10 Great Reads of 2013

Well, I made my goal of reading 70 books this year! I did find it a bit overwhelming trying to read this many and sometimes choose books that were short just to reach my goal!I think I'll lower my goal this coming year. : )

My 2013 Friday's 'if' series is done now and I'll be doing something different on Friday's in 2014. Each Friday will be a surprise!

Sometimes it will be a meaningful quote, sometimes a link to a blog post that has moved me, sometimes a bit of Scripture, sometimes a favorite song or whatever else may inspire me! : ) I'm calling it 'Friday's Thought'

Before I get to my top 10 reads, I thought I'd share my favorite post from this past year. A post I really enjoyed putting together. I wrote about the stories of four men who were changed by the power of God's Word. Click on the pink link below:
                             
                                               The Power of Scripture
 

Now onto my favorite reads of 2013...



5 GREAT NON-FICTION READS:

No Greater Love - The story of Levi Benkert and his family and how they ended up living and serving in Ethiopia. One of the most beautiful books I've read. Read my thoughts here: No Greater Love

 
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking - As an introvert, I found this book extremely encouraging. Read my thoughts here: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking

 
Sinner's Creed: A Memoir - This is Scott Stapp's story. Scott was the lead singer of the rock band Creed and in his book he shares his trials, temptations and redemptive story which I found extremely moving. You can read my thoughts here: Sinner's Creed: A Memoir

More than a Carpenter - In this book, I felt Josh McDowell answered commonly asked questions historically, intelligently and Scripturally. Questions such as, 'Who would die for a lie?' Such thought-provoking questions and answers! Read my thoughts here: More than a Carpenter

Kisses from Katie - Katie's story and wisdom were a pleasure to read. What a wonderful example of God's love shown through a willing heart. Read my thoughts here: Kisses from Katie 

 

 
5 GREAT FICTION READS:

The Beloved Daughter - The author of this book asked me to be apart of her blog tour and normally I don't do tours but I think God wanted me to read this book! It was powerful fiction, about a young girl living in a North Korean camp. Read my thoughts here:  The Beloved Daughter

 

Iscariot: A Novel of Judas - Another powerful fiction read! This book really made me think, not only of Judas differently, but Jesus and His love for us. Read my thoughts here: Iscariot: A Novel of Judas

 
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte - I love the Bronte sisters novels, but I didn't know much of the sisters themselves. This book takes you into their lives, their tragedy's and joys. I loved it. Read my thoughts here: The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

Edenbrooke - On a lighter note, this novel was so much fun. This one is definitely for the innocent romantic. Here are my thoughts: Edenbrooke

 
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker - I really enjoyed this story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckle, the dressmaker who not only sewed dresses for Mrs. Lincoln, but became a good friend to her and her husband, President Abraham Lincoln. I loved the history in this one! Read my thoughts here: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

                             
                                                              HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
 

Silent Night!

Today is Christmas Eve. Ready for an neat Christmas story? This song has one.

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."  Isaiah 7:14

"It was Christmas Eve in the Austrian alps. At the newly constructed Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, a Tyrol village near Salzburg, Father Joseph Mohr prepared for the midnight service. 

He was distraught because the church organ was broken, ruining prospects for that evening's carefully planned music. But Father Joseph was about to learn that our problems are God's opportunities, that the Lord causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. 

It came into Father Joseph's mind to write a new song, one that could be sung organless. Hastily, he wrote the words, 'Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright...' Taking the text to his organist, Franz Gruber, he explained the situation and asked Frantz to compose a simple tune.

That night, December 24, 1818, 'Silent Night' was sung for the first time as a duet accompanied by a guitar at the aptly named Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf."

Later the organ repairman, Karl Mauracher, hearing about this, began sharing the song with others. Later still the Strasser Family, which was a well-known family who sang and performed together, also heard of the song and began singing it for their audiences. Soon even the king and queen had heard it and the carol has been well known ever since.

"Were it not for a broken organ, there would never have been a 'Silent Night.'"

St. Nicholas Church, Oberndorf, Austria

Here's one of my favorite versions of Silent Night! by Martina McBride:

               Silent Night!

Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon Virgin Mother and Child,
Holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in Heavenly peace!
sleep in Heavenly peace!

Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from Heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Christ, the Savior, is born!

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, Love’s pure light
radiant, beams from Thy Holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

                                                            MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

*All quotes from Robert J. Morgan's book "Then Sings My Soul: Book 1" a collection of great hymn stories.

Song #1- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Song #2- O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Song #3- Joy to the World!

Buy it HERE on Amazon

if

I cannot bear to be like the father
     who did not soften the rigors of
     the far country;
if, in this sense, I refuse to allow the
     law of God (the way of trans-
     gressors is hard) to take effect,
because of the distress it causes me
     to see that law in operation,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

                                      Amy Carmichael

Joy to the World!

   "Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises." Psalm 98:4
                  
 There is just something about the word JOY. It makes me smile, it warms my heart, it makes me want more of Jesus. : )

The author of Joy to the World!, Isaac Watts, was an English hymn writer and theologian. He is also known as the 'inventor 'of the English hymn.

"Until Isaac Watts came along, most of the singing in British churches was from the Psalms of David. The church - especially the Church of Scotland - had labored over the Psalms with great effort and scholarship, translating them into poems with rhyme and rhythm suitable for singing. 

As a young man in Southampton, Isaac had become dissatisfied with the quality of singing, and he keenly felt the limitations of being able to only sing these Psalms. So he 'invented' the English hymn."

He did not neglect the Psalms though, but rather "studied them from the perspective of Jesus and the New Testament, and then formed them into verses for singing."

In 1719, Issac Watts wrote Joy to the World! It was his "interpretation of Psalm 98, which says: 'Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.' Isaac pondered the real reason for shouting joyfully to the Lord...the Messiah has come to redeem us."

This song always gets me in the Christmas mood.

Here is Faith Hill singing 'Joy to the World!'

                   Joy to the World!

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

*All quotes from Robert J. Morgan's book "Then Sings My Soul: Book 2" a collection of great hymn stories.

Song #1- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Song #2- O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Buy it HERE on Amazon

if

I find myself half-carelessly taking
      lapses for granted,
   "Oh, that's what they always do,"
   "Oh, of course she talks like that,
      he acts like that,"
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

                                       Amy Carmichael

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The second song I'm sharing the history of this season is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. This has always been one of my favorite Christmas carols. The music is so hauntingly beautiful. And the lyrics are a cry of the human heart for the need of a Savior to set it free.

 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel." Matthew 1:23

I choose this beautiful painting above because of the old shepard kneeling with his hands folded. He seems to be looking at Jesus with such awe. With such an expression of the heart, no words can express.

This Christmas carol is actually quite old. It is thought to have originated from medieval times around the 800's when "Latin hymns were sung each day during Christmas Vespers, from December 17 to 23."

"These hymns were apparently restructured into verse form in the 1100's, and finally published in Latin in 1710."

"In the mid-1800's, they were discovered by an English minister named John Mason Neale, who wove together segments of them to produce the first draft of 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,' which was published in 1851. Neale's original version said, 'Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel."

I thought this was really cool. Such an ancient song that has survived all these years. A song with a powerful Biblical message that is still powerful today.

I looked up the meaning of Immanuel and it said:  

-the name of the Messiah as prophesied by Isaiah, often represented in Christian exegesis as being Jesus Christ.
 
-literally, God is with us


"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel"                                                                                     Isaiah 7:14 
 

I love this version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, it is by The Piano Guys:

          
       O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
And drive away the shades of night
And pierce the clouds and bring us light!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

*All quotes from Robert J. Morgan's book "Then Sings My Soul: Book 2" a collection of great hymn stories.

Song #1 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

Buy it HERE on Amazon

if

the ultimate, the hardest, cannot be
       asked of me;
if my fellows hesitate to ask it and
       turn to someone else,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

                                    Amy Carmichael

Christmas is Coming!

I love Christmas, especially the music! So during this holiday season, and for the next four Tuesdays, I will be sharing the history of some of the most beloved Christmas carols.

Hope you can join me and enjoy the deeper meaning of these beautiful songs.

The first is... "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"

"Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which be to all people."   Luke 2:10

Charles Wesley wrote this beloved carol in  1739. That makes this song 274 years old! : )

I remember watching a film a few years ago about the Wesley brothers and how God moved them into ministry, which is now known as the Methodist movement.  A ministry that started out rough. They weren't exactly welcomed into the churches of the day because they preached with the power of the Gospel, something many churches had fallen away from.

Charles loved music and when he came to Christ and was born again, he began to write many beloved songs. Over 6000!

"He wrote constantly, and even on horseback his mind was flooded with new songs. He often stopped at houses along the road and ran in asking for 'pen and ink.'"

His songs were filled with Biblical doctrine and his love for the Word spilled out onto the pages of each song he wrote.

Charles's songs became very popular and many wanted to publish them, but Charles was adamant that none of his words be changed.

He is quoted as saying here:

"Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honor to reprint many of our hymns. Now they are perfectly welcome to do so, provided they print them just as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them, for they are really not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse. Therefore, I must beg of them these two favors: either to let them stand just as they are, to take things for better or worse, or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page, that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men."

The funny thing is that "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" was not the original first line to this song. It was actually: "Hark, how all the welkin rings, 'Glory to the King of kings"

Charles's dear friend, George Whitefield somehow convinced him to change that first line to: " Hark! the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king" and later published it that way and it's been like that ever since.

I've always loved singing and hearing Christmas carols in acapella. They just seem so much richer and powerful that way. Looking around for a video to share I came across this one. I don't know who they are, but they sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in beautiful acapella harmony.

       Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Come, Desire of nations, come,
fix in us thy humble home;
rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,
bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface;
stamp thine image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

*All quotes from Robert J. Morgan's book "Then Sings My Soul: Book 1" a collection of great hymn stories.


Buy it HERE on Amazon

if

I put my own happiness before the
     well-being of the work entrusted
     to me;
if, though I have this ministry and
     have received much mercy, I
     faint,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

                                      Amy Carmichael

Who is God?

Have you ever really sat and pondered this deeply?

I'm a Truth seeker. I want to know the Truth. Who is God? 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

Unfortunately many Christians are happy just being 'saved' and living their life, having no desire to get to know who God really is.

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)  is one of my favorite Christian authors and he has helped me a great deal in answering some of my questions. I'm so thankful for his courage to share the Truth.

Tozer says here:

"It is not a cheerful thought that millions of us, who live in a land of Bibles, who belong to churches and labour to promote the Christian religion, may yet pass our whole life on this earth without once having thought or tried to think seriously about the being of God. Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I AM, the self-existent Self behind which no creature can think." 

Can you remember the last time your heart gazed in wonder at the Great I AM? Not just at the stars or the sun or moon or the many wonders He has created, but the One Himself?
 

God says of Himself:
  
'I AM THAT I AM'

  
What does this mean?  

Tozer says here:

"God has no origin.

Origin is a word that can apply only to things created. When we think of anything that has origin we are not thinking of God. God is self-existent, while all created things necessarily originated somewhere at some time. Aside from God, nothing is self-caused."

And here:

'The Father has life in Himself,' said our Lord...God, He said, is self-sufficient; He is what He is in Himself

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, in the final meaning of those words. Whatever God is, and all that God is, He is in Himself. All life is in and from God, whether it be the lowest form of unconscious life or the highly self-conscious, intelligent life of a seraph. No creature has life in itself; all life is a gift from God." "For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself." John 5:26 Tozer states here on God's attributes: "...an attribute of God is whatever God has in any way revealed as being true to Himself." A few of God's attributes: One in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit Perfect Eternal Self-Existent Immutable Holy Omnipotent Omnipresent Omniscient Righteous True Truthful Faithful Love Creator Sustainer Lawgiver  Judge Lord over all   How are we to think on God's attributes?  Tozer says here: "If we would think accurately about the attributes of God, we must learn to reject certain words that are sure to come crowding into our minds - such words as trait, characteristic, quality, words which are proper and necessary when we are considering created beings but altogether inappropriate when we are thing about God.  We must break ourselves of the habit of thinking of the Creator as we think of His creatures. It is probably impossible to think without words, but if we permit ourselves to think with the wrong words, we shall soon be entertaining erroneous thoughts; for words, which are given us for the expression of thought, have a habit of going beyond their proper bounds and determining the content of thought." In other words it is wrong to look on God as we do each other. For example, He doesn't just feel love or express love or give love...He is LOVE. "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16 He continues here: "The divine attributes are what we know to be true of God. He does not possess them as qualities; they are how God is as He reveals Himself to His creatures. Love, in instance, is not something God has and which may grow or diminish or cease to be. His love is the way God is, and when He loves He is simply being Himself." And here: "God is what He is in Himself without regard to any other. To believe in Him adds nothing to His perfections; to doubt Him takes nothing away." "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him." Ecc. 3:14

It's hard to think of God as He really is, because when we do we have to face our own sinful nature.

Tozer says here:

"The natural man is a sinner because and only because he challenges God's selfhood in relation to his own. In all else he may willingly accept the sovereignty of God; in his own life he rejects it. 

For him, God's dominion ends where his begins. For him, self becomes Self, and in this he unconsciously imitates Lucifer, that fallen son of the morning who said in his heart,

'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will be like the most High.' Isa 13:14

  

Sin is rebellion against God.

John Piper explains it this way: 

“What is sin?

It is the glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
 
That is sin. ” 

                

Do you honor God's glory? Reverence His holiness? Admire His greatness? Praise His power? Seek His Truth? Esteem His wisdom? Treasure His beauty? Savor His goodness? Trust His faithfulness? Obey His commandments? Respect His justice? Fear His wrath? Cherish His grace? Prize His presence? And Love Him with all your heart, mind and soul?

There is so much more to know of God. Keep seeking Him because you can never know enough of the Great I AM.


*All quotes are from Tozer's book: 'The Knowledge of the Holy' unless otherwise stated. 

Buy it HERE on Amazon



 

if

I can write an unkind letter,
   speak an unkind word,
   think an unkind thought without
      grief and shame,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

                                     Amy Carmichael

The Beloved Daughter and A Giveaway!

I don't often participate in blog tours but I felt there was something special about this book.

I was drawn to its story and I'm so glad I got a chance to read it!

Synopsis: In a small North Korean village, a young girl struggles to survive. It is her father's faith, not the famine of North Hamyong Province, that most threatens Chung-Cha's well-being. The Beloved Daughter follows Chung-Cha into one of the most notorious prison camps the contemporary free world has known. Her crime? Being the daughter of a Christian.

 MY THOUGHTS:

This novel was AMAZING.

The story was riveting and powerful beyond the author's words. God was definitely behind this one. : )

The Beloved Daughter is a tale of a young girl who is sent to a prison camp on account of her father's work in the underground church in North Korea.

Recently having read a true story of a man who escaped  Camp 14 in North Korea ( READ HERE ), Alana's fictional, yet so true to life novel had a huge impact on me.

It encouraged me to keep praying for North Korea, for it's enslaved people, and for their freedom. Also to pray for the church, who is severely persecuted there.

I can't tell you how much this book moved me, literally moved me to prayer. I stopped several times to bow before God and plead for the people of North Korea.

If you are not much of a fiction reader, you may want to make an exception with this book. You'll learn so much about what's going on in the camps of North Korea, as well as the power of God in the lives of those who love Him.

I promise you, you won't be able to put it down!

Join the giveaway

Acclaim: 
 
     *Winner, Women of Faith Writing Contest
 
     *1st Place, Book Club Network Book of the Month

     *Amazon Bestseller (#5 Christian Suspense)


Reviews:

"...an engaging plot that reads like a story out of today's headlines..." ~ Women of Faith Writing Contest

"Alana is a master storyteller, and I can’t imagine anyone failing to be captivated by this harrowing tale. What we have here is a compelling story, but it’s also one of great importance." ~ Brad Francis, Author of The Savvy Demon's Guide to Godly Living 

"The Beloved Daughter is a beautifully written story that is...both personal and representative of the challenges that many North Koreans still face today." ~ Sarah Palmer, Rescue Team Coordinator at Liberty in North Korea

"The author does a phenomenal job... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - but have tissues handy." ~ Pauline Creeden, Editor AltWit Press

 

Awesome Prizes!

You don't want to miss out on the month-long Beloved Daughter audiobook launch party. See the Alana Terry facebook page to get started. Multiple winners every week ... Hundreds of $$$-worth in prizes!

ENTER THE DRAWING: In addition to the Facebook party, you can enter the grand prize drawing below for a chance to win a $100 gift card to either Target or Amazon (you choose!), or one of the awesome prizes from the prize gallery (think Christian T-shirts, jewelry, books, CDs, lotions, and more)!

SEE THE AUDIOBOOK HERE

SEE THE PAPERBACK HERE

SEE THE EBOOK HERE 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Typhoon in the Philippines

"Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines last Friday, November 8, with winds exceeding 310 km per hour, heavy rain and flooding affecting millions of people. This is one of the worst natural disasters to hit the region since the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004."  
                                                         Compassion International

If you are looking for a way to help out with the recent disaster in the Philippines, you can donate through Compassion International. Here are the links:

Click HERE in the United States

Click HERE in Canada

Thank-you

if

when an answer I did not expect
     comes to a prayer which I
     believed I truly meant,
  I shrink back from it;
if the burden my Lord asks me to bear
     be not the burden of my
     heart's choice,
  and I fret inwardly and do not
     welcome His will,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

                                       Amy Carmichael

C.S. Lewis and the Glory of God

I just finished C.S. Lewis's book The Weight of Glory  and found some great insights in his chapter entitled Learning in War-Time.

At one point he talks about one's life before and after becoming a Christian.

He states here:

"Before I became a Christian I do not think I fully realized that one's life, after conversion, would inevitably consist in doing most of the same things one had been doing before, one hopes, in a new spirit, but still the same things."

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  1 Cor. 10:31

After thinking about this for awhile I realized how true this is. We still go to work, whether it's in the home or in the workplace, we still take care of the needs of our families, and we still have to sleep for rest, eat to survive and grow in learning. But when you give your life over to the Lord it becomes a joy to do these things for His glory.

Lewis says here:

"All our merely natural activities will be accepted, if they are offered to God, even the humblest, and all of them, even the noblest, will be sinful if they are not."

And later he continues:

"Let us clear it forever from our minds. The work of a Beethoven and the work of a charwoman become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly 'as to the Lord.'"

"Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God."  Rom. 15:7

All three of my children, like many young people today, wonder what God wants them to do with their lives. We each have talents that lead us to our vocation, or jobs, but what God wants from us is not so much what we do, but that we do it to His glory.

Lewis says here:

"We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation."

"For in fact the body is not one member but many."  1 Cor. 12:14

Later Lewis talks about leaving the future in God's hands and living to glorify Him, not our work:

"A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God's hands..

Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment 'as to the Lord.' It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received."

"Give us this day our daily bread."  Matt. 6:11

This is one of the reasons I love C.S. Lewis.

He, being one of the most admired intellectuals of our time, still, can speak to the heart of a simple housewife and mother like me. This attitude of equality among all Christians and the bringing of glory to God as one body, is really a wonderful message we need to often be reminded of.

*Here's a little extra reminder by Steven Curtis Chapman to do all you do for the glory of God. : )

Buy it HERE on Amazon