Book Club

I only wanted to discuss story 22 this week because I have a lot to say on the topic. Only Five Dollars is a story about helping the homeless. It made me look at how I used to handle these situations and what I do now due to my relationship with God.

As a child I fed the homeless with my parents and was taught to give to the poor. On the other hand as I grew up I started to notice different situations in dealing with the poor. On some occasions we would try to help and the person would get really angry one even got violent. Then there were other times that the person would take the cash and go buy booze.

By my teenage years I wasn’t so hot on helping the homeless anymore. I felt like they were wasting the money away. Then in my twenties I actually met someone who chose to be homeless and was part of a group. At that point I was done helping. A homeless person could hold a sign right up to my face and I would keep walking.

Then God came into my life and this whole obedience thing. It changed me forever. I realized that a few unappreciative homeless people are not the poster for all. It doesn’t matter how they got themselves into the situation. What matters is that they need help now.

It’s not our duty to judge but our duty to give if we have the extra cash. If I have 5 dollars, 10, and 20 might be the limit. If a homeless person approaches me and I have the cash I will give it to them. I feel it is the obedient thing to do. I feel like God is my dad telling me to do something that I don’t fully understand yet but one day I will. This started happening a few years ago and now I am getting it.

The next time I walk out of the grocery store and see that the homeless person has chosen to buy booze instead of food. I won’t get mad but will know that I made my father happy. Who knows the next homeless person could actually go buy a meal. The next person could be like the old woman in the story so I’ll never give up trying.

2/21/10

I have to say again that the prayers in this book are amazing. The 20th story is called The Best Christmas Gift. It’s a sweet story about the birth of Susan’s first born son. The prayer at the end got me thinking about how easy it is to get caught up in the holidays but not Christmas.

We had a fantastic time this Christmas as there was no sickness and we were surrounded by amazing friends. My pastor gave an excellent sermon that week about the journey of the wise men after meeting baby Jesus.

Susan’s prayer and my pastor’s sermon make me realize that I need to pause during the holiday parties and really teach my kids the story of not just Jesus’s birth but of how the journey of the wise men after meeting him is very special too. The days following the meeting shows how important Jesus really is and that we should be taking time during our holiday parties to stop and say a prayer of thanks to God. Thus remembering to celebrate Christmas too.

Story 21, Everyday Mundane Things made me laugh but it’s so true. I pray to God for little things all the time but I find that my husband does not. I think men who believe only want to bother God for big things.

My husband will be able to identify with this story. He had some issues going on at work last week that was stressing him out. Of course it’s not the end of the world but by day 3 of watching him be very thrown off by this co worker I asked him if he prayed. He gave me a look and I urged him to talk to God about this situation. I don’t know when he prayed I just know he did and he is having an amazing turn around with this situation.

1/21/10

The stories for this week are 16-19.

The story Like a Child made me think of my friend’s son. He is 4 years old and she bought him a camera. It is so funny to see what he takes pictures of. When you give a child a camera you see life thorough their eyes. It’s very interesting and comical.

Destiny is such a sweet story. Children are gifts from God and I am so glad that God lent me two beautiful children too. The author used the words lending when thanking God for the adoption of her first child. It just made me think that all children are gifts we should take care of no matter how they arrive in our homes.

Wow, I can’t imagine going through what the author of In God’s Hands had to endure. We want to fix everything for our children and this story made me realize that there will be times that a parent just can’t. Children are individuals too and at some point have to deal with their actions themselves. It will be hard for me to leave things in God’s hands when dealing with my children. This story will be great to reflect on when I have to go through this myself.