Guest Author - Diana Pederson

Minette Drumwright Pratt. When My Faith Feels Shallow. New Hope Publishers. 2004.

What is true spirituality? Pratt was raised in a pastor’s home and very involved in the church. She shares a bit about her life and her reaction to a class on prayer and worship.

… One of my choices was a class on prayer and worship. I did not expect to encounter anything new. After all, I had spent my life in the middle of prayer and worship. Yet the Lord used the class and the godly professor to cause me to make some disturbing discoveries about myself. The Holy Spirit brought to my attention the fact that while I was believing all the “right” things, and doing “good” things, I was shallow in my relationship with God in Christ. I further realized how lacking I was in the power and spiritual energy God makes available through His Holy Spirit for the living of daily life.

The remainder of the book shares “pathways” we can follow to achieving real spirituality – the type that let’s us get through the joys and problems of life without doubting in God. I found this book a challenge to read because I too must admit my spiritual life isn’t as strong as it needs to be. I doubt many Christians could read through this book and say, everything is “okay” with me!

Claire Cloninger. Kaleidoscope: God’s Pattern in the Bits and Pieces of a Woman’s Life. New Hope Publishers. 1984.

Christians know intellectually that God works through every facet of our lives. The question is: do we really believe what our brain tells us? Cloninger shows us through various stories how God truly uses everything that happens to make us the person HE wants us to be.

I don’t think this is a book to read straight through. Each chapter could make a week’s worth of devotional readings. You’ll enjoy her poetry. This is the book for that discouraged, too busy woman who thinks God isn’t molding her into his image because of all her required activities as a wife and mother, or wife and employee, or wife, mother, and employee.

Mary J. Nelson. Grace for Each Hour. Bethany House. 2005.

Cancer must be one of the most frightening words in our language. I doubt any of us would be free from fear if the doctor said, “you have breast cancer”. Nelson shares her journey as she chooses between traveling alone or traveling with God through each step of the journey.

This book contains six months worth of devotionals. Each devotional will help you keep your focus on God instead of cancer. Written by a survivor of breast cancer, you will find comfort, encouragement, and reassurance as you travel down the road to becoming more Christ-like even through this painful journey.