I finally had time to get back into the world of book reviewing for my Book Sneeze program. (I can still do them via ebooks here in China!)

The first book I chose to review is a memoir by Brenda Warner titled One Call Away.

I knew I wanted to read this book the moment I saw it. I’m not a sports fan at all. I’m lucky if I can recall the name of any football star, no matter how well-known they may be. But that’s changed just a little bit with my newfound love of Dancing with the Stars. I started watching the reality tv show about celebrities learning to ballroom dance two seasons ago. The women at my office would talk about it every week and were ridiculously excited about the show. I asked them about it, and it sounded interesting, so the when the next season came around, I gave it a chance.

I was hooked. I loved the humor of the judges and the awkwardness of the celebrities who couldn’t dance. But what I loved most of all was learning about the lives of “celebrities” (who to me, were just normal people, because I had never heard of most of them before the show) and seeing them grow throughout the show. Many of them begin the show with no confidence in their ability to dance or in their beauty/gracefulness. Some of the men are football players or wrestlers who have to reign in their massive bodies and glide around with a tiny woman in their arms. Some of them fail miserably, but others give it a lot of effort and turn into great dancers.

The first time I heard of Kurt Warner was when he competed on Dancing with the Stars last season. He was one of the football players that could definitely look awkward dancing (especially the Latin dances…the hip movement was rather lacking!), but when he worked hard, his ballroom dances somehow came across as elegant and graceful. But what impressed me most was his relationship with his family. After one dance, instead of staying on the stage to hug his dancing partner and listen to the critiques of the judges, he ran across the stage and kissed his wife. He dedicated one of the dances to his wife because it was their anniversary. They do a lot of “behind the scenes” with the celebrities on the show, and in his “behind the scene,” he learned how to be more delicate and graceful by having a tea party with his daughters.

When I saw Brenda’s book, I knew I wanted to learn more about this family. Were they the real deal? Or was this all a reality show drama to boost the ratings? Most American sports stars aren’t exactly “family men.” Most of the other football stars I’ve seen on the show aren’t even married. So how did this guy become so down-to-earth and in love with his family?

I won’t spoil all the details of this book, because it truly is worth the read. But I will say that the Warner family is absolutely the real deal. Their faith in God, their commitment to Him and to each other during good times and bad times is genuine. There were many moments in Brenda’s memoir when I laughed, moments when I cried, and moments when I gasped in horror/pain right along with her.

She tells her story and that of her family with a straightforward, honest style. She doesn’t leave out the less flattering moments. When I came to the end of this book, I prayed for this beautiful family and felt honored to have had a glimpse into their lives through Brenda’s memoir.

It normally takes me a week or two to finish a book of this size, but Brenda’s story was so fascinating and poignant that I finished it in two nights. (And I stayed up way too late both nights because I could not put this book down!) I highly recommend it with no reservations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

In college, I had an on-again, off-again relationship with a local church. I attended nearly every week of my freshman year, and at the end of the year, I felt like I knew no one.

The youth pastor was really nice and invited me to get involved in the youth ministry, but one night of bowling with teenagers was enough to prove to me that I was no longer cut out to handle groups of people under the age of 18 on a regular basis. So I looked for other ways to get involved in the church (turned out, there were none for young adults like me who didn’t want to do children’s or youth ministry), and I showed up every Sunday morning and listened to the sermon.

I still miss the sermons at that church. The pastor had a doctorate and preached amazing sermons that were both spiritually compelling and intellectually stimulating. He engaged your emotions, made you laugh, and made you fall in love with the Bible, especially the Old Testament. He could make the most random passages from the OT unbelievably relevant to 21st century life.

But with no way for me to really get involved in the church, I never felt at home. I stopped going during my sophomore and junior years because I so desperately wanted a “home church” again. I looked at many other churches, but none of them really fit.

Finally, senior year, I ended up back at the same church. I determined that I would stick it out and force the church to become my home, like it or not.

I remember one Sunday morning, I had been having a terrible week. My emotions were haywire and all I wanted to do was hide from the world. I was depressed, and I didn’t really want to go to church, but I wanted to get out of the house, and maybe, just maybe church would make me feel better.

I was so discouraged that morning, I didn’t even have the heart to take a shower and wear nice clothes. I went in ratty workout pants and a sweatshirt. Now, this church wasn’t exactly an old-fashioned, dress-up kind of church. But I personally like dressing up a little bit on Sunday mornings. I don’t think I had ever before in my life gone to church on a Sunday morning in workout pants and a hoodie. But my entire body was reflecting my emotional state that morning, and I just didn’t have the heart to care.

I showed up at church, slumped by myself in a middle aisle, and made it through the entire service without anyone noticing me or talking to me. I remember thinking that if this church really had a strong community life, if I really belonged there, that surely someone would notice how strange it was for me to show up to church practically wearing pajamas and huddling by myself. Someone would have shown concern and asked what was wrong. But people barely remembered my name, let alone my normal demeanor and clothing choices.

Fast forward many years…Matt and I ended up at Calvary Church in Naperville after we got engaged. We wanted to find a church neither one of us had attended before, so it didn’t feel like one of us had to give up our church for the other. I was pretty nervous about going to Calvary. It was much bigger than any church I had ever attended. I thought there was no way you could get to really know people in a place like that. After all, I had enough trouble in a church of a couple hundred in Wheaton. How could I make real friends in a church of thousands?

Last week, various stressors of moving were really getting to me. I showed up to Calvary late on Sunday morning, fake smile pasted on my face, wearing the right colors for Sunday morning worship in the choir. I snuck my way behind the alto section and tried to get into my usual spot in the back row of the sopranos without anyone noticing. One of my friends in the tenor section turned around and said, “Angel, what’s wrong?”

I hesitated. How could he tell something was wrong? I hadn’t come in my pajamas. I was even smiling.

“It’s been a stressful week,” I acknowledged.

“I can see it in your face,” he said.

After just a few short years at Calvary, coming there is like coming home. One look at my face, and friends notice what’s going on. There’s no hiding. But there is sharing, praying, caring. Love.

I will miss you so much, Calvary friends (family). I already can’t wait to come home and visit you next summer. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus in our lives, for noticing, listening, sharing, and praying. We love you!

You’re probably all dying to hear about Matt’s other passions (I’ll give you a hint about one of his major passions–it was the very last thing he wrote about in the previous post) or at the least some controversial theology…

But, unfortunately, once again, life finds us ridiculously busy.

I work 34 hours a week at Matt’s company, Simple Truths and baby-sit for 8 hours on Friday nights, so my schedule is getting pretty packed.  We have enjoyed a few more get-togethers with some of our neighbors and hope to have more in the future.  We’ve been keeping up with some friends, but there are many more who remain on our list of friends we need to hang out with soon, but haven’t been able to yet.  (Parties are a great way to reconnect with many people at once.  Keep having them, everyone!)

Our weekends have been pretty busy lately with family coming in from Indiana to visit us.  This weekend we are going to the gospel choir concert at Wheaton.  For Thanksgiving, we are going to Michigan and then Toronto to visit Matt’s family.  Then after that, Christmas craziness starts.  Every weekend is already full of parties, get-togethers, concerts, etc.  Lots of stuff going on, but it will all be fun.  Just no time for blogging

But we WILL try to make time for some meaningful posts.  I was just encouraged this morning by our Axiom meeting to begin working on my book for real.  I have a little dream to write a book designed for engaged Christians a.k.a. sex newbs.  I looked everywhere for a book designed for that purpose before we got married and found nothing fully devoted to that subject.  I like writing and opining, so I figured I would make an attempt to put something out there.  If nothing else, you may be seeing a lot of posts related to the book as I work on it over the next several months.

Well, time to hit the sack.  We played volleyball tonight at church.  It was saweet, but we’re both pretty pooped now.  Till next time!