Books

It didn’t take long reading this book and I felt like a man who wandered in to a women’s retreat. Whoops. Should I be here? Would this have anything to say to me? Maybe if I stand in the back no one will notice.

I’m glad I stayed.

Deidra Riggs has done a wonderful job reminding us that God chooses to work with average people (that’s all He has to work with). Moreover, working through the “pancake flippers” of the world is His delight. My favorite quote in the book says it well:

God doesn’t need my help in this world any more than you or I need our toddlers to help us make the bed . . . . God delights in us, and he has asked us to be his hands and feet here in the world. He doesn’t need us, but he has chosen to work out his will through us. (pp 114-115)

I appreciated Deidra’s honesty and transparency about feeling inadequate for the job of life. The fear of following God is worth facing, worth risking, worth the jump. Her chapter on “Breathlessness” is worth the whole book. Indeed we were created by God to be used by God—and our overwhelming feelings of inadequacy are simply the stuff God works through to change us and to change the world. Both occur at the same time.

Every Little Thing has great writing, good humor, practical insights . . . and I still have my man card.