Church of the Small Things

This summer I got to be part of the book launch team for one of my favorite authors, Melanie Shankle.

I was able to read her latest book, "Church of the Small Things" in July.

It was finally released into the world officially, yesterday.

It's worth it, people! Go get it!

I received the DVD last week of her bible study that goes along with it.

I can't wait to dig into that.

This is a departure from her other books.

"Sparkly Green Earrings" talks mostly about parenting but both of my girls have read it and LOVE it!  The part about Melanie's elderly neighbor asking for "rat cheese" on a grocery shopping trip is hilarious. And Monte and I still talk about "Tim Duncan's Shoe" in reference to "things that let us down".

"The Antelope in the Living Room" is mainly about marriage.

This is my all time favorite of her books. 

Which is tough to say 

since I love them all.

Melanie hits the nail on the head when describing situations and responses as "NEW LOVE" and "OLD LOVE". 

Meaning, how marriages naturally change the longer we're in them. 

My friend Shannon and I quote this all the time when talking about our own marriages. 

For example, I recounted a time this Spring when Monte was out doing yard work. He stuck his head in the door and hollered, "A breast, a thigh and a leg!" then slammed the door and went back outside.  

A "NEW LOVE" response would've followed him outside and slapped him in the face. 

"OLD LOVE" figured out that he was talking about the pieces of fried chicken he wanted me to heat up from the night before.

"Nobody's Cuter than You" is a sweet and funny book about friendship.

And now a new one!!

"Church of the Small Things" is still the funny, sweet, laugh out loud one second and tear up the next book that I've come to expect from Melanie.

 But it also sheds God's light on the everyday business of ordinary life.

I was reading this book at Fripp this summer and it uncharacteristically rained for two solid
days. Which made for bad beach weather but great reading time on the porch.
See the water spout? How cool is that?

This book exposes the purpose in the minutiae of our lives through the filter of God.

Melanie grabbed my attention immediately in the Introduction when she wrote about the mother who packed the five loaves of bread and two fish for lunch for her son that Jesus would eventually use to feed 5,000 people:

"No matter what was involved in packing that lunch on that particular morning, I'm willing to bet she wasn't really concerned or even thinking about how God might choose to use her boy's lunch that day. I bet she didn't wring her hands over whether or not that lunch might matter in the larger scheme of God's plans or wish she could do something on a larger stage in front of an audience of people cheering her on as she tucked that fish and those loaves into a basket, and she definitely didn't do an Instagram story about it. The bottom line is, she didn't do the glamorous thing; she did the faithful thing. She packed a lunch for her boy just like she'd probably done a million times before, and God used her small act of faithfulness to feed five thousand people."

Not feeling as good about convincing Ellie to 

"just buy already" because I didn't feel like 

packing her a lunch last night.

The book is full of the small things that make a big impact.

Like time spent with grandparents, the decision to get bangs, exercise and a hilarious story of her husband literally dodging a bullet.

Do yourself a favor and get this book.

And if you haven't read any of Melanie's other books, get them too!

Then call me, so we can talk about them.