intensely devoted elderly woman who was spiritually ravenous for a glimpse of her promised Messiah.

I particularly like the conversational tone Higgs takes through the book. A group of us could be gathered for a home Bible study around her as she reads a few verses and then expounds on them, bringing forth our thoughts on the things she brings up. Most of all, I like how she weaves many different translations into her descriptions of the scenes, making them part of her commentary. I personally like to look at different translations of the Bible in my reading, so this was a special treat.

My favorite character as described by Higgs is Anna, a woman "always in a praying frame" and with a "strangely expectant faith." She's basically who I want to be when I grow up!

I would recommend this book be kept on the coffee table during Christmas season for devotional use, or that you purpose to read it through fresh each year. Liz Curtis Higgs' website is here, and if you'd like to read the first chapter of the book you can do so here. While you are visiting her site, take a look at the many other books she has written: nonfiction, contemporary and historical fiction, and even childrens' books. I was blessed to receive a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.

Lunch with the "greatest generation"

Yesterday I got to go to lunch with the "greatest generation."

Wikipedia defines the greatest generation as "a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home front made a decisive material contribution to the war effort, for which the generation is also termed the G.I. Generation."

The "greatest generation" is simply characterized by Americans who just epitomize so much of what is good about our country: common sense, faith, perseverance. It's my parents' generation.

Every year my mother in law invites me to the Christmas luncheon for retirees from the company she worked for for so many years. A defense contractor, this company backed the war effort...and then the space effort. My MIL helped put together some of the Apollo spacecraft (we sometimes joke that she's the reason Apollo 13 had such a bad couple of days....). That's her on the right. She's so cute.

The room was filled with over 300 men and women from one of our country's strongest times, laughing and talking, clearly glad to catch up with each other once again. I just sat and listened to the conversations at my table and those adjacent. My MIL was busy catching up herself. She was so animated as she pointed out people to me and told me how long each had worked for the company. 

No one consulted cell phones while talking to others at their tables. No one was distracted by tweeting or status updating. (That's not to say no one in the room has Facebooks; they just knew the proper etiquette for personal conversations). People all around the room were reminiscing; they wanted real connection with old friends, not status updates. Some were ballroom dancing as the band played instrumental classics. My MIL pointed out to me a couple on the dance floor that has been married 60 years. Precious. 

As lunch was served, the company choir came out to sing. This was the best part of the day. For fully 45 minutes, these people sang Christmas carols so beautiful, they reflected months of practice. The first half were all JESUS Christmas carols, and guess what? No one was offended! No one stood up and walked out! I looked around the room and felt REAL CHRISTMAS. I saw it on the faces of people in the room whose lives were founded in a time when there was no such thing as politically correct. Even if you didn't believe in God in the 1950s, you understood that most people did, and that Christianity was the plumb line for the country. It brought back so many good memories of my own childhood Christmases. I had to take a picture of them. 

Although I didn't know more than a few people at this event, it left a mark on me for the rest of the day. I felt like I had taken a step back to a better time...one which I am so afraid is almost gone from this country. My MIL kept saying, "So much less people this year. So many have died." What's going to happen when this generation is gone? Well, I guess it's up to us who have the echo of this greatest generation in our hearts, to stand up and be the next remnant of common sense, faith, perseverance. Lord, help us to keep these things alive. They matter. 

"Thus says the Lord:

“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV

BOOK REVIEW: Prototype

Prototype, by Jonathan Martin, is a book you want to read if you are feeling kinda beat up and burned out in your walk as a Christian. Starting with a description of when he first really had a sense of just being alone and comfortable with God--as a boy on his bike--Martin moves through how life's tug of war on our hearts and souls can leave us overwhelmed and fried. We forget that we are beloved of God, but by looking at Jesus, who was told by the Father that He was His "beloved" Son, we can see that we, like Jesus, are so loved. We are called. Like Jesus, we get wounds. We come to places in our spiritual lives that look like resurrection. We learn how to celebrate the sacraments--not rituals, but real connections--as well as how to be in an honest, transparent community of other called and wounded people. And we learn how to show Jesus to other people the way He Himself did.

I am in a point in my walk of faith where I want to just get back to simplicity in my life and my faith. I want to hear God, and quit letting His voice be drowned out by lesser things, so Prototype is one of a few books I've read in the last few months that really resonate with me. We can be really "busy for the Lord" and yet be simply doing stuff out of an empty heart. Probably my two favorite parts of this book were remembering my "girl on the trampoline" experience as a child, where God and I just hung out; and hearing the echo in my soul when Martin writes that we need to get out in the wilderness to be able to hear God again. Because relationship with Jesus is really that simple. For me...and for you.

The book has an epilogue called "Letter to a Ravaged Bride" that speaks the heart of God to a beat up, scruffed up church. It also has a discussion guide which could be used as a four week small group study. Accompanying my free copy of this book from Tyndale Publishers for review purposes was a DVD-driven 8 week study. Each week reviews a chapter in the book and encourages participants to reflect and discuss key concepts.

If I am ever in North Carolina, I'm making a beeline for Martin's church, Renovatus. I like his blog. And if you would like to check out more information on the book itself, go here.