one of my favorites

I love to read. I love it, love it, love it! I'm pretty sure that I can trace reading to a specific moment in my childhood. There I was, at the tender age of 9 trying to argue my parents out of going to bed. After a while, I finally wore them out. My dad said that I could stay up as long as I was in bed, in my pajamas and reading a book. I would have settled for reading the dictionary if meant I could stay up past 8pm, but to read an actual book (with pictures and all!) was quite a bonus.

Thus began the reading frenzy in the Rollins household. Taylor and I are full-blown reading fanatics. Lauren is....well....she's getting there. (love you sis!) I actually have a slightly less serious addiction than Taylor. My family has actually recently stopped buying books for Taylor because that's all she's gotten for her birthday and Christmas since 1994.

But I have to take a minute to rant and rave a little about one of my new favorite reads....The Shack by William Young. I know, I know. I am the LAST person that jumps on the pop-Christian culture bandwagon. But I seriously could not help myself. No, really. I was at 30,000 feet with nothing to read. Josh offered me his copy of The Shack. It was either that or browsing through SkyMall for the 4th time. I read the entire book on the flight. It was so, so, so good.

The Shack is a non-fiction/fiction (still up in the air) story about a period in the life of William Young's friend Mack. The Shack opens on a camping trip that Mack has organized for his three young children. As Mack is rescuing his two middle children from an overturned canoe, his youngest daughter Missy is abducted. The Shack is an account of what happens in Mack's life when he comes face to face with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit during his time of depression and mourning. The Shack lifts the veil that sometimes seems to hide the power and love of God. It exposes our grief, anger and unbelief while reveling God's goodness, love and mercy in a new and very powerful way.

I am finishing up my last week of a 8 week study of The Shack with my young life girls. I feel so attached to the characters in this story and it seems weird that I won't be reading about and discussing them anymore....its going to be one of the books I keep on my nightstand for many months to come.

So get off your butt already and order a copy!!!!

"Finally! A guy-meets-God novel that has the literary integrity and spiritual daring. "The Shack" cuts through the cliches of both religion and bad writing to reveal something compelling and beautiful about life's integral dance with the Divine. This story reads like a prayer--like the best kind of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. When I read it, I felt like I was fellowshipping with God. It you read on work of fiction this year, let this be it." Mike Morrell