The Confession

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

Brenda's Thoughts: This was my first John Grisham book and I was pleasantly surprised. There were places that seemed slow and tedious, but after I really got in to it, I could hardly put it down.Whether you're pro or con on the issue of the death penalty, it shouldn't have any play in the fact that this Grisham novel was good. It evoked in me some very strong feelings which caused me to revisit my own views of the death penalty and our justice system. I will definitely be reading another Grisham book in the future.

In the Name of Jesus

In the Name of Jesus is Henri's Nouwen's bold, honest, and heartwarming message about Christian Leadership. According to Nouwen, Christians must give up their desire to be powerful and embrace authority based on prayer and forgiveness. His emphasis on a vigorous centered-Jesus life will be helpful to ministers in training and all those wanting to live with integrity and compassion of Christ.

Brenda's Thoughts: I read this book in an hour, but that one hour of reading produced many more hours of personal thought and reflection about what it means to be a leader in ministry who truly reflects the Savior we serve.

This book addresses ministers/pastors, but I think many of the principles he discusses are applicable to almost anyone who wants to serve God in ministry, even in non-leadership capacities. I was particularly struck when he discussed how those of us who serve in ministry can often get sidetracked and distracted in our work for God when we begin to associate our service with our own glory and not God's.
 
As leaders in ministry, we will regularly encounter and serve people who are in tough situations and we need to realize that this is a position of tremendous responsibility. Having this responsibility can tempt people into craving power or influence, which can lead to a lot of hurts once our motives for service are not authentic. All the more reason to enter into leadership with the right motives and a heart that is right with God. To be an effective leader for God who has joy in their service and whom God uses to the fullest for the benefit of those we serve.
 
Being a Christian leader is all about being genuine and vulnerable, and loving others through that vulnerability. "The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. That is the way Jesus came to reveal God's love" (Henri Nouwen). As a leader we can be set free to be ourselves and enjoy God and love others. Being an effective leader is very simple and has been done for thousands of years; it's about emptying ourselves, taking up our cross, and sharing that journey with those in our care. One of my favorite quotes and there are many..."Jesus has a different vision of maturity: It is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go."

This book may be short, but sure does pack a punch!

Brenda's Thoughts Continue...

The Help

This book continues to play in my head, and as I was at Costco shopping I had a thought...

The maids who worked for white families were slaves due to the legal and social laws of the land, while the white women in the story were slaves to their social circles. It occurred to me as I was walking the isles of Costco...we are all slaves to something...work, food, drugs, friends, families, social acceptance, money, pride, ego, insecurity, etc...you get the idea.

What are you a slave to?

I know what enslaves me, and I am thankful that the Master of the Universe lives in me. He helps me to break the chains that bind and keep me from the life He wants and desires for me.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

The Help

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

Three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Brenda's Thoughts: This was my book club's pick for this month and what a great choice! This was a wonderful book that not only described the lives of women in domestic help, but also of their relationships with the children of families and the sometimes complicated, layered relationships between women. A tradition that the south has--you don't have to be blood to be family. The characters were written in such a way, they became alive and the writing style of the author, telling the story from various points of view, was perfect.

The book also shows a dark side to the life of a black southern women. At times, I wanted to cry and other times I laughed out loud. There were times I was literally afraid and other times so angry. The author did a very good job of creating a positive relationship between black and white southerners while at the same time exposing the negative effects of racism during that time. This is an important story that is a painful reminder of past cruelty and injustice. It shows how far we have progressed and how much more we still have to accomplish. As Skeeter explained, "Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, 'We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought.'"

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7, NIV).

P.S. A big thank you to Jackie for surprising us with a delicious "chocolate pie" that would have made Minny proud!