"The Shack"

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but kept forgetting. I just saw the book laying on the floor by my bed, and it reminded me that I have to tell you about it!!  

Last summer Erik's grandma started telling us about this amazing book she had just read called "The Shack."  She said, "If nothing else, it will definitely make you think."  Then the next day I went to the baseball game Erik was working, and we were talking to the team chaplain after the game and he started telling us about the book.  Shortly thereafter Erik's dad told us he'd picked up the book and was reading it and couldn't put it down.  I started hearing about it everywhere!!  I picked up a copy at the store around the same time that same baseball chaplain slipped a copy into Erik's work bag.  I had a bunch of other books I was reading at the time ("Twilight" sucked me in...), so I put it off for awhile, but eventually I started reading it and it was REALLY interesting.  It is based in Oregon, partially around the Portland area, so obvious that was a cool connection.  When I would take it into places with me to read before appointments, inevitably someone would start talking about it--either they'd read it, they knew someone who'd read it, they were in the middle of it, they were planning on reading it, or they'd heard of it--and it was a great conversation starter.

In the middle of all this, I reconnected with a college friend I hadn't talked to in several years via facebook.  He started chatting with me one night, telling me about how he was working for a publishing company in LA.  The he asked me if I'd read "The Shack," and told me he was working for the company that published it.  I told him how everyone had been telling me about it for the last few months, and that I was actually in the middle of reading it.  He said, "Well, my dad wrote it."  WHAT?!?!  So we talked about that for awhile, about how his dad had written this as a story for his kids and never really intended to have it published, but that it's popularity had exploded and his dad was going all over the world doing book signings and speaking at churches, etc.  Crazy!  I know several people now (including my mom) who've read it on my recommendation and really enjoyed it.

Anyway, like Erik's grandma said, no matter what you think of it, whether you agree or disagree with the author, it will DEFINITELY make you think.  I thought it was awesome!  It definitely challenged some of my views about things, but some of the imagery was truly amazing, and I think my faith was strengthened in a lot of ways because of reading this book.  And it's just an interesting story about love and forgiveness.  If you're looking for a good read, pick it up, and let me know what you think!  :)

For more information, click HERE.