Thankfully, several people opened their hearts and are willing to share their stories. Today, we have the gift of hearing Shelia Bacon’s story…

This summer let’s honor those who fight for freedom and the One who designed freedom…

A couple of books I love:

Remember Rooms by James Rubart?  I asked everyone to read it in 2012 and did an interview with Rubart, who works the theme of spiritual freedom into all of his books. Here’s a quick summary: In Rooms, Micah is a software tycoon with almost more money than he knows what to do with. He has a great girlfriend, a penthouse in Seattle, a hurtful relationship with his father and a heart still aching from the loss of his mother. A letter arrives from a late uncle he barely knew and tells him of a house the uncle has built for him along the Oregon coast. The house, it turns out, is actually a physical manifestation of Micah’s soul. And its rooms, which seem to appear and disappear on their own, offer the chance for healing, reconciliation and love.

(I’ve heard fantastic things about Rubart’s book Soul’s Gate and it has been nominated for a Christy Award this year.)

Capturing Saddam, written by Eric Maddox, is not the typical book you’ll find on my Simply Faithful lists. It isn’t overtly religious. It has curse words and it chronicles a high-profile manhunt. But it is written by a good friend of mine from high school — the kind of friend I’d hug in the street — and it’s the kind of tale that has your heart racing right up to the last page. It’s a story of perseverance, of staying true to what you believe, of sacrificing self for others. I believe it’s a story that has God’s fingerprints all over it. (Also, they are making a movie out of this. It’ll be called Mission: Black List #1.)

Some recommendations from my friends:

Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of your Identity in Christ by Neil T. Anderson: The book emphasizes the importance of believing and internalizing the truths of scripture as a base from which to renew the mind and fend off attempts to convince us that we are less than Christ empowers us to be.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.

Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer: The author teaches how to deal with thousands of negative or destructive thoughts that people think every day and how to focus the mind the way God thinks.

The Gift of Peace by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin: The Gift of Peace reveals the Cardinal’s spiritual growth amid a string of traumatic events, and he shares the profound peace he came to at the end of his life.  He accepted his peace as a gift from God, and he in turn now shares that gift with the world.

Breaking Free: Discover the Victory of Total Surrender by Beth Moore: The author embarks on a study of selected passages from the book of Isaiah, drawing several parallels between the captive Israelites and today’s Christians, in order to show how to make freedom in Christ a daily reality.

Transforming Grace: Living Confidently In God’s Unfailing Love by Jerry Bridges: Isn’t it time to stop trying to measure up and begin accepting the transforming power of God’s grace?

New books:

Rescue Team: Grace Medical by Candace Calvert: Tired of running from her past, nurse Kate Callison intends to become Austin Grace Hospital’s permanent ER director and make Texas her home. Then unthinkable tragedy wraps the ER in crime tape, bringing swarms of media, legal chaos—and a search-and-rescue hero who seems determined to meddle in her life. (I typically read historical romance but this was a nice change of pace for me and an easy read for the weekend!)

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You are Saved by J.D. Greear: The author unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. (In my mind, the essence of the book is this quote: “Salvation is not given because you prayed a prayer correctly, but because you have leaned the hopes of your soul on the finished work of Christ.”)

Wounded Warrior, Wounded Home by Marshele Carter Waddell and Kelly K. Orr: Every day service members are returning from combat deployments to their families. And every day war comes home with them. When a combat veteran struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and/or traumatic brain injury, every member of the family experiences the effects.

Perfectly Unique: Praising God from Head to Foot by Annie F. Downs: From head to foot, the way you view your body is directly connected to how you serve God. The book is designed to help teenage girls honor the Creator by learning to value his perfectly unique creations (themselves).

Man on a Mission: The David Hilmers Story by David Hilmers and Rick Houston: Dr. David C. Hilmers has launched into space four times as part of NASA space shuttle crews. But God had more planned for Dr. Hilmers. (Jessie, who is 14, read this and really enjoyed it. I’d say it’s written for kids 10 and up.)

It’s fair to say that I have some connections in Oklahoma, and I’d like to use them for a good cause.

If you’d like to send a little note — perhaps a picture drawn by your child or a scripture — to cheer the people who survived the recent tornadoes, I can make sure it arrives safely in their hands.

Would you like to reach out in that way, offer an encouraging hug via pen and paper?

Just mail it to me at P.O. Box 12923, Rochester, NY 14612 and mark “Oklahoma” on the envelope so I know to leave it sealed. I’ll need your notes by Monday, June 17.

(Please, don’t send any money. Just love!)

If you’d like, here’s a quick little design you can download and print. Enjoy!

Oklahoma stationery

Photo courtesy of Lisa Ruth Photography

A couple of weeks ago I told the story of my son’s adoption through my column in the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle. I’ve told it here on my blog before, where it’s safer. Where there aren’t as many readers. Where I can control the comments.

But now, it’s out there. A sampling of what he went through before he came to live with us. A past that I don’t like to talk about but that he needed to share.

He’s taller now and seems less haunted. Braver. More sure of himself. Happier.

I like that, and I’m adjusting to this new reality, the one where he releases his story and is set free himself.

I should have known it would come to this, that I would again be learning from him. It has been happening all along — for the two years we fought to adopt him and certainly the five years since. That’s why I always cringe when people tell me how lucky Jessie is, how they are glad he is with us. Because the truth? The truth is that we are the lucky ones and we’re happy we have each other.

That’s one of the things I wish people understood about adoption. You shouldn’t go into it expecting to change the world, but you should expect it to change your world.

I hope we’re helping Jessie grow into a wonderful man, but he’ll make his own choices as he grows. I can’t guarantee that he’ll have a fine life now that he’s part of our family. I can guarantee you that he has improved our family, though. We love differently. We make more of an effort to build trust, to learn about each other. We’ve stretched and adapted. We’ve patched each other up — and we’re stronger now, more secure.

And can I tell you something else about adoption?

He’s really my son. I am his real mom.

If the newspaper ever writes about him because he has won the Nobel Prize or because he is being sent to prison, he is my son. Not my adopted son. My son.

I mean it, either way, because that’s what real family is like. And that’s what we are. A real family.

Even spiritual novices know not to pray for patience. It’s not like God just doles that stuff out in chic, reusable shopping bags. You have to learn actual lessons, and you have to practice patience. It is not pleasant.

Neither, however, is praying for a topic for a newspaper column.

Most of the time, I have column ideas lined up for at least a few months. But occasionally, an interview falls through or life gets busy and I find myself scrambling a bit as my deadline draws near. And that’s what happened this week, so – without thinking of the consequences – I prayed for help with the column.

In a matter of minutes, God began to answer my prayer.

First, my husband had trouble getting the biscuits to release from the cookie sheet and declared that all of our biscuits would be without bottoms for dinner. My usually easy-going 3-year-old was adamant that he needed a top and a bottom.

As I buttered a portion of biscuit for him I explained for the second and third time what had happened, and how all of us were only eating tops at this time. He began to lose his grip on reality. The tears came. The voice cracked and a complete melt-down was eminent.

Finally, I offered him two tops that he could put together in sandwich fashion, which worked for about 30 seconds until he pushed them together and one of them cracked, making it no longer appealing to him.

By this time, we were about 10 minutes into dinner and I was thinking about crying myself. Why can’t he understand that he has what he wants right there on his plate? I’ve already given it to him. Sure, the biscuit looks different than what he expected, but it tastes just as good.

Then it hit me: How often do I do that to God? Do I refuse the good things he’s offering me – or not even notice his gifts – because I think I know what I want and what it looks like?

“I may be partly responsible for this,” I told my battle-weary husband as we started to clear the dinner plates. “I prayed for inspiration for a column.”

He rolled his eyes. I should have known better.