The Reason By William Sirls

What is the reason of life?  Why do bad things happen to good people? As a medical professional, how do you deal with a situation that is essentially out of your hands? As a parent, how do you cope with a child diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening cancer?  What can you do when you are facing a situation the devil has placed in your path and it feels like you are staring into the face of Hell itself.  Nothing seems to go right and everything seems to go wrong.

What if in the midst of your darkest hour, God came down to earth and took on the appearance of a man?  What if you looked into his eyes and instantly knew that he knew everything about you, all your thoughts, feelings, and prayers?  But at the same time an overwhelming sense of peace reaches down to your very core.  He looks at you with kind eyes, smiles, and only asks one thing of you.  His request in the midst of all that is wrong is to ONLY BELIEVE.

In this book, The Reason, by William Sirls, a storm in brewing.  At a small church in Michigan a bolt of lightning hits the cross in the front yard shattering it in half.  But that is only the beginning. For most of the people in this congregation, their lives will never be the same.  

James Lindy, the blind pastor, wonders if they can repair the cross and keep their faith through it all. 

Brooke is a single mother of a 5-year-old little boy named Alex who is fixing to enter a fight for his life when he is diagnosed with leukemia.  She would do anything to have her son healthy and whole. 

Macey, the oncologist that is treating Alex, struggles with her faith as she treats this sick child. 

And in the middle of it all, a mysterious stranger appears. A carpenter by profession but seemingly able to work miracles. He enters the lives of all the characters at just the right time but his only advice is to ONLY BELIEVE.  

This is an excellent book that I could not put down. I was reading with tears in my eyes and the message touched my heart. I recommend this book to anyone that has ever asked any of the questions stated above.  You can find out more here. 

The Wonderful World of Forensics

A dream of mine has always been to work in the field of forensics. I have always loved how science can be used to both free the innocent and prosecute the guilty.  I have followed everything in that field for a long time.  I have read up on the FBI, CIA, and all the other law enforcement acronyms. I am a big fan of TV shows including CSI, Major Crimes, and Quincy M.E. I know they aren’t like real life but they are fun to watch and you can occasionally learn something. I am looking into opportunities to continue my education in this field as well.

Recently I had the rare opportunity to attend a mystery writer’s conference in Nashville, Tennessee that had a forensics track.  I was able to hear FBI and TBI agents, private detectives, lawyers, and forensic scientists talk about real cases they have encountered and what was done to solve them.  But I have to say the highlight of the weekend was getting to hear a seminar by Dr. Bill Bass, the founder of the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee.  The Body Farm is located on three acres of hillside in Knoxville where people have donated their bodies to be studied by scientists to determine the effects of decomposition on the body due to various elements. To top it off afterwards I got to meet Dr. Bass and he signed a copy of a book that I bought which is written by he and Jon Jefferson under the pen name of Jefferson Bass. 

Also while I was there I bought a book called Beyond the Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson.  This is one of the few nonfiction books the duo has written that centers around the cases that Dr. Bass has come across in his many years of working as a Forensic anthropologist.  This book is full of strange cases that only science could solve.  If you are a fan of forensics you will love reading this book! 

You can find out more about this book or buy it here.

Grace by Max Lucado

Grace.

We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an actress as gracious, a dancer as graceful. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings, and premeal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means.

But do we really understand it? Have we settled for wimpy grace? It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, “Do you believe in grace?” who could say no?

Max Lucado asks a deeper question: Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Emboldened by grace? Softened by grace? Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace?

God’s grace has a drenching about it. A wildness about it. A white-water, riptide, turn-you-upside-downness about it. Grace comes after you. It rewires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid to die to ready to fly.

Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.

Let’s make certain grace gets you.

The back cover of this book says it all. We have all heard about grace. We all accepted that grace when we were saved. I have heard grace made synonymous with salvation, love, and God’s unmerited favor. Real grace is all of that and then some.  It took an enormous amount of love, pain, and forgiveness for Jesus to let the soldiers nail his hands and feet to the cross so he could die for our sins.  I do like Max Lucado’s interpretation of grace.  He writes that grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.  This is a great book that will really open your eyes to the great things God has in store for those who love him if we will just receive what he has already prepared for us!

Find out more here.

Song of the Brokenhearted by Sheila Walsh and Cindy Martinusen Coloma

Growing up as a child in an abusive home, a father whose estimation crumbles before the very people that trusted and respected him as a preacher, and wanting to get out of that life at all costs, Ava now has all she ever dreamed of and more. 

Her father is in jail paying for his crimes, she is happily married to a man that provides for her every need, a daughter that is marrying a good man, and a son that is doing well in high school. Then her whole world seems to fall apart right before her eyes. Her husband’s business hits a rough patch and now all of their financial security is gone. Her kids are having problems in their lives as well.

Just when Ava thinks she doesn’t know where to go from here, something small and beautiful and completely unexpected is left on her doorstep.  In order to do the right thing, she will have to go home to the place she could not wait to leave and forgive the ones that have wronged her in order to move on with her life.  Through it all, God’s presence and peace never leaves Ava and she is able to find strength in the strangest place.

This is a great book with a beautiful story; a story of forgiveness, trust, safety, and honor.  The writers did an excellent job of writing this book in such a way that keeps you interested in the story line of the characters, laughing when they laugh and crying when they cry.  Having been through some rough patches myself in the past, I found this book to be very encouraging with the constant message being that God will never leave or forsake us!

Find out more here.