Suffer Strong, by Katherine and Jay Wolf

Since suffering a near-fatal stroke over a decade ago, Katherine Wolf, along with her husband Jay, have been a force for hope, healing, and help for people with disabilities and their families and loved ones.  They tell their story in Hope Heals: A True Story of Overwhelming Loss and Overcoming Love (which you should definitely read).  In their new book, Suffer Strong: How to Survive Anything by Redefining Everything Katherine and Jay continue their story, sharing lessons they have learned as they have walked together through life after the stroke.

Katherine and Jay write with their characteristic humor, honesty, and humility, giving readers a glimpse into their "good hard life" and encouraging us to trust God as we live with our own wheelchairs, actual and invisible.  Katherine writes that, contrary to the old saying that God won't give us more than we can handle, "It seems that God does give us more than we can handle--sometimes much more.  And yet He does this so He can handle it for us and so we can handle it together."  The book--and her life--are testimony to her learning to let God handle it.

Part of trusting God to handle hardship for us is remembering what He has done.  Jay writes that "the word remember is found in the Bible five times as often as the word believe and twice as often as the word trust.  Perhaps, just maybe, God is trying to tell us something! Remember Me.  You already know the end of this story; you just keep forgetting.  So remember Me."  Most of us don't have the daily, tangible reminders that Katherine and Jay live with, but all of us should embrace remembrance.

One big idea from the book that I really like is "post-traumatic growth."  We hear a lot about post-traumatic stress disorder.  The Wolfs embody the idea that "surviving trauma is good, but growing above and beyond trauma is possible."  As Christians, "we have the Holy Spirit of God within us" and we have the example of Jesus, who is "the ultimate post-traumatic growth story."  Spend time with the Wolfs and you will see this idea in action, as they live with grace and gratitude.

On many levels, the Wolfs's marriage is an example for all of us.  They aren't shy about putting their lives on display and honestly talking about the day-to-day struggles to which any married couple can relate.  But their deep mutuality and unity are evident.  Amid the "daily sacrificing of our time, sleep, preferences, and attention for the good of others," Jay writes that "marriage may be the death of me, but it's the birth of we. . . . It's interdependency perpetuating flourishing."

Reading about the Wolfs and hearing their perspectives on life and faith will draw you to trust more deeply in God and his purposes for your life.  Whether your suffering is physical, mental, or spiritual, whatever you're going through, God is for you. "Embracing the lot we're been given is about embracing the God who gives it."  Frustrations, setbacks, and maybe life-altering medical trauma and disability happen.  But no matter what, "if we have a pulse, we have a purpose."  The Wolfs inspire me to embrace the "good hard life" and seek God's purposes daily.

Living for God, by Mark Jones

Canadian pastor Mark Jones has a simple message in Living for God: A Short Introduction to the Christian Faith.  "Good theology (that which is well received) results in good living (that which is well delivered)."  Jones writes from a perspective of solid, historical, biblical Christianity, and defines Christian faith "as that which is 1. Trinity focused, 2. Christ focused, 3. Spirit energized, 4. Church inhabited, 5. Heaven anticipated."

This list sets up the structure of the book.  Jones draws extensively from scripture, as well as from a broad cross-section of theologians and writers from throughout Christian history.  Jones keeps the focus on lay people; he doesn't want the people in the pews to be left out of the discussion.  He provides plenty of references, clear explanations, and a systematic, if nontraditional, presentation.

I like his focus and fresh approach.  He wants Christians everywhere to recognize that Christians who want to know God should strive to know about God, and that if we want to live for God, good theology is a necessary foundation.  While he writes for laypeople, I did get a sense of trying to put too much too simply in too small a package.  There is a reason that theology books tend to be much bigger than this one!  Nevertheless, this is a good place to start for the Christian who wants a strong framework for theological thinking.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

From Sky to Sky, by Amanda G. Stevens

Following immediately on the heels of No Less Days, Amanda G. Stevens picks up the story in From Sky to Sky.  If you haven't read From Sky to Sky, don't bother opening No Less Days.  You can't have one without the other.  You'll be confused and bored.  But if you enjoyed the first book, you don't want to miss this one.

The characters in these books were treated with an experimental serum from a frontier doctor back in the 19th century which essentially immunized them from death.  They can still be injured or sick, but if they experience a fatal injury or illness, they will regenerate and continue to live.  In From Sky to Sky, a new longevite comes along claiming that some of his fellow longevites have been killed.  This leads to a search for the doctor who originated the serum and an answer to the mystery of the dead longevites.

Stevens deals with the question of immortality.  If someone never ages or dies, how does one have relationships with mortals?  Perhaps longevites desire a "cure," the ability to actually age and die a natural death.  And what about faith?  How does one deal with God when one is essentially immortal?  And when one has a century of sin, can God forgive?

I enjoyed Stevens's characters and some of her thought experiments.  She holds back what's happening just enough to have some surprises and suspense.  But the limited scope of the story and the shallowness of many of the characters' actions and interactions kept this from being a really great book.  Still, I couldn't help but wonder about where to find that serum. . . .


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Snug, by Catana Chetwynd

Catana Chetwynd's Snug: A Collection of Comics about Dating Your Best Friend had one primary effect on me: I wanted to immediately go snuggle with my wife.  These cutesy comics about Catana's life with her boyfriend are relatable and honest, capturing the joyful, simple domesticity of two people in love.

Many of the strips deal with typical issues of domestic life: sharing the blankets, negotiating over cleaning duties and dinner, making time for each other.  The overall tone is of a couple full of affection for each other, who love to snuggle in bed or on the couch, and whose favorite place in the world is at home together.  Not only is this their favorite place, but it's their place of recharge, sanctuary, and mutual support.

Be warned: if you don't have someone to share life and snuggles with, this little book will create a longing for the kind of mutual love that Catana and John share!  If you do have someone, well, this isis a great reminder to cherish your time together.  The art is simple black and white.  The characters have huge eyes that make them look like frogs or fish or something.  Even though I didn't really like the appearance of her characters, Chetwynd's tone and themes more than made up for it.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I Am a Promise, by Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce

I admit I am a sucker for inspiring running stories.  Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce tells her story in
I Am a Promise, a children's book colorfully illustrated by Rachel Moss.  Shelly loved to run as a little girl.  As her love of running grew, she began to realize that she could run faster than other people.  One day her grandmother told her, "You are a promise."  Later, coaches and other encourages would tell her, "You have great promise."

She continually wondered what that meant, to be a promise, but it came together when she competed at the Olympics.  Her coach told her, "You represent the promise of our country."  She ran, and continued to run, as an Olympic champion and world champion.  She is a personification of what it means to represent one's country, family, faith, and oneself on the world stage.  Her story of rising from poverty in a relatively small, poor country to world dominance in her sport will inspire kids to dream and pursue the promise they have.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

No Less Days, by Amanda G. Stevens

Amanda G. Stevens's novel No Less Days asks the question, what would you do if you could never die?  Bookseller David Galloway hasn't lived forever, but he has lived well over a century.  After a frontier doctor in the 19th century treats him with a mysterious serum, he has survived.  He thought he was alone, but now he has met up with a small group of "longevites" whose resistance to death stems from treatment by that same doctor.

If you want to explore the science and biology of longevity, you will be disappointed.  But Stevens's story explores the human side of apparent immortality.  David, as a lone soul, lived several lifetimes as someone who never ages, without knowledge of other immortals.  In his new circle, he finds fellowship with a community that has been in relationship for a century of mutual support.  What would relationships look like if you could not die?  How would you relate, if at all, with mortals?

Some of the characters are Christians, but even they struggle with questions of church involvement and God's purposes for their immortality.  The questions become even more profound when a mortal human who seems to be onto their secret turns up dead.  How do immortal humans bring to justice one of their own?  There are no easy answers.

Stevens's style is deeply personal and readable.  Her pacing is pretty mellow, with some surprises but not a lot of cliff-hanging.  She does a great job of exploring a speculative idea--immortality, or something close to it--from the perspective of a Christian.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Loving Your Community, by Stephen Viars

I love to see churches that impact their communities.  Stephen Viars, pastor of Faith Church in LaFayette, Indiana, calls churches to demonstrate love and service in their communities in Loving Your Community: Proven Practices for Community-Based Outreach Ministry.  As often as churches get caught up in denominational politics, theological nit-picking, and cultural commentary, they (ok, we) miss their purpose of sharing the love of God with their community.

Viars's basic rule for churches is: "We ought to be guided by the principle "Say yes unless you have to say no."  He writes that "wise churches look for every opportunity to share love and resources with those around them." He offers very practical ideas from his church's experiences.

I was surprised by his first recommendation.  "One of the first ministries I would lead the church family to start would be a community-based biblical counseling ministry because of the wonderful opportunity it affords to love your community." I wouldn't have guessed this would be first priority, but it makes sense, in that it opens doors for relationships, personal ministry, and impacting individuals' lives.

In the bigger picture, Viars touts the idea of churches as community centers.  Rather than a building that sits dark six and a half days a week, our churches should be hives of activity for people from the community.  I love this idea.  We might be too tied to our buildings being used for "holy" purposes, but what is more holy than bringing people in and creating opportunities to love and serve them.

Throughout the book, I kept thinking, Wow, these ideas will take a ton of time, personnel, and money to implement.  That's partly true, but he offers some help there, too.  And once a church catches this vision, it will snowball and grow.

While Viars's vision may seem out of reach to many in traditional churches, his presentation will force you to stop and think about the purpose of the church and the potential your church has for reaching your community.  What higher calling is there?


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!