Monday, June 21, 2010

Book Review: Why God Matters

I was recently presented with the opportunity to review Karina Lumbert Fabian and Deacon Steven Lumbert's Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Everyday Life. After taking a peek at the webpage for the book my curiosity was piqued, but wasn't sure what I should expect.  Was it just the conversion story of the one author and the faith background of the other and how they found God, or would there be more?  Wanting answers to my own questions I decided that I'd invest some time in reading the book.  I just spent a quiet afternoon reading the book and I have to say the book was worth my time.  The book wasn't earth shattering for me personally, but I think it could certainly make some waves in the faith lives of others who are looking for guidance or are having trouble finding God in their lives.

This book is more than just the stories of a convert to Catholicism and his cradle Catholic daughter.  It is a book that through the short stories  illustrate how we can see His hand at work in our lives.  It's filled with inspiration to jump start those who need a little help getting their spiritual motor going.  Each chapter follows the same format of a quote followed by an personal story from the life of one of the authors.  That is then followed up by a portion of the chapter which has a nice reflection on the life lesson that can be learned from the previous story.  The life lesson is followed by two additional sections.  First there is a scriptural quote and then there is a quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I liked the over all flow of the chapters.  

Because the book is a relatively fast read you could easily pick it up and read it in a single sitting.  (It took me about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to read it.)  However, if you are looking to get the most this book has to offer I think it would be best to only read a chapter at a time and fully reflect on the wisdom contained in each chapter, particularly the life lesson section.  Approaching the book in this manner would only take a few minutes per chapter to read making it a book that even the busiest person would be able to squeeze into their schedule.

Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life is available for purchase at Amazon

Disclosure note:  For the purpose of writing this review, I was provided with a review copy of this book by Tribute Books, the publisher.  

2 comments:

  1. Dear Karen,

    Thanks so much for this wonderful and useful review. I think you're the first person who actually suggested HOW to read the book. Thanks for reading it and God bless.

    Karina Fabian

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  2. Dear Karen,

    "It's filled with inspiration to jump start those who need a little help getting their spiritual motor going."

    What a great metaphor - love it!

    Madeline and Ellie are two cuties not to mention Oscar the dog :)

    Thanks again,
    Nicole
    Tribute Books

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