Book Review: The Grace Effect: How The Power of One Life Can Overcome The Power of Unbelief

The Grace Effect:  How The Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief

by: Larry Taunton

Not at all what I expected…but I wasn’t disappointed!  I give it a surprising thumb’s up.  When Booksneeze.com sent me The Grace Effect, I was expecting a book that would point out - step by step - how Christians impact their world for good.  Maybe even how I personally could BE the Grace Effect.   This is the author’s definition of the Grace effect, so I was expecting him to beat me over the head with how his theory is correct.  Instead, he told me about his family’s experience adopting their little girl from the Ukraine.  I got so caught up in the story of their lives, I actually forgot what the “point” of the book was supposed to be.  I was sickened and angered by the way people and especially the orphans and poor are treated “over there”.   I was reminded that as an American, I really DO have it good here.  We like to complain about this or that politician and we like to think we could do better than the President at his job.  We forget that just the fact that we even have the freedom to complain about the government is a luxury not afforded to everyone in the world.  We throw up our hands at how people are so rude and lacking in compassion in America, but according to this author, we have not seen rudeness until we visit the former communist bloc.  The author sprinkles many quotes throughout and has a lot of references in the back (that I didn’t research, I just noticed them).  All in all, I did like the book and closed it feeling kind of sad that I wouldn’t be reading about the author and his family any more.  They felt like friends by the end. I recommend reading it if you are in the mood for fiction, but fiction isn’t your thing.  It is not a self-help book as I originally thought.  It is good for a new perspective

50 Weeks of Purging Week 1: Kitchen Cupboards

I shall be RUTHLESS.

I shall take no prisoners.

These are the "rules":

1.  You must LOVE it.

or

2.  You must USE it.

or

3. You must RE-PURPOSE it.

or

IT GOES.

Right now.

Do not put it in a box, bag, or pile

to give to goodwill/Salvation Army, etc.

unless you are giving it to your sister, who lives next door 

and you can and WILL walk it right over after your session.

I know I am going to get flack for this, but

I know myself and that well-meaning box, bag, or pile

will remain in my house 

FOR MONTHS,

most likely directly in front of the door

so I don't "forget" it...

until it somehow gets unpacked and ends up right back in my kitchen.

DON'T LAUGH

IT HAS HAPPENED

(I have a husband, you know!)

If I LOVE it, but don't use it

it stands to reason I

need to find a way to 

reuse it somewhere else.

Why don't I use it?

Is it broke?

Fragile?

Too Expensive?

TOSS IT!

If there is one thing I can't stand,

it's stuff in my house that 

doesn't do SOMETHING.  

Now, if I don't particularly LOVE

something but use it all the time

(or at least predictably - like

the china I use for special occasions)

It's a keeper.

HOWEVER,

I need to investigate further.

Should I love it?

Why don't I love it?

Can I replace it with something I DO love?

This could be tricky

because,

FOR EXAMPLE,

I do not love my silverware.

I am thankful that it is there.

I use it multiple times a day.

But silverware isn't my thing.

I am not getting rid of my silverware.

I am highly unlikely to find silverware that I LOVE.

I'm keeping the silverware anyway.

If I don't LOVE it

and

I don't USE it

but

still can't bring myself to toss it,

can I at least put it to work somewhere else?

And this means

immediately.

Not "well, with a coat of paint"

or 

"if we just did X, Y, or Z"

because

I know myself and it will just clutter up

a completely different area waiting to be 

"perfected"

NO WAY

NO HOW

AIN'T DOING IT THIS YEAR!

Example:

I have this random canning jar

that floats around from place to place

and is currently not working in the kitchen.

(This is purely fictitious. A situation like this

would NEVER occur in my house.  I LOVE

canning jars!)

I could plop it in the bathroom and use it for:

cotton balls

q-tips

tampons

combs

toothbrushes

toothpaste

and the list goes on

(probably because I love canning jars!)

Got it?

Okay, so you have this week to 

go through every nook and cranny

of your kitchen cupboards.

YOU CAN DO THIS.

UGH! I Just Don't Know What I Want To Be...

...when I grow up!

I'm angst-ridden.

Is that even a word?

Angst-ridden.

Angstridden?

Nope.  Merriam says I made it up.

I guess I am 

full of angst, then.

(frankly, I think "angst-ridden" is more colorful)

FULL OF ANGST.

Surely by now you are asking why?

I have no answer for you.

HOWEVER;

I have some possibilities.

1. It could be hormones because, well, I have them and sometimes I think they go out of whack.
2. It could be because it is January 3rd and I was in bed flat-out sick the 1st and the 2nd.
3. It could be number two ADDED to the fact that I have all these dreams and goals for 2012 that are now having trouble getting off the ground.
4. It could be because I cannot decide if I should continue doing some things...like blogging and...well, other things. ;-)
5. It really could just be that I'm recovering from whatever it was that blindsided me health-wise, and stupidly-decided-to-have-a-Dr.-Pepper-at-Mom's-house-at-1:30-in-the-afternoon-when-I-KNOW-that-if-I-have-that-kind-of-caffeine-after-noon-I-will-not-be-able-to-sleep-and-here-I-sit-with-my-mind-racing-a-million-miles-an-hour-making-myself-crazy...

*GASP*

I think that's it.

All of the above with an emphasis on #5.

But the blogging thing too. 

 

I read so many blogs out there.

So many blogs that are 

SO GOOD

(and who are written by FRIENDS - people I actually KNOW, so I can't tell myself that these aren't real people!)

with 

PRETTY PICTURES

and beautiful writing.

I have none of those things here.

It's 

JUST ME

saying 

WHATEVER I FEEL

on 

WHATEVER DAY IT MAY BE

about

WHATEVER SUBJECT 

tickles my fancy that moment.

I should be more organized...

more to-the-point...

more BETTER. 

(at english, apparently)

To be honest, I do not want to spend the 

necessary time to be those things.

I just want to post words on a blog the way

an artist spatters paint on a canvas.

SPLAT!

And people come flocking 

to figure out if she is 

CRAZY-MAD?

Or is she a genius?

Just Amy