Reading to Know Book Club :: June

(WHY IS IT JUNE ALREADY!??!)

The June selection for the Reading to Know book club is A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter.



Stephanie from Simple Things will be leading this month's discussion. She has a little to share about the book before we get started with our read:

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A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter was one of those books that had been on my shelves for years. It was on all the must-read book lists. A woman (http://blog.carolejoyseid.com.s126415.gridserver.com/) who’s homeschool lectures I had enjoyed multiple times commented repeatedly that this was her favorite book of all time and if I hadn’t read it, then I had missed out on a masterpiece of literature.

So, when Carrie asked me what I wanted to pick for my month hosting the Reading to Know book club this was my pick. Finally! I was going to pick this up from my shelves and check it off the list. I didn’t anticipate how much I would enjoy it and what a sweet sense of satisfaction there would be as I finished the last page. I will say – this book was a challenge to read for me. I’m no slouch at reading, but it took me some time to get into the rhythm of the dated style of writing. Still, absolutely worth it.

I’ll share some information I recently received in an email about the author, Gene Stratton Porter, and then look forward to meeting you back here at the end of June to talk about it! Happy reading!

Porter was born Geneva Grace Stratton but lived in an era when female authors were unacceptable. Geneva was raised on a farm in Indiana, the youngest of twelve children (born in 1863). She was raised in a very godly home. Her father told her mother that she should be allowed to run as free as a little lamb. She fell in love with nature as a child. All of her books, in addition to being the personification of character building, are richly steeped in the glories of creation.

She grew up to be called the "Bird Woman of Indiana." Her love and interest in all the things of nature radically set her apart from the Victorian corseted women of her era. She was known to tramp through the swamps of Indiana, dressed in rubber wader with her camera and tripod to photograph unusual specimens. Her passion for birds and butterflies will be translated painlessly to anyone who is exposed to her beautiful writing.

Quoted information came from the May/June 2012 issue of Carole Joy Seid’s newsletter.

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We hope you will join in with us this month! As a reminder, you do not have to read with us every month to participate in the book club. Pick and choose which reads you care to hop in and enjoy!

The discussion for this month and link-up post for A Girl of the Limberlost will post on Friday, June 29th.

Break Through, by Tim Clinton and Pat Springle

**Once again, I must offer warning of a long post. I've edited it as much as I can.**

I'm not even going to start to pretend that I'm the best person to review this book, ok? If you know me in real life and you are reading this, don't get your dander up thinking I'm on a lecturing binge. (It may sound like it, but you would be 100% incorrect in that assumption.) The fact also exists that I can only review this book through my own eyes and life experiences.

Actually, when I first opened the covers of Break Through: When to Give In, How to Push Back, I wasn't sure I liked it. I hesitated about reviewing it because I didn't care for Clinton and Springle's style. The first half of the book was filled with so many "stories" and examples about what they were talking about that I wasn't gleaning much. However, by the second half of the book they were more focused on offering information, wisdom and advice than on story-telling. I began to not only appreciate it, but love it.

Break Through is all about how to correctly think about and deal with relationships in general, and broken relationships, specifically. Since we all have them - broken and unbroken - I think this book serves a purpose and could be a useful tool to every human being on the planet earth. Far reaching? Perhaps. Yet remarkably accurate at the same time! For some time I've wondered if I were some kind of oddity and the only one who ever suffered from broken relationships. However, age and the honesty of others have assured me that I am not unique in the least. We all have strings of broken relationships in our wake - some more horrible and others less - and we need a great deal of humility and wisdom to deal with them effectively. Just as we have bad relationships, we also have fantastic relationships which bolster our spirits and bless us tremendously. Both types of relationships - the good and the bad - are beneficial in our walk with Christ. It just may take an attitude adjustment to believe that that is so.

Before we get much further, I should tell you that being female I tend to fixate on relationships in general. How they work (or don't) is a fascinating and interesting subject matter to me. (Hence this book was interesting to me.) Being a Christian, I have a strong opinion on the importance of choosing one's friends wisely and well. It cannot be under emphasized how crucial it is to form relationships with people that you can trust to be honest and who will point you to the cross, no matter the cost to them or you. (Yet another reason that this book was interesting to me, in that it is written from the Christian perspective.) Close friendships need to be God-centered above our own comfort levels. Because the authors take this position as well, I feel I can heartily recommend this book.

Even though you may find yourself blessed with a fantastically close Christian friendship, the chances are high that it will take a lot of work to maintain that relationship and that it will not be without its set of mishaps. Occasionally the relationship will have a growth spurt and such spurts are not always pleasant. Conflict arises because no two people are exactly alike. As Clinton and Springle point out, one should not believe that a good relationship means an absence of conflict. One should believe that a good friendship is good because it is healthy enough to resolve conflict in a God-honoring and God-glorifying manner. To repeat: conflict is not bad; it is good. Conflict is necessary because it teaches us things about ourselves and our standing before the Lord. Conflict addresses sin areas and although that is likely to be painful, it must be endured and understood to have a glorious purpose. If you have conflict in a relationship, don't panic and slam doors. You might need to take a breather, but it is important to come back when you can and work through the difficulty.

I use the phrase "when you can" because sometimes you cannot. I very much appreciated the fact that Clinton and Springle do not assume that every relationship that you are presented with in life is a particularly healthy one for you to be involved in. Sometimes you just shouldn't be friends with another individual and sometimes the trust that should have been a part of that relationship has been grievously wounded. You should never expect trust to be returned to the relationship overnight. They say the following:

Forgiveness and trust are separate issues. It only takes one person to forgive, but two to reconcile. While God commands us to love and to forgive, we are never commanded to trust untrustworthy people. Trust must be earned by kind, respectful, consistent behavior. It is foolishness - not love - that compels us to give in by trusting those who haven't proven that they are trustworthy. (Chapter Two, Break Through to True Love, page 30)

How many times have you heard the phrase, "You need to forgive that person"? You know this statement to be true. After all, you who have been forgiven much have much to forgive. But as Clinton and Springle point out, forgiveness isn't granted at a command. Sometimes it can only honestly be given when you've had time and space from the offender. And just because forgiveness has been extended and love restored, does not mean that the offender should expect a relationship to instantly resume. Once trust is severed, it is very difficult to rebuild it and consideration of this fact should be given.

. . . [D]on't be confused: Forgiving doesn't mean we have to give in to manipulation. It doesn't mean we have to blindly trust again. it doesn't mean the hurt is magically erased. Reconciliation is based on trust, and trust must be proven over time. Even if both parties want to reconcile, it doesn't happen instantly. The commitment to reconciliation can happen in a moment, but the building of understanding, respect, and trust is a long process. So be strong, be cautious, and be wise, but forgive. (Chapter 12, Speaking the Hard Truth, page 216)

Clinton and Springle talk a lot about dealing with angry people, manipulative people, and those who are conflict avoidant. They discuss difficult relationships with children and adolescents, marriages and just about any other type of relationship which you can imagine having. Relationship blunders abound in all sorts and all types of relationships. In all ages and at all times we are constantly challenged to die to self and live for Christ. And I think that this is what I most appreciated about what they had to say regarding all of the above types of relationships.

The authors spent a considerable time focused on the fact that in order to have a healthy relationship in the first place, you must not place the relationship ahead of your relationship with God. They make themselves explicitly clear in saying that if you put too many expectations on the human relationship, then you are idolizing it in an unhealthy and ungodly way. We must set down our idols, be they expectations that our spouses will make us happy, or our girlfriends or our children, etc.

Human nature is selfish. Ultimately, we like people who make us like ourselves and who make us feel happy. We tend to dislike people who in anyway express displeasure by what they see in us. (Grant it, some people have extremely unhealthy, stringent requirements that are placed upon us in an ungodly manner. I personally tend to have high expectations of others and so this spoke well to me.) We want to surround ourselves with love and joy always. Clinton and Springle talk about how our friends are mirrors, showing us who we are - warts and all - that we should pay attention to. It makes me think of the quote I shared from Nancy Wilson's book the other day in which she said:

Realize that each comment has come with God's permission and view it as part of your sanctification.

God puts certain people in our lives for a reason. It may be to break us and teach us how to be more like Christ. We may resent that; and we may resent that unfairly. Distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy relationships is a tricky business and involves quite a bit of wisdom, correctly applied. I can't honestly sit here and say that I just love and adore everyone that God has put into my life. At the same time, I can already gratefully see that He has a purpose in having them here. (It's just that I don't really like the purpose because it brings me pain. That's unfair pain, you know. Right?!) I can't dictate what every relationship looks like (I want to though). I can't reason everyone into seeing things exactly my way (though they should, I mean really!). Ultimately, my trust needs to be in God who works all things together for my good and for His glory. I am responsible for me before Christ and must follow Him. I must trust that my Christian friends and family are doing the same. My task is to respond well to the things which God is having them teach me, knowing that sometimes that is going to hurt me and sometimes it's going to hurt them.

Each person has to carry the responsibility for his thoughts, attitude, responses to people, discipline to get work done, and so on. (Chapter 11, Balancing Our Responsibilities, page 186)

I could go on and on on this topic. Bottom line though: for a relationship to be healthy, it must be acknowledged that it is not more important than Christ. Our complete trust needs to be placed in the Lord God and every relationship submitted to Him. He will work in and through people to teach us how to be more like Him. Sometimes we will experience pain and sometimes the people we are closest to will hurt when we are directed to share a truth with them that they do not like. Relationships may threaten to break. We have to stand ready to forgive and pray and work hard for reconciliation when it is safely possible. Good relationships may hurt, but working through the pain will make them stronger. Above all - live in light of the resurrection! Confess your sins when necessary, extend forgiveness and live knowing that Christ conquered sin and death and reigns victorious. We can be victorious in and through Him and find ourselves blessed beyond measure in the process. And what a joy it will be to enter Heaven and find all our old wounds healed and find ourselves in a position to worship the Lord, no longer broken.

(Here's a song I may or may not have listened to innumerable times when my spirit needed some encouraging.)



Then the world was broken, fallen and battered and scarred
You took the hopeless, the life, wasted, ruined and marred
And made it new

You make all things new
You make all things new
You redeem and You transform
You renew and You restore
You make all things new
You make all things new
And forever we will watch and worship You

Thank you to Worthy Publications who send a copy of this book my direction in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Big Book of Animal Stickers (Giveaway)

I confess to you that I'm not actually the type to purchase sticker books for my kids (up until recently, that is). I did buy one for use on an upcoming road trip. Road trips situations in which I think books like these come in handy!

I was sent a copy of The Big Book of Animal Stickers for review purposes and I'm storing it away until it is time for said car ride. (Knowing children in backseats, I purchased one additional sticker book beyond this one to preserve the peace.) Being that this particular one features one of our favorite subject matters - animals - I think it will be popular and will give the boys something different to do in the car.

The Big Book of Animal Stickers is a 109 page, full-color activity book. It boasts having over 500 stickers to use in completing different illustrated scenes, to find matching animals, do mazes and to claim squares in the dot game. There are also pages with tic-tac-toe boards and mazes for the children to do. The stickers range in size from small circles to large cut-outs of various animals. They are bright and cheerful looking, as are the slightly glossy illustrated pages which you are to put the stickers on. (I repeat: pages which you are to put the stickers on.)

There looks to be plenty of fun to be had with this book and I present it to you for your consideration.

I am also quite pleased to announce that Silver Dolphin has offered up one copy of The Big Book of Animal Stickers to one of my readers here at Reading to Know. If you are looking for an activity book to keep your kids entertained this summer, this might be one to check into. (It's even better if you win it, correct?)

In order to be entered into this contest, please leave a comment below including a valid e-mail address. This contest is open to U.S. residents only and will be open through Tuesday, June 5th.

Thank you, Silver Dolphin, for sending a copy of this book my way, as well as offering another to one of my readers.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer :: Reading to Know Book Club

Amy from Hope is the Word is leading the discussion for this month's book club selection. Here is what she had to say about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , by Mark Twain. If you participated in this month's book club read and wrote up a post sharing your thoughts of this work, please leave a comment in the comment section below. Please including the direct link to your blog post. (If you don't have a blog but read along, please feel free to discuss the book with us in the comment section.)

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When Carrie asked me to be a part of her book club as a host, choosing a book was easy. I have wanted to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for a long time; in fact, I have actually intended to read it every year for the past several years, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the stack because as much as I wanted to read it, there’s always something else that’s just slightly more interesting or urgent. That I haven’t read it or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has always been a source of mild embarrassment, made more acute by the fact that I have a degree in English education and have almost enough graduate English credit hours to have a master’s degree. I taught high school English, for Pete’s sake! Still, somehow in all my education, no one ever forced me to read this one, and since I’ve only lately begun to force myself to make reading selections based on anything but absolute necessity, sheer pleasure, or morbid curiosity, my knowledge of the American literary canon had some gaping holes. I’m happy now to say that I’ve closed one of these more noticeable gaps, and I enjoyed doing it.

There’s a quote by Charles Dudley Weaver from a December 1876 issue of the Hartford Daily Courant on the back of my paperback copy of the book. It says, “The book is full of quotable things. . . but it is unnecessary to quote from a book which everybody will read.” That sums up how I feel about anything I could possibly say about this book. I feel like it’s a joke that everyone has already hee-hawed over, only I’m itching to share it with someone. You’ll excuse me, then, if what I say here seems rather elementary.

First, I had built this book up in my mind to be something that it isn’t at all. I think after years of laboring through obtuse minor works of literature, I expected this one to be hard to understand and complicated, but is neither. Why didn’t we read this, then, instead of something like S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders way back in seventh grade? I have nothing against The Outsiders at all, but Tom and Huck are definitely more important cultural icons than Pony Boy and Johnny. I suspect that as a college-bound, Advanced Placement-taking high school English student, I was supposed to have read this at some other point in my education, but I didn’t.

Second, I kept thinking while reading this story that it’s really nothing more than the story of a boy’s life and experiences. It’s not really different from many, many other children’s stories that I’ve read. Stories like Understood Betsy (linked to my review), Hans Brinker (link), and Caddie Woodlawn come to mind, with the obvious difference being that Mark Twain makes Tom and his friends “normal” boys instead of paragons of virtue. (I know that comparing books about girls and books about boys in this era especially is comparing the proverbial apples and oranges, but I happen to have read far more books about girls than boys, so that’s what comes to my mind.) Tom Sawyer really is just a coming-of-age story, something that you’re very apt to find if you browse the middle grade section at your local bookstore or library. Something in me asks what makes it so, well, special in the face of so many similar tales, but I do have the perspective of time and familiarity.

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Thank you, Amy, for hosting this month!

June's book club selection is A Girl of the Limberlost and the conversation will be hosted by Stephanie at Simple Things. We hope you will join in!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

*THIS IS NOT THE LINK-UP POST! AMY'S POST TO DISCUSS THIS MONTH'S BOOK CLUB SELECTION WILL POST TOMORROW MORNING.*


I have to confess that I inwardly groaned when Amy said that she'd wanted to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer during the month of May for the Reading to Know book club. I had read this book before and recall not liking it, mostly because Tom is so very disobedient. I generally am not amused by disobedient behavior. So I wasn't very eager to spend time with Tom again.

In the end though, I am very glad that Amy choose this book because I ended up rather enjoying myself! I still don't like Tom very much, as a character, but I really like Mark Twain's sense of humor. He amuses me. He amuses me very much. Despite my early misgivings, I ended up chuckling through quite a bit of this book and finding The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to be quite diverting!

The basic plot of the book, should you be unfamiliar with it, surrounds the boyish romps and mischief making of Tom Sawyer and his friend, Huckleberry Finn. It is a series of stories of the scrapes that Tom gets into, more or less. The chief subject of interest in this book is a murder, which Tom and Huck witness. That sounds rather gruesome and in some ways it most certainly is. However, Twain deals with the subject in the most lighthearted manner possible, while still holding to the idea that the murder is serious, scary business. Tom and Huck's escapades including dodging the murderer while living their normal life, playing hookey from school and Tom climbing out his bedroom window every night to explore the world while his guardian and aunt, Polly, frets and worries about him endlessly. Tom really is a most selfish boy and is horribly disrespectful towards his aunt. Twain brushes this off by explaining that he's a boy and is thoughtless by nature. I'm still unimpressed with him in general.

What I am impressed with is how Twain seems to peg Sawyer as being a wild hooligan who is very immature. Although Twain does try to dress-up Sawyer's character has having a "heart that is in the right place" and who doesn't mean to worry people so, he also does not make excuses for Tom's behavior. I felt like Twain was walking a fine line between loving his character so much that he didn't feel he deserved to suffer some consequences, and painting Tom in such a ridiculous manner that you couldn't help but see that Twain found the boy to be deserving of whatever ultimately came his way. There were no excuses for bad behavior and that is something I appreciated. (It also allowed me to relax with the story.)

My favorite passage:

Tom lay thinking. Presently it occurred to him that he wished he was sick; then he could stay home from school. Here was a vague possibility. He canvassed his system. No ailment was found, and he invested again. This time he thought he could detect colicky symptoms, and he began to encourage them with considerable hope. But they soon grew feeble and presently died wholly away. He reflected further. Suddenly he discovered something. One of his upper teeth was loose. This was lucky; he was about to begin to groan, as a "starter" he called it, when it occurred to him that if he came into court with that argument his aunt would pull it out, and that would hurt. So he thought he would the tooth in reserve for the present, and seek further. Nothing offered for some little time, and then he remembered hearing the doctor tell about a certain thing that laid up a patient for two or three weeks and threatened to make him lose a finger. So the boy eagerly drew his sore toe from under the sheet and held it up for inspection. But now he did not know the necessary symptoms. However, it seemed well worth while to chance it, so he fell to groaning with considerable spirit. (Chapter 6)

I was home schooled growing up but I still hated doing school. I remember many a time, um, waking up and, um, checking my system for possible ailments which would keep me in bed and firmly away from my school work. Only once was I able to achieve a workable plan. I discovered that if you put your face in your pillow and breathed into it heavily for some time, your face would become flushed and hot. Insta-fever! It worked! (No potential loss of limbs are remotely necessary for this experiment.) It bought me one day on the couch watching movies, drinking lots of liquids and "resting" my "fever" away. Highly effective, but I didn't want to chance doing that more than once. (I confessed to my mother when I was twenty or so and in no risk of punishment for my falsehood.)

Ahh, good memories. ;)

I really did have a good time with Tom so I must apologize to Amy for my initial groanings! Then I must follow that up with a quick Thank You for choosing such a fun and light hearted read. I appreciated it!

This also, by the way, proves the point that it's a good idea to read a book more than once. Your first impression, while important, might be better improved upon a deeper knowledge and understanding of the work.

Lord of the Rings Legos

Oh yes, my friends. Just in case you hadn't heard the news.



LEGO Gandalf Arrives (9469)



LEGO Shelob Attacks (9470)



LEGO The Mines of Moria (9473)



LEGO The Orc Forge 9476



LEGO Attack on Weathertop (9472)



LEGO Urak-Hai Army (9471)



LEGO The Battle of Helm's Deep

*GRIN*

Happy Memorial Day weekend to you!

Book Club - Tom Sawyer

Just a note to say that we're going to delay the link-up to May's selection (Tom Sawyer) until Tuesday, May 29th. It being a holiday weekend and all, we'll give a couple extra days to finish the book and write up your post discussing this book! Check back Tuesday for the link-up post!

Why Isn't a Pretty Girl Like You Married? : Part II

It should be (and has been) noted (in yesterday's comment section) that this book is available on K*ndl*. I try never to mention this fact, and assumed someone would follow the Amazon trail and discover this for themselves. They did. And I rejoiced. In a weird way.

Moving on . . . .

Picking up where I left off (see Part I) in our discussion of Why Isn't a Pretty Girl Like You Married? . . .

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Wilson rightly spends quite a bit of time talking about the subject of contentment with her unmarried reader. Raise your hand if you are always perfectly contented with your situation in life, be you unmarried or married! What? No?

Contentment is a hard one to conquer because we're selfish beings by nature and we like getting what we want when we say we want it. "Wait" is not a popular word in our vocabulary as a general rule. Therefore I found her discussion just as fitting and convicting to read as a married woman as she meant it to be for the unmarried woman.

Jesus has promised that He will never leave you or forsake you (Heb. 13:5). This is the reason that every Christian can be content with the circumstances God has given. He is always with us through every trial. . . . Thomas Watson, the great Puritan preacher, wrote that "It is our work to cast away care; and it is God's work to take care." God's Word is full of promises to us; we must believe them and rest in God's care for us." (Chapter 5, Is this really God's best?, page 41)

I remember being told as a teenager that if I did not learn to be content as a "single" then I would never be content married. My fifteen-year-old thought at the time was, "Well! Then I will NEVER be content!" Both the adviser and myself were right. But I don't think that contentment is a lesson that we easily learn. I certainly cannot see how this could be mastered before entering the blessed state of marriage and therefore shouldn't be the bar by which we judge whether or not we are ready to be married. (Note: I do believe a lack of contentment is a character deficiency and should be attended to. Scripture is plain and clear on the subject matter. We must strive, if necessary, to learn to be content.) Wouldn't it be lovely if we learned to be content when we were toddlers?

Scene
Toddler: Mommy, may I have this cookie?"
Mother: No, not now. You need to wait until after dinner.
Toddler: Ok! That will be wonderful! I will happily wait to eat it later!

Ta da! We've learned contentment! Cross that one off the list and move on to another!

No, I really don't think it works that way. I think it's more of a lifetime refinement. I seem to becoming better at learning to be content with my present circumstances faster. But I still kick against the goad when I'm not getting my way immediately. (Why doesn't the prayer, "Make this go away, dear Lord! NOW!" work for me?!) I'm continuously learning to be content, no matter the circumstances. I don't think that's a challenge just for unmarried people -- we just tend to focus on their noticeable lack of a mate, knowing that can feel bad (for them and for us). What I'm trying to say is, what Wilson had to say on the subject of contentment can be applied to the general mass of Christian females, not just those who are without a spouse at the moment.

On this same topic, she says this about the desire to get married which I particularly appreciated:

Part of the way to freedom for women in this bind is to help them see, first of all, that it is not only okay, but positively healthy to want to be married. There is nothing in the world wrong with wanting to be married. It is only wrong to be miserable about it. And wanting to be married does not equal discontent. Many women are feeling a false guilt about this. It goes something like this: "If I were truly godly, I wouldn't want to be married. I would be happy to be unmarried for the rest of my life. But I do long to be married, therefore I am not rejoicing in the Lord, and therefore I am guilty of sin." But you can confess false guilt all day long and never feel forgiven. God forgives real sin not our imagined sin. (Chapter 7, Don't Pretend to be Happy, page 50)

I was laughing and nodding during this paragraph. I remember! I would feel guilty about wanting to be married. I felt like I would be laughed to scorn if I ever confessed outloud to wanting to be a wife and a mother. I thought I was discontent because I wanted something that God had not planned for me at that time and therefore I was in sin. But I wasn't! Now, of course, I can see single friends saying, "I would like to be married!" and I think it's a wonderful thing to hear. As they would like to be married, I would like to see them married because I think marriage is a wonderful thing. So we pray and we support the desire of the heart while not being miserable. Can I get an Amen?!

Wilson references a book by Jeremiah Burroughs (which I have not read) entitled Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment and shares the following:

Burroughs suggests in his book that instead of trying to get our circumstances up to match our desires, and therefore finding contentment, we should instead be striving to get our desires down to match our circumstances. What this means is that the unmarried woman seeks to be satisfied with God in her life now, while asking Him to provide a husband in the future. She doesn't have to quit "desiring" marriage; rather, she must have an equally great desire to rejoice in the Lord now. (Chapter 7, Don't Pretend to Be Happy, page 55)

Lastly, what do women tend to do but verbally process anything and everything in life with other people? (You can either nod your head sagely at this or laugh or cry or both.) We talk, talk, talk about our feelings and emotions. I love that Wilson addresses the need to choose particular friends to process particular things with. She urges unmarried women to use caution in sharing too much about their inner thoughts and feelings indiscriminately. She advises the following:

Women tend to confide too much in one another. Call it over-sharing. They shouldn't be surprised when some of their confidences get shared elsewhere. Be careful about talking too much about the men you are interested in, about past relationships, or about your own personal struggles. Share with people who can help and don't just vent. If you talk about the man you're interested in, and find out that someone else likes him too, this can obviously lead to competition, envy, hurt feelings, and all the rest. It's wiser to keep it to yourself. If you need input, talk to a very trusted friend, maybe your mom or the pastor's wife. Don't talk about the guys with the girls. Sometimes this seems like innocent entertainment, but if one of the girls ends up marrying one of the guys you said was a dweeb, you'll be sorry you said anything about it. (Chapter 14, Loving the Competition, page 95)

Single or no, I believe women do "over-share" with one another and it's to our own detriment as well as those we are closest to. There seems to be a disease running rampant in the tongues of females these days. We can't seem to stop them from wagging! Every time I turn around it seems I find another tongue working some form of destruction or another and it horrifies me! This is a topic that not only the unmarrieds should pay attention to, but the married also! Keeping tabs on our tongue and processing life with a.) trusted individuals who are b.) actually in a position to help the situation or offer solid Biblical advice is something to work on! Think of how much better off we'd all be if we started paying more attention to our words. But! More on this another day. (I have a whole post brewing on the topic.) Again, my point is that this book was not just fitting for an unmarried reader, but for a married one as well.

Whether you be unmarried or married, Wilson concludes very well:

You want to be able to look back . . . with no regrets. You don't want to be in a position of wishing you had been more joyful, more fruitful, more thankful, less stressed out, less worrisome, less dejected about your "unmarriedness." You want to move from victory to victory here and now and straight into the future. Then you'll able to look back with gratitude and see how God's hand was in all that happened to you. He ordained it all, and He has always had a good plan for your life. Determine to live like you believe it. Then you will have no regrets. (Chapter 19, No Regrets, page 120)

Amen!