Book Review: Robin Roberts: From the Heart

I like Robin Roberts. She is just salt-of-the-earth
kind of folk. When I tune in to Good Morning
America I always look for her. I've
liked her all the more since her coverage
of Hurricane Katrina in her home town of Pass
Christian in Mississippi. I like her gentle
way of both having faith in God and sharing it
in such a personal, unassuming way.

Robin has written a book: From the Heart,
Seven Rules to Live By. In it she
shares parts of her life journey and the
principles that she lives by. This is not
Karl Barth kind of theology, it is the kind
of simple, hard won advice that comes
from keeping at things, striving to be excellent,
and just going on despite-the-odds.

Sometimes the most profound things are the
simplest. You will find no stunning new
revelations here, no earth-shattering new
discoveries, just the plain old tried and true
fundamentals written with Robin's down-home
flair and heartfelt love.

What I got out of the book was this:
Keep at it. Don't make excuses. Press
past your comfort zones. Don't blame
others. If you fail, pick yourself
up and keep going. Live by your faith.
Value your roots. Surround yourself
with the kind of people who will be
there when you fall.

We don't have to be famous to make a
difference, we just have to be faithful
to what God has called us to do.

So if you have a few hours, like I
did sitting in the airport, try
reading, "From the Heart:
Seven Rules to Live By."


published by Hyperion, 2007
ISBN 1-4013-0333-1



Robin Roberts
From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By
Good Morning America
current events
faith
moral virtue

Book Review: Wait Until Then by Randy Alcorn

How do we explain the hope of heaven to children?
Randy Alcorn,who has studied extensively about
heaven, has written an engaging story for
children that presents heaven in an understandable,
scriptural manner.

The story centers around a young boy who suffers
with spina-bifida and his relationship with his
grandfather who is dying of cancer. Both love
baseball. The grandfather had been a major league
baseball player in the Ted Williams era and the
grandson is unable to play baseball because of
his condition, but longs to play.

Wait Until Then deals gently with the very
real problems of suffering, death, and the
heart's longing for life's difficulties to be
resolved and set right in heaven.

Our children grow up fast, and face a world
full of pain and sorrow. As much as we would
like to shield them from suffering, we
probably would do better to equip them
spiritually from their youngest years.

In this story, grandfather and grandson
both have reason to look forward to heaven,
while enjoying their relationship on earth.
The book is a great tool to use to get a
conversation going about what God promises
us in heaven, and how we can best cope
with the sufferings of life on earth.

No suffering is easy, but God promises
that one day He will wipe all the tears
from our eyes in a new heaven and new
earth (Revelation 21:1-4).

The last page of the book also gives
some scriptural information for parents
about heaven to further aid discussion.

The life-like illustrations by Doron
Ben-Ami are wonderful and enhance
the book greatly.

The book is published by Tyndale, 2007,
and is aimed at grade-school children.

heaven
explaining death to children
explaining suffering to children
Randy Alcorn
Doron Ben-Ami
children & faith
hope
book reviews