Blog Archive

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Taking a Leap...

It's the beginning of a new month, which means the start of a new CW blog chain which I will be leading off...or maybe I should saying taking a leap as that is the topic for this month's chain of writing.

For my start of the chain, I would like to do a book review on a story that is a true leap of faith. The book is a Southern novel (which means there's going to be a lot of talk about food, family, and gossip). The story begins with the lead character, Mattie, a spirited 76 year old, preparing lunch for her son who is coming to visit. She is still living on her own despite her son's thoughts that she should be in a nice old folks home as the upkeep of the house is too much for her. Her son doesn't like the fact that she's taken in a mangy stray dog and is even more upset when she takes in a runaway who is also a bit of a juvenile delinquent.

She thinks taking care of them is what she should do as she follows the words of the Bible which say we are to take care of "the least of these" referring to the dog and the young boy. Caring for these two of God's creatures gets Mattie a lot of grief not only from her son but the local townsfolk as well. There's some interesting scenes with the local church folk also who seem to miss the point in the Bible of caring for one another. Mattie doesn't care what others think. She has taken a leap of faith that with God's help she can do some good for both neglected and unwanted creatures.

The title of the book (and later a movie) is "Walking Across Egypt" by Clyde Edgerton and was written about 20 years ago. It rings true today as it did when it was first written. The title refers to the Israelites walk through the desert looking for a new home that God promised them. This is also comes into play with a current sermon series by Max Lucado at my church entitled "You'll Get Through This." In both cases they deal with taking a leap of faith when times are rough and looking to God for direction. Each reminds us that life can dry out our spirit and we can be in for a lot of frustration along the way. Still we've got to look past our here and now...to what can be... with a little leap of faith.

If you would like to learn more about the book and it's author, click here for a link to my interview with him. If you'd like to hear all or part of Max Lucado's series, click here. Then be sure to click on each of the daily posts this month to the right for others thoughts on taking a leap of sorts.

20 comments:

  1. great leap, Max has a great way of putting things too.

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  2. Thanks for your early bird input! I know many on the blog chain, like myself, don't always read the post the first morning or even that day.

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  3. Love the way you leaped into the new month. :) I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but I think I'll make a point to do one or the other now.

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  4. Terrific post, Chris. I'll definitely check out the interview link. :)

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  5. That sounds like an interesting story. It goes to show that you're never too old to follow the teachings of Jesus and put them into practice.

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  6. Don't think I've ever heard of that book...sounds like a winner. I'm going to have to look it up. Thanks for the tip! Peace and Blessings

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  7. Chris you always do such a wonderful job of reviewing and promoting authors. This sounds like a wonderful story and I will check out the link. Thank you and continued success with your work!

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  8. Thanks for everyone's kind words. Now I look forward to your takes on the leap.

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  9. Book reviews from people we trust are very valuable. Thanks for this Chris and also for providing great links to find out more.

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  10. Thanks for sharing, that was wonderful. I will definitely have to look the book (and movie) up!

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  11. Written 20 years ago and yet still so poignant a message for today's church and community. I will be interested in picking up a copy of this book. Thanks, Chris.

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  12. Hope you will enjoy the book as much as I did.

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  13. Good for Mattie, I love her spirit! Thanks for sharing this Chris :)

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  14. Looks like a book worth finding out more about! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  15. I think taking a leap of faith when times are difficult takes a lot of courage. At the same time, God can do some incredible things. I'll have to check out to series!

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  16. Thanks for starting us off, Chris. I'm just getting around to checking the chain ...

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  17. Chris, I enjoyed your review of Walking Across Egypt. Sounds like a book I'd enjoy, perhaps one to share with my kids. My grandmother regularly took in "strays" -- pets, people with no-where else to go, and when a few of her things were occasionally missing, she'd just say, "They obviously needed it more than me. I can't take it with me anyway. I hope it brings them joy." Such a rare spirit! She knew what was worth worrying about and what wasn't. Material things never captured her heart, but "the least of these" sure did.

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  18. Cindee...Your grandmother soundslike the prototype of the main character.

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  19. Thanks for the review! This sounds like a very interesting, thought-provoking book.

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