I hate to admit it, but I am one of those people that has multiple books being read at one time. Sometimes it can be as high as eight books that I'm reading. It isn't my first choice, but somehow it keeps ending up this way. I have a rule that I read at minimum 10 pages of fiction and non-fiction a piece each day. Many authors (like, the big time ones) say that if you aren't writing you should be reading. I have come to see the value of that, however, I wonder how many of them were writing with little ones around them - besides St. Madeleine, of course. It has been something I have done for a few years now and I stick to it.
Sometimes, I just want to switch it up in the middle of a book. I want to grab something and fly through. So I may switch my main 10 page reading to what I'm desiring, or I may make it my extra. Either way I am finding myself finishing books at this time. Last night I finished reading "You and Me Forever" by Francis and Lisa Chan. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I love anything by Chan so I gave it a go. Charlie and I decided to read and discuss together. (We've missed some discussion, but the reading continued.) It isn't often that I would feel the desire to review a book, nor will I give it a proper review. It will be my usual ramblings, just on this book in particular. Like I said, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured I would give it a more than fair shot due to my appreciation for Mr. Chan. It was an easy read with good sized print, nice spacing, clean white pages, and the properly recognized voice change when it went from Francis to Lisa and back again. So let's get into content. This is not a dating book. This is not a premarital counseling book - though it may not hurt to read if you ever plan on being married. This book was written by a married couple that has their act together. It reminded me of some conversations I've had through the years of spouse before kids, but this is far deeper. "You and Me Forever" is aptly named. It doesn't focus on the family, day to day life, or even the best ideas for couples that they could think of. The entire book has one focus alone - God. Every ounce of it is a reminder to set your eyes and your heart on what is most important. Too often we find ourselves worried over something, fighting over something, or tired of something in our lives. When we take our eyes off of the problems and look back to the creator of the universe we realize where we land in the big scheme of things. The amazing part is that the Chans found enough to relate a new topic of marriage and parenthood to fill an entire book. By Chapter 3 I was thinking, "Huh, it really is an entire book on putting God way, way, way above everything else in this world." By the final pages I was doing the head nod with the "Amen" to every paragraph. And all I could think about at the end was how a 130 page book could be filled top to bottom, left to right, with nothing but a reminder we all should know. It seems that sometimes as life takes over for us, we often miss the simplest things. We let the world take over in our thinking, and that is never a good idea. A major focus of the book was heaven - hence the "forever" in the title. Francis admits that is mindset is that of Paul's. He just wants to get to heaven and be with Jesus. And when he sees his wife each day he thinks about how he wants her to be with him in heaven. The same goes for his children. His job every day is to lead his wife and children into the kingdom. His excitement for heaven is more than contagious. Reading page after page of a couple so on fire for God and His work really stirs the soul. Would I recommend this book to you? Absolutely. But only if you are ready to dig deep into your soul and search your hearts. Thank you, Francis and Lisa Chan for your incredible source of guidance.
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