Guest Author - Diana Pederson

Kathy Collard Miller. Partly Cloudy with Scattered Worries. Bethany House. 2005.

Does your ladies’ Bible Study Group need a new book to study? May I suggest Partly Cloudy with Scattered Worries? Since it contains 9 chapters, dealing with different worries (or concerns as we prefer to call them so we sound more Christ-like), it would make an outstanding 9-10 week study.

Each chapter tackles a different group of concerns. The author talks you through the concern, shares stories from her past and concludes by showing how some Bible character overcame the same concern.

I found this book fun to read! Miller’s writing style let’s you know she truly understands how the thought processes work when we get caught up in some concern. Here is just one example of her writing:

It rained in the desert yesterday. We were surprised! It doesn’t rain here very often, and even when it does, the clouds most often stay nestled near the mountains. Since we’re in the center of the valley, it will often be raining there but not here. One of our fun things to do is to sit out on the patio and watch it rain in the distance. Sometimes there is lightning and thunder, but for a native Californian, that’s exciting—we don’t have tornado warnings. … Just as the umbrella protects us from the rain and keeps us dry, prayer protects us from worry and “stays:” our minds to trust in God, resulting in peace. … [Page 61]

Recommendation

Miller is an outstanding writer. She is able to shed God’s light on ordinary, everyday events in our lives. I appreciated her way to showing us how we could choose to think rather than letting our mind go down the normal pathway to unnecessary worry.