Category Archives: Non-fiction

Review: Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God, by Sheila Walsh

Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God, by Sheila Walsh (Thomas Nelson, 2010)

I love the cover art on this book. The little girl, swinging so high, looks… free. Carefree, even. Happy.

Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God reminds us that it’s God pushing the swing—and that we can trust His heart. Trust is a choice, and the personal experiences and Scriptural examples Sheila Walsh includes are chosen to prove God’s trustworthiness. It’s up to us to take the step (daily) of trust, but in these pages we’re reminded that God knows our weakness and is incredibly patient.

I admire Sheila’s transparency with her own struggles to trust, and it’s through her stories—one human being’s vulnerability—that readers find they’re not alone, that there is hope. It’s risky to admit our frailty, and I’m sure some “upright” people will judge her and turn away. That’s their loss, and they’re missing the whole point.

The message of this book is crucial to all of us who are wounded and weary in the journey. Men need it as much as women, but Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God is clearly written for a female audience.

Perhaps because the message is so important, I was disappointed with the quality of the words themselves. This is not something I’ve noticed in the author’s previous books, and it felt to me as if the publication process had been rushed. I found myself mentally editing, tightening sentences, correcting typesetting—all of which distracted me from the subject matter.

I even noticed a couple of spots that escaped Bible fact-checking. (For example, page 217 talks about Abram building the altar to sacrifice Isaac, and how the boy asks where the sacrificial animal is. The text says, “Scripture doesn’t tell us if Abraham replies or weeps or what he is thinking.” According to Genesis 22:8, NIV, “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.”)

The book does contain some powerful sentences, like this one: “Wherever you stand at the moment is your holy ground, and grace is available there,” (p. 175). I think I’ll be putting that one on my bulletin board.

It’s the trend for books to have perhaps 10 discussion questions at the end. Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God has 26 and they’re all worth thought. I would have preferred them to refer to the author as “Sheila” rather than “Walsh”. To me that sounds formal and faintly disapproving.

There’s also an in-depth Bible study, with a session for each chapter. If that sounds intimidating, it really isn’t. Each one is 2-3 pages long and I like the format: “Find, Feel and Follow.” Find and read selected short passages in your Bible, think through your responses, and begin to act on what you learn.

In Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God, Sheila Walsh writes with an easy-to-read and at times humorous style. Despite my wishes for better editing, this is a book I’d recommend to any woman who’s in need of learning to trust (or trust more) God’s heart.

Check out the book trailer (unfortunately, the audio and video are a bit out of sync). Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God is available through your local bookstore and from chapters.indigo.ca,  amazon.ca, amazon.com and Christianbook.com.

You can find Sheila Walsh on Facebook, Twitter, or her website.

Review copy provided for free by Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Blooming, by Marian den Boer

Blooming, by Marian den Boer (Word Alive Press, 2009)

Blooming, subtitled “This Pilgrim’s Progress,” is a collection of short, slice-of-life vignettes from the den Boer household. Many were originally published as articles in The Christian Courier. Each one ends with a Scripture and the author’s thoughts as she looks back on the incident.

Marian den Boer writes with a friendly, engaging style, as if she’s sharing these events with a good friend. She’s not afraid to admit when she fails, and she has a keen eye for the humour in a situation. It’s interesting to read the lessons she draws from her life, and although our own experiences will often be different, the lessons still apply.

Marian sums the book up best herself:

The stories… reveal the day-to-day experiences of my sometimes frazzled self as I mothered six children over a period of approximately 15 years. The Holy Spirit subtly, yet dramatically, convicted and convinced me in the nitty gritty of everyday family life… I lived Christianity from my head. As the years progressed God patiently changed me into someone who attempts to live Christianity from the heart as led by His Spirit. (pp. xii, xiii)

Although each chapter is short, I kept turning pages for “just one more.” Watch for Blooming when the short-list comes out for this year’s Canadian Christian Writing Awards.

For more about Canadian author Marian den Boer, visit her blog, Blooming: This Pilgrim’s Progress (and Regress). You can read the introduction to Blooming here, and sample chapters here and here.

Review copy purchased by reviewer (at Miracles Christian Store).

Review: I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, by Dolores Ayotte

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, by Dolores Ayotte (Tate Publishing, 2008)

I love the cover design of this book – all these uniquely-marked balloons, all in different places but each adding to the scene.

Dolores Ayotte is a former teacher who loves finding ways to share what she’s learned. Her first book, I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, is one of those ways, and in it Dolores reveals the lessons that helped her move out of a serious depression.

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay offers “thirteen steps to a happier self,” and they’re all simple, down-to-earth things that we somehow overlook when we’re in distress. Appropriately enough, the first step is learning to love: oneself, others and God.

The author contends that without a healthy sense of self-worth we can’t find emotional healing. Indeed, why would we think we deserve it? If, she says, we can love ourselves as we are, we can then begin to change those things in us that we don’t like.

Dolores speaks of relying on a quiet “inner voice” and it’s clear that this is no mystic “spirit guide” – it’s the Holy Spirit whispering into His child’s life. Healing is, after all, His specialty.

Other key themes in the book are simplicity, relationships, forgiveness, laughter, silence, money management (“live below your yearnings”), wisdom and communication.

I wasn’t comfortable with the book’s reference to God as “him/her” although I’m aware that the Bible does attribute both paternal and maternal characteristics to our Creator. I did find the ingredients in this “Baker’s Dozen” recipe for a better life to be pleasant, helpful and encouraging.

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay is an easy book to read, gentle on the spirit, that feels like a personal letter just for you. It includes many inspirational quotes that have encouraged the author over the years. The book comes with a code allowing free download of the text in audio format from the publisher.

To learn more about Canadian author Dolores Ayotte, you can visit her website.  is available through her site and also at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

Review copy provided by the author.

Review: Your God is too Safe, by Mark Buchanan

Your God is Too Safe, by Mark Buchanan (Multnomah, 2001)

In a day where many teachers either speak in “academic-ese” or dumb down their language, Mark Buchanan’s writing is a refreshing treat, comparable with Philip Yancey. What sets his books apart from other life-changing works is the beauty of the language. The images and descriptions are fresh, original and strong.

Your God is Too Safe is subtitled “Rediscovering the Wonder of a God You Can’t Control.” It opens with a candid look at life in “borderland”—that place where many of us get stuck, saved but slow of heart and unfruitful. The second half of the book calls us to life in the “holy wild.” Here Rev. Buchanan offers practical steps to take if we’re willing to risk walking with a God who is not safe but is good.

The book stresses the value of holy habits, often called spiritual disciplines. These are to be God-ward habits, not legalistic rules; practices that develop into new life patterns. Holy habits lead to practicing the presence of God through worship, expectancy, confession, solitude, fasting, reading Scripture, servanthood, prayer and celebration.

I appreciated the author’s honesty about real people’s struggles, his own included. We can all relate to the section on borderland, having been there. We can leave borderland for the holy wild, and Mark Buchanan’s words instil within us a longing to do so.

Mark Buchanan is a pastor in British Columbia, and one of my favourite Canadian authors. Your God is Too Safe was his first book, published in 2001. Since then he’s written Things Unseen: Living in the Light of Forever, The Holy Wild, The Rest of God, and Hidden in Plain Sight. Each one has blessed me as I’ve read it.

You can learn more about Mark Buchanan and his books at his website. Your God is Too Safe is available in trade paperback, audio or e-book from Chapters-Indigo, trade paperback and audio book from Christianbook.com, and trade paperback only from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. You can also order it through your local bookstore.

— trade paperback and audio book