Book Review & Giveaway - A Field Guide to God

We can’t see, hear, smell or touch God. We can’t hug God, hold hands with God, or give God a piggyback ride around the yard. We can’t carry actual pictures of God in our wallets. So how do we have a relationship with someone who is not physically here with us?

Patty Kirk learned the hard way that in order to encounter God, you have to pay attention to the sign’s of God’s presence. A Field Guide to God: A Seeker’s Manual (February 15, 2010) is Patty Kirk’s story of her doubt, loss of faith and re-encounter with God.  Candid in expressing her struggles, Kirk maps the mysterious, extraordinary, but well-trodded path into and out of awareness of God. She offers readers incontrovertible evidence of God’s ongoing presence, both in her life and theirs. An associate professor of English at John Brown University and experienced God-seeker, she’s the perfect companion for the journey as she offers practical and applicable ideas for how you might encounter God, and grow closer in this relationship.

In A Field Guide to God, you’ll discover:

• Her loss of faith for over a decade - the things she has learned during this experience, and how she has since renewed her relationship with God.

• A fresh approach to reading the Bible for evidence of God’s presence.
• New ideas for fully experiencing prayer.
• Thoughts on remaining open and attentive to God’s presence.
• How to “expect the unexpected.”
• What advice she would give to anyone that is struggling as a believer.
• As a professor at a major Christian University, how does she use what she has learned about faith to challenge her students or even her teenage daughters?

About the Author:

Raised in California and Connecticut, Patty Kirk progressively fled home to New Orleans, Boston, Berlin, Beijing, and Hong Kong, studying German and Mandarin Chinese, teaching English, working in restaurants, and writing. She returned to the United States to pursue an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas. Kirk and her family live on a farm in Oklahoma.

Currently Kirk teaches writing at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where she is Writer in Residence and Associate Professor of English. In addition to teaching, she writes, cooks, gardens, and continues to write. Her honest and challenging personal essays address such diverse topics as Christian living and spiritual development, food, cattle, literature, biblical exegesis and translation, and teaching.

My Take on the Book

Since college I can say that I have been on a person journey to find God's work around me. I am religious but not overly so, but in saying this, I do have to say that the journey has had its ups and downs.

This book allows you to take a journey toward finding your own path in being able to see God's daily works. The author does a good job at helping you traverse the murky waters that can be a search for God and gives you some familiar territory to watch for along the way as well as tips on how to know when you may have encountered God without knowing it.

I found it interesting to read that as youngsters we tend to pay more attention to the miracles that are around us, while as we age we miss these things. Thus, Kirk encourages all of us to take off the blinders and see everything around us and the miracles that may lie right in front of us.

If this book sounds like one you would like in your own collection, you can find it on Amazon!

Giveaway

How would you like to win a copy of this book for yourself? I will be giving away 3 of these books to a lucky reader! All you need to do is let me know why you would have an interest in this game to be considered. The contest will run for one week and will end on March 20, 2010.

Bonus Entries:

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All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.


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