Tamara's book of the month

So I am always looking for a great book to read. I don't always have the time with two little ones to read for hours like I would like to. But I always try to squeeze something in. Even if it is only bits and pieces. Sometimes I read a page while waiting to pick the kids up at their class or in the bathroom while the water is heating up for my morning shower. I have even been known to read a sentence or two before running into the store to buy milk. Wherever and whenever I can fit it in. It isn't always ideal, but up until now it has worked for me. But when I find a good book....One that grabs at my heart and doesn't let go... watch out. Time has no hold on me. I wait until all my kids are fast asleep in bed, plant myself on the couch next to the fire, cover up with a warm blanket, put on my reading glasses (yes a sign of my aging eyes) and off to reading land I go. Are you curious which book has me completely hooked? Maybe you are reading it yourself. It is Kay Warren's Dangerous Surrender.

It was recommended by a blogger friend of mine who I had the pleasure of spending time with in China a couple months ago. We have been communicating for over a year via the computer and I have come to see what an amazing love she has for the Lord. And I have watched her and her family put their heart on the line as they walked with complete faith in God through their most recent adoption. I knew if she recommended it as a faith building book, that she meant business. And was she so right. This book has grabbed at my heartstrings and made me really think. It isn't often that a book makes you really think about the plan that God has for your life. This is one of those books that make you day dream about what tomorrow might bring. It makes you stop in your tracks and ask yourself if what you are spending your time on earth doing is His plan or your own. It reminds you how easy it is for the world to simply stamp out the uncomfortable things that they do not want to recognize. The old saying "Out of sight, out of mind"....is ever so insinuated in this book. And how often do we do just that? How often do we pretend that ugly things in the world don't exist until we are faced with it personally.

Just 10 short weeks ago my family walked through the doors of my sons Orphanage in China. I will never forget as long as I live the feelings, the smells, the sounds of his orphanage. Jacob was 4 years old at the time and had only been in our family for 3 days. But he clung to me for dear life. This was a boy that knew the difference already in just 3 short days. The difference between a forever family and an institution. A building which houses hundreds of children and too few workers to be able to give them each the one on one attention they not only deserve as children of God but they crave from the depths of their soul. A child who knew in just 3 short days how wonderful it was to have a mommy, daddy, sisters and a brother who he could hug and kiss at any moment of the day. A child that knew in just 3 short days what unconditional love felt like. Love that only God Himself could grow in our hearts. Man alone is not capable of growing that type of love outside of God's presence. As I was reading the first chapters of her book I was reminded of our trip. I was reminded of how I wanted to close my eyes to certain things that were uncomfortable. But God had me see them for a reason. He had my children see them for a reason. His plan for us is not finished. There is so much more to see and so much more to do. But He needed to unveil to us a discomfort that we had never experienced first hand.

Now, like Kay Warren, I cannot walk past an article on orphans and not be moved. I cannot turn a blind eye to the 143 million children out there without families. How can anybody pretend it doesn't exist? Do we really want to stand before God one day and try to explain away why we allowed this to happen to His children? The children He commanded us to take care of. The Orphans He commanded us to look after? Can my family alone change the plight of the orphans? Absolutely not. Is everyone on earth meant to bring a child into their home? Unfortunately not. But we can make a difference in the life of one. And maybe, just maybe with Gods guidance and support we can help another family do the same. Is it so much for God to ask us to do that? No way. So if God needs to put us in an uncomfortable situation or put before us magazine articles, TV interviews and World news reports that bring tears to our eyes to make us move in the direction of His will....then I say go ahead God. Because I can only see good coming from it. Sometimes we need to see the ugly and uncomfortable before He opens our eyes completely to see the beautiful and lovely. I encourage you to read this book and pray about what ugliness God wants you to be witness to. In what area might He use you, your faith, your Christian walk and your life story to turn ugliness into beauty.