What were our favorites from last year? Here’s our breakdown in no particular order.

Megan’s Top 3

1. Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
3. Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose
4. Runner up: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

Lance’s Top 3

1. Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
2. The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis
3. Lilith George MacDonald
4. Runner up: Blessed are the Misfits by Brant Hansen

Overall

Much to my angst, my normal reading this year has been interrupted by the textbooks of school. I do not begrudge this change too much however, as it is all for the good cause of continuing my education to gain more specific skills in our ministering and loving those we serve. In my other reading, it has mostly been a year of oldie-but-goodies that I have read multiple times. I think it was Lewis who said that you have never really read a book until you have gone back to it over and over again. He is also a major part of my re-reading this year. The boys and I have been slowly going through Narnia and it is as alive to me as ever. I also read the space trilogy again. These books are so important for our time now, as all the Space Trilogy evangelists will tell you. Blessed are the Misfits was a surprisingly helpful book for me. I would have not given it a second glance unless a friend went through it with me. I have always felt uncomfortable in different Christian settings, and this helped me understand that I was not alone. Finally, George Macdonald hits me in so many good ways and I owe to him a lot of my love for God and others through his writing… thanks again Lewis for the recommendation.

In our last email update, Lance had just arrived in Lviv, Ukraine for the national YWAM gathering called Razom, meaning together. It was such a great time for all the staff. It was important for everyone to come together, to see each other, hear what everyone is doing and how they are doing. The care team Lance is part of, held break-out sessions about caring for traumatized people and how to do simple group care. He also met with different people throughout their time. After the gathering, Lance went to Kyiv to meet with more people. It was a time well spent. 

Lance with the rest of the care team that came to Ukraine.

Lance with the national leaders in Ukraine.

With the Ternopil leaders.

On the way to Kyiv.

Lance with some of the staff from Kyiv.

Formational book review by Megan

4.5/5 stars

“People’s stories matter.”

The Lost Year follows Matthew, Helen, Mila and Nadiya and how their stories are intertwined. How the decisions of their parents changed their own stories and how their own decisions will irrevocably alter their story.

Reading as a Disciple

“I suddenly wished that Nadiya had never shown up at my door. I missed that Papa and I were united in a great struggle. Doubt was a much lonelier place.”

Doubt is a lonely place. It is no fun to be in a place of confusion and uncertainty. We all want to know what God’a plan is; where should I live, what career should I pursue? It is just easier if someone tells us instead of trying to decide ourselves and feel good about our decision. Doubt creeps in when someone questions our choices, mocks or laughs at our decision or when we are alone in our decision and it seems everyone is doing something else. In The Lost Year, Mila longs for the days where she was united with her father in a common goal, but now she is filled with doubt and is lonely. Choosing what is right when it appears that you are the only one doing so is incredibly hard, Mila is forced to decide whether her father is right or wrong and what should she do about it.

It is good to keep in mind that in the midst of doubt and confusion, God is there. While we may feel alone and uncertainty feels normal, God is constant and is with us. Mila may have been lied to, she may be forced to make difficult decisions that everyone will tell her is wrong but God was with her as he is with us in our times of doubt.

Reading Communally

“Stories were powerful, but even more powerful was the act of sharing them.”

Stories are powerful, that is why it is good to be in a community that can be open and share life stories. That’s why support groups are so helpful. We need to share and to listen to people’s stories. If I don’t know someone’s story, it is easier to assume the worst of someone and we are less likely to extend grace. Hearing someone’s story gives us, the community, a chance to enter into a person’s story, to see them differently or in a new light; we have the opportunity to insert respect and kindness in their story.

As Helen becomes friends with Ruth, they share stories they have heard from others concerned for family in Ukraine. Ruth declares that Helen is a leader, this shocks Helen, she never saw herself as one and it took another person, hearing her story to encourage her in this character trait. “A leader. No one had ever used this word to describe me. But maybe, just maybe, I could be one.”

It always amazes me how God made every single person in the world, past, present and future, to be so incredibly different. Not only physically but also in our personalities and character and therefore, our stories are so immensely different. It is such a joy to discover how God created someone, (I am that weird person on a plane that enjoys talking to strangers.) In the moments of meeting someone new, sharing in a moment of their story, I remember imago dei, that everyone is created in the image of God. What glimpse of God does this person carry?

Final Thoughts

Great story! What’s beautiful is that part of this book is based on the author’s family history, she is sharing part of her story with the reader. She has done a great job with research and language. I highly recommend it to help people understand Holodomor and what life was like in early Soviet era Ukraine.

Formational book review by Megan

3/5 stars

“…but the worst that could have happened was also already behind him; the thing not done, which could have been – which he would have had to live with for the rest of his life.”

Small Things Like These is about a man named Bill Furlong and what he does when confronted with injustice and his own experiences in his past. He is forced to make a decision that involves self-censorship and the town turning a blind eye that may rock the boat more than he wants.

**A few general spoilers are below.**

Reading as a Disciple

“What was it all for? Furlong wondered. The work and the constant worry. […] Lately, he had begun to wonder what mattered, apart from Eileen and the girls. He was touching forty but didn’t feel himself to be getting anywhere or making any kind of headway and could not but sometimes wonder what the days were for.”

Worry. It seeps into the mundane moments of the day, the busy, hectic times and in our sleep. It can disrupt and upend your day in a moment. I recently woke up actually feeling rested (rare as a mom of littles) and the morning was beautiful with the sun shining but after a simple chance comment on finances, the morning suddenly didn’t seem so bright. We all can spiral into gloom and despair if we don’t consciously choose to look to God for hope and joy.

This book showed how worry can invade otherwise joyful seasons and disrupt your life but it also showed that we often do have to make difficult choices, that our worry can be the stress of having to make a difficult decision. We can’t hide from those times and many times they are unavoidable but God promises to be with us and we do not have to make them alone. Furlong was alone in the book, it seemed even his own family wanted nothing to do with the decision he was faced with but God will be with us and will give us the wisdom needed. Keegan wanted to bring as much separation between God and Furlong as possible since the church was the antagonist in the story but what you are left with is loneliness and hopelessness.

Reading Communally

“…he found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?”

We’ve got one life to live, one chance at life. You can sleep in the grave. God needs you to help save as many people as possible.

These are things I’ve heard or been told to bring an urgency to my Christian walk. I never liked this line of thought, as if it was our responsibility alone to “save” someone from the fires of hell. We are not the ones doing the saving first of all and furthermore, are not our days for bringing glory to our creator and simply pointing others to His glory? While there may be some level of urgency in sharing Christ with those around us, I don’t see evidence of a need for hurry in the Bible. Christ did not gallop from town to town sharing the Good News, he walked. While we might be tempted to think we have “one chance” to share Christ with someone, God is always working, with or without us.

While it is easy to take on an individualistic approach to the Great Commission, we must remember that we are part of a greater picture and that God is continually moving and working whether we join in His work or not. We are invited to join the greater body of Christ in His work to make all things new and to redeem what was lost.

Final Thoughts

“Before long, he caught a hold of himself and concluded that nothing ever did happen again; to each was given days and chances which wouldn’t come back around. And wasn’t it sweet to be where you were and let it remind you of the past for once, despite the upset, instead of always looking on into the mechanics of the days and the trouble ahead, which might never come.”

Overall, not my cup of tea. I would call it an “inspirational” depressing story. In the end, it’s all about “the thing not done,” to live with no regrets, but somehow, this story just left you feeling sad and depressed. I wasn’t quite into Keegan’s style of writing either. There was something lacking in this story and I think it came down to hope. Hope was placed in man; me, myself, and I, and it was only a faint glimmer anyways. You’re left wondering if there really was any hope. The problem is that our hope will fall flat if we look to man for saving, hope can only be found in Christ and Christ alone. This book was a great reminder of that. What is especially gloomy about this though, is that it is the church that was the source of pain and evil. So sad that this story is based on true events. We, as the church body, must do better.

Other books:

Claire Keegan has written several other books; you can look them up by her name, but I’m not sure I will be in a hurry to read any more of her books.

Formational book review by Megan

3.5/5 stars

“The law is important, Mex. Society cannot function without it.”
            “What if the law is wrong?”
            “What if the heart is wrong?”

Nowhere Boy is a story of a Syrian refugee in Belgium. He finds a cellar to hide in but is discovered by an American boy and the story follows their journey toward friendship and freedom. Marsh’s story compares the true story of a Belgian hiding a Jewish boy and addresses topics of when to disobey the law, or parents, smuggling, lying, and authority.

Reading as a Disciple

“What mattered wasn’t who you were. It was who you could be.”

Max is an American boy who has come to Belgium for a year with his family. He feels lost and alone in a place unfamiliar and struggles with his own identity, constantly comparing himself to his sister who seems to have it together. The book centers around finding your identity by helping and serving others. This is a great idea and one many people teach and strive for. But is that where we find our identity?

As disciples of Christ, our identity must come from Christ alone. It is not something I can choose and create out of my own liking. That would be a humanist perspective and what the rest of the world preaches; half of Disney movies are centered around this idea. What matters is that we look to God for identity, not our own aspirations.

Reading Communally

“People were always weighing their suffering against others’, not using it to form bonds.”

What if we were able to connect with others who are also suffering? When we are in the midst of the valley of despair we don’t usually think about others’ pain but this quote reminds us to set that aside and still move to connect with people and perhaps in that season of pain you can find a friend and person to lean on. Isolation is a friend of pain and it truly takes effort to not hide away from others when we are suffering.

Max was lost, without purpose, searching for his identity. He found purpose in helping Ahmed, if that was the right purpose can be left up to debate, but despite his decisions in helping Ahmed, it can still be said that he had the “courage to listen.” Something that many struggle with today, listening to those in pain, but it takes courage to stop our busy schedules to listen to what others have to say in the midst of their despair.

Final Thoughts

            Overall a great book but I would recommend it to be read in a group, not necessarily for individual reading. There are so many topics to unpack and discuss: disobeying parents, when is it ok break the law, immigration policies, smuggling, authority, lying… It’s a good starting point for discussion on many topics but doesn’t go in depth when it might have been nice. The low rating was because the main character isn’t relatable or likable; it took a while to get into the book. It still has something to offer for YA readers.

Other books:

The Lost Year (on my to-be-read pile, story involves Ukraine!) (Update: Finished January 2025, see review HERE.)

The Night Tourist

The Door by the Staircase

*I have not read any of the above books.

See post on Everything Sad is Untrue for other books on immigrants and refugees.