Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Non-fiction

I found common ground with a pencil sharpener

My daughter is really into sharpening pencils right now. Sometimes she uses her manual Tinkerbell pencil sharpener. Other times she likes to use the battery-operated one. She brought it to me for help one day and I happened to see the sticker attached to the bottom: Receptacle must be secure for unit to operate.

“Must be secure for unit to operate.” Join the club, I thought.

I also just so happened to be reading Beth Moore’s So Long, Insecurity, and in typical Beth Moore fashion, I feel exposed and vulnerable because she’s speaking my language. The book is subtitled “You’ve been a bad friend to us,” and I’m discovering through it the deep net of insecurity in which my life is caught.

So when I read, “Must be secure .. to operate,” I thought of how that’s exactly what God wants. Insecurity keeps us from operating and functioning for God’s pre-planned purposes. When I’m secure in Him, I can do whatever He wants me to do without paralyzing fear or self-doubt.

I love how God uses two unrelated pieces of my life to bring home a point.

More on the book:

Moore has a passion for this topic. You can read a portion of it in the first chapter here. What’s especially great about the book is she offers not just words but tools to overcome insecurity. Prayers, scriptures and practical no-duh tips for walking and living securely amidst life’s disappointments and hurts.

Moore also doesn’t endorse glossing over hurt or denying emotions. She just wants us, women in general, to detach insecurity from these other hurts.

I borrowed this book from my aunt while I wait to receive my copy in the mail. She said it’s a book you could read every 6 months or so. I agree. What a blessing.

I’m not long acquainted with Beth Moore yet, but the two Bible studies of hers I’ve done, and now this book, have been life-altering. And they’ve seemed to address a current spiritual issue in my life. Moore is in tune with what women need spiritually because a) she is one and b) she has a close relationship with the Lord. This book, she writes, is birthed from experience. She’s been there, done that and shares personal experiences throughout.

Are you a woman? You NEED to read this book.

No pressure, but really, it’s that good. Even at its most painfully honest moments, I can’t wait to read it again and really dig in to the freeing message God has for me as a woman. I struggle deeply with insecurity. Moore’s book helps me believe that I don’t have to anymore.

That it is possible to live securely as a woman in this uncertain and painful world.

What sweet words of encouragement to this weary soul.

Can you really trust a guy whose last name is ‘Malarkey’?

Blogger’s note: This review published in 2011. In January 2015, Alex Malarkey recanted his story and the book was pulled from shelves. You can read more about that here. I’m leaving the review up despite my initial skepticism and the recall of the book.

Kevin Malarkey, with the help of his son Alex, wrote a book. It’s the story of Alex’s time in heaven and some of the revelations he was given by God Himself after Kevin and Alex were in a horrific car accident.

I will admit: I was skeptical. I often am of near-death experience stories and accounts by those who have seen the unseen. That their family name is Malarkey did not help my skepticism.

After reading The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, however, I can say that even if their last name was Truth or Truestory, I could not have believed them more.

It’s arrogance, really, and pride, for me to be skeptical of their experience. I was caught up in their faith as I read, challenged in my own walk with the Lord, and humbled by circumstances I think are insurmountable or overwhelming. This family is an inspiration, and it’s not because they walked through this trial perfectly without fear or doubt but because they chose to believe God even when the odds, the doctors and the facts offered them little to no hope.

The Malarkeys are honest about their struggles and weaknesses. Alex, who was 6 at the time of the accident in 2004, was even reluctant to write the book because he didn’t want people to exalt him above God. Theirs is a story of hope and encouragement. And while they have a remarkable story of Alex being in heaven, talking with God and having the ability to see angels, they don’t expect you to take only their word for it. The Bible is their source of truth, not Alex’s experience, and everything he tells them, they filter through Scripture.

His story is not the only one of its kind. I’ve read 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. I have not read Heaven is For Real by the Burpo family.

It’s easy to dismiss stories such as these as incredible. It’s much harder to accept that God is making Himself known to people in a variety of ways, for His purpose, even in ways that seem unbelievable.

Matters of faith are not always black and white, scientific or tangible; that doesn’t mean they don’t matter.

Kevin Malarkey

The Malarkeys’ story is fantastic. When you think about it, so are the stories in the Bible. Skeptics of the Christian faith may not be changed by reading this book, but Christians can be encouraged by it.

Check out the first chapter here. And stay tuned for a few more book reviews this week. The Tyndale Summer Reading Program wraps up at the end of the month, and I’m sprinting to the finish.