Like Dandelion Dust & Purpose Driven Life

Today we're leaving for camping so the house is torn up and strewn with pillows, blankets, duffle bags, and the like. Sometimes it seems like waiting is the hardest part. We have to wait for Jess to get home from work, Dad to drop off Molly, Mom to pick up Molly, and then get any errands out of the way before we go. I've really been looking forward to this weekend. I want nothing more than to just sit and relax with my family and enjoy the stars in the sky.

Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury is a fabulously written story. Jack and Molly Campbell have the perfect life with their adopted son Joey. Until Joey's biological father Rip decides he wants his son back, and the courts agree with him. How far will Jack and Molly go to protect their son from his abusive father? I hadn't read anything by Kingsbury before, and I now sincerely regret that decision. She knows how to craft a story filled with emotion and drama without going into melodrama or stereotypical characters. Her descriptions of characters' actions make each scene come alive in a way few authors can. I was moved to tears at least twice during the book. And while the book has a Christian message, it's never pounded down the reader's throat, but the way God affects each person by the end of the story is profound. This is a deep emotional novel with the message that God is in control, and we need to have the faith of a child to trust him.

The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren is one of the hottest non-fiction books of the past four years. The third time is the charm for me; I tried reading through the book twice before finishing it this time. Sometimes this book was hard to read, mostly for the guilt it evinced in me about how I don't spend enough time worshiping God or about my lack of devotion to my church. Throughout the course of reading this book, I've kept a journal and looking back I can see the ways that God has used this book and the questions it's raised in me to answer questions about my purpose in life. This really is a book that if everyone read it could change the world for the better. Warren backs up all of his suggestions with Scripture, and I really admire the way he is able to get to the essentials of what we need to be doing in our lives. This is not a prosperity teaching; it's about realizing what you were made to do on this earth so you can live fully.

I'm reading The Observations by Jane Harris and then I'm on to Passing Into Light by Sharon Ewell Foster, but we'll see just how much reading I get done this weekend. Be back on Sunday!