Love To Love and Be Loved

Gary Chapman is a champion Love Language writer. If you've never heard of his series and your are unmarried, you'll get a copy of his Love Language book for couples as part of your wedding present from me! After a dear friend introduced to me, I quickly understood the role of love in marriage so much more. Chapman is a Christian and writes from that perspective. This particular book is an extension of the Love Language series. It focuses on explaining all of the basic 5 love languages that exist: 1) words of affirmation; 2) quality time; 3) physical touch; 4) acts of service; and 5) gifts. Chapman explains that each of us have a primary, and sometimes, secondary love language in which we naturally better understand/interpret love. In the marriage-relationship love language book (1st link below), he explains that spouses should learn to love one another in their primary love language. In other words, if I feel naturally loved through words and my husband feels naturally loved through acts of service; regardless of how much I tell him I love him, he'll feel it most deeply when I love him in HIS language, by serving him. Similarly, regardless of how many chores he does for me around the house or gifts he buys, i'll experience and understand his love more intimately and deeply when he expresses it with words since that's my love language. Now, the point to keep in mind is that we all speak all 5 languages, there's just 1 that is our primary.

Chapman has cloned this concept to relate to love languages with children, teenagers, and God. I've included links below to a few of his works in case your interested in reading them. This most recent book was the best of all! The premise of the book is that God loves us in all 5 love languages, but we tend to enjoy Him most intimately or naturally in our primary love language. We also tend to opt to love Him back in our primary love language. For example, my love language is words of affirmation, and my secondary love language is quality time. This reflects through my relationship with God because my routine of enjoying God or nourishing my Spirit is to read my Bible (His Word) each night before bed, journal (or write down words to describe) the work I've seen God do in my life that day, journal my prayer requests, spend time talking to God in prayer, and reading a good devotional book each night before bed. Words! Words! Words! It's all about conversation, writing words, and quality quiet time with Him. This is not to say that I do not enjoy expressing my love for God through service. Mother Theresa is an example that expressed her intimacy and closeness for God through acts of service by serving others.

You may be wondering, well how do I know what my love language is? The BEST way to know is to purchase the book and take the quiz in the back. A few other good ways to tell are to take note of what you naturally do to show others love. Are you a server? When you really care for someone are you eager to hug them or squeeze their shoulders? Do you just want to take a walk with them or enjoy a long chat? Do you want to write them a love letter? The way you naturally tend to love people is typically indicative of your love language. According to Chapman, people typically speak in their natural languages. This is often helpful to newly married couples when they realize that to communicate love effectively, you should try to love your spouse in their love language. In this book, Chapman explains that God loves us in all 5 languages. We can experience God intimately in all 5 languages and speak those in return. He also pushes the reader to explore other dialects of love with God to experience Him differently. It's a very interesting read. I enjoyed every minute of this very satisfying continuation of the Love Language theory.

The Heart of the 5 Love Languages

The 5 Love Languages of Children

The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers

The 5 Love Languages of God

Jesus, the Evidence

A must read for Christian's seeking a deeper understanding of the 4 Gospels. Strobel does a phenomenal job at presenting a very objective and relentlessly persistent questioning style to get to the heart of the Truth contained in the Gospels. He takes us through several evidence-focused questions to show that there is hard, real, undeniable evidence that Jesus indeed: walked this Earth, performed miracles, rose from the dead, and thus saved our wretched souls. Sorry, if that sounds harsh. I just got caught up in the flow of the sentence. Though, I firmly believe we are inherently selfish and sinful people. Any who, if you're reading this blog and not a believer in Christ, then Strobel's book is a good place to start your search. The Bible, of course is the BEST place to start. However, Strobel's book is tailored to skeptics. This is my 2nd time reading it through. It's incredibly dense so take your time through it. For believers, it's a refreshing and reaffirming read that makes you reflect on just how incredibly sure we are of Jesus' love and sacrifice for us.

A few chapter titles, just in case you're considering purchasing:
-Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?
-Were Jesus' Biographies Reliably Preserved For Us?
-Is There Credible Evidence for Jesus outside His Biographies?
-Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?
-Is the Jesus of History the Same As the Jesus of Faith?
-Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?
-Did Jesus Fulfill the Attributes of God?
-Was Jesus' Body Really Absent from His Tomb?
-Was Jesus Seen Alive after His Death on the Cross?
-Are There Any Supporting Facts That Point to the Resurrection?

As a believer, the greatest part of closing the last page of this book, is smiling to yourself because you know Him...truly and intimately. For those that don't, He's so undeniably real...

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," Matt 7:7.

Weddings, Pasta, and Corporate America.

A Wedding In December by Anita Shreve...OH where to begin?! I toyed with putting this one down many times mid-read. It just isn't my style of book. However, I tried to read it through to get a grasp on the full experience. I can say that I really love Shreve's writing style. She carefully builds stories about the characters, leaving full reveal of each character's history sprinkled throughout the book. She definitely has creative tactics to tie the reader into the story. Though, this is where I get stuck. I just had very little taste for the story line. Not my style!

The central premise of the story is that 6 high school friends get back together for the wedding of 2 of them, Bill and Bridget. Quite the time has passed. The characters are in their 40s now and have led separated lives. Though, Bill and Bridget somehow found each other after all this time and tied the knot. Sounds very sweet; sappy even. However, where I loose eagerness and excitement is when I found out under what circumstances Bridget and Bill rekindled their high school love, an extramarital affair. That's right, Bill was married with children. He had an affair with Bridget for several years eventually leaving his wife. Bridget, a divorced mother of 1 teenage son, has stage 4 cancer. They have decided to get the wedding underway because of their fond love of one another despite her terminal illness. This is not the only affair in the book. Harrison, happily married -- setup to be seen as the perfect husband and father -- gives into a childish crush as well during his weekend visit at the wedding. The book is ridden with infidelity. This was a huge turn off for me. If this doesn't put distaste in your mouth and you think you could still find the storyline appealing, it is surely a good read. Shreve is very talented and skilled at the composition of developing her characters. There were several layers of conflict and climax. There was also a missing faith element. Faith didn't play a role in the storyline. This was also disappointing particularly when the sanctity of marriage was continually muddled over. Truly talented author, just not my type of story.

The Next Level by David Gregory proved to be better than my first Gregory treasure. I will admit my first experience with his previous book left me a bit disgruntled at the end. Though, it was a good read; highly encouraged, if only to be thought provoking. That would be my summation here as well. The Next Level is a clever story of young man, fresh out of college trying to secure his first job in corporate America. He's brought on in this "Universal Solutions" company and progresses fairly quickly from one level to the next. The entire book parallels his rising in levels with varying depths of faith in Christ. Again, a good quick read. This book definitely pushes to you to ponder which level you're on. It does not end "cheesily" either. Try it out!


Strega Nona Meets Her Match by Tomie dePaola delivers another great story. He truly never disappoints. This story is definitely one that will make it to baby McGehee's personal library. Strega Nona finds herself confronted with stiff competition in her village. However, leave it to great old Anthony to set everything right once again...on accident of course. Enjoy.

The Generous Heart

Travel with me will you into the heart of an old woman with a giving heart. She makes the most exquisite quilts you've ever seen. The richest townspeople line up outside her door, time and time again, with bags of gold to purchase her one-of-a-kind quilts. But the woman would not sell them.

"I give my quilts to those who are poor or homeless," she told all who knocked on her door. "They are not for the rich."

The fame of the quiltmaker's talent spread to the King. The King had a love of wonderful things. So much so that he decided it would be fitting to celebrate his birthday TWICE a year! This of course would also require all the townspeople to bring him a gift TWICE a year! He collected and collected gifts but none made him happy.

This is where I want the author to insert some Christian principles. SIGH. However, when I read to baby girl, I'm comfortable doing so even if the author doesn't see the connection.

The King's greed led him to demanding a quilt of the quiltmaker. She refused. The King tried all sorts of methods to coerce the quiltmaker to make him a quilt. After all, that was the 1 gift that would satisfy him and finally make him happy. Right?! She told him,

"Make presents of everything you own," she said, "and then I'll make a quilt for you. With each gift that you give. I'll sew in another piece. When at last all your things are gone, your quilt will be finished."

Now for a greedy King GIVING was out of the question. So he pushed on to force the quiltmakers hand but she would not. Though she was locked up with a grizzly bear and left stranded on an island, she remained persistent. Her quilts were for the poor!

The King felt guilty for torturing her so he finally conceded. It started with a marble, then a few coats, however within weeks the King gave away all his treasures. As he gave, he began to smile. The townspeople were so happy! The King found his happiness, not with a quilt, but through developing a love of generosity and making others happy. In the end, the quiltmaker did indeed, make his quilt, as promised when he was finally poor. His last words to the quiltmaker:

"But I am not poor," he said. "I may look poor but in truth my heart is full to bursting, filled with memories of all the happiness I've given and received. I'm the richest man I know."

As I closed this book, I realized I was smiling, ear to ear. This simple children's story reminds me of the giving heart Jesus had and the call to be generous givers as He was. True happiness and fulfillment doesn't come from material things. In a world so materially driven, this little children's book provides such a good message on the importance of a giving heart. Though, I intend to put my own Christian spin on it...baby McGehee will definitely hear this one time and time again.

I should also mention, the illustrations of the quiltmaker and her quilts make ME want one! Beautiful job Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken.

It's About The Journey, Not The Ending...

I happened across this book in the library. Interestingly, it caught my eye though it was much shorter and smaller than the books around it. It was literally wedged between two huge books with large obnoxious titles. I quickly read the back and a snippet about the author and I knew it'd be a good choice. If you've never heard of the author or the book, take my advice and just read it. I'm not going to dive too much into the end of the book so that I don't ruin why this book is so incredibly intriguing. It's a page-turner folks and at only 100 pages, you'll be done with it in one sitting! Let me hook you in.

Mattie Cominsky is a married career woman and mother of a 2-year old girl. The book opens with a frustrated Mattie. She's irritated with her marriage. She's irritated that her marriage isn't where she thought it would be. She's irritated that her husband is a workaholic. She's irritated that her husband doesn't make time for her or pay attention to her when he is home. And the latest frustration is that he came home recently acting completely odd: offering to cook dinner, spending less time at work, and going on and on about how he had dinner with Jesus. Mattie is convinced her husband is going crazy. Not only is he loosing his mind, but he's spending more time in this crazed state at home and around their family. Mattie needs to get away from her husband and all his Jesus talk so she took a work-related trip to Tuscon, Arizon for the weekend. She was relieved to get away!

The book details Mattie's plane trip. She meets and observes some interesting characters on her plane ride. She's certain at the start of her trip, that perhaps a divorce makes the most sense. Right?! She gets into an odd argument with a "loud mouth" in the window seat next to her. Luckily the man sitting on the other side of her is seemingly normal and he's a counselor. Mattie dives into a dialogue with this counselor about the relationships in her life.

This is a must read!

Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn

Flynn outdid Mr.Grisham this time folks. I'm telling you reading this book was as delicious and delectable as plowing through the pages of our JK Rowling favorites. I literally could not put this book down. After almost 10 hours of reading, I finally decided my biological urges needed to take priority. I finished the book the next day and savored every second of it. If you like thriller or action movies, read this book. Okay, let's begin...

Meet Mitch Rapp, an ex-marine currently works for the special ops sect of the CIA. In other words, Rapp is from the old school. His methods of acquiring "intelligence" are a bit more physical than other legal alternatives. The book opens with a violent interrogation of Glen Adams, a federal agent suspected of treason. Adams had been caught giving out classified information to the press and conspiring to release a ton of government secrets on the REAL way the CIA operates. Rapp and his crew (other old school CIA'ers) grappled with whether or not to just knock off this guy or actually try to get useful honest information. All the while, trying to figure out how to cover their tracks. Just because the CIA operates under these less than humane measures, doesn't mean they are openly condoned. In other words, Adams (or someone that looks like him - a decoy) must be seen leaving the country or something else that explains his disappearance. We can't simply say....OH we knocked him off because he was a dirt bag. That wouldn't look too good on the CIA's record.

Let's back up a minute and let me get you up to date with what's just happened. Tensions are high because post-9/11, another terrorist attack has occurred on US soil. This attacked killed almost 20 including a some U.S. Senators. It took place right in the heart of DC. The government is searching for leads, the FBI hasn't come up with anything, the President is getting anxious to provide answers, and the CIA is using it's own "methods" to coerce information and follow their own trail. Fast forward back to Rapp and now you see the vehicle spurring his warpath.

One other key character should be detailed and that's Nash (his first name escapes me at the moment). Nash is also an ex-Marine working with the CIA. He's a part of Rapp's crew. They've known each other for years and have grown very close.Nash is married with 3 children. He's torn between having a balanced family life and performing his very undercover work for the CIA. In short, he's not home or mentally checked-in very much. During the recent attacks, he watched his secretary be blown to pieces. In fact, he still has shrapnel all over his body. He's pretty scarred by the experience and has began to shut down a bit. Nonetheless, he's in on the Adams job and supporting Rapp. Or at least, he does in the beginning...

The author jumps from perspective of a variety of characters. A few chapters from Rapps point of view. Then, a chapter thrown in from the terrorists point of view. Yup! That's right, he writes part of the book from the POV of the terrorists on the run from the attacks. They are a band of 3, Hakim, Kareem, and Ahmed. This pack of 3 presents an interesting trio! For starters, Kareem is the hot-headed "commander." He has the tactical sense to lead the attack. Ahmed is his faithful subordinate. Hakim is Kareem's childhood best friend. Hakim spent a few years in the States prior to the attacks while Kareem stayed in Afghanistan fighting the US Soldiers. Hakim wanted to absorb US culture and customs. He developed a love of reading American literature including authors such as Ernest Hemingway. Interesting, yes?! Kareem sees Hakim's seemingly genuine immersion in the "West" as polluting his mind. These two are on the run together. But, with Kareem's trigger happy attitude and general distrust of Westerners, he's delineated from the strategic escape plan Kareem has spent years putting together. This has led to a series of mistakes that ultimately leads to their demise. I'm purposely not ruining this part for you in case you decide to read.

The book chases Rapp, primarily, through his exploration of finding the culprits behind the attack, Kareem and his crew. It takes him into all sorts of political depths from press conferences, near death experiences, reflecting on the loss of his own wife and unborn child, foreign bank accounts, security deposit boxes, violent interrogation, Columbian drug cartel, and Russian mobsters.

The story comes to an action packed ending with Nash's oldest child, his daughter, held hostage by Kareem, in the center of Washington DC. SWAT team, FBI, CIA, et cetera are all there as this crazed maniac threatens to take the life of this little girl to show America he's NOT a coward!

Must read.... Ah! I held back so much in HOPES that you'd read it.

My Verdict on The Appeal

I don't want to short change you from the drama Grisham includes. Please be sure that if you choose to read this book, I've left out a pretty hefty amount of colorful drama from my posts. To pick up where we left off, Krane has decided to put all their hope in Ron Fisk, a well-to-do Christian conservative, in a state supreme court election against a more liberal incumbent. The strategy here is to employ a more conservative court. There are 9 justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court and 4 are fairly conservative and 4 are fairly liberal. How does this relate to Krane Chemical's $41 million appeal? Conservative supreme court opinions tend to favor big business. In other words, is Krane TRULY liable for these cancer-related deaths? And if they are, isn't $41 million a bit excessive? After all, they DO have a company to run! The rationale here is that liberals say HECK YEA they are liable and conservatives favor limited to no liability with much less financial penalty. All in all, Fisk on the Supreme Court would likely mean more conservative verdicts. Thus, when the Krane case hits the Supreme Court docket, they'll likely get the lower courts judgment for $41 million reversed. That's Mr. Trudeau's hope anyway.

The campaign proceeds and it gets down right nasty. There are all sorts of slanderous attack ads being generated by Fisk's campaign manager. Keep in mind Fisk is truly a stand up guy. He truly does want to run a clean campaign. However, the folks that have "recruited" him to run have other ideas in mind. They are spending millions upon millions on direct mail advertisements, TV ads, et cetera to dirty the incumbent's name. They even strategically create drama! You'll have to read yourself to hear about some of their tactics. It really makes you wonder if this really happens during elections. Crazy!

Okay, fast forward to the height of the election campaign, Fisk wins! Isn't that a surprise?! Remember he has no clue WHY he's been "recruited" to do this as no one has brought up the upcoming Krane appeal to him. As a Supreme Court Justice, Fisk votes on a few big business cases and he consistently affirms limited liability. True to his political platform, he votes conservatively. Krane's case is coming up on the docket soon and it looks promising.

In Fisk's spare time, he coaches his son's baseball team. This most recent game was quite tragic. His son was hit in the temple with a fastball. Severe damage was done to his son's brain and motor functions. In the midst of seeking medical attention, a doctor made a silly mistake that cost his son a large percentage of his motor functions. Fisk is outraged. His friends and family say SUE SUE SUE! But, of course...being the big business person he is, this would seem highly contradictory. Fisk begins to do a little soul searching and learns that his position on the issues may be changing, now that his family has been personally and wrongly affected by big business. Hmmmm.

Krane case vote comes up. It's dead locked, 4 to 4. Do we affirm the $41 million settlement and make Krane pay? This would of course open the fence for anyone with cancer in cancer county to file a case and expect a large verdict. Or, do we return the verdict and render it excessive? Before Fisk's son was ever hurt, it was a "no-brainer" for him. Limit liability! Krane should NOT pay. But, now his feelings are involved. His child is involved. What does he do? As he sits in the hospital room near his son in ICU, he writes his judicial opinion to render the verdict excessive. He caves. I'm very surprised this was the path Grisham wanted Fisk to take. I was certain that he'd change his mind after the incident with his son. I'm a little dissatisfied with the ending. The final chapter returns to Mr.Trudeau, CEO of Krane, during a dinner on his $75 million yacht, a recent purchase in celebration of his victory in the appellate courts.

As I close the book, I can't help but wonder...does this really happen? Where do I stand on these issues? How did politics get so dirty?