8 Books that Have Changed my Life

     God works in mysterious ways.  He sovereignly uses people, circumstances and other things in our lives to get us where we need to be.  Romans 8:28 (my life verse) states, And we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.   If we follow this passage through verse 29 to verse 30, we discover that the ultimate destination is Christlikeness in the believer's life.  God is constantly working for our good, to make us the people He wants us to be, and to be in the plans He has for our lives.  I often think of the different people He has used in my life.  I have had great friends and mentors.  Some of the people He has used, however, have been those who have never met me, and may have no idea God used them to impact me.  Some haven't even lived in the same time as me, but their writings have had a part of God's work in my life.  What books have impacted you?  What has God used in your life?  I am going to share the eight books that God has used in my life, both to make me more like Jesus, and to lead my life to where He wanted me to be (the Bible is obviously the greatest Book, being God's only true word, but I am not including it here, because it is in a league of its own)!  The first four are nonfiction, and the second four are fiction.  

     As a quick disclaimer, I will say that it is not necessary to agree with every point a certain author makes in order to love and glean from their book.  In sharing about and recommending these books, I am not claiming that to always agree 100% with everything they might say.  It is okay to think critically and have a different view than an author you might really respect.  As always, compare any teaching to the Bible!  That is always going to be our authority!

Non-Fiction

Heart Hunger--Letting God Meet Your Emotional Needs, by Cindi McMenammin

     I found this book on an obscure shelf at a Christian bookstore in 2002.  I was twenty years old, serving full-time in ministry at a neck-breaking pace, and dealing with heartache.  I had just been dumped by a boyfriend I had thought I would marry.  Many people I did my ministry with were on his side, and were very condemning of me.  Every day was a battle back then.  I got up with a heaviness in my chest, and sometimes didn't know how I would go forward.  There were some spiritual victories going on in my ministry that I had no idea about until later, which explained all the spiritual attacks I encountered.  This book was republished a year later in 2003 as simply Letting God Meet Your Emotional Needs.  It is about what the title implies.  God alone can fulfill any of us.  Trying to get that from other people, experience, or anything else in this world will leave us empty.  It will wear out our loved ones if we are depending on them to fulfill us.  They simply cannot, but when we let God do that, we are fulfilled, and then are free to love and enjoy others without expecting anything in return.  That time back in 2002, reading this book, and going deeper with the Lord, was one of the hardest times, but also one of the most precious times in my life.  This book prepared me to be the right kind of wife for my husband (it isn't a marriage/dating book at all, but the principles apply to every relationship you could have).  You can order the book here.

Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Claud V. King

     This book was originally published in 1994, and has been updated and expanded over the years.  I read the first 1994 edition of it in 1999.  A gentleman in our church introduced it to us, and led a study.  I was a senior in high school at the time, and I believe it was in God's Divine Providence and Sovereignty that I read that book at that time.  It really firmed up my theology before it was tested in the years that followed, as well as made my calling clear to me.  In fact, my husband and I more recently read a newer edition of it, and God used that to lead us into the ministry we are currently in.  This book talks about how what God wants most is a love relationship with the people He created.  Loving and knowing Him in a personal way is more important than His plan for us (though He does have a plan for us).  As we obey His leading in our lives and see Him work, we come to know Him by experience.  God's will for our lives is really a smaller part of His overall will for the world.  We join Him where He is working.  This book talks about the ways God speaks to us.  It is a very biblical book, with many scriptural references and citations for every point they make.   One of the ways my theology was tested as a college student was that I met believers who saw God as a theological concept more than a loving creator who wanted to work in our lives.  When I shared with a certain friend of this persuasion a way God had led me in a certain decision I was making, this friend told me that God doesn't lead us today the way He did in the Bible, and that God doesn't speak to us or work in our lives.  This friend (and many others I knew at the time) believed that the Bible was an infallible guidebook, and that we needed to obey the claims and commands found in it, but did not have personal implication for the specifics of our lives.  The only people who find joy in those types of beliefs are those who don't want to be surrendered to the Lord in the specific areas of their lives, but still want to technically obey the Bible.  These people believed that applying scripture personally to our lives was equivalent to creating new doctrine or even a new religion.  I was labeled as a heretic by these people, and even compared to Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism), simply because I prayed to the Lord for an answer to something I was going through, and God led me to the answer in my personal Bible study that day.   Experiencing God had given me the foundation I needed to refute these believers who believed in a less personal God than the one of the Bible.  Sometimes, there is a fine line between being open to the leading of the Spirit and being open to error.  This book will really help to share the right view of hearing God's voice, loving God, obeying God, seeing God work in your life, and at the same time, rightly dividing the word of truth (Second Timothy 2:15).  You can purchase this book here.

Standing Firm, by Dan Quayle

     This book is autobiographical, written by former Vice President Dan Quayle.  Mostly, he is recounting his four years in the nation's second-highest office.  Because this occurred in my lifetime (while I was growing up), I enjoyed reading about it from his perspective.  As Quayle is a conservative evangelical Christian, his insights are valuable as well.  He even shares his testimony of coming to salvation as a teenager.  However, even these things aren't why I say this book changed my life.  God used it at a very specific time.  I was in the process of stepping out of a particular ministry I had been a part of.  Some unfortunate things had occurred, and I would have been within my rights to speak up about them.  Some might have said I would have been right to burn bridges.  I was seriously planning to do that, when God brought this book to me.  I read it for sentimental reasons (I grew up when this was going on), but one particular quote he made after losing reelection in 1992 made me stop in my tracks and evaluate what God wanted me to do in my situation.  The quote was as follows: How you leave is important, especially if you're thinking of coming back.  God really impressed this lesson on my heart like a lightening bolt.  I needed to leave this ministry graciously, because God just might lead me back into it one day...and He did!  I'm so glad I headed the advice of this book and exited graciously.  There are many other nuggets of wisdom in this book as well, from one of the most underrated men in recent American politics.  I think former Vice-President Quayle has a good balance of humility and honesty in some of the unjust ways he was viewed and treated, and his attitude was a challenge to me.   You can order this book here.

God's Smuggler, by Brother Andrew

     Originally published in 1967, this book is also autobiographical.  It is the story of a Dutch missionary named Andrew van der Bijl, known as Brother Andrew.  As a young man, Andrew found his parent's Christian faith dull and unsatisfying.  He longed for something more to fulfill his life.  He soon had the opportunity to find adventure as a soldier fighting in Indonesia.  During his time in the Dutch army, he did many things he was ashamed of, and did not find that fulfillment he was looking for.  Not only did the Dutch lose this war (thus losing power over Indonesia), but Andrew was wounded in battle.  His adventure had gone sour.  Would he ever have a fulfilling life?  The answer was a very unexpected yes.  Upon returning home, he found the Lord, and a new sense of purpose.  Through each step along the way, God led his life and showed him clearly what to do.  Every time something happened, Andrew's faith in the Lord grew, and prepared him for the next test.  From almost running out of money while in missionary school in Scotland, to ministering to unlikely people, to seeing God provide for his needs and heart's desires, Andrew saw God at work in his life, and cultivated a personal relationship with Him.  I love that this book emphasizes a personal relationship with God, not just a theological idea about Him.  Andrews journey with the Lord eventually took him into Communist countries at the height of the Cold War.  There are points when this book reads like a spy novel!  He had many close calls with government agents, and many opportunities to bring his Christian witness to unexpected people.  Even though there is no relation, I consider this book to be a perfect companion to Experiencing God.  Andrew lived the principles taught in that book, and we get to see the result.  The way God worked in Andrew's life is the same as I have seen Him work in mine.  At one point in the story, Andrew faces a crisis of faith. After having left his job at a Chocolate Factory to pursue missions, he had to decide what He believed about God.  Was God an impersonal force who no longer spoke to His people today, or was He a living God who wanted to lead and guide?  Here is a quote from the book on this:  ...if [God] were a King in name only, I would rather go back to the chocolate factory. I would remain a Christian, but I would know that my religion was only a set of principles, excellent and to be followed, but hardly demanding devotion. Suppose on the other hand that I were to discover God to be a Person, in the sense that He communicated and cared and loved and led. That was something quite different. That was the kind of King I would follow into any battle.  I have learned this lesson right along with Andrew.  You can order this amazing book here.

Fiction

This Present Darkness, by Frank Peretti

     Now we move into fictional books that have been life-changing for me.  Don't ever underestimate the impact of fictional books.  Stories can teach us very real truths at a time when we're not so on our guard.  This Present Darkness (as well as its sequel Piercing the Darkness) is a very powerful read.  We see a pastor of a struggling congregation and a curious newspaper editor coming up against strange forces of evil in a small town.  As the readers, we are given the vantage point of being able to see not only the physical world of these characters, but also the angelic and demonic warriors at war.  While this is a work of fiction, and we can't build theology from it, it is a very strong reminder that there is a battle between good and evil--God and Satan--angels and demons--going on around us all the time.  If we just make judgments about things from what we can see, we will miss out on what is really happening.  As Christians, we are equipped to fight in these battles.  There is sufficient scripture to support the idea of spiritual battles.  Peretti is not making claims that this is exactly how spiritual warfare happens.  He is simply writing a fictional account of how it could happen.  Having read this book multiple times (most recently listened to the audio version with my husband on a long car trip), I think I am more aware of the battle.  I am less likely to see people as the enemy, because I'm reminded who the real enemy is...and whose side I'm really fighting for!  This book is a very exciting page-turning!  You can order it here.

And the Shofar Blew, by Francine Rivers

     This novel is about church corruption, betrayal, and redemption.  Centerville Christian Church is a small congregation in Central California that is a little beyond its prime.  Ten years ago, the members were out sharing the gospel, bringing new people into the church.  Sunday school was full.  Ministries abounded.  Fellowship flourished.  Families and friends were close.  Now, the elderly had passed on, the middle-aged had become elderly, and the younger families had moved to towns with more job opportunities.  The church is at the end of its spiritual rope.  Things can't seem to get worse, when the pastor of forty years has heart failure and must retire.  The few remaining members consider closing down, but instead call a young man fresh out of seminary to be their new pastor.  Enter Paul Hudson.  Paul is initially humble.  He has a supportive wife, Eunice, and a preschool-aged son.  This family seems like the answer to the church's need.  Over time, Paul grows the youth group and brings in families.  Ministry again seems to be flourishing...but at a cost.  Paul has some unresolved insecurities, and is influenced by his need for approval from his father, who pastors a Los Angeles megachurch.  We see Paul's struggles, the church politics, the temptations, the tensions, and the battle between good and evil.  We see the corruption cause hurts to the Body, and godly people are shamed.  I relate so much to this, because I have been through church abuse in my life.  Reading this book helps me to appreciate what those in leadership may be struggling with, and also validates some of my experiences.  When I experienced the church abuse in the 90's, I had no frame of reference that these things actually happen.  There was no Internet back then to help compare stories with others.  It was more common for people in that time to stuff their feelings instead of expressing them.  I was only a high schooler at the time as well, and hadn't lived long enough to realize that things like this can happen in ministry.  Sometimes, churches can be so into reaching "the unchurched" that they fail to have biblical integrity or to minister to their own.  In this book, we see some people having moral failures, and others choosing to do right in the face of overwhelming temptations.  Such a reminder of the battle.  I was overall glad with the ending, but there were some aspects that were not quite satisfying to me, and that is how it often is in real life.  This book is a great commentary on church culture.  You can order this in-depth book here.

Julia's Last Hope, by Janette Oke

     This is a story about losing one's life to find it (Mark 10:39).  Janette Oke is known for writing 19th century romance stories.  Many of her books have been made into Hallmark Movies.  The Hallmark TV show When Calls the Heart is also based on Oke's writing (though many liberties were taken).  This book, a less well-known one by Oke, has more depth.  What I appreciate about everything I have read by Janette Oke is that she always has the Gospel clearly presented in her stories, so an unsaved person reading it could understand and known what he/she had to to in order to be saved.  However, some of her stories don't really seem to have any depth for the believer.  This book breaks that mold.  Julia's Last Hope is different from all other book in that:

1) It is not a romance (it is about a family, though the love between husband and wife is present).

2) It has a plot that keeps the reader wondering and engaged all the way to the last chapter.

3) It has an unexpected ending.

4) The characters learn various lessons through each phase in their experience.

The basic plot is: the Harrigan family lives in Calder Springs, a small town in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  John Harrigan works for the lumber mill, the town's only real industry.  He and his wife Julia are devout Christians, along with their teenage twin daughters.  The Harrigan family has led a pleasant life in Calder Springs, deeply involved in their church and community.  One day, it is announced that the mill is going to close.  Calder Springs will become a ghost town, and the houses will have no resale value.  Julia Harrigan rallies the town women together to try to see what can be done to save the town and life they all love.  They seek to make their struggling little city into a resort town.  Several adventures ensue as guests come to Calder Springs--from spoiled brats to thrill-seekers, from criminals on the lam to sinners seeking to hide their transgressions.  The Harrigans have the opportunity to grow in faith and be a witness at every turn.  Difficult decisions must be made, but nothing ever done in this journey is a waste.  I am reminded that nothing done in faith is ever in vain, and that God is always at work in all of our circumstances.  I'm also struck by the way the townsfolk deal with the losses they experience, because I have been there (I've never lived in a ghost town, but I have seen a church I loved dwindle from a thriving congregation to a shell of its former self, and I've seen neighbors move away and the community change).  Sometimes, losing is still winning, because of everything you glean from the journey.  You can order this book here.

 The Magician's Nephew, by C.S. Lewis

     For the record, I highly recommend all of the Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis.  I used to conduct an evangelism team for junior high students in California.  Between ministry assignments, we would read this series as a group together, and really enjoyed it.  This particular book was the agreed-upon favorite.  All of the books in the series are allegorical of the Christian life.  The first book written, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe portrays the gospel, while the other six books portray different biblical concepts.  The Magician's Nephew is about creation, sin entering into the world, and the promise of redemption.  There are elements of faith involved, where the protagonist, Digory, must choose to trust Aslan (the Christlike character), even in the midst of seeming to have what his heart most desires if he disobeys.  When he victoriously chooses right, Aslan praises him and says, "Well done, son of Adam.  For this fruit you have hungered and thirsted and wept. No hand but yours shall sow the seed of the Tree that is to be the protection of Narnia. Throw the apple towards the river bank where the ground is soft."  It is a reminder of the reward that ultimately awaits us when we do God's will...even if we don't initially see the results.  It's living in faith that we will one day hear Jesus say "Well done."  There have been times that I needed that reminder that I'm on the right track in living by faith.  Sometimes, I have felt God met me in this book.  Another sobering quote is: Oh Adam's sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good.  This quote has reminded me several different times that God wanted me to step out in faith, instead of letting fear keep me away from what God had in store for me.  A final quotation from this book that I will share is a reminder of the joy that waits beyond this life, and that God just occasionally lets us experience now--what I call a "prelude to Heaven."  And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled over them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just around the corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well.  I have had some experiences with the Lord where He let me experience just a little bit of that joy that only He can give.  If we lived in that constant state of bliss, we wouldn't do anything for the kingdom while we're here on earth.  God just seems to give us that at those moments when we really need the reminder.  That "golden goodness."  It's really His presence in a very concentrated dose, giving us a hunger for Him...for eternity.  When we need it, we can look back on those "prelude" times, and know that is what we have to look forward to!  The best is yet to come for believers!  

     Those are eight of the books that have most impacted my life.  I highly recommend them.  I am always on the lookout for new books to read and be encouraged by, so please tell me your favorites, and how God has used them in your life!  

Birthday Lessons

      Today, February 4, 2022, I am forty years old.  As I think back on the lessons God has taught me in my Christian life over the years, I can't help but think that one of the most important lessons I learned took place thirty years ago today, on my tenth birthday, February 4, 1992.     

February 4, 1992--double digits at last!  I'm opening my presents from my siblings as my kid sister happily looks on.  My parents' main present to me was to be allowed to call long-distance to my friend in Colorado.  I wish I still had those encyclopedias to the right, under our VCR.  They had all kinds of cool things in them, such as the USSR, and info on all US Presidents up to Ronald Reagan.  They were even outdated in 1992, even though they were only about five years old then!

     The world was a different place, and yet not so different.  The Cold War had just ended a few weeks earlier, and everyone was totally amazed at the novelty of the phrase they never imagined to hear, Former Soviet Union.  The President of the United States was George H.W. Bush (who, at the time, we simply called George Bush, having no idea his son would one day become President as well, thus needing middle initials to distinguish them from each other).  Then-Vice-President Dan Quayle was also celebrating his birthday that day--but he wasn't turning ten (we share a birthday, look it up!  I also share a birthday with Charles Lindburgh and Rosa Parks!).  

Charles Lindbergh--born February 4, 1902--exactly 80 years before me.

Rosa Parks--born February 4, 1913-- exactly sixty-nine years before me.

Former Vice President, Dan Quayle--Born February 4, 1947--exactly thirty-five years before me.

     Who else was born on your birthday?  It's kind of fun to find that stuff out!

     For my birthday present that year, I had asked to be allowed to make a long distance call to a good friend of mine who had moved to Colorado (remember when long-distance calls actually cost money extra money?  I love having a flat-rate now!).  A twenty-minute call from Riverside, California to Denver, Colorado cost about the amount my parents were willing to spend on a gift, and that's what I had asked for.  It was totally worth it.  Beauty and the Beast was playing in the movie theaters.  I had seen it over Christmas vacation six weeks earlier, and was going to be seeing it again for my birthday, with two of my good friends.  I had wanted to invite the whole neighborhood to come with us, but of course that was out of the question.  Movie tickets were expensive (I mean, it was 1992.  It cost almost $3 a piece!  We couldn't be throwing our money around like that!).  My mother had told me to pick two friends to invite.  I settled on Chantel, a lifelong friend I had met as a toddler, and Sarah, a girl who lived on the next block over from me.  

     Since my actual birthday fell on a Tuesday in 1992, the movie excursion was planned for that Saturday, the eighth.  In the four days between my real birthday and that part of the celebration, what could go wrong?  Plenty!

     Chantel lived about ten miles away from us, went to a different school, and had a different circle of friends, so whether she told anyone or not about going to the movies for my birthday, it wouldn't have been any sort of issue.  Sarah, unfortunately, was right in the middle of my social circle.  She let it spill all over the neighborhood that I had invited her to come to my celebration.  This led to jealous kids showing up that morning, begging if they could also come.  It was torture to me to have to tell them no!  I would have loved to have invited all of them, and I felt sad that they couldn't come.  I had wished Sarah hadn't told them.  Some of these neighborhood kids hung around my house all day while we were gone, waiting for us to get home from the movie to see if we'd let them stay for cake and ice cream.  They hung out under the guise of playing with my siblings, but they really wanted a piece of the party.  When my siblings walked them home later (something we did in those days when it was time for friends to leave), they just turned around and followed my siblings back to our house.  

     The saddest part of this was that one friend, Lindsay, happened to see Sarah get into our car for the party.  I waved at Lindsay, and she waved back, but she looked sad, and I felt sad that I hadn't been able to invite her.  I wished I could have.  

     We had fun going to see the movie, but in the back of my mind, I felt sad about how those who had not been invited felt about it.  It's no fun to be left out.  I had so many good friends in my life I would have loved to have included.  

     Lindsay was very hurt I hadn't invited her, and she and I never really hung out after that.  In fact, she and Sarah were good friends, and she kind of got Sarah away from me, so I lost two friends.  I mean, we never had a fight, and we were still nice to each other around the neighborhood, but it wasn't the same.  Friendships at that age of life can be kind of fickle, since we're growing up and changing so much.  Some friends grow and change with us, and others don't.  Still, I felt that the fun of the day ruined friendships, and I always felt badly about that.  Looking back, it seems like mean girl drama, even though that wasn't the intent.  I also know that these kinds of things aren't relegated to a ten-year-old's birthday party.  People of all ages, including adults, can be just as hurt when they are left out, and respond in ways that are just as hurtful.  

     What I learned from my tenth birthday was that we should value people's feelings, and be very careful to be kind, and not hurtful.  Nothing was intentionally mean from this incident, but people were still hurt, and I can't help but think this could have been avoided if we'd been more careful.  Thoughtlessness can hurt just as much as spite.  We shouldn't just "not try" to hurt people, but we should intentionally "try not" to hurt them.  Philippians 2:4 says, Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Other people's feelings on the whole aren't our responsibility, but the way we treat them can affect their feelings, and that is our responsibility.   Most of us aren't cruel people who want to hurt others, but we can be thoughtless, which can be just as painful to them. 

     Here are some biblical tips that reinforce the hard lesson I learned on my tenth birthday.

1) Be friendly to everyone.  A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly... (Proverbs 18:24 KJV).  Be friendly to everyone God brings across your path.

2) Don't rank your friends into "best friends" and "second best friends."  My grandma wisely told me when I was about ten (around the time of this party, actually), that I should have several close friends, but I didn't need one "best friend."  She was right.  I had a friend growing up who always told me I was her fourth best friend.  Gee, thanks.  Another girl (with whom I was very close, in fact) told me I was her thirty-second best friend.  How do you think being ranked like this made me feel?  And how could this girl really keep track of thirty-two friends in order of quality?  It's ridiculous.  It turns friendship into a competition that you can't really hope to win.  It shouldn't be that way.  My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  (James 2:1).  You have your best china for when company comes, your best clothes to wear on Sundays, and your best friend for when you're really lonely.  What's wrong with that picture?  People shouldn't be relegated to the level of things.  Having one "Best Friend" is very juvenile and petty.  I find that most people who have a need for a "best friend" are often insecure themselves.  Every relationship in your life brings a new dimension to you, and should be valued.  Some are going to be closer to you than others, and that in itself is okay and right (Jesus had His twelve, and within that, He had His three), but being closer to them doesn't make someone a better friend, but rather a closer friend.  The term "Best Friend" is a misnomer, then.  The value should be placed on the relationship, not the person.  I have seldom (if ever) been the "best friend" people talked about.  I've had so many friends I thought I was very close to who would then talk about someone else as their "best friend" to me, and it made me feel like chopped liver!  Even now, at 40, those nagging feelings from youth come back with the thought, Why am I not good enough to be your best friend?  It makes me feel left out, and has led to a lot of insecurity in my relationships with other women.  The few times someone considered me their "best friend" it wasn't a healthy friendship, but more of a needy, codependent relationship where the person was receiving something from me, and made me feel used.  Those relationships didn't last.  Let's just not do that!  Don't have a "Best Friend" besides Jesus!  He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24).  Have close friends, and value each one.  

3) Include everyone you are able to. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.  (Hebrews 13:16).  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.  Romans 12:13.  People's needs are not always physical.  Sometimes, they are emotional.  The need to feel included.  Be that person who sites beside someone who is alone or left out.  Start a conversation with someone who is by themselves.  Put yourself in another person's place and try to make them feel better.  I wasn't able to invite more people to my birthday celebration, but I could have made an extra effort to reach out to these other kids.  Maybe I could have changed the plan and just had everyone over for cake and ice cream.  Maybe I could have invited Lindsay over the next day for just a fun day for the two of us.  I should have cautioned Sarah not to tell others about my birthday fun, since they weren't invited.  There was a lot that could have been different, and avoided hurting people's feelings.  

4) See people as Jesus sees them.  The Bible tells us how God sees people.  God so loved the world... (John 3:16a).  He wants everyone to be saved (not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Second Peter 3:9).  We need to look at people as souls dearly beloved by God;  people Jesus died for and longs to welcome into His family.  Every person you meet was worth the life of Jesus Christ.  We should treat them as the treasures they are, and especially, tell them what Jesus did for them.  You might not be able to afford to take everyone you know to the movies for your birthday, but there are other ways to freely love them.  Many of the dearest people in my life have never spent a penny on me, but have given of the spiritual blessings God had given them, such as seeing God's hand in my life when I couldn't, listening compassionately when I needed it, encouraging me with scriptures I had forgotten, and praying with me when they could have been doing something else for themselves.  There are so many ways to love and value people.  

     In conclusions, I learned the hard way on my tenth birthday that people's hearts are fragile.  God loves people more than anything, and we should too.  Hopefully, all of you can come to my birthday party today (HA! HA!--there is no party, but if there were, you'd all be welcome!  My husband and I will get lunch out, and then come home for a really good dessert I already made).  If you're in Little Rock, drop on in!