Review: Practice By Practice, by Kathleen Gibson

Practice by Practice: the art of everyday faith, by Kathleen Gibson (Word Alive Press, 2010)

Practice by Practice is the first compilation of Kathleen Gibson’s slice-of-life inspirational newspaper column, “Sunny Side Up”. Other volumes will follow, in a series titled The Preacher and Me. (Kathleen is a clergy wife.)

This delightful gift book came from Kathleen’s winning non-fiction manuscript in the 2009 Word Alive Press publishing contest.  Packaged as a 5×7-inch hardback with restful cover and interior design, Practice by Practice would make an ideal “thank you” to a friend or hostess—or a treat for yourself.

Each selection is 3-4 pages long, ideal for a quick pick-me-up. Kathleen’s insights are down to earth and practical, and her language flows gently. She writes about worry, marriage, forgiveness, patience, trust—a host of areas where we can all relate.

I found her thoughts on worry refreshing. We all know we shouldn’t worry, but for many of us it’s a lifetime challenge. Kathleen looks back at a life spent practicing faith as an antidote to worry and discovers:

“Like salt on ice, that worry has acted on the way I practice faith. It’s motivated me to dig deeper, trust more, pray harder, search God’s word more keenly. In the end, the well-practiced faith… has always trumped my worry and turned it into trust.” (p. 10)

Kathleen’s prose is rich and evocative. See if this excerpt doesn’t relax you:

“The Waskesiu River ambled along beside us, riffling over rocks, gathering in still pools, murmuring around sharp bends. Sedge grasses swayed above boulders swaddled in orange lichen. And golden-eyed ducks dipped and dived for plankton and whatever other edibles wait below the glistening surface of a river.” (p. 17)

Kathleen’s “Sunny Side Up” column is featured in Yorkton This Week, and you can read the current instalments by clicking the link. (There’s even a spot to subscribe to “Sunny Side Up“, for those of us who perpetually forget to return to websites we want to read.) It’s good to have these older columns available in print to new eyes as well as to seasoned readers.

To learn more about Canadian author Kathleen Gibson, visit SIMPLY LIFE with Kathleen Gibson. Kathleen is also the author of West Nile Diary: One Couple’s Triumph Over a Deadly Disease. In addition to her column and other writing, Kathleen blogs occasionally at Ramblings.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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