Well. If you would like to read a thoroughly captivating story and are willing to do NOTHING else for about 24 hours, have I got the book for you.

This is the third in what I hope will be a limitless series of stories about Mattingly, a small town on the edge of the dark woods. And each one has gotten progressively more entrancing and intriguing. You can start with number one (reviewed here — and this is the book where the recurring phrase/idea “God has sharp edges” first appears) or number two (check it out here) or with this amazing story. 374 is a lot of pages, but this book is the very definition of ‘page-turner’ — and I mean that in the very best way.

This is a story about two children who are far more grown-up than many adults I’ve met. Allie is on a pilgrimage, ostensibly to find a plastic nativity piece that has blown away in a storm and she asks her best friend, Zach, to go with her.

But Allie is searching for far more than a Mary statue; she is looking for her mother, who disappeared in a gigantic windstorm almost two years before. And Allie has never been the same since. During the time that they are looking, all kinds of fascinating things happen to these kids. Both of these kids. They learn about life, they learn about fear, they learn about themselves.

And, as extra incentive for you, the story is set during the week before Christmas. I tell you, this is the PERFECT book for you to read right.now. (You can click here to order your own copy.)

How often do you read a novel with this many dog-ears? With language that is rich and evocative, characters that are fully fleshed out and easily accessed, and a plot line marked with just enough magic to make it memorable, this is one grand adventure. I promise you will read it from beginning to end as fast as you can and then, breathe a deep sigh of satisfaction when you turn that last page.

Here are just a few samples of beautiful description, thought-provoking reflection and sometimes astounding insight into the deepest things in life: faith, family, love:

“Maybe we just gotta believe,” Zach said.
“How do we do that?”
“I don’t know. Believing’s not something you do. It’s something you are.” (pg. 80)

“There was a strange peace to that part of the woods, almost a gentle pulsing, and Allie let the stillness fill the cracks inside her.” (pg. 86)

Allie, on her estrangement from God since her mama’s disappearance: “I think God’s more like the moon, just sitting up there in the sky, watching what all’s going on. This is just a TV show to Him. . . I figure it’s best to ignore Him. Maybe then, He’ll ignore me. God finds out Momma sent word, He’ll do all He can to stop me.” (pgs. 162-163)

“As as Zach ran, he prayed that he didn’t have to wear a hat to be a man, that instead it meant doing for others even what you most feared. Not because he was strong and brave, but because he loved. Because in the end, love is the most powerful magic of all.” (pg. 300)

And to end this little jaunt through those pages, this last one, which is a favorite of mine:

“Everyone was lost somehow, turned around in their own darkwood, looking for something that would help them to go on. Everyone just wanted to find their way home.” (pg. 237)

Reading this wonderful, wonderful story will help you get there. 

I can hardly wait for the next installment!

I received an advance copy of this book and was asked to write an honest review. This is me, being honest!

<div align="center"><a href="http://dianatrautwein.com/category/31-day-blogging-challenge/" title="Just Wondering"><img src="http://dianatrautwein.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/DSC02765-last-round-31-days-e1411750071820.jpg" alt="Just Wondering" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I need to tell you something about me: I am a skeptic by nature. Those of you who know me are not surprised to read this, are you? I have a suspicious streak a mile wide and there are certain trigger words and names that can send me running down that mile-wide road very quickly indeed. 

I am not a fan of prescriptive writing, of anything that smacks of “Just 5 Easy Steps to . . . Anything You Care to Mention.” I’m likely to cringe if the language on a blog or in a book gets either too preachy or too syrupy. And I really, really, REALLY resist slogans.

So I will admit to more than a little bit of trepidation when I began to read Kristen Welch’s new book, “Rhinestone Jesus.” There was a quote from John Piper early on. There was some Jesus-y language that made me squirm a little, and I began to fear the guilt trip I was pretty sure was coming at me any minute now.

But I kept reading. Why? Because I believe in the ministry of Mercy House, a home for pregnant young women in Kenya, a ministry which Kristen and her family helped to birth and continue to encourage. Even though it was decades ago, I have lived in Africa. I know the need is great and what I loved about this ministry is that it rose from — and was staffed by — African nationals. For me, that is a huge positive, so I wanted to know more about how it all happened. I was also a blogger and a financial supporter for the wonderful group fund-raising effort for this ministry sponsored by (in)Courage and Dayspring in 2013.

Kristin comes from a Christian tradition and a part of the country that are both very different from my own. She’s a Baptist from Texas, I’m a Covenant pastor from California. She is a more regimented parent than I ever was (although we both agree on the central role of a shared family meal every day), and she is also a dreamer of Big Dreams.

Now I believe in dreaming. I believe in Holy Spirit-planted desire, that thing that gets you moving in a certain direction, that calls your name in the wee hours of the morning, that makes your heart go pitter-pat with both joy and fear. Nothing wrong with dreams at all. But Big Dreams? Sometimes I find myself getting defensive, even resistant, when there is too much talk about those.

It is true that we serve a big God,  yes, we do. And sometimes, God calls people to do big things. But most of the time? Most of the time, God calls us to be faithful, wherever we find ourselves. To be constant, to be committed to living out the great commandments, to go deeper in our faith, to walk the talk right here in the neighborhood. So my skeptic-hackles were vibrating a little as this book began to veer in the direction of those Big Dreams.

It was with a huge sigh of relief that I moved into the closing chapters of this book. Because here, it gets really real, really fast. All of the hard work that made this dream come to fruition — and continues to make it grow — has been hard work. Kristen is not afraid to say so and she admits that she feels overwhelmed on a regular basis. She also admits to occasionally falling off that fine edge between obedience and works righteousness — always a danger when we become immersed in the production end of anything. 

She also carefully reminds us all that anything we do as an act of worship and obedience can be a way of living out God’s kingdom dreams, right here on planet earth. Tending toddlers, running photocopies, answering phones, providing meals, offering hospitality to the neighbor’s kids — each of these is an opportunity for kingdom work and for personal growth. All that is required is for us to say ‘yes’ to whatever it is we’re being asked to do. 

It’s that ‘yes’ that is key.

The ministry of Rehema/Mercy House is a strong and vibrant one, the lived reality of a dream planted in the hearts of the Welch family and their African partners. It really is a Big Dream, and a fine one.

But the ways in which God is working in that place are remarkable precisely because so many people are saying their ‘yes’ to a small act, a small gift, a simple prayer. Big Dreams do not happen without a whole lot of small things coming together in just the right way at just the right time; and I believe that is exactly the way God designed it to work.

Because following Jesus is about individual acts of obedience that are offered in concert with the body as a whole. In truth, there is no small, there is no big — there is the ‘yes’ that is repeated over and over around the globe. And there is the ‘together’ that happens when we each offer our ‘yes,’ no matter what size it is. That is how Kingdom Come happens. This story is a beautiful and moving reminder of that powerful truth.

I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it. You can purchase your own copy at any of these retail sites:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Christian Books.com

Dayspring