This is the follow up book to one of my all-time favorite books Same Kind of Different as Me.  Many of you no doubt have read Same Kind of Different which is the unlikely friendship that develops between a art dealer and an illiterate homeless man.

This book continues the story by looking at the countless lives that have been touched by Same Kind Of Different.   You will read the story of a woman in New York who picks up a copy of the book in a library.  She called her brother in Pasco, Washington to tell him about the book.  He is a pastor and decided to do a sermon series on the book.  Many people in his congregation bought the book.  One lady read the book and left it on her nightstand.  She and her husband were on the brink of divorce.  One day he picked up the book and confessed that he had been involved in an affair.  She decided to forgive him just as Deborah had forgiven Ron.  A marriage was saved.

What Difference Do It Make will inspire you to continue to embrace the simple arithmetic of Deborah’s life – loving God means loving people, and loving people means making a difference for God.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  Being a resident of Grapevine, I am proud of our city's celebration of Christmas.  Downtown Grapevine reminds me of Bedford Falls in my all-time favorite movie, It's A Wonderful Life.  If you haven't seen the light show at the gazebo area in downtown you need to check it out.  It takes place ever half hour.  Pat and I went to the musical presentation, I'll Be Home for Christmas at the Grapevine Opry.  It was a lot of fun.  Tonight we went to the airport and welcomed home some of our troops.  We had talked about doing this for months but just now got around to doing it.  If you haven't ever taken part in this check out the website for info. http://dfwairport.com/heroes/index.php

Tomorrow night we will have our first ever Christmas eve service at Fellowship of the Parks Grapevine.  I feel so very blessed to get to celebrate this special occasion with these incredible people.  Our service will be at 5 at Faith Christian School located at 730 E. Worth Street in Grapevine.

 The best part of Christmas is spending time with Pat and the kids - John, Jenilee and Caroline.  Having grown up in a single parent home, I dreamed of having a family to and celebrating Christmas together.   Now I get to live the dream.  I am blessed.

I have read several of Miller's books in the past and because he is somewhat abstract in his thinking, I have had a hard time connecting with his writing.  This was not the case with this book.  Having grown up without a father, I could relate to the message of this book.  At one point he speaks about being around men and their sons and feeling like thier was a men's club that he did not belong to.   I remember that feeling but had never really idnetified exactly what it was.

It was inspiring to hear the story about how he was floundering when he saw an interview on TV that changed his life.  the man being interviewed taught kids who were struggling in life to play chess.  The result was that they learned the value of having a strategy and making right decisions.  Miller began to play chess while implementing what he was learning to his everyday life.  He had always wanted to publish a book and a few weeks later he had his first book contract.  Today, he is one of the most popular Christian writers.

If there was any downside to this book, it is simply that he does not make a strong appeal to young men to put thier faith in Christ.  He does not focus much on the life-transforming power of Christ.  While he foucses much of his attention on God, there is no clear cut explanation of how to have a relationship with God.  I always get the feeling that his beliefs in regards to man's lostness and need for salvation do not line up with mine.

Even though I have some theological concerns, this is still a great book for those who have grown up without a father.  It will help you get  grip on some of your struggles, make you laugh and in the end inspire you to be all that God intended you to be.

This book by Dr. Joan Borysenko is a short easy to read guide to help you develop an "I can do" attitude about life.  It is not written from a Christian perspective but is full of solid principles and inspiring stories. 

I found it helpful to learn about what studies have revealed about resilient people.   One study determined that these people share three common characteristics - a stuanch acceptance of reality, a belief that life has meaning and a willingness to improvise.

Dr. Borysenko points out that life is a duality meaning that when one thing goes down, another thing goes up.  For instance, when the housing market came crashing down while it was a negative for those selling houses, it was a huge plus for those who were buying.  One of the keys to being resilient is seeing the positive side of the duality of life.

Here are some of my faovorite quotes from the book:

"The moment you accept the troubles you have been given the door opens."

"We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde

"Those who have a 'why' to live for can bear almost any 'how'."

I nejoyed this book.  I found it to be inspiring and informative.