#BookWorm: Heaven Is For Real

Hey fellow readers,

So I finished this book a while ago, but have not had the chance to post a lot lately with all the travels and I was finishing school and working full time and such, so here is my post about the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. This book is about a little boy who has a near death experience and gets a glimpse of heaven. Before I read it, I thought it was going to be similar to The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom (which that movie FREAKED me out as a kid) where they say they go to heaven and its a different version than what Christian educated kids have learned about their whole lives. Well not really. According to the father of the child, AKA the author of the book, little Colton's description of what he saw was pretty darn close to what we have learned about. The book was very interesting, however there were things I liked and didn't like as usual. Since it was based on a true story, and written by the person who experienced it, it is hard to judge it because that is what happened and they are writing about what they think is important in their life. If I ever write an autobiography, I wouldn't want people who read it to say "I wish this was different or xyz had changed" because it's their life, they can't change it! Phew, well digress.

So I did like the book. I liked the fact that it was so honest, and the first 3/4 was super interesting as far as how Colton almost died and what led up to that. Then also exploring how the parent's felt going through the experience. After Colton described heaven a few times, it got kind of repetitive. He just kept bringing up heaven in random conversation and that is how the book made it seem, which made it kind of drag a little. I don't know how they could have changed it around to make it flow a little better, because they were writing it as it had actually happened, but it did make it a little long winded. I do wish they would have included more about what happened after, the introduction of their new child, and how they decided to write the book and such, but that's okay I just like to read about people's lives I guess. Maybe that is why I like to watch reality TV...

Anyways I haven't seen the movie yet, but really want to. If you haven't read the story, read it! It is super interesting! I would overall rate it about an 8/10 just because of how long winded it got, but the story really is good and I would recommend it to people. Have you read it? Or seen the movie? Or both? What do you think? I am reading Growing Up Duggar: It's All About Relationships now thanks to my awesome boss Beth. And now that I am done with school I have quite the updated list of books for fall that I will share with you all at the end of Summer! Hope you all are ready happily too! Share with me what books are on your list!

Thanks for reading with me,
Olivia :)

Jackson, MS: WeWillGo

Hey all!

So this past week I spent my time in Jackson, Mississippi. The first thing I thought when I heard we were doing our mission trip there was oh my word that is where The Help took place, basically meaning it is a huge piece of the slavery story. Which while that was true, I learned that now typically any rich person or middle class person moves about twenty minutes north to Madison or Hattiesburg leaving Jackson the impoverished area that it is today. Literally 80% of the houses are abandoned or drug/prostitution houses. I also learned that pizza delivery men aren't able to even deliver pizzas there because its too dangerous. So crazy.

So that was my first impression of Jackson. Then I met the people at WeWillGo and was absolutely AMAZED by the fact that they live IN these horrible neighborhoods and restored abandoned houses for the WeWillGo staff and interns to live in. We had so many awesome opportunities to work with and serve the people of Jackson through working with kids, to manual labor for repairs, to canned good hand outs, to prayer walking, and even a clothing store. It's amazing the work that they do there. While in Jackson, we worked with another family, a single mom and her two kids: Ava, age 6 and Haley, age 4. It was incredible the attachment they took to Madi. Spending time with this awesome family was one of the highlights of my trip. They're adorable!

While prayer walking our first day in Jackson, we met a dog named Goldie. She legit walked the entire way with us (no leash she is a stray) and checked out the area each time to "make sure it was safe". SO amazing and cool. When we left she even started chasing after the car and Madi's mom had to lead her back. My favorite part of the trip was going to a place called the fountain where kids come and hang out in the afternoon for a few hours a couple days each week. There are pool and ping pong table, a gym, a craft area, a "book nook", and an outside playground. It is so awesome seeing firsthand how WeWillGo impacts these kids through the fountain.

We also got to spend some time playing with local kids on the basketball court. If you know me, you know I don't play sports. Ever. So knowing I am not hand eye coordinated, well I ended up in a bush trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. Here's what my lovely bloody leg looked like (-->). I learned a lot about the power of prayer and being a servant during this trip. A verse that captured the trip overall to me is 1 Peter 4:10 which says "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." I definitely think that is relevant to our time in Jackson and is something everyone should think about.

So that's it for me. We are now in Michigan relaxing after I worked 3, 13 hour shifts at the hospital in between trips! Fun times guys, fun times. So have  you ever been to Jackson? What are your thoughts? What areas do you think needed prayer? If you haven't been, consider doing a mission trip with WeWillGo. You will learn a lot about yourself and the importance of serving others on a big level.

Thanks for keeping up,
Olivia :)

#BookWorm: A Stolen Life: A Memoir

Hello fellow readers,

So I finished A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Lee Dugard. Wow. That describes this book perfectly. To give you some background information before I start into the book it is a real memoir by Jaycee Dugard who was kidnapped in 1991 for 18 years. 18 years. I cannot even comprehend that. It goes through her life events from before she was kidnapped up until 2009 when she was found. It is an amazing read. Now to be cautious: it is very disturbing. The events were real making it incredibly difficult to get through at times. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It was a page turner, and really made me interested in her story. I spent time after looking up where she is now and everything. Without giving away too much, it is worth the read. I really enjoyed how she included pictures as well as actual journal entries from her time being kidnapped. There wasn't too much I didn't like about the book except for at times it was repetitive and sometimes during the reflection sections I was confused as to whether that was present time or still in the past. But overeall I would give it a 8.5/10. You definitely should read it.

So have you read this book? What did you think? Currently, I'm working on Heaven Is For Real now, which is a quick read but very interesting as well. And it doesn't help that I've spent a lot of time in the airport lately flying back and forth from Michigan.

Thanks for keeping up,
- Olivia :)