Gender Roles and the People of God: Rethinking What We Were Taught About Men and Women in the Church, written by Alice Matthews
A reading challenge I'm doing this year has a category of "a book that challenges your viewpoint". I won't talk publicly about my viewpoint on gender roles within the church, the things I feel either confident or unsure about, but my experience has been heavily on the complementarian side.
Every church I can remember attending has either been complementarian, meaning men and women have different roles within the church (and home) based on gender, or appeared that way on the surface (meaning the denomination wasn't, but the specific congregation happened to play out that way).
A book that teaches the egalitarian side, that roles are always based on skills or giftings instead of gender, but does so with biblical support instead of just an "anything men can do, women can do better" or "girl boss" attitude, would help me to have a more balanced understanding of the topic while also helping me cross another book off my challenge list.
This book was well-written and not emotionally charged or with an anti-men tone, which I really appreciated. The first two-thirds looks at the issue from a biblical vantage point and is filled with Bible verses. (Sidenote: If you're a follower of Jesus reading a faith-based book that takes a stance on an issue, I think it's critical that it have lots of Bible verses you can look up and study for yourself.) The last third looks at it from a historical context, moving from the first century to modern times.
Regardless of whether you agree with the author's perspective, I think the book is worth reading because she's articulate, respectful, values the Bible, and is clear about her guidelines for interpreting scripture.
The Last Thing He Told Me, written by Laura Dave
Now I Am Known: How a Street Kid Turned Foster Dad Found Acceptance and True Worth, written by Peter Mutabazi with Mark Tabb
This book was well-written and not emotionally charged or with an anti-men tone, which I really appreciated. The first two-thirds looks at the issue from a biblical vantage point and is filled with Bible verses. (Sidenote: If you're a follower of Jesus reading a faith-based book that takes a stance on an issue, I think it's critical that it have lots of Bible verses you can look up and study for yourself.) The last third looks at it from a historical context, moving from the first century to modern times.
Regardless of whether you agree with the author's perspective, I think the book is worth reading because she's articulate, respectful, values the Bible, and is clear about her guidelines for interpreting scripture.
The Last Thing He Told Me, written by Laura Dave
As if having her new husband mysteriously disappear wasn't hard enough, a woman soon discovers the man she loves isn't who she believed him to be. How does she follow his final request of her, that she protect his daughter, without actually knowing what she's protecting her step-daughter from? This is a novel of truth and lies, the danger that comes with each option, and what it means to love sacrificially. I chose this book for the "adventure/espionage" category of a book challenge I'm doing this year.
p. 266, This is the thing about good and evil. They aren't so far apart - and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting something to be different.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter, written by Kim Edwards
An orthopedic surgeon and his nurse have to unexpectedly deliver he and his wife's baby. That one baby turns out to be unexpected twins, and one has Down's syndrome. The already life-changing moment of becoming a parent is made even more impacting when the man makes an impulsive decision that will radically and permanently change the lives of all five people in the delivery room. The consequences of deception have a ripple effect one can never fully anticipate and lies meant to protect can cause more damage than the truth. This book was the February part of a year-long gift from a friend, one book to unwrap and read each month.
An orthopedic surgeon and his nurse have to unexpectedly deliver he and his wife's baby. That one baby turns out to be unexpected twins, and one has Down's syndrome. The already life-changing moment of becoming a parent is made even more impacting when the man makes an impulsive decision that will radically and permanently change the lives of all five people in the delivery room. The consequences of deception have a ripple effect one can never fully anticipate and lies meant to protect can cause more damage than the truth. This book was the February part of a year-long gift from a friend, one book to unwrap and read each month.
p. 78, "You can't spend the rest of your life tiptoeing around to try and avert disaster. It won't work. You'll just end up missing the life you have."
p. 247, (S)he had been so young, so lonely and naive, that she imagined herself as some sort of vessel to be filled up with love. But it wasn't like that. The love was within her all the time, and its only renewal came from giving it away.
p. 396, "(W)e have a choice. To be bitter and angry, or to try and move on. It's the hardest thing for me, letting go of all that righteous anger. I'm still struggling. But that's what I want to do."
Now I Am Known: How a Street Kid Turned Foster Dad Found Acceptance and True Worth, written by Peter Mutabazi with Mark Tabb
This is the heart-breaking and hope-filled story of a ten year old who ran away from abuse and poverty at home to live on the streets of Kampala, Uganda for five years. It's a story about trauma and survival mode, of looking for the best in people and showing compassion toward those whose lives are messy in ways different than our own. It's about the power of offering and receiving opportunities for growth, of the incredible power of our words and the importance of forgiveness. It's about traveling to help with international humanitarian work, of committing to the personal work of local foster care. It's about that ten year old boy having his life changed by people who chose to see and nurture the good in him when he was unable to see or foster it in himself becoming a man who is able to pay that same kindness, respect, and help forward to others. I chose this book for the "biography" category of a book challenge I'm doing this year.
p. 40, When you live around garbage and you smell like garbage and people treat you like garbage, it's hard not to think of yourself that way.
p. 66, When life beats people down for too long, they lose hope. They cannot see a way out of their circumstances. They cannot see their own value. When others cannot see their own potential, we need to step in and see it for them.
p. 80, Hurting people do not deserve judgment. They need understanding. They need patience. They need love. They need grace.
p. 92, I caught a glimpse of a future that I could imagine becoming a reality, which gave me hope, but for hope to take root within a heart , a person must take another step. I had to stop seeing myself through the lens of my past.
p. 134, Hurting people need to be heard. They need to know they are not alone. These children who had lost everything needed to know they still mattered. The only way I could do that was by listening to one story after another, even when I thought my heart could not bear hearing another child describe in detail what it was like to watch their mother and father die at the hands of people they once thought of as friends. The stories all sounded so much alike, but for these children, each story was as unique as they were.
p. 137, I know firsthand that if you don't deal with the hate you experienced as a child, it will continue to influence your future well into adulthood. That's what hate does: it keeps us locked, stuck, and prevents us from the growth we are meant for. But forgiveness can set us free.
p. 191, Is my life really devoted to making a difference in the lives of those who are most vulnerable when what I do requires zero sacrifice on my part? I knew the answer. Now the question was, What was I going to do about it?
p. 196, While we are all shaped by our past, none of us are chained to it.
This well-known woman spent most of her life in India, living among and serving the poor and neglected. She took Jesus seriously when he said that the way we treat those in need is the way we treat him, a belief that was the driving force in her work. This is a school book that I read to Tyler.
This random, charming book is filled with vivid imagery in brief descriptions of ordinary moments seen by the author. You can go through it in one sitting of light reading or pick it up occasionally and savor just a few descriptions.
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