The Treasure Map, Tyler Scott Hess

Although it's a good book for any season, The Treasure Map will be a great read for Christmas break, and a great Christmas gift. I read a pre-release copy, and my review is as unbiased as it can be when I totally enjoyed the story.

The book opens with a deceiving lack of intensity, and all I can say without spoilers is: WELL PLAYED.

In an unexpected way, I related to both story threads. First, the safety and structure of a loving home, then the horrifying opposite – a world with all its freedoms stripped away. Although it’s fiction, the two contrasting voices strike a nerve with both the loving world we want and the dystopian world we fear. I’ve never lived that ugly world, but I’ve certainly spent time with people who hated my faith, and it’s not hard to imagine what the world would be like if they were in charge. Thank God this is fiction, but it’s not unreal. Read it, and you’ll see what I mean.

I appreciated that for all the suspenseful moments, there was a comforting balance of coziness, and a refreshing absence of graphic violence. Some wild moments yes, but no gratuitous gore. Even in the darkest shadows of the story, we hear a voice of warning mixed with hope, victory, and power. It’s a great message to the Faithful to stay strong, and be watchful. We aren’t defeated yet!

I Corinthians 13 for Writers

Though I write with the voice of an angel, and have not love, I am become as a forgotten word in a dying language. 

And though I have the gift of enchanting language, and can unravel all mysteries, and absorb all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could change the world by sharing my ideas, and have not love, I am nothing. 

And though I give a portion of my royalties to feed the poor, and though I put my reputation on the line for the Truth, and have not love, it profits me nothing. 

Love suffers rejection, and is faithful. Love doesn’t envy the success of others. Love isn’t prideful about accomplishments. Love isn’t puffed up. 

Love isn’t self-focused, doesn’t seek favor, is not oversensitive to criticism, is not easily threatened. 

Love rejoices at the success of others. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never fails: but where there be prophetic writings, they will fail; Where there be inspired messages, they will cease; where there be magnificent stories, they will vanish away. 

For we understand in part, and we write in part. But when perfection arrives, then my scraps of writing will be washed away. 

When I was a child, I wrote as a child, I understood as a child, I reasoned as a child; but when I became an adult, I put away childish things. 

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I am known in part, but then I will be known fully.
  
And now I must write faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

Letters From Haiti, 1985, 1989

Last year I found some of my Uncle Chuck's letters to my grandparents from while he was in Haiti. Some of these stories had become little family legends, and it was fun to see them in his handwriting. I'm sharing these clippings (with my grandparents' permission) as a way to remember my Uncle Chuck and the people he loved in Haiti. 

Reading into my uncle's dry humor, I see that the trip was a challenge on many levels. Yet, at the end he was eager to go back. Many of you know his story didn't go as planned. He did not have years of work ahead of him; he had unknowingly spent his last healthy energy in Haiti. 

I didn't realize until I read these letters that my Uncle Chuck must have been one of the first voices in my life who preached loudly and clearly without any words: don't be afraid to live outside your comfort zone. Do whatever it takes to make a difference... I'm so thankful for that voice, and I hope that you will hear it too as you read. His life wasn't long, but he made an impact everywhere he lived.

We miss you and love you, Uncle Chuck! 

On Creatures

June 21, 1985
The first night a tree frog (about the size of a coffee cup) went hopping all over the floor & walls. We tried to chase him out but never succeeded so we went to bed thinking there were probably other creatures we didn’t know about running loose. 

They have some pretty good sized lizards here also. The ones around our house are from 1 to 2 feet long but they help eat the other bugs. 

The kitchen is infested with huge roaches. They can really move fast. We sprayed yesterday with Raid & this morning we woke up and there were about 20 big ones & a whole bunch of little ones dead on the floor. 

July 26, 1985
Tuesday night I was very startled to see a tarantula on the bathroom wall. It was the first we had seen in the house & hopefully the last! This one could really move fast. Quite a battle ensued as I kept trying to hit him with a shoe. Finally we sprayed him with bug spray &he stayed still long enough for me to pound him with the shoe. 

August 2, 1985
As I was writing I looked up & saw a rat out the window run the top of the wall. That’s the first one I’ve seen around here. I did see one early Thursday morning (2:30am) while driving down the road. He was about the size of a cat.

On Weather

July 5th, 1985
The weather is fairly cool tonight. The temperature is probably around 90 but it only feels about 70.

Nov. 25, 1988
The weather in Haiti is always warm. During the “winter” the temperature is usually around 85 in the daytime and drops to about 75 at night. The temperature very rarely gets below 70, except in the mountains. Haiti never has snow so most here have never experienced it. 

On Travel

June 21, 1985
Last week we went to one of the churches in the mountains. The road was very bumpy & it took about 12 hours to get there & back.

March 9, 1989
Guess who we have Airline Tickets with? You’re right – Eastern Airlines! [EA was on strike.] Well today I went downtown to change them & had been to Eastern & then Pan Am then the travel agent again & back to Pan Am. By the time I returned back to Pan Am they were no longer accepting Eastern tickets or any that Eastern had endorsed to them. So as of today our tickets are technically worthless... I really don’t think there will be a problem since we are not leaving until May. Surely someone will honor them by then.

August 9, 1985
The Sheets were to arrive back on Monday. We drove down to pick them up but they were not on the plane. We went to the ticket counter & asked if they were on that flight. The lady told us that this was secret information & that she could not tell us. We said okay – and then [she] walked to the computer, punched in & told us they were not on Monday’s flight but would be on Tues. Tuesday we drove back down & the same thing happened so we went back on Wednesday & they were on this plane.

March 23, 1989
Pastor Clement was supposed to come and interpret for us but he did not show up at our meeting place so we went without him. There had been heavy rains that night and a mud slide had covered the road so he was unable to come.

March 23, 1989
We are back on the bike [motorcycle]. The lady with the jeep is trying to sell it and she will be leaving the country for a few months in April. It sure was nice having it and it spoiled us. I had been using it to visit most of the schools. 

July 12, 1985
The traffic gets quite congested here, especially if a cop is trying to direct it. It would be like driving in downtown Portland at 5:00 with no rules.

June 21, 1985
We have a Yamaha 125 motorcycle for our transportation. It is a Sheaves for Christ trail bike. It is kind of fun to ride. There are only just a few “good” roads here. The rest are just bumpy rock & dust. The drivers are real wild too. 

On Differences

March 16, 1989 

Well we miss you all & will be seeing you in May si J vié. (If Jesus wills.) Every Haitian always says that. Si J Vié and they always say Grace a Dieu – when we would say as thank God. 

July 26th, 1985
Monday was a national holiday because of elections. They have different voting practices here. When you go to vote you are asked by armed men if you would like a “yes” ballot or a “no” ballot. As one scans the room & sees all of the guns he naturally asks for a “yes” ballot &a thn goes & votes, “yes” of course. 

August 2, 1985
One thing I have learned down here is that nothing will be like what you would picture it to be in your mind.

Feb 17, 1989
You all are talking about how long it takes the police to get to a call, well here they ask you if you have a body. If you do they come, if not they don’t show.

April 14, 1989
The coup seems to be over. For all the noise and shooting there does not appear to be much damage. President Avril said that his troops were using “practice ammunition” and that they were not to shoot below head level. I take that to mean that they all shot in the air with blanks. I wonder how all the people were injured and killed from that? 

March 16, 1989
One of our pastor’s wives died this week so I went to the funeral at Pont Sonde. She had been sick & then got better & next thing we knew she died. She was about 55 years old & that is old for the Haitian. In fact that is the life expectancy in Haiti. 55 years. I think it is 73 years in the States.

June 21, 1985
Thursday we were trying to clean the garbage pile out of our back door, so we hauled it out into the street (where everyone else puts their garbage). There was a box of Rice Krispies in it that had been infested with bugs that I threw out. No sooner had I turned my back than a young boy dug through the garbage, picked up the Rice Krispies, and ran off. Tonight I was noticing that not too much of our garbage was left. The people will take their “treasures” home to use or eat.

Nov. 25, 1988
Many of our churches have day schools. They begin in October and finish in June. To be able to attend school here in Haiti every student must have shoes, a uniform, a book bag and a lunch pail. Because of these cultural requirements many cannot attend.
Their day begins a little before 8:00 am and goes until noon. The students sit crowded together on rough wooden benches and copy their lessons from a “blackboard.” They do not have any privilege break or field trips or parties... The facilities are very crude. There is no running water or indoor bathrooms and no mirrors, yet the students feel very privileged to be able to attend. 

July 12, 1985
Saturday the 6th we went to the Iron Market. We found our “guides” & were led about to spend our money. We bought several wood carvings & things. It was quite an experience having the merchants trying to sell you something all at once. Our guides literally fought them off. It was fun.

July 12, 1985
The Sheet’s washing machine broke down so we have been doing our laundry in the bathtub. It is hard work.

June 21, 1985
Our phone number at our house is 60999, but our phone hasn’t worked for the last 3 days & may never work again so don’t be alarmed if you cannot phone us. 

On New Experiences

July 19, 1985
We’ve had an exciting week. Monday I went to the barber for a haircut. The barber put his shirt & smock on, turned on the air conditioner, began unlocking drawers & pulling out his tools. I sat down & explained in English & Creole what I wanted. He must have been nervous because he kept clicking his scissors in the air, very fast. He was so short he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach the top of my head. He did a very good job. All for $4.00.

March 16, 1989
[We visited] another of our schools that is in the area. It is in a small brush arbor type “building.” The kids sang for us a couple songs. Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World & one to the tune of When the Battle’s Over We Shall Wear a Crown. They were singing different words on that one. I still have a hard time trying to understand when someone talks to me. Kinda like you are trying to figure out my handwriting. We are by no means fluent, but can almost hold a reasonably intelligent conversation.

March 16, 1989
Monday we packed our suitcases & moved out to the “Farm” for a few days. We are staying at the Heady’s house which is out of Port au Prince 23 kilometers. There is about 60 acres of Haitian Desert where they have some chickens. All the chickens are layers & we collect about 20 dozen eggs a day. They had two chickens they had set aside to butcher. They were pretty good sized, about like a turkey. One of them died, so we butchered the other one the next day. Today we had one of the layers die. It looked like a ruptured egg inside. Now we have another which is sick and will die too. It seems that it is not strange to have them die.

July 19, 1985
After dinner the kids went to play. A few minutes later Maggie came back saying Jason fell & was crying. We went out to see. He had gone across from our house to a house that is being built. He had crawled up one of the walls & had fallen 8 feet when the wall fell apart. The walls here are made of cement block. A couple of blocks fell on him. He didn’t break any bones, but his legs were all bloody. I brought him back to our house & then we decided to take him to the doctor. When we got to the doctors Sis. Sheets & I went in to help. Here the doctor is also his own nurse, receptionist, bill collector etc. I held Jason down while the doctor gave him a shot in the knee & then cleaned the wound & put a couple stitches in a blood vessel that had been ruptured. It was all very interesting. Of course Jason did not think so. The next day you would not have known he even hurt himself. He was up running around & fighting with his sister.

June 28, 1985
We are doing fine & have began setting up the files & record books for the church. We have been teaching English to some of the Bible School students. We are getting more used to the bugs. Most of them have died from the spray. Our phone is working again, for a while anyway. Prices are very high on American items & any packaged foods. We are having a good time! 

July 19, 1985
Tomorrow, like most Saturdays, I go to the airport to help unload the Agape plane of the mail & parcels. We are escorted out to the runway where we unload the plane, then we take everything through customs where we open every box for them so they can mess everything up. Most things they don’t charge customs on. It depends on what type of mood they are in. From there we load everything into the van & go to the Agape “Office” where people come to pick up their mail.

June 21, 1985 
This is probably the longest letter I have written in my life so I better close before it gets longer. We love you & miss you but are enjoying ourselves.

On The Future

July 26, 1985 

We have only 3 weeks left here. We will be sorry to leave. We have really enjoyed our stay here. 

March 23, 1989

I don’t think we will be meeting the missions board until October. Thanks for sending all the tax booklets. I am going to try to do them while I am here... We are enclosing a few pictures that we finally got developed. Hope you can enjoy them. We love you all and miss you. 

April 14, 1989
I have some plans for building some desks out of plywood that I would like to try when I get home. It takes one sheet for each desk. I figure I can make them for around $30.00. I don’t remember what a nice piece of plywood cost in the states, but here it is about $45.00 and it isn’t too nice. All the plywood is imported, mostly from Brazil so it is expensive.

April 21, 1989 
We will not write you again, as that we shall be arriving home on Tuesday the 2nd of May. Michael is getting excited about riding on the big airplane. We have been counting down the days until we see you all. We love you all and will see you in 10 days as of this writing. Probably only 5 days from your reading this.

A Morbid Inspiration: Don't take it with you

I have a wonderful and morbid inspiration to share from Ecclesiastes 9:10. I love this book because I adore the poetry in the Bible. This verse is quite familiar to me because I learned it many times over in school (thank you, ACE): 

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;

I don’t remember learning the second part of the verse: 

...For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge,

Nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Another translation says, “In the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (NIV). It didn’t just stop at “the grave,” but emphasizes the place “where you are going.” 

That’s kind of harsh, right? 

It's true though. We will take to the grave with us all our unfinished work and planning, and all our unspoken knowledge and wisdom. 

This whole post is mainly for people who have a creative tendency. I love ideas, but I’m no expert at finishing things. Ideas are free, and talk is cheap. If you don’t capture your ideas and give them life here on earth, they will die with you and be as useless as your dusty corpse. Your ideas and how you execute them are unique to your individual mind. When your brain dies, so do they.

Do you have stuff floating around in your head? 

Words you’ve thought about setting to music…
A tune you sing that needs to be written down...
A story you’ve meant to write about some quirky characters you imagined…
A song you’ve meant to learn and rearrange to make it your own…
An essay you’ve half outlined in your mind…
That skit that would be perfect in a certain setting...
The Bible study you were going to organize and publish…
A meaningful card or e-mail you should send to a loved one…
Some encouragement you have to offer if you didn’t mind sharing your story…
An inspiration you can give if you can acknowledge your weaknesses…

The most dangerous place for ideas is in the back of your mind. They float in and out of consciousness. You notice them occasionally, like glimpses of fish surfacing in a lake. If you are content just to know they are there and somewhat contained, you will never know them intimately.Maybe you’ve reached for them before, and you were disappointed at how they looked up close. 

It’s okay to be picky. Identify the most important ideas, and isolate them. Then, no matter how much patience it takes, and no matter how elaborate a trapping system you will need to catch them, capture them. Find a way. Make the floaty thoughts tangible, and incorporate them into your world. Give them words, or sounds or whatever they need. Shape and re-shape until you have something to share. Finally, preserve them so they will outlive you.

Don't do this for Heaven’s sake, but for Earth’s sake. Think about the people around you who could be blessed or changed by your ideas. You could encourage someone, offer new hope or increase someone’s faith. You could lighten their load by making them laugh. You could strengthen their resolve by identifying with them. Let those people by your inspiration.

See? It's not really morbid after all.

Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.” That has been true in my life. Get away from whatever is holding you back. Get over your perfectionism. Get a handle on your fears. Start small and imperfectly, and make an idea a reality. 

And if you notice me slacking in this area, feel free to e-mail me a link to this post.

-- This idea started out as a fleeting reaction to that verse in Ecclesiastes. I sketched it down in the summer of 2013. I worked on it and forgot about it multiple times. Finally I got the unction to post it after a nudging reminder from a friend that “regret is a hard thing to live with.” So now I’m minus one regret and it feels great.

Out of the Flames, Lawrence Goldstone

My latest greatest read was called Out of the Flames, subtitled "The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World." This book is partly a biography of the fascinating life of the Spaniard Michael Servetus, partly a discussion of the 16th century religious mindset, and partly the journey of a solitary book.

One of my favorite quotes was, "History is an ocean that books help us to navigate." Out of the Flames navigates the 16th Century world of publishing, bestsellers, heresies, and the intellectual prison that was the life of thousands until men like Luther, Calvin, and Servetus broke away.

Servetus had an elite education and language proficiency galore. He read Hebrew, Greek, and vulgate Latin in addition to his native Spanish. This wasn’t just unusual, it was illegal. Those languages were strategic in allowing him to study the original Bible in its entirety, as well as the modern day translations. He found discrepancies between the two, and in his drive to broadcast his ideas, he made himself a heretic to both Catholics and Protestants. Servetus wrote and published his interpretation of the Godhead and other ideas in Christianismi Restitutio and several other books. His intent was to understand the original meaning of the Bible.

Even though it is written without religious intent, Out of the Flames brings up countless discussion points for the modern Christian. Servetus was the epitome of a radical thinker. He was a pioneering medical genius, and managed to outthink centuries of stagnant medical tradition. In the same way, Servetus’ spiritual ideas also contradicted the collective consensus of established religion. He was a heretic of heretics. Thankfully, modern Christians don't kill each other over theological disagreements. However, modern Christians can still be found defending tradition and consensus rather than study the very Word they claim to follow.

Doing basic internet reading, I've seen a lot of conflicting details about Servetus' death. Modern Calvinists minimize the awfulness of Calvin’s actions because killing heretics was the way of the “church” then. In this book Calvin's role in Servetus’ death is not glossed over, nor is it presented as controversial. It seems the documentation speaks for itself. Whatever your opinion, the brutal facts are provoking. No one denies he was burned at the stake with his book Christianismi Restitutio chained to him. It's recorded that he died slowly, screaming, in terrible agony for thirty minutes.

Of course a story like this arrests your attention. I couldn't help being thankful for how ridiculously easy it is to read an honest translation of the Bible in my native language. Goldstone doesn’t make a connection with modern non-Trinitarian Christians, though many would find a special interest in this story. He does explain Servetus’ lasting influence over Unitarian groups. He may not be famous by U.S. standards, but he is well-remembered in Europe.

The last third of Out of the Flames is the story of the unlikely survival of the first printing of the book Christianismi Restitutio. Like the one that was chained to Servetus, most other copies were burned as heresy. Only three original copies exist today, and those were preserved haphazardly for hundreds of years. Finally, they all rest safely at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, the Bibliothèque National in Paris, and the library of the University of Edinburgh. And oh the joy. The U. of Edinburgh has images online now! Simply beautiful.  

You can buy an English translation of Christismi Restitutio for $229.00, or a used copy for $4,221.00.

And lastly, here is a first. I've made a YouTube video about Servetus for a school assignment, and I ended up using Out of the Flames as my main source.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy, by Eric Metaxas

This book is now known to some people as the book Kristi couldn't shut up about. This was the best book I’ve read in years, and I read a lot. Eric Metaxas is a brilliant writer and researcher, and owing to his own faith and heritage, he presents a mountain of information without losing sight of an important story that needed to be told. This book blends World War II History, Bonhoeffer family history, and various writings (including many personal letters) by and about Dietrich Bonhoeffer into a seamless narrative. It’s better than fiction in terms of romance, intrigue and suspense. I knew the ending was coming, but I became so involved in the story that I kept hoping Bonhoeffer would think of himself and change course.

Bonhoeffer was a complex and fascinating person. From my notes: He was multilingual (Spanish, German, English and more), a hiker, athlete, theologian, smoker, PhD, twin, world traveller, pianist, singer, flutist, teacher, preacher, believer, children’s minister, outlaw, expatriate, genius, writer, romantic, conscientious objector, undercover agent, fiancé. He had a temper at times, owned a St. Bernard once, and liked to argue. “You could not be a friend of Dietrich’s if you did not argue with him.”

I saw Metaxas joke in an interview that he wrote the title for rhythm. Pastor, prophet, martyr, spy. How could one man be all these things? Bonhoeffer was a pastor from a young age, and a spiritual leader even on his dying day. As “prophet” he recognized advancing evil and took a strong stand against it. He died a martyr because his Christian conscience led him into illegal activity. He was a spy in the sense that he carried on a deceptive identity in order to plot against the Nazis. (He once saluted Hitler in public as part of his false identity.) In reading how these random facts are linked in one person you get a feel for who he really was.

I loved reading from the German point of view. Most of what I knew about WWII was from a non-German perspective. It seems there is no end to the damage done by unfathomable evil, the tragic stories, or the sadness in the broken lives of survivors. (This hit home last year when I had the opportunity to hear a Polish holocaust survivor speak in person.) For me, Bonhoeffer’s story hammered a great wedge between the horrible holocaust stories and the greatness of Germany as a country and a people. As Hitler rose to power, some opposed him from the beginning, others were truly blinded. Some who had mistakenly supported him in the beginning had a slow revelation and a change of heart. Bonhoeffer played only a small part among countless German heroes, but his aristocracy and previous fame propelled his story into greater public interest.

The most challenging aspects of this book are the moral questions. Is it ever right to lie, disobey the law or kill? When you delve into the reality of being a Christian in a country where evil has taken over, the truth of right and wrong doesn’t change, but what has to be done for the sake of right and wrong can change. Sometimes you have to break the law. This area gets confusing to me, and even after some long conversations with friends, I am not so worried about what Bonhoeffer did, because no matter how we want to judge him in retrospect, he believed it to be right. I can easily leave that between him and God. But so many hypothetical situations come to mind... Would I have courage? Would I know what is right? Those were the battles Bonhoeffer faced in his mind. He made decisions that he believed were right, and they cost him his life. He had the courage to consider his eternal soul before his physical life. Some of us will never have to make the decision in terms of life versus death, but we do have to decide between an ordinary life and a dedicated life. In a slow way, we have to make the same decision. This book is praised by a broad audience, but I imagine the Christians who read it will be challenged in a much deeper way to live their faith with actions, and to evaluate their own convictions. Metaxas promotes this quote elsewhere, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

The ending. As I said before, I knew it was coming. Bonhoeffer is known as a martyr, and that status can tend to sound saintly and elevated. It can’t be overlooked that he was an extraordinary person who lived in extraordinary times. Yet Metaxas resisted glorifying Bonhoeffer’s death with pompous words. Yes it was heroic, but what comfort is that? It was one tragic loss among millions, an idea-churning mind halted, a writer stopped mid-book, a fiancé prevented from marrying, and a family's loved one gone without a grave to visit. Even though he died unjustly (as did so many others) the focus of the book is on his life, on his legacy, and on the empty space his death left in his world. I'm glad I read the ending alone, because I really don't like to be seen crying.

Life Without Limits, Nick Vujicic

If you are busy, skip my blog and go read Nick’s book. It will inspire you.

If you aren’t busy, watch this video, then sure, read my blog.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CBNonline?ob=0#p/search/4/i-OkIuQTBdo

Nick Vujicic is a man of many contrasts. He has no limbs, but he travels the world extensively. (I envy.) He struggles physically, but he is always smiling like he has won something. His future may look bleak to some, but he is ridiculously excited about his life – all because he chose hope instead of despair. His emotional suffering and physical limitations have pushed him to discover some truths in life that most people never experience.

Nick speaks to all kinds of audiences, Christian and non-, and this book is marketed to a broad audience. It isn’t preachy or overly religious, but it’s obvious that his trust in God is the strength of his life. He uses the word happiness a lot, but he possesses a deeper joy, and a hilarious sense of humor. This book is very future-oriented and discusses many angles of trusting, hoping, planning, with many examples from Nick’s life and many others.

Maybe I gravitate to Nick’s story because I know about disability. My dad is severely disabled with MS, and he also has a great attitude. People who just met him five minutes ago will comment on his amazing attitude. He doesn’t complain. His sense of humor is intact. He isn’t angry. He loves God, and he loves sharing the Gospel. I hear people carelessly say that if they were in a similar situation they would rather be shot. I’ve come to realize that my dad’s story, like Nick’s, is not at all as hopeless as you might think. What defines “hopeless?” Nick says, “If you say you are without hope, that means you think there is a zero chance of anything good happening in your life ever again. Zero? That’s pretty extreme, don’t you think?” Nick can say it like no one else - God can be all the missing pieces we need.

Some thoughts I want to remember (in no particular order):

Give!

Don’t be limited by fear.

Listen to good counsel, and be willing to take risks.

It doesn’t have to make sense now, just trust.

Whatever it is, it’s not the end of the world.

Choose a positive outlook.

Your pain can become someone else’s miracle.

Your pain can glorify God.

Attitude is altitude!

Master your strengths.

Hugs help.

The only thing I missed in this book was Nick’s Aussie accent. The rest was wonderful – a great way to kick off the year!