Walking with God
by John Eldredge
Thomas Nelson, April 2008
ISBN: 978-0785206965
218 pages

Walking with God moves through a year in the life of John Eldredge showing and teaching what an intimate relationship with God looks like day to day.

I'm not exactly sure why Walking with God struck such a chord with me—but it did. I cried and laughed my way through the pages and reluctantly finished it earlier today. Reading this book didn't make me want to be John Eldredge’s best friend—it made me want to be Jesus’ best friend. Walking with God covers the year in a life of speaker and writer John Eldredge. Yet, instead of recounting the grand escapades of a much-sought-after conference speaker and best selling author, it shows the year in a life of a vulnerable and honest husband, father, friend, and ministry leader. Eldredge has a unique way of letting the reader in on his humanity—and in the end you may find (like me) that you learn more from his weaknesses, then from his strengths. Because Eldredge is a “man’s man” your husbands, brothers, and fathers will find his outdoorsy stories engaging—but don’t underestimate this book’s value for women. I think of myself as a pretty girly girl, and I absolutely loved it!

Walking with God is unique, surprising, relevant, authentic, and offers a fresh perspective on hearing the voice of God. There’s an Ahhhhh feeling of comfort and refreshment in this book—and a delightful (and biblical) thread of God’s love that runs through the entirety of it.

Glimpses of Heaven
by Trudy Harris, RN
Revell Books, 2008
IBSN: 978-0-8007-3251-6
190 pages

Trudy Harris began her career with Hospice in 1981, eventually becoming the president of the Hospice Foundation for Caring. This collection of more than forty true stories of Harris's patients offers readers an incredible glimpse at what lies beyond and what the living can learn from the dying.

Glimpses of Heaven is a tender and inviting book that will be deeply encouraging to people of all ages and all walks of life. Broken up into 44 short stories—it gives readers an inside look into the final days of those who are dying.

The stories are varied—everything from the dying experience of toddlers, to the last days of middle aged people, to the lingering deaths of the very old. One story tells about forty-seven year old Mark, a man dying of pancreatic cancer. Harris tells that in his very last moments “suddenly his eyes opened wide, and, sitting up in bed under his own strength with arms raised in the air and a big smile, he said, ‘There it is. I can see it. It’s beautiful.’ And lying back down he took his last breath and died.” Another story tells us of Lenora, a fifty-four year old woman who is dying of a brain tumor and her encounter with an angel a few days before her death.

The genuine faith of the author shines through Glimpses of Heaven from cover to cover and I was inspired, instructed, and even convicted by her childlike faith and unwavering love toward her fellow man. It’s not just a book about what happens right before someone dies—it’s also almost an instruction manual for those caring for the terminally ill. Glimpses of Heaven is touching, amusing, hopeful, and above all else comforting.

Copyright © by Paula Friedrichsen Share