Book(s)

So this past week we were all, except Pete thankfully, quite sick. And that's all I'm going to say on that subject because it's not a memory I particularly want to keep. Except to say that God was very gracious to us in several ways, including timing, providing through other people, and giving Pete great strength. :)

Because I was flat on my back for a few days, I had the highly unusual opportunity to read books straight through! So I was able to catch up on the books I had been wanting to get through, including...

• "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson -- hilarious and interesting take on walking the Appalachian Trail
  
• "Bringing Down the House" by can't remember -- gripping real-life story about Blackjack card-counting in Vegas
  
• "Watermelon" by Marian Keyes -- light reading, and only ok. But I'm a sucker for British chick lit
  
• "Exodus" by Leon Uris -- Re-reading this one.... loved it the first time. Story revolving around the re-birth of the nation of Israel in 1946. Freedom-fighters, stealthy maneuvers, miraculous endings, the whole works.
  

But the most compelling book, by far, that I read was this one:

It's called "One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children to Change the World." After I heard the title a couple weeks ago I had to buy the book, and I rarely actually buy books.

As it turned out, it was partly about parenting, but it was also just inspiring to think about what the God-sized vision might be for my/our lives. Some of what Julie Ferwerda wrote about has been said many times before, and some of it was a little trite and simplified, but overall I was inspired by the examples of the various lives she described.

Her goal is "to raise spiritually fulfilled kids who are productive members of eternity," and she encourages the readers to join in this mission, by parenting our own kids in this way, or parterning with others serving orphans around the world, or giving in greater ways, etc.

I am not putting this very well (reviewing a book is a task beyond me I think!), but I will just conclude by saying I highly recommend this book to anyone -- parent or otherwise. All of the proceeds from sales of the book go to international orphan ministry, so it's a win-win! :)