Book Review of the 1st 5 Books I have read in 2012

If you have kept up with my running goals this year, I added a book reading goal as well, 12 books in 2012. To date 5 books are complete and I am currently reading 6 and 7 together. Those will be revealed at a later date, but let me provide my overview and thoughts on the 5 books I have completed thus far.

The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson
One of the best books I have read on prayer EVER. It has transformed my thoughts and the way I pray. Mark’s main point in this book is to Dream Big, Pray Hard and Think Long. He highlights the legend of Honi the circle maker who prayer walked his way around a devastating drought in first century BC Israel until the rains came. Mark challenges you to Pray Through your situations. We all have prayed for certain things or situations in our lives, but have you stopped to say…did I pray more than once about it? Praying Through means to continuously pray until it is answered or in some (some would argue most) times they never are…which makes you think were they really prays for Godly outcomes or for your own selfishness? You need to look in the mirror for that answer. Mark’s other BIG action is to circle those prayers. He describes his time of circling the Capital in prayer. The main point is to circle your prayers and go back to them. A prayer journal will certainly help. I adopted one just because of this book and I have not looked back. It is amazing what you will discover about your prayers when you read through your journal. I could go on but then I would be cheating you out a good read. Go look it up…you won’t regret it!

In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, by Mark Batterson
Another excellent read! I could go into details but I think Mark’s Lion Chaser’s Manifesto sums this book up nicely! Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith. Chase the lion!

Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson
As the title says, Mark talks about the Spirit of God being somewhat like a Wild Goose Chase. The prompting of the Holy Spirit will drive you to do things you would not normally do. Sometimes it makes sense and other times…well it just seems pointless, but don’t doubt God’s prompting; they are for very good reasons. He talks of us being in a cage, like a bird would be. See a cage is a SAFE place, you know your surroundings, things are routine, and you feel safe. Mark identifies six cages; cage of responsibility, cage of routine, cage of assumptions, cage of guilt, cage of failure and finally the cage of fear. Mark takes chasing the Goose to a whole different level and he shows you how life can become an adventure “when you chase the trackless, matchless Goose of heaven”. What a challenge! Are you up for it…get this book and find out how others have chosen to Chase the Goose instead of being hunkered in a cage!  

Primal, by Mark Batterson
Mark brings us back to the origins of Christianity in Primal. He starts you off by having you descend down to the depths of the underground as he called it to look for the lost soul of Christianity. This book asks you to look deep within yourself, do you truly believe the religion we call Christianity, or is it simply skin deep and simple. Do you want to get back to what Christianity was and should be in the deep depths of your soul? A lot of people today say “they believe”, but do they truly understand what those two words really mean? Heck some don’t even know why they believe in Christianity. Some even say ”Yep I am Christian”, but don’t know the first thing about actually living that way. Mark brings you back to you soul. He talks of the heart we all need to have. One example he used in the book was Blake Mycoskie, chief shoe giver at TOMS Shoes. This is awesome…for every pair of TOMS you buy you are giving a pair of shoes to a third world country child. Yep one for one deal!  How cool is that, giving back is what we all should be doing. Wouldn’t the world be such a peaceful place if we all did that? This book is a wonderful way to get back to what really matters, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

And now I will move to my 5^th book. Recommended by my wife, it discusses the woman’s soul and their battles every day. MEN…you are not less of a man if you read a woman’s book…I learned from this book and was enlightened on some things that I had not realized about a woman. 
So here is the review…

Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge
Throughout this book both John and Stasi take turns telling you about the worries, thoughts, and actions of a woman. They go into more details but that is why you need to get this book…many secrets await you!! We also hear of the times women dress up to look like princesses, dream of meeting prince charming, but you will also hear about the troubles of growing up, being considered less worthy, being objects, it was during these times in the book that I had a hard time reading. MEN…let us remember that a woman was created by God himself. God left his masterpiece for last; she is the Master’s finishing touch. This was the beginning of the book, once you make it to the end both John and Stasi remind us of the most worthy and trusted people in the bible where women.  Do the names Mary, Ester, Rahab, Lydia, Nympha, Apphia, Priscilla, Junias ring a bell? Just think if any of these women said NO to the calling…where would we be today? Some of these names you would easily recognize, but others you would not. For those that you don’t leave Wikipedia alone and go look them up in the greatest book ever written…The Bible.

Well those are the 5 reviews, each one with a unique perspective on different areas of our lives, but areas that will shape not only your life but potentially generations after you!  Think about it!

How did the month of April turn out for running you ask?

Well here is a recap of the April Running Adventures!
Washington DC Cherry Blossom 10 Miler: It was a beautiful day and I ran in a very good time of 1:21. Nothing to compare it to, but if I do another 10 miler here is my standard to beat. 
Virginia 24-hour Ultra Marathon: What an experience! Very good cause!  I blogged about the experience already so take a look.

Finishing totals for April:

Ran: 73.75 miles

Biked: 11.07 miles

Not too bad of an April. The months of May-Aug will be quiet for scheduled races (none planned to HOT). I will be training for the Fall races to come, with planned races consisting of the USAF Marathon (Sept), Marine Corps Marathon (Oct) and the Norfolk Marathon (Nov) to finish the year off. I am hoping to finish one of those three in under 4 hrs.