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 ...

  Do you know a child who has lost a loved one and is hurting? Moonlight Memories by Amanda Davis is a beautiful story of grief, loss and healing from a child's perspective.  Piper is grieving and hurting as her mother passed away. Her father gives her a telescope since she has trouble sleeping. She uses the telescope--and she uses her heart and imagination each night as she looks at the stars. Along with the stars, she sees the memories she made with her mother. Grief takes time and doesn't looks the same for everyone, something that the author points out in the page before and after the story. I thought this was a beautiful story of comfort and hope for a young child. I also liked the beautiful illustrations on each page from Michelle Jing Chan. Moonlight Memories would make a great gift for a hurting child who lost a loved one. While they may not want to grieve the same way, I think they would find comfort in knowing that other children grieve too. Also, this book is not ...