Go here for the January 2015 MIP Book Club Selection! This one is probably going to be a wild ride!

The Man upstairs has a real knack of directing me to books that address my personal situation before I even realize I have a situation. Unstoppable by Christine Caine is the latest book to spookily address my current situation. It was not what I anticipated–a Bible study in the inspiring style of Women of Faith speaker, Christine Caine, like her previous book, Undaunted.

Christine begins the book by telling how she is an enthusiastic fan of the Olympics and particularly, the U.S. Women’s relay track team. For several Olympics, crazy, unusual things happened to each relay team in “the exchange zone” that kept the odds-on favorite (aka the U.S. team) from even contending for a medal.

The exchange zone is where the present runner hands off the baton to the next runner. The next runner begins running so that no time is lost in handing off the baton. But, that requires the next runner to look forward and it requires the present runner to make sure the next runner firmly grasps the baton in her arm awkwardly outstretched arm behind her.

Once the U.S. team finally got their exchanges down to a “science,” they broke the World record. In fact they shattered it. And the U.S. team even admitted, in the press, that their exchanges were the key to the win.

Christine makes the point that we, as Christians, so often fail in the “exchange zone” of life. We fail to accept the batons God sends us; we don’t hand off the batons when our turn is done or we do that poorly; and sometimes we even fail to run the race at all. She makes a solid case for why this is dangerous–the next generation may know nothing about God if we fail to run the race God has uniquely called us to run. That race is known as telling the world about Jesus.

She delineates all the reasons why we might fail to even start running our own race: fear, anger, resentment, fatigue, ignorance–just to name a few. And reasons why we might fail to hand off the batons God has given us to others: control issues, fears of failure, change, etc. What was most helpful to me was her set of “indicators” of when it’s time to hand off the baton: when your to-do list explodes and other batons are being handed to you for new races!

She is quick to point out that since that baton belongs to God, the new baton “carrier” may take our race a new direction and it may not look the same, but that is as God wants it. I may need to write that sentence about 1000 times for that to sink into my dense head!

The biggest point? That running our race is NOT about doing something great for God or having a great accomplishment on our resume–it’s about God changing us to be more like Him. Often, we fail to run our races because we feel we are unqualified to do what God asks. (OH, BOY, can I relate to this one!) But, God enjoys calling the unqualified and equips them with the knowledge, wisdom and resources needed as we run the race and in that process, the unqualified become not only qualified, but more like Him.

In my work in helping to start Compassion Counseling Center, I have seen this play out time and time again. I had no earthly idea how to start a nonprofit counseling center, but God did. And as I ran with this CCC baton, God gave me boldness to ask for help from the people who already knew what I didn’t. I did research online when I was too embarrassed to ask questions and God directed me to great web sites full of good information.

The same has been true of Christine Caine. Christine was an unnamed baby when she was born. Even though she was born in a hospital, no one cared to claim her as their own. Eventually, she was adopted by great parents. Unfortunately, she was sexually abused by others during this time. Eventually, she found her way to Hillsong Church in Australia (where she was born). She fell in love with God’s word while there. While cleaning out a basement there as a volunteer, the head pastor told her to start a Youth Center and threw her his pager (He was leaving the country for 2 weeks!). As a “baby Christian,” she had no idea how to do that and no idea why she agreed to do it!

Gradually, she learned what she didn’t know through answered prayer. That youth center was so successful that she was asked to speak all over Australia. She wasn’t a speaker! She began speaking all over the world. As she was traveling to do that, she had to endure some huge airport delays in a foreign country. While there, she noticed a slew of “Missing Persons” handbills posted on the walls. Christine started praying silently for the people on the walls. It dawned on her that they were all women and children. That bugged her.

She did some investigating and learned that the missing people were most likely victims of human trafficking. When she learned that this was a worldwide problem (including the U.S. and Australia) and that no traffickers are ever prosecuted and that women and children often die as a result, she decided God was handing her a baton. But, she had no idea how to help.

Little by little she and her husband started the A21 Campaign worldwide to prosecute traffickers, rescue the victims and to help them recover from the many “scars” wrought by this crime. Even with their valiant efforts, only 1% of victims are ever rescued. They are getting more and more trafficker convictions, but it’s still a tiny percentage for this huge problem.

But those rescued and helped have eventually gone on to proclaim Jesus as their fearless leader and they are doing other great things for God’s kingdom here on Earth. And it all started because of an unwanted baby in Australia.

What race is God calling you to run? Feel unqualified to run it? Welcome to the Club! Just start running and it will come to you, trust me. Time to hand off a baton to another? That’s a scary feeling? Welcome to my world. Let’s be scared together. 🙂

But if God can use an unnamed baby, a 4-time heart attack survivor, a stutterer (Moses), a doubter (Thomas), a complete screw-up (Peter), and a baby born in a horse barn, He can use you to do unbelievable things.

It’s time to lace up your Nikes, friend. 🙂

Monday’s Post: Did you know the definition for the WOW?

You Might Also Like: Slow Reader Friday: Twirl; Slow Reader Friday: Beating Goliath; and Slow Reader Friday: The Way Home

Good morning, Book Club Members! Are you ready to discuss Undaunted by Christine Caine? I know I am. 🙂

I first encountered Christine Caine at the Women of Faith Conference in Dallas back in September. I was wondering how an Aussie found her way to Cowboyland, aka the Big D. But, I didn’t have to wonder too long. As Christine told her story and that of countless numbers of women and children who are enslaved in the human trafficking business around the globe, her story was very compelling. While many speakers at the conference were asking for financial support for their favorite causes, Christine only asked for prayers and now I understand why.

In Undaunted Caine describes how she was largely an unwanted child and then adopted, how she was abused and then loved by one incredibly understanding man, how she was joyously pregnant and then miscarried and yet learned to retain her faith through that long period of grief. She recounts how she was deeply saddened by the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp and asked God to make her open to new opportunities to serve. Waiting too long for luggage turned into a complete upheaval of her life to bring her to a new ministry for which, she admits, she had no earthly idea how to do. She is a living example of good triumphing over evil again and again in Undaunted. 

The most compelling parts of the book were those in which she recounted getting over the hurts and fears of all the miserable experiences in which she found herself, but I did think the “lessons learned” parts of the book began to “drag on,” particularly towards the end. Perhaps that’s because I’ve already heard her speak a few times previously. But, the fact remains that we all should be Undaunted when God asks us to do the “unthinkable.”

Here are my top 3 favorite quotes from the book:

1. “God doesn’t waste one experience of our lives. He uses everything to help someone else…We are all broken in some way. We all have wounds. Some of us use that as an excuse to do nothing, to serve no one, but rather to sit and nurse our misery.”

2. “…disappointments leave something too: a gift, an opportunity, a possibility to create change, to move from the valley of the shadow of death to new horizons, and to bring others with us on that road…the best way to get over your own broken heart or lost dream is to help others get over theirs.”

3. “My eyes, that day, were opened to how, by doing nothing when others suffer, we add to their injury…The oppressed do not see too much difference between those who would keep them down and those who do nothing to help. There is no in-between.”

So, here are the Book Club discussion questions for Undaunted: 

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “WOW! Loved this book” and 1 being “Really? Why did you even select this book???”, where would you rate this book? (You’re probably going to see this question a lot until I’m comfy with understanding what types of books/writing appeal to you the most–fair warning!)

2. Which one of the stories about Christine Caine’s life made the biggest impression on you? And yes, you can pick more than one, but please tell us why they made a big impression.

3. When Christine Caine spoke about the A21 campaign at Women of Faith, she pointed out that often women are enslaved, drugged, beaten, sexually abused and then when the woman becomes pregnant, her baby is sold into slavery for “use” by pedophiles. Since this is a practice here in the U.S. (as well as globally), how does that thought strike you?

4. Did this book compel you to want to make some changes in your life? How so? Have you begun to implement those changes? What are the obstacles standing in your way?

I cannot wait to hear your comments below!

And if you just cannot contain yourself and you need to know what the December Book Club Selection is, click here.

Monday’s Post: Are you part of the booboisie?

You might also like: Slow Reader Friday: Life Interrupted; Slow Reader Friday: Mere Christianity; Slow Reader Thursday: Heaven; and of course, the Book Club Page!

Well, Book Club Homies…we’re here! I hope you have taken the journey with me as I read Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer. And here’s why: I was fortunate to hear Priscilla Shirer speak at the 2013 Women of Faith conference in Dallas. And Priscilla had a tough place on the agenda–right after a filling lunch! She was quick to acknowledge that most of her audience might be nodding off during her time slot! But, she was oh, so wrong–she held my attention the entire time she spoke!

Thus, I was anxious to make the first MIP Book Club Selection her book, Life Interrupted. I have to confess that I chose her book partly because of the ridiculously cheap price for the Kindle edition–a mere $ 2.99. But, it turned out to be a GREAT $ 2.99 to pay. The stoic Scot over here found herself crying several times as I read about her take on the book of Jonah.

I don’t know about you, but I can so relate to Jonah. Running away from my responsibilities is one of my favorite hobbies! But Shirer carefully and skillfully shows us why God did what He did with Jonah and how we, as modern-day Jonahs, can learn to embrace an interrupted life as something new and magnificent and even as an adventure.

It is truly difficult to pick my traditional 3 quotes today, because I’d like to put about 19 here, but here are the ones I selected:

1. “…interruptions are only negative when we deem the person, problem, or circumstance that’s forcing itself on us to be of less value or interest than what we were doing before.”

2. “Hold your own plans loosely and stay ready to submit to His. Consider them to be more important, more desirable than anything you could dream up on your own.

3. “Sometimes the divine intervention of God means breaking allegiance with what you love.”

So, dear Book Club Readers (and Slow Reader Friday Readers!), I have a few questions for you to answer below. Today I will ask you a few more than I will in future months, simply because I want your input about the type of books you like to read, etc. I will do my best to take your interests to heart when I’m considering books for the future:

a) Do you prefer Christian-oriented books or something different?

b) What genre of book is your favorite? Biographies, novels, non-fiction, self-improvement, historical accounts, mysteries, sci-fi???

c) What is the highest you are willing to shell out for a Book Club book? (I’m trying not to break your budget, so please be honest and you can answer under an “assumed name,” if necessary.)

Here are the Life Interrupted questions:

d) On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “WOW! Loved this book” and 1 being “Really? Why did you even select this book???”, where would you rate this book?

e) What was the most memorable quote of the book for you? Why?

f) What other impressions (good, bad or indifferent) did you have to the book? (Remember–I’m not judging anyone about anything here–you have a right to your own opinion–even if it’s completely different from my own!)

Thanks, in advance, for sharing!

Click here for the November 2013 Book Club Selection!

Monday’s Post: How roweled up are you?

You might also like: Slow Reader Friday: Mere Christianity, Book Club, and Slow Reader Thursday: Heaven by Randy Alcorn