Guest Author - Diana Pederson

I’ve attempted to gather some books that a person could either read quickly or could put it down and pick it up again without having to remember the story line. Here are the two I found.

Peggy Rae Dorris, a new author, wrote a short book called “God & Nature”. This author has a broad background including 40 years as a cattle rancher, an occupation that I am sure gave her much time to contemplate nature. She is also a Biology Professor and has held many other hats too.

In her introduction she states:

When Christ spoke of eternal truths, He used natural objects such as grass, trees, animals, soil and water to explain supernatural truths. … Having spent most of my life as an outdoor biologist and as a child of God, I have been awed by the peace and beauty of nature.

Dorris succeeded at her efforts to combine her religious beliefs with observations from nature. She clearly follows Christ’s own example as a story teller. Her stories are funny, sad, and/or thought provoking as she shares both natural truths and spiritual truths.

The book contains a series of short stories making it an easy book to read, whether you have an hour or so, or just five minutes. Keep this one by your bed to read last thing at night. You might even in the bathroom to read in fleeting moments.

Peggy Rae Dorris. God & Nature. Inkwater Press. 2003.

Karen O’Connor became one of our popular humorists with her book, Gettin’ Old Ain’t for Wimps. Her latest effort, titled Walkin With God Ain’t for Wimps is equally humorous.

I loved reading through these stories because some reminded me of people I know that are older than me. My favorite, No Wooden Nickels, tells of a couple where the wife has to ask for every dollar she wants. Finally, she makes a rule that if her husband hasn’t answered within ten minutes, the answer is automatically yes. Buying her husband a new workbench for their 50th anniversary was accomplished because he fell asleep without answering. I don’t think he was unhappy about the purchase though.

O’Connor’s writing style makes this a hard book to put down, but if you try hard, you can read one story at a time! Or maybe it is like that infamous potato chip company that claimed we couldn’t eat just one.

Karen O’Connor. Walkin’ With God Ain’t for Wimps. Harvest House Publishers. 2007.