Most of my readers know I’m a big Margaret Feinberg fan. Scouting the Divine is another favorite.

I actually listened to the audio version of the book read by Feinberg, a great touch considering the personal nature of this book. If you follow her on Twitter, you’ll even notice, like I did, when she was fighting that cold because her voice gets deeper. (Stalker material, I know.) This memoir-like journey by Feinberg is captured in her subtitle, “My search for God in wine, wool, and wild honey,” but the sensitivity and gentleness of Feinberg really shines through her voice in the audio version.

Dan bought the audio book for our 6-7 hour drive to Chicago last month for the Story Conference. It was a great way to set up our time there. Not only does Feinberg offer a unique perspective for reading the Bible, she also presents a writing strategy that really works in this format. Scouting the Divine is a pleasant and insightful read (or listen) for almost anyone.

As a writer, I appreciated the way Feinberg approached her topic. The book is basically a memoir of her visits with a shepherdess, a farmer, a bee keeper, and a vintner (wine-maker). Drink tea in their homes, wear your boots into their fields, and encounter divine appointments in the midst of an agricultural life. Feinberg even gives us the background stories about how she connects with each of her “experts.” Some of them are old friends, others are new acquaintances. Feinberg asks each of them, not all of them professed Bible believers, to interpret particular passages according to their knowledge of their profession.

This angle brings new life to familiar Scriptures. Margaret’s narrative brings new life to what could have been a familiar Bible study. One of my favorite ideas comes from the opening section. When Feinberg asks the shepherdess to tell her what she makes of the Nativity story, she says that in middle eastern cultures, the shepherds are often the weakest among the family – the children, women, or elderly. What a beautiful image that God would send his Beloved to be greeted by the “least of these” that would again and again share the spotlight in His earthly story.

This information, of course, means I have to get a shepherd girl for my Fontanini Nativity set this year! But I don’t mind, I love letting God and his story out of the box I put them in. Scouting the Divine would make a great gift this coming season or a wonderful audio gift to yourself if you have a long holiday drive. Check it out!

*This post brought to you by Michael Hyatt’s generosity. I won a copy of A MILLION MILES IN A THOUSAND YEARS from his blog and promised to post a review on the release date. It was truly my pleasure!

Nothing I write here about this book will do justice to how much reading it has made me think, re-evaluate, and even be grateful. BLUE LIKE JAZZ had a similar effect on me. This book, I think, messed me up even more. You want need to read this book!

I kept thinking of Rob Bell’s endorsement of this book while I read; I didn’t read this book, “this book read me.”

The foundation of A MILLION MILES is that Miller was given the divine gift of outside perspective when movie producers worked with him to make a movie of BLUE LIKE JAZZ. That’s a book of memoirs, if you’ve read it, but the producers wanted to fictionalize it – make “Don” into a character that movie goers would like. In the middle of this enlightening and sometimes painful process, Donald Miller realizes he hasn’t been living a good story.

My musician husband Dan has a theory that summarizes the concepts in this book well: “the stage isn’t going to find me while I’m sleeping in my basement.” After reading Miller’s book, we could re-phrase that to say a good story won’t find you while you are napping – you have to find the Story!

For writers, this book is gold. But the real beneficiary of Miller’s study of the elements of story is YOU. You, mom, still wondering what to be when you grow up. You, student, wondering how to get through three more years of finals. You, husband, wondering why life seems to be moving in slow motion. You, parent, wondering why your kids aren’t interested in Jesus. You, nobody, who wants to be somebody. This book is for You.

When Miller assesses his own life, one of the main things he realizes is missing is some of the very things I have in abundance: a family and community of friends, which makes me grateful. He’s honest about the way our stories here on earth don’t always work out like movies, which rings true of my own experiences. He is careful to note that just pursuing any kind of dream will not make the difference; there are qualifications to being a good story. Ultimately, Miller uses the Writer’s advice in Ecclesiastes that says we should:

Write a good story, take somebody with you, and let [God] help.

You are going to laugh out loud. You are probably going to cry.

You are never going to want to watch a parade again – you’ll only want to be in it. You are going to love this book!

Here’s a peek (click on the READ button at the lower right):

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Eyes Wide Open: See and Live the Real You by Jud Wilhite with Bill Taaffe

I won this book in a drawing on Anne Jackson’s blog (she has new book give-aways often). I have crazy good luck in blog book drawings. Seriously.

What stands out to me about this book are two things almost in contradiction with one another: Eyes Wide Open is simultaneously simple and comprehensive. I loved, loved, loved the transitions at the beginning of each chapter. The authors basically review the concepts discussed in previous chapters while introducing the connection to each new concept. The book is divided in three sections that move the reader step-by-step into a detailed explanation of why God uses us, how he uses us, and what he’d like to see us do.

As a teacher, l loved the systematic approach. But this is not a textbook or a boring self-help plan. Wilhite uses anecdotes, analogies, and real life stories to illustrate each point. His position as pastor of a growing church in Las Vegas (wouldn’t John Bunyan love that Wilhite pastors in Sin City!) provides many of these colorful examples, but Wilhite also pulls from other sources. Best of all, he uses himself as an example. His humility and common-sense approach permeate the advice he offers to fellow Christian pilgrims.

The beginning of Chapter 18: Unhindered to Make a Difference is a perfect example of one of those transitions I loved and a sneak peek at what the book has to offer:

Seeing and living with eyes wide open means we not only embrace God’s view of us, along with our new identity, and begin the journey of personal change, but we are also freed to make our own unique mark for good on our culture.

Eyes Wide Open is a fast read and has a lot to offer new and mature Christians alike. I think it would make a great small group study or church-wide reading project, but I loved it as a personal refresher course, too.