It's Monday...All the More Reason to be Happy

photo by Omerad

Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

— Anne Frank

The Shack: A Book Review

I must admit, I was a bit skeptical about reading The Shack by William Young. A book about an "encounter" with God (representative in three human forms including an African-American female and an Asian female) just sounded a bit "kooky" to me. However, it was recommended to me by a couple of good friends who I greatly respect, so I had to check it out. (Plus, all the controversy surrounding it piqued my interest a bit!)

I actually read the book a few months ago. (It was originally on my Fall Into Reading 2008 list, but I didn't get to it until December.) I failed to get the review done in the midst of all the holiday madness (then the New Year madness, which seems to have led right into the February madness....when will it end?!). Now I am finally getting around to the review.

From the back cover:

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, had been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment, he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?” The answers Mack receives will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him.

I found the book surprisingly interesting and even challenging. It's extremely well-written in my opinion, and I found myself devouring entire chapters without realizing how much time had passed. At the same time, I came across spiritual concepts that required me to stop and "chew" for a bit, making sure I thoroughly digested them.

Mr. Young has done a wonderful job of weaving spiritual and even theological allegory throughout his novel. His demonstration of God's loving and nurturing nature is a refreshing change from how we sometimes see God characterized, especially in fiction. I feared that Young's portrayal of God would, at very least, border on the absurd. Instead, I found his representation of God in the three characters a stark reminder of God's amazing uniqueness and a refreshing demonstration of His unconditional love for each of us.

For those who have suffered tragic loss, Young's novel will bring a fresh perspective on God's sovereignty and purpose through all things. For everyone else it is, at the very least, a vivid reminder of God's amazing love...even in the midst of our darkest pain.

To read more about the book visit The Shack web site.

A Visit From Baby Zoe!

We were so blessed to have not one but two visits from Baby Zoe (plus mom, big sis, Nanee & PaPa) recently. They were on their way through to Kansas City and stopped for dinner last Thursday, then again today as they were on their way home. The cousins had so much fun playing, and I stole all the snuggles with little Zoe that I possibly could! He's getting so big, and continues to be a walking miracle!

Baby Zoe...he's come so far!

His favorite place...on someone's shoulder

The cousins (minus Isaac)

Laughing at Nanee

Little Miss and Little Man with Cousin Katelyn

Happy Valentine's Day!

Little Miss and I had so much fun today making Valentine cookies, I thought I would share a few pics and wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

This is hard work!

The finishing touches

And finally, the finished product...YUM!

She's Finally Home!

My beloved mini-van came home last week--a month to the day from the accident! I never knew I could grow so attached to a particular mode of transportation...especially a minivan! But after several shopping excursions and loading a week's worth of groceries into the extended cab of our truck--packing them around the car seats, sometimes with kids, sometimes without--I am so thankful to have my beloved minivan home again!

And I'm so thankful to my in-laws for loaning us their Honda Civic in the meantime...what a huge blessing that was! Thank you, Al & Rita!

Here's what my precious van looked like after the accident...

And now she's good as new...maybe better! (Let's hope we can keep her that way!)

Happy Birthday, Babe!

I want to wish my wonderful Hubby a very Happy Birthday today!

Then...
(does he look like Little Man, or what?!?!)

...and now.

Happy Birthday, Babe! I love you!

And Happy Groundhog Day to everyone else!

God, Our Protector

We've had an interesting start to 2009. Today the kiddos and I were involved in a car accident. We are all OK, but our minivan (and main mode of kiddo-transportation) is, for the moment, undrivable.

We are definitely counting our blessings tonight--we are not seriously injured and, by all accounts, our vehicle is fixable. The other vehicle hit the passenger side (the side Little Miss sits on); a few seconds earlier into the intersection would have resulted in a direct hit to her door. I won't allow myself to even think what that would have meant. I am simply so grateful for a God who watches over us.

For (God) will command his angels concerning you to guard you in
all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will
not strike your foot against a stone. -Psalm 91:11,12

I am simply grateful that He charges His angels with the task of protecting my little angels...especially when I cannot.