Life

This week's Five Minute Friday prompt is: LIFE.

Life is a funny thing....

After a relationship ending in my early twenties a friend assured me, 'You never know what's around the corner. You could be married with a baby on the way this time next year.'

I nodded along, not really believing a word she said. All I could see was a life of singleness stretching ahead of me and that's not what I wanted.

But it wasn't long before my lovely husband came along and we have now been happily married for a couple of decades.

A little over two years ago, we were hit with a juggernaut full of heartache and pain which brought with it mental ill health among other things. Twelve months in and I felt like I'd had enough. I was sick of traumatic memories from the past returning and throwing me into fresh mental and emotional turmoil.

I angrily yelled at God, 'I hate life!' I couldn't see any way out of the dark tunnel I found myself in. I wanted God to know how much I hated life because one of Jesus's titles in the New Testament is 'Life'. There were times I hated God.

Thankfully, Jesus is steering me through the dark tunnel and there are times now that I can even see a pinprick of light at the end of it.

Still, there are some days I'm less thrilled about being alive than others. But I do know now that Jesus is the meaning of life. Without Him I can't see the point, but with Him my life does have meaning.

The Reckoning

In The Reckoning, John Grisham returns to Clanton immediately after WWII, so for regular readers of his books it feels like returning home.

Pete Banning is a WWII local hero. He was captured by the Japanese and tortured but escaped and turned guerrilla. Although his family believed him to be dead, they are thrilled when he finally returns home.

But less than a year later, Pete deliberately and cold-bloodedly shoots and kills Clanton's Methodist pastor.

Why? Is the question on everyone's lips. But Pete is refusing to talk.

The book is divided into three parts: the killing, the boneyard, and the betrayal.

In the boneyard, we learn a lot about the Bataan Death March and Japanese cruelty toward their POWs.

This book - to me - feels totally different to John Grisham's other novels. The law is mentioned but it's an earlier time and culture in the late 1940s in rural Mississippi is very different to today. But a large part of the book is focused on the bravery of American and Filipino POWs and guerrillas in the Philippine jungles and Japanese prison camps during WWII.

For me it is easily on a par with his earlier novels such as A Time to Kill or The Chamber in that it's a meaty book with a gripping storyline and issues to be considered. There is no feeling of the writing being a bit rushed as with some of his shorter, later books. This is full of good stuff and I anticipate it giving more each time I read it.

This is an easy 5* to award.

The Children who Lived in a Barn

It was a kind aunt years ago who introduced me to Eleanor Graham's The Children who Lived in a Barn.

When Mr and Mrs Dunnet receive a telegam saying Mrs Dunnet's mother has had a serious accident, they arrange to fly at once to her. Set pre-WWII, they have no qualms about leaving their five children to look after themselves for a few days. Thirteen-year-old Sue is more than capable of caring for her younger brothers and sister.

Only the Dunnets are gone for much longer than a few days. In order to avoid problems with the landlord as well as the village busybodies interfering with them, Sue and her 11-year-old brother Bob along with twins Sambo and Jumbo and 7-year-old Alice take refuge in a local barn.

The children quickly realise that if life in the barn is going to work for them, they must have rules.

Rule Number One is: no begging, borrowing, scrounging or stealing.

Rule Number Two is: eat fair.

On pain of homes, orphanages and adoptions.

This is the fascinating story of how the children work hard to keep their independence while avoiding their enemies the dreaded DV (District Visitor), GP's wife Mrs Legge and the vicarage. But they find unexpected friends and help in the most unlikely of places along the way.

I love this book and was delighted to find a good quality secondhand copy. This is a story I enjoy coming back to over and over. It definitely deserves 5*.

A Week in the Life of Corinth

If you enjoy delving into the culture and times of the Bible, then I can recommend this series published by IVP Academic.

I saw the series advertised on Twitter and put it straight on my wish list. This is the first book of the Week in the Life series I've read and I wasn't disappointed. I've ordered another already!

Based on historical facts, this is a novella set in the Corinth of the apostle Paul.

Learning history via a story appeals to me as I don't tend to take in dry facts but learn through imagination.

The storyline is simple and interspersed with useful and interesting information about the time, place and culture.

The main character is freedman Nicanor who works for his former owner, Erastos. This important man is running for city treasurer, as mentioned in Paul's letter to the Romans (chapter 16) as well as elsewhere in the New Testament.

The book is well written and clearly laid out. The interposed facts entitled 'A Closer Look' are easily found and can be taken alone or alongside the story. Likewise, the story can read by itself.

I found it both interesting and useful and am happy to award it 5*.

Sacrifice

This week's Five Minute Friday word prompt is SACRIFICE:

I was reading the account of Abraham taking his son Isaac up on a mountain to sacrifice him, in obedience to an instruction Abraham had received from God.

This was Abraham's much-loved and greatly-longed for son of promise.

I often wonder what was going through Abraham's mind and heart as he walked with his son up that hillside. Such turmoil, such hope, such faith.

The story ends perfectly with the Angel of the Lord calling to Abraham at the key moment and telling him not to kill his son. It was a test of Abraham's love for and faith in God. Would he put God before God's gift?

But on this time of reading, I pondered a different Father and Son. As the Son (AKA the Angel of the Lord) called to Abraham to stop, did He glance over to the Father? What would have been in their hearts at that point? Because when the Son offered Himself as a sacrifice, there was no one to call 'stop!' at the crucial moment.

Devices and Desires

This is my favourite PD James' book to date.

There is a mass murderer on the loose in Norfolk, nicknamed 'The Whistler' because of his eerie whistling as he strangles his victims and stuffs their mouths with their hair.

Local police are stumped and East Anglian women are not safe to be out alone at night.

We are introduced to an intriguing set of very different characters living in a remote corner of this rural county. The nuclear power station overshadows everything and casts its own atmosphere through the story.

Adam Dalgliesh is on leave from the Met police and, while not actively involved in the case, does play his part.

All sorts of secrets are unearthed within this quiet community as the police hunt for the murderer. But then one night it becomes chillingly apparent that there is more than one killer on the loose....

I found it hard to put this book down and loved the different threads of characters' lives and secrets running through it. I'm happy to award it 5*.

Direction

After a very long break, I have decided to start taking part in Five Minute Friday again. This is an online community where we each write for five minutes on a weekly topic.

This week's topic is DIRECTION.

A little over two years ago, my life fell apart as I broke into what felt like a thousand pieces. Life would never be the same again and I am still working on coming to terms with it.

One day I was happy in a job I loved, busy in church and other ministries, and researching to write a book.

Then a traumatic memory that I'd blocked out from the past came back to haunt me. Everything changed; the direction of my life changed dramatically.

The last couple of years have been the toughest I have ever had to face. For a long time I was angry with God, regularly demanding that He 'just annihilate me!' Life didn't seem to be worth living.

But I feel I've finally turned a corner. There's still a long way to go. I have real hope that there might be light at the end of this tunnel.

And I have tentative faith in God that He is directing my life and maybe - just maybe - He might possibly have a purpose in all of this. I don't want my suffering to be for nothing. I don't know where He's headed but, today (and it might change tomorrow), I can trust that He knows.

It Started with a Tweet

I borrowed this from my local library a couple of months ago; I was looking for something I'd not read before and was attracted by the title. I enjoyed it so much that when I spotted it in a bookshop recently, I squeaked with excitement and bought it.

Each chapter is headed with, 'Time since last Internet usage:  '.  Initially the time is in seconds but as the book goes on this changes.

It opens with social media addict Daisy on a hen do. She comes across as fun, overworked and shallow, living her busy London life through her social media accounts. Until she accidentally sends a very personal and inappropriate tweet from her work Twitter account. She gets the retweets and likes she's been craving... along with a deluge of unwanted attention and the prompt termination of her employment in a social media marketing agency.

At this point her older sister swoops in and carries her off to North Yorkshire for a social media detox which involves tossing both their mobile phones down a well.

During her detox, Daisy rediscovers the satisfaction of being present, of living life here and now rather than through her phone. She realises she doesn't have to tweet and Instagram every single mundane moment of her day: who cares what she's eating for breakfast?

This is a funny book with plenty of laugh out loud moments. Though lighthearted it's not frivolous: it makes the reader re-evaluate how we use social media and how easy it is to get addicted to our smartphones.

It's a brilliant read and I'm happy to award it 5*.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

I do enjoy PD James' writing; it's like a cross between Colin Dexter's Morse and Agatha Christie - win, win.

This is the story of Cordelia Gray, the junior partner of a private detective agency. It is her first case since her senior partner's death and she has to rely on her wits and instinct as well as everything Bernie had taught her.

Sir Ronald Callender asks Cordelia to investigate the apparent suicide of his son Mark. (This is the days before the internet and it made me realise afresh how time-consuming it was to look up information without having Google and Bing at our fingertips.)

Cordelia slowly pieces together the last days and hours of Mark's life, refusing to be put off by lies and threats.

As per usual for me, I did not anticipate the end of the story at all. Lots of plot twists to keep me turning the pages. I even stayed up till the early hours one night as I couldn't bear to leave the book unfinished. Even when Cordelia discovers the whole story about Mark's death and the case appears to be closed, there is more to come....

I am happy to award this book 4*.

Inspire Bible

In late September, I read a tweet by Mary DeMuth saying that one of the best spiritual disciplines she has found is to read her Bible cover to cover every three months.

The tweet appeared at just the right time for me. I have read my Bible cover to cover in a year many times since the age of thirteen as well as enjoying mooching through passages in a more contemplative fashion.

But for the last couple of years since struggling with my mental health, I've found reading my Bible difficult to nigh on impossible at times. Some days all I could manage was part of a verse, other days nothing at all.

When I saw Mary's tweet, it lit me up inside and I decided to give it a go. Not necessarily in three months as that seemed a really tall order but maybe four months and I resolved not to be legalistic about it. If I had a bad day or bad week with my mental health, I wouldn't beat myself up about not reading my Bible.

I chose my NLT journaling Bible which is an easy translation to read as well as having inspiring pictures and verses to colour in.

On 1st October, I began. And I loved it. Reading big chunks at a time helped me keep track of the different characters (especially who was on what side during King David's time), as well as helping me see the bigger picture again.

God is absolutely fair and cruel, wicked people will pay in the end. Selfish rulers who are mainly interested in power and money are nothing new. Some people have always rewritten the past to suit themselves. Suffering is part of life. But God is in control. Jesus has overcome the world. One day He will come back and put everything to right - there will be justice and peace.

Granted the timing was right for me as I couldn't have coped with this challenge earlier in the year, but my mental health really benefited from this and I'm so glad I did it. It was so good to remind myself who God is and what He's like.

I've restarted from Genesis 1 today and am excited to get back into this fascinating, awesome, life-giving book.

5* is a no-brainer!