FEARLESS REVIEW

        Max Lucado’s Fearless gently prods readers to live a life where your visceral reaction to life’s challenges is faith, not fear. Lucado is not dismissive about the role fear plays in our lives but rather, puts fear in proper perspecctive and equips readers to move beyond fear. Lucado offers wisdom for dealing with common fears such as not mattering, disappointing God, something happening to your children, violence, calamity, and lack. Max Lucado’s conversational style of writing makes it seem that he is personally walking you through each chapter of the book. He introduces the book with the chapter “Why Are We Afraid?” The book ends with a discussion guide that makes Fearless easy to incorporate into small groups.

        In the pages between the introduction and discussion guide, Lucado skillfully uses examples from the lives of ordinary people such as his prison pen pal to extraordinary people like David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs to Biblical people such as Jairus. The variety of people used as examples provides experiences nearly every reader can relate to. Fearless conveyed Biblical truth in a way that is accessible, comforting, and motivating. The book discusses more than fear, but also trust. Lucado urges readers to “Trust him, not stuff.” This particular message is timely during a time when people are facing losing their “stuff” through foreclosures and reposessions. Lucado states in Fearless “Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts.” I would recommend this book. While your life may not be devoid of fear, the book can help you to fear, LESS.

Knockout Entrepreneur

Flip over a copy of George Foreman’s Knockout Entrepreneur and you will notice in bold letters the following declaration:  “Champions in business are not born. They are made.” The back cover states that “Foreman equips you with principles and strategies to help you come out swinging…” The chapters titles read like a boxing manual with names like “Listen to Your Corner” and “Never Listen to the Crowd.” This book was a quick, easy read written in an avuncular tone that makes you envision Foreman’s endearing grin. Foreman uses examples from his own boxing career and well as other entrepreneurs and celebrities, such as Paula Deen.

        While the book does include the promised principles and strategies, I think the biggest thing the book accomplishes is to inspire and motivate people, not just entrepreneurs. With quotes such as “Today, I may die, but I must get up. I never again want to live with the knowledge that I could have gotten up and didn’t,” readers walk through the valley of determination that will energize the entrepreneurial spirit. While the Biblical message is subtle, it is clear and successfully communicates how Foreman applied his Christian faith to the ring, his family, and the boardroom. Foreman lists four winning qualities:  honesty, enthusiasm, confidence, and courage. He has these qualities in spades and the “Knockout Ideas to Stimulate Your Success” asks the thought-provoking questions to spur readers on to the next step.

        This book is not a how-to book for aspiring entrepreneurs. Rather, this book is a what-to book that will help you sharpen your skills and keep you motivated. What-to do such as the familiar dress for success advice  He also discusses the toughest steps to success as well as his own personal failures and shortcomings. Foreman said, “If I could give you one piece of advice that would make you more successful, I’d say read.” I’ll end this review echoing his advice but adding this:  read Knockout Entrepreneur.

Lights out

Today was independence day for my five year old. Independence Day is when all the kindergarteners must walk into school by themselves instead of being escorted by a parent. As I pulled into the “kiss and go” line, PJ, my doppelganger son, said he didn’t want to do it. I told him he had to. So I gave him the requisite morning breath mint that he demands each morning, hugged him, and off he went. He looked back at me several times. It was the saddest little face I have ever seen. For some reason, it made me go back to 1984.

Mom and I were living in Phoenix, grandma was living in NY. My mother was notified that Grandma had a stroke. My mother worked as a domestic and she did the best she could. We didn’t have a phone. I remember we walked to make the collect call to Uncle KD and he delivered the news to Mom. She had been deathly afraid to fly but she bought a plane ticket for herself, left me in the care of my cousin Bobby, and she went to NY. Things would never be the same after that trip.

When she returned, she couldn’t catch up on her bills because she used the bill money for the plane ticket. We moved in with Bobby. I remember some hippy-types next door and their electricity was turned off so Bobby shared his electricity with them. Then Bobby’s was turned off and they shared with us. Mom never recovered financially. I remembered playing Prince’s “Last night, I spent another lonely, lonely Christmas” to get me through the holidays. Shortly after, Grandma died.

We went to NY for what was supposed to be the funeral, supposed to be temporary. We never returned. Three months after Grandma died, I found myself in Farmville, NC hating life. Twenty-four years later, I’m still in NC, but now in Greenville. My mother is not the same since Grandma died. Gone is her fear of flying because she said the worst thing that could possibly happen to her, the loss of her beloved mother, had already happened. When I look back at that time I imagine that my face looked just like PJ’s forlorn face this morning. 

I have a soft spot for hippies and outcasts and for people who are so poor that they have to “share” electricity. God bless us all.

Peace, be multiplied…

From Faith to Food

OK so this is a radical change of pace. I have wanted to blog about it ever since I left the Tarheel state but since the birthday girls is a Facebook friend, I was afraid she would see it and be tipped off. This weekend is my Aunt Mary's 60th birthday. I am her namesake. Aunt Mary lives in the big apple but her daughter Sandy decided to throw her a surprise birthday party in Hotlanta because her sister, my Aunt Bertha, has become a Georgia Peach.

Anyway, after staying at two wonderful hotels - yes, I stopped in Columbia, SC and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at Exit 80, it was wonderful! Hotel #2's concierge in Atl recommended a restaurant called Dreamland. This particular restaurant had been featured on the Food Network and serves the type of foods that keeps the people in the dirty south voluptuous, to put it mildly. So, if you are ever in Atlanta and not watching your caloric intake, Dreamland is a must-eat.

I'll be back to applying the concepts from Fearless to my life when I return home with my two busy boys.

In what we Trust?

I am a new Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger. I have been preparing for my review of Max Lucado’s Fearless, which is great because I am such a huge Max Lucado fan. But yes, I can be an objective reviewer. There it was over and over again as I made notes for my review. Trust Him. Trust God. Trust Christ. I  have been examining my fears but realize greater thought should be given to trust. Some people trust money. Other people rely on their intellect. Most people trust what is tangible. All of the people in Max’s book had fear but were victorius because they knew what to do with their fear. It’s not about what you are afraid of. It is about who you trust.

All for Naught

So they arrived and returned safely without me having to be there to boss my husband’s driving. And no, not one phone call to let me know they got there safely. All of my requests were not honored. They all claimed they forgot but I think they were probably having too much fun. They went to see their beloved Pop-pop and then went out for pizza. Someone defined fear with the acronym false experiences appearing real. That sums up my worries.

I think that if I got nothing else from Max Lucado’s book is to fear less and to trust more. Easier said than done but the battle begins with the mind. In Max Lucado’s “In the Eye of the Storm,” he said to pray twice as much as you fret and that when you can’t trace God’s hand, trust his heart. As I look at Fearless, I think that beyond truly trusting,  I must become a master of casting my cares or throwing them on God instead of worrying.

Fear less

Trust more

Pray more

Too Long

I am embarrassed at how long it has been since I have posted to this blog. Life was crazy and busy at the same time. Max Lucado forced me to post. Well, not him personally but his book, "Fearless." One chapter is called "My Child is In Danger" and I realized how guilty I was of that fear. My husband said he was going to take my two sons to see his ailing father. Somehow, the 45 minute drive seemed wrought with drunk drivers, my husband's perceived careless driving that needed my wise intervention (yeah, right) and other dangers. I demanded that my husband call me when he got there. Then ordered my five year old to make sure Daddy calls when he got there. Then told my two year old to make sure Daddy calls when he gets there. I hugged them like they were leaving for Iraq. My heart began to palpitate and realized that I was gripped in fear. Then I recalled how this entire week, month, really if I am honest I feared losing my job because of announcements of a merger and possible reduction in force. I could catalog the fears like a Monk episode: needles, bugs, spiders, anything crawling that I didn't give birth to, etc. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! I will be posting a review in the future, as soon as I finish the book. In the interim, the book is worth checking out and the blog is worth checking back in to see whether it made a difference in my life.