(Remember to leave a comment on my READ review of Connie’s book here and have your name entered into a drawing to receive my review copy!)      Connie Cavanaugh’s latest book, Following God One Yes at a Time, has just been released by Harvest House Publishers. This book tells you how – one simple, immediate, possible yes at a time – to do what Jesus commanded when He said, “Follow Me.” This is “following God for dummies,” a simple way for ordinary Christians to follow Christ through the maze of our complicated lives. Q: You begin by saying “God has a dream for every believer.” Could you explain that? God does have a dream for every believer. In fact He has many overlapping, interlocking dreams for us: some big, some small; some lifelong, some seasonal; some manageable, some seemingly impossible. When His dream looks like a mountain we can’t climb, because we lack faith in ourselves and in Him, we think: This dream is too big; I don’t have what it takes. The process looks so complicated; I don’t even know where to start. The finish line is so far away; I don’t think I can go the distance. I’ve tried before and dropped out; I must be all out of chances. Is this God speaking or my own wishful thinking? People like me don’t get to do these things; I’m not worthy of this. Q: Are these the barriers you refer to in the book’s subtitle Overcoming the Six Barriers that hold you back? Yes, the biggest barriers to following God are internal, not external. It’s not situations, circumstances, tragedies, crises or even physical limitations but things like fear, guilt, pride, shame, comparison, and doubt that hold us back from pursuing the dreams God has for us. Following God one yes at a time is about how God breaks down His impossible dream into manageable steps and once we begin to follow Him in faith, because He loves us, He sends us proofs that we’re on the right track. Q: God sends us “proofs” when we follow Him? What do you mean by that? Even though we talk about a God who is alive and personal, all Christians occasionally feel like He is remote and invisible. Once God gets us to say yes to His dream and begin following Him, He knows that we’re going to be battling doubts and fears so He sends us proofs that we heard Him correctly and we’re on the right track. These proofs are little assurances that we pick up in a number of ways – through our daily Bible reading or hear in a sermon or through music or circumstance or...

I’m a big fan of our local library. Although our family owns more than our share of books, we have the privilege of reading many others that we find on our regular trips there. My husband brought home the one I’ll review today. He didn’t know I had longed to read it, although the words “Christy Award Winner” may have caught his eye. Enjoy my review. You can find the book at this Amazon link, wherever Christian books are sold. And who knows? You may discover it on your next library visit! Click. The camera closes in on a woman in a hospital bed. The tubes and machines indicate that she’s fighting for her life. But is she? Click. A man waits at her bedside, remembering. Click. A college friendship blooms into the love God planted long before. Click. The pain of a genetic curse of blindness deepens with the revelation of past secrets and present betrayal. These scenes—and many more—make Beyond the Night the stuff movies are made of. We follow author Marlo Schalesky’s camera of words as she records the love-memories of Paul and Maddy. Through vivid description, realistic dialogue, and judicious use of flashbacks, she unwinds a story that combines the power of enduring love with the angst of hidden wounds, the depth of true-to-life characters with a page-turning storyline. The imperfections of Schalesky’s characters help us identify with each one. Their tender, tangled relationships remind us of our own lives. And the book’s surprising, hope-filled conclusion draws us back to the essentials. At times, the author said a little too much. I wanted to draw my own conclusions about Paul and Maddy, and she made most of them for me. But I find that a minor flaw in a work that delighted and inspired me. I hope to read more from Marlo Schalesky and look forward to my next opportunity to look through her multifaceted...