Books

Recently I finished a couple of books.  The non fiction work, Beautiful things happen when a woman trusts God by Sheila Walsh and the fiction book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (and was recently made into a movie that I believe won awards).

I recommend both of these books and while they are very different journeys, times and places, they are much more similar than opposite.   As I was reading Sheila Walsh's view of being in the middle of a storm and knowing that God was standing by her, the confidence that it gave her to know she was never alone and the courage it gave her to stand firm, and hold on tight, Elizabeth Edwards passed away.  She herself had weathered many storms and had a storm analogy in her book. With the strength that her faith gave her, she talked about being in the middle of the storm and having the choice of letting it get the best of her, or changing her sails to go in a new direction.

I love both of these analogies, even though they are a bit different. We each have storms that come and go, and sometimes we must stand firm and weather the storm and other storms are God's way of giving us a nudge to change directions.  Either way, armed with God by our side, we can be calm and confident that God has a plan and things will work out as they are meant to.

Hosseini grew up in Afghanistan and his book is about the turbulence that land has had over the past 30 years, but starts before that, when Afghanistan was a peaceful and unknown country.  It is ultimately about the journey of a boy growing up and eventually moving to the United States, only to return a number of years later and truly discover and embrace his Muslim faith. He comments that as an adult he can see where his father's view on religion was faulty and that in fact God is and always has been there, as in there in Afghanistan even during war, and that God has always been with him as well.

I will close this post with a prayer from Sheila Walsh.  She says this each morning when she gets up.  It requires no dissection or explanation.  It is to the point, and relevant to us all:

"Lord, I don't know where you are going today, but wherever it is, I'm coming with you."