looking for a good read

I have just recently finished a pretty neat book, "The Shack" by William P. Young.

This post is not going to be yet another blog hyping the book, however.  It is a good book, and I really do recommend you check it out, but I want to write about how I seem to find God working in my life ... again.

As I've written before, my mother and I are very close.  We talk every day, and we visit her and my father 3 to 4 times a week.  The frequency of visiting has much to due with her being ill.  Not knowing how much time she will have with me, Jen, and Ethan can be very motivating. 

With that said, I have also written before that my mother is an ex-communicated Jehova's Witness, this having occurred years and years before I was around.  This little fact is important because, while my Mom is one of the most religiously intelligent and knowledgeable people I know (she knows the bible better than anyone I've ever met), her experience with the very structured religion of Jehova's Witnesses has left her with a very particular image of spirituality. Her tainted experiences with religion caused her to emerge into another type of belief system.  In fact, many would consider Mom to be a "New Ager." You know, those who read and believe psychics like Sylvia Brown and John Edwards. 

The problem is that the more and more I find myself buying into Jesus, and following Him, her comments about New Age stuff really gets under my skin.  Part of it is due to my beliefs, but another part is due to the fact that she is not going to be here for too much longer, ... and I desperately want her to find the peace and love offered through Jesus, ... that same peace and love that I'm diving into more and more deeply as I journey. 

And so we reached a sort of impasse: I could no longer stand to hear her talk about Mother-God, ... whom she calls Azna ..., anymore than she could stand to hear me talk about Father-God and Jesus.  More than once, I became upset enough to completely change the subject abruptly enough that one would consider it rude.

Long story shorter is that my mother and I became unable to meaningfully talk about God and spirituality, and this at a time when we both so desperately need to.

So, I started praying, asking God to help.

A few days later, someone recommended The Shack.  And now my Mom is reading it.

I don't want to ruin the plot of the book for those who have not yet read it, but if you have read the book, you'll understand why finding this book, ... or this book finding me, ... at this particular time is fitting and important.  

And this is how I find God working in my life sometimes.  I pray, ... it's answered, ... but it's hardly never answered in the way I think it will be.  If this happened every once in a while, I could easily chalk it up to ironic coincidence.  But it's happening far too often.  Love Keeps Winning. It's amazing. 

Trust grows. 

Grace flows. 

God shows.

Now I'm looking for another good book to read. Any recommendations?