Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Grieve Breathe Receive by Steve Carter may just be the best Christian non-fiction book  for me that I have read so far this year. I'll be honest, I ordered this book and then I set it aside I got it. One day I picked it up and I could not put it down for two days until I finished it.  As the title suggests, this book is divided into three sections: Grieve, Breathe and Receive. Carter was at one time a leader at Willow Creek Community Church when he resigned after learning of the senior pastor's abuse. I remember when all of this happened in 2018 as we watched a service to see Bob Goff right about that time. In this book, Carter shares why he had to resign from Willow Creek church and how that decision left him and his family reeling for a long time. This book is about grieving from a variety of losses--loss of a job, loss of friends, health issues, and much more. He also shared that he lost a couple of family members in death not long afterwards too, so it also covers ...

  Losing a loved one is never easy for anyone. In the past month, five people I know have passed away. The last one was the unexpected loss of a classmate. I have to say, I am sad in my heart and soul right now with all of these losses. J. S. Park has a new book out that talks about grieving from a chaplain who has counseled people in all walks of life about all types of deaths. He writes a book with solid practical advice and encouragement as you walk the grieving road ahead of you. In  As Long As You Need by J.S. Park, he offers an honest and unrushed engagement with grief, decoding four types of grieving–spiritual, mental, physical, and relational–and offering compassionate self-care and soul-care along the way. In his nearly decade of service as a chaplain at a major hospital with a designated level one trauma center J.S. understands firsthand how rushing or suppressing grief only adds a suffocating layer of pain on top of the original wound. (From the Back of the b...