Jenny’s Reviews
I’ve posted some links to my Good Reads Reviews:
Aliki Flodine’s Fine Lines
Fine Lines by Aliki Flodine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Aliki Flodine’s Fine Lines is not a big book (135 pages) and it is written in an easy, flowing style yet it is not a book to be rushed.
Drawing from her personal experience, stories, the Scriptures, Aliki identifies the fine line between a range of paired concepts – one that seems true but results in unhelpful attitudes and the other which leads to freedom and a more mature life. There is a fine line between gloss – which coats and hides the cracks and flaws – and polish which removes them. Fine lines between bravery and faith; fellowship and relationship; punishment and consequence; righteousness and moral; wrestling and fighting; and rest and laziness. Each of the contrasts Aliki examines a deeper spiritual truth beneath the lie that prevents us from drawing deeper into God’s love and power through his Spirit. The concepts are simple yet life changing if they take deep root.
I enjoyed Aliki engaging and down to earth style and the examples drawn from her own struggles and challenges. I felt that each contrast was helpful. My only caveat is that at times it comes across that one only has to grasp and put into practice these concepts to have a fully realised Christian life. Yet sometimes we are faced with the valley of shadow of death not because we do not understand spiritual truth but because that is where our path leads us – yet even in these dark times Our God is with us and He will bring us to the other side.
The Vow – story of Kim and Krickett Carpenter and the basis of the movie of the same name:
The Vow: The True Events That Inspired The Movie by Kim Carpenter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kim Carpenter tells the gripping story of his whirlwind romance and marriage to Krikkit, followed two months later by a devastating three-vehicle accident that put his new wife into a comma. Miraculously, she survived the severe brain injury and coma – but she had lost all memories of meeting, courting, marrying, honeymooning and beginning a new life with her husband.
This is a book of great love and faith through huge obstacles that kept me glued to the page. Kim is courageously honest in retelling the heartbreak and struggles for both him and Krikket and includes excerpts from Krikket’s journals, though I would have loved to have heard directly from her. It seems pedantic to mention some minor editorial glitches because this is an inspiring story of faith and love that lifts the heart and leaves one smiling.
