After Six Years, A Christmas Letter

Would you like to read our Christmas letter for 2011? I thought so!


Anderson 2011 Christmas Letter


Merry Christmas!

Book Review: Out of a Far Country

The book Out of a Far Country recounts the story of authors Christopher Yuan and his mother Angela Yuan as they deal with Christopher's homosexuality. I thought this book would be interesting because it would offer an interesting point of view on a common issue in our society. What I found, however, was that the book was just depressing. I had to force myself to finish it.

It wasn't the subject matter that was necessarily inherently melancholy, it was that the presentation highlighted the gloom and despair and it took WAY too long to get to the happier times at the close of the memoir. I understand that it wasn't meant to be a happy book, and perhaps I should have read it at a different time, but it just struck me as unnecessarily depressing.

At the close of the memoir, Christopher comes to an understanding of his homosexuality. He believes he needs to be holy in his sexuality, not necessarily heterosexual, but holy. For him that means abstaining from homosexual sexual activities, but he definitely doesn't fall into the "pray the gay away" camp.

It was actually somewhat refreshing to hear Yuan's views on the problem with homosexuality being an issue of holiness rather than physicality. That being said, it certainly didn't redeem the book for me.

I give this book two stars out of five. I really didn't like it.

Note for Full Disclosure: While I do not receive any monetary compensation for my book reviews, I am provided with free complimentary copies of each book. That being said, this review is completely my own, and free from the influence of WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Book Review: 40 Ways to Get Closer to God

I recently have had the privilege of reviewing a copy of 40 Ways to Get Closer to God, by Jerry MacGregor. What a wonderful little book!

The book is designed with very short daily readings followed by an action step that you can do to get closer to God. I loved this design because I get tired of Christian devotionals that focus solely on head knowledge when heart knowledge and action is also vital to a vibrant Christian faith.

One of my favorite parts, albeit silly, was that each day had a short area for you to write notes on whatever "project" you had completed. It also, much to the joy of my anal retentive heart, had a check box for you to mark the project complete. Could you ask for anything more? But seriously.

On another silly note, I loved the size of the book. Not only is it short in length, but it is small in size as well. It fits in my purse, or for guy, it could fit in a cargo pocket. I can easily see myself going through this devotional once a year if not more frequently. It is that much of a gem. Get one for yourself, you won't regret it!

Note for Full Disclosure: While I do not receive any monetary compensation for my book reviews, I am provided with free complimentary copies of each book. That being said, this review is completely my own, and free from the influence of Bethany House Publishers.