Book Review: Your Story Matters

I've had this book, by Leslie Leyland Fields, highlighted in my Hoopla favorites (a sort of to-be-read notation) for months. I'm so glad I finally picked up Your Story Matters. Only 2-1/2 chapters in, I recommended it to my friend, Beth, who is considering writing a memoir and has asked me to help her. This book will help far more than I can. Indeed, I'd venture to say, she could write her book herself by following the instruction and encouragement provided in Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing, and Living the Truth of Your Life.

Each of us has a story. Every story is meaningful and important. When we share our stories, we impact the lives of others for good. Not only that, we process and live out the truths God is trying to teach us through the paths where He leads. So, this is not only a writing book. It is chock-full of encouragement to give our stories back to the Master and share them with the people around us, with purpose. You may not consider yourself a writer. But Fields insists your story matters, whether it is told in a few pages to a handful of friends or written in a book for the masses.

I loved that she referenced quotes by Fredrick Buechner, from his memoir, Telling Secrets. He writes, "It is precisely through these stories in all the particularity... that God makes himself known to each of us most powerfully and personally. If this is true, it means that to lose track of our stories is to be profoundly impoverished not only humanly but also spiritually." 

Fields emphasizes how words flesh out God's redemptive purposes for our pain and trials: "Often, redemption comes simply by bringing language--which is bringing light--to the silence. Every time we lock up a person, an event, even an entire decade in the Closet of Forgetting and Denial, we're robbing ourselves of the strength and wisdom that can come from those experiences. Those events came to us with purpose.... We get to shepherd and steward these burdens, all of them--the beautiful, the brilliant, and the horrid.... We have another chance to reclaim and redeem those moments. And sometimes they are redeemed simply by being faced and called out of the dark. When we can name our ghosts, they haunt us less."

Her questions and prompts at the end of each chapter are invaluable. Her insights come from years of writing and teaching writing. If God is going to use our stories as a witness to His power and purpose, we must be willing to share them. As Fields says, "Our job is to tell the truth, to simply write from who we are, where we've been, and we trust God for the rest." I came away energized to share my story for God's glory!

Book Review: Pray Big

Alistair Begg's little book, Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle, is chock-full of encouragement and inspiration for praying. If you have read my blog at all before, you will know I am a huge fan of importunate prayers. These are the kind of prayers that feel impossible, but for God's vast omnipotence. We have seen God answer prayers that seemed outlandish and overwhelming. He can accomplish what we cannot. We never have to fear that we have asked God for too much!

At first, I listened to this book on my library's Hoopla account. This was such a blessing because it is narrated by the author himself, with his delightful Scottish lilt. How I would love to hear Begg preach in person! For now, I settle for clips I find on Facebook. As I listened, I wanted to pause and take notes, but I was walking on the treadmill. Instead, I snagged a paperback copy from my local church library and took notes after listening.

Begg encourages the reader to pray with great scope and purpose. We don't want to merely bring God our shopping list of needs and requests. We pray out of dependence and out of strong trust in God's almighty abilities to intervene. We must recognize our great need of Him. We cannot fix problems in our lives on our own (I felt this deeply in our walk with an addict). Begg gives 5 qualities Paul prays for the Ephesians: focus, hope, riches (not wealth, but a spiritual inheritance), power, and love.

We need to see what we really have. He writes, "Too often, as Christians we live like someone who has been given a full-board ticket on a cruise ship, and who sits on their deckchair eating crackers and drinking water because they haven't realized that all the food is free with their ticket." Paul reminds the Ephesians that they have been given "every spiritual blessing." A bit further on, Begg writes, "There is nothing you can ask for, or think of asking for, about which he does not say, I am able to do better than that." 

Begg peppers these pages with lines from famous hymns. This was such a blessing. His words inspire my praying. I loved this line: "Small prayers betray a suspicion that we have a small God." But by bigger, Begg is not encouraging things like health, wealth, and happiness (your general wish list), but rather "to be filled with his fullness, to be able to grasp the unknowable love of Christ, to live for the treasures of your future inheritance. We must pray for our own sake, for the sake of others, and for His [God's] sake. May my prayers be big, bold, and importunate, revealing trust in a big God.

Mid-month Mention: Overdose Awareness Month

August 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of International Overdose Awareness Day (August 31). Sadly, this campaign to raise awareness is needed now more than ever. The fent@nyl epidemic is taking lives left and right. Something must be done. 

You can go to Overdose Day to find events in your area (if you click on USA it will bring up cities in alphabetical order and highlight events near you). If you are near Indianapolis, there will be an event held by Overdose Lifeline on August 23rd. Click here for that information.

In light of our own tragic loss, I ask that you say a prayer for these efforts to raise awareness and seek prevention.

Here are some images I gleaned from Facebook highlighting more information and events related to this:

 

Book Review: We Are Never Getting Together

I listened to this fun young adult novel in June. We Are Never Getting Together by Janette Rallison is a clean read. It tells the story of Madeline and Cooper, whose pranks against each other land them in the principal's office. Their parents are called in and seem obviously attracted to one another. Thus, Madeline and Cooper decide to fake date in hopes of keeping their parents apart. The pranks are fun. The tension ramps up. Of course, they cannot stay enemies forever, especially while pretending to be a couple. I liked Cooper more than Madeline, but did come around to her by the end of the story. There are so few clean YA reads out there. This one was worth the time investment.

Book Review: Where Prayer Becomes Real

I struggled to get into this book on prayer, Where Prayer Becomes Real. Writers Kyle Strobel and John Coe present a sufficient argument that in order to be real with God, we must be honest in our prayer. After reading one hour, I set the book aside for almost a week. I couldn't bring myself to give up on a prayer book, though. They outline 5 types of prayers: praying the psalms, prayers of intention, prayers of recollection, prayers of examine, and prayers of intercession.

If ever one wanted to see an example of honest praying, you only need to visit the psalms in the Bible. David and others pour out their heart, their lament, their worship, and their praise. I think my favorite sections were on praying The Psalms, examining your days and life, and interceding for others. The authors identify a common struggle. "When tragedy strikes and we pray, sometimes it feels like the smallest possible gesture. But intercession is no mere gesture. Intercession is a prayer of faith, and we are present to another to carry them, in the Spirit, to the Father." They argue for the importance of being present to the individuals we are lifting to the throne. [I wrote this review in June, but I feel the significance of this deeply now!]

At the end of the book, Strobel and Coe present mini callings for prayer. They suggest, 1) you must intend to be with God as He really is; 2) resist turning to fantasy and prayers of magic; 3) be honest with God in about your heart's longings without cleaning them up to be more acceptable; and 4) live in the truth of who you are in Christ. While this wasn't my favorite book on prayer (probably J. C. Ryle's Do You Pray?), it did spur me on to greater honesty with God in the face of personal trials. 

Book Review: Stronger Than the Storm - Highly Recommend

This riveting debut novel, Stronger Than the Storm, by Deena Adams, had me locked in from the start. With well-drawn characters and intense conflicts, the story demands just another page. It resonated with me because of our journey with a wayward adult son. However, any parent will put themselves in these shoes and learn something about themselves from the journey. We all regret our mistakes. The book is gritty, real, and raw. Life is the same. God grows us the most in the midst of storms. It could be summed up in a simple sentence: The scars of sin run deep, but God's grace soothes and heals.

Beth Holbrook is elated by an offer of publication for her parenting book. As a pastor's wife and parenting coach, things are at a high point. Within the space of one day, those successes begin to crumble, when her 18-year-old daughter runs away. Leesa is on a self-destructive path. Indeed, she digs her hole deeper and deeper as the pages fly by. (Oh, how I could relate!) 

Beth and her husband Kevin, like many couples parenting a prodigal, have differing opinions on the necessary response. These pages articulated the very difficulties I fought in seeking the best course of action with my wayward son. They illustrate the gamut of emotions parents and prodigals experience. Will the ripples from Leesa's sin spill over to fracture Beth and Kevin's marriage? Can God bring good from hopeless, unwanted situations?  

The book has won several awards. It earned first place in the American Fiction Awards for the religious fiction category and Contemporary Novel of the Year in the Christian Market Book Awards. I was grateful to read this story of God's redemption, prior to Trevor's death, because it reminded me of God's presence in the battle. Pain drives prodigals, but their pain spills over into other lives. This book is important! Sin scars the entire family. But God... works with our weaknesses to reveal His strengths, and praise God, He is stronger than any storm we face! We can count on God's providential hand to carry us when wounded and weary, and redeem us when broken and spent.

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I moved this review up in my queue as it is currently on sale in e-book form for a few more days. Snag the savings! You won't regret it!

 

Series Review: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - Highly Recommend

Following the buzz, in June, I dipped my toe into the delightful world of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion and did not want to depart. In very short order, I listened to Volumes 1-8 on the Hoopla app. I cannot wait for the ninth installment to release (although I worry my library will not have access, or I will be far down on the hold list). I will seek it in audio form again. The narrator Genevieve Gaunt does an outstanding job! If you enjoy Victorian England, these books will surely hook you!

Emma M. Lion is a young woman alone in Victorian England. Although her parents' deaths should have left her with Lapis Lazuli House, an odd relative has been living there and ripping through her inheritance monies. Now that she is finally ensconsed in the house, she seeks to rectify these wrongs and find her place in society. Her journals are delightful. The cast of characters surrounding her make the reader wish to enter this world for real.

I was thrilled when Emma mentioned the very street I lived on when I spent six months on a work visa in London, Sydenham Hill. With each installment, I was sucked deeper and deeper into the story. Emma is fiesty and independent. Her friends are colorful and conflicted. You cannot help but be swept away into this alternate reality.

My only complaint is that the books attempt to push a feminist agenda. I know Victorian London. Emma would not have waltzed independently through life in those times. Yet, still... I absolutely loved these books! I'm willing to suspend disbelief, to overlook historical inaccuracies, because I love Emma and all her entourage of young male friends (suitors?). I love her stream-of-consciousness commentary. Each book ends with a listing of her growing library of books. This is enchanting! I highly recommend this series, and especially in audio form. I'm even hoping the books will continue well past book nine.