Bloggy Book Club

For the Month of December...Bloggy Book Club read Derek Maul's In My Heart I Carry A Star, stories for the Advent.

I really enjoyed this book...I guess a disclaimer of sorts is necessary as I am friends with the author and he is my Sunday School teacher. But I think I am still unbiased enough to be able to recommend a good book for Christians or for those simply looking for a more authentic Christmas experience.

The book is set up as a devotional reading for the advent season and as such is uniquely Christian...unashamedly so. Each morning through this advent season, with coffee in hand my Hubby and I read this book and pondered the readings all day and then quietly in the evenings, as a couple, talked about what the reading meant to us and as it turned out it meant a great deal to both of us.

It is easy I think...or maybe it is just easy for me to be swept away with the consumerism of Christmas and because of that the simple joy of Christmas and it's meaning can be lost in a journey of emptying one's wallet. Not very inspiring! The reading of this book will become a tradition in our home, which for my Hubby and I is heartwarming! We are Empty Nester's now...and if we needed our children to help us conjure up Christmas...it wouldn't have worked this year! Because while we are a close family and we did see them often...things are not the same. And that is a good thing! But, My Hubby and I without realizing it started a new tradition for us!Our morning and evening devotional... kept us focused in the right direction. This has been a difficult year for us financially and at times I have felt panicked but I have been able to keep myself sane and feeling loved because of the reminders in this little gem of a book!

My pastor, whenever we read scripture always says to ask..."Who? What? When? and Where?" and then... "So what?" Scripture needs to be made relevent for your life and you are the only one who can do that for yourself! "Who said this?" "What was happening?" "When did this happen?" and then "So What?" meaning "So what does this mean for my life?"

Derek answers these "So what?" questions with beautiful examples from his personal life...while reading his... it is very easy for you to ask yourself...

"So What does this "Christmas" mean for my life?"