Wild at Heart-Book Review

As a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson Publishers I recently read Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. This book is a must read for every man...and woman! For men it is a guide to getting their hearts back. For women it is a guide to understanding the men in their lives and how they can help them to become what God intended for them to be from the beginning.

It all began back in the Garden of Eden when Adam stood passively by, saying nothing, as Eve fell into Satan's trap. This man, who was created to be her protector, failed this most important test, and things have been dicey ever since.

"Adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness, is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of man," says Eldredge and his book drew me along on a fascinating inside look at what makes men tick. He shares the stories of men searching for those missing elements which will give their lives meaning as they seek healing for "the wound" in their hearts. He speaks of their frustration as they live passive, "nice" lives and their longing for a battle to fight, a beauty to rescue and an adventure to live.

Wild at Heart is chock-full of encouragement, information and stories designed to help men find their way back to the center of their hearts. It gives them permission to pursue an adventurous way of life; the way of life God created them for.

Clinicals and tornadoes...

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week I worked in a nursing home in New York Mills, MN. This was the clinical portion of my CNA training and thus ended my coursework for the Long-Term Nursing Care class which is a prerequisite for the nursing program. Glad to be finished! I'm still working on my online College Writing I class and am in the critiquing stages with my third paper. Next Monday I begin Introductory Algebra.

On Thursday evening our area was hit by tornadoes. I worked at the nursing home just 15 miles from Wadena until 2:30 on Thursday. There was a tornado watch at that time, but by the time I got home (60 miles away) the watch had changed to a warning. The tornadoes hit Wadena, which is the town where my college campus is, and a couple of other small towns. It also hit a lot of farms. I drove through town on Friday going to my last day of clinicals at the nursing home and saw a lot of the devastation. I've never seen that sort of thing firsthand and it was unbelievable! The folks at the nursing home were sleeping in a little later than usual because they had been up late taking refuge in the hallways while the tornadoes tore up the countryside nearby. This area hasn't had a tornado in 125 years and it will take a while for them to recover. There were a couple of sad deaths but, considering the devastation, it's a miracle there weren't many more.



Our son, Jordan, moved back from Texas and arrived last night. We (hubby, me and dd Micah) met him in Ottertail, MN and went to worship and fellowship at The Creamery, which is an old creamery that has been converted into a church. It's also called Firestarters because that's the name of the ministry team that refurbished it. Four hours of music and spontaneous preaching. A good time!

I have the week off from driving to school, though I will be working a couple of days and I have to work on my online class, but it will be a nice break. We look forward to catching up on Jordan's life.

Shalom! =0]