You're Late Again, Lord!
 Karon Phillips Goodman
 (Associate Reviewer Marilyn D. Brenden)
 2002 Barbour & Co.
  ISBN: 1586604104


The Impatient Woman's Guide To God's Timing. Whether it be the longing for a new house, a much-needed job, the healing of an illness or injury, or any of a myriad of delays, waiting is difficult.

Associate Reviewer Marilyn D. Brenden writes:

Imagine coming to a fork in the road late at night. Instead of being able to choose one direction or the other, both forks are marked “Road Closed.” As you turn to go back, you discover that the bridge behind you has washed out, too.

Being in a stuck position, where waiting is the only option, is a situation that author Karen Phillips Goodman understands well. In You're Late Again, Lord, Goodman describes her own struggles with God's timing & the challenge of coming to terms with God's delays.

Goodman explains how she began to flourish in God's waiting room only when she abandoned a passive, patient waiting stance. She came to understand that getting involved in purposeful waiting & faithful working had been God's purpose all along. Waiting times provided the exact preparation in insight & skills that she would need to carry out the next phase of her life.

She began to feel much more hopeful about her times of waiting & could see the positive way that waiting actually increased her strength, faith, & hope. Eventually she was able to “mount up with wings of eagles...to run and not be weary...to walk and not faint.:” (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

Goodman recommends the use of a “coffee book,” where the reader can journal over a cup of coffee & share concerns, praises, & prayers in writing with God. She includes “While You Wait” questions at the end of each chapter that are useful stimuli for this journaling process. Readers will also find these questions useful for reflection or discussion in groups. Actively using the questions holds the promise of turning mere reading into an experience of heart-felt growth in one's self-knowledge & relationship with God.

This is a must-read book for anyone, male or female, in a time of transition.

More from Karon Phillips Goodman: Everyday Angels; The Stepmom's Guide to Simplifying Your Life; It's Not My Stepkids -- It's Their Mom!; The Divorce Activity Book For Children. The Stepparenting Journey is a free newsletter for stepparents available at her website: karongoodman.com.


(04/28/02)

Marilyn
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
Marilyn D. Brenden is a freelance writer & editor. Over the years, she has also been employed as a middle school science teacher, the director of parish outreach in a local church, an interim minister, & the director of a homeless ministry. She enjoys reading & reviewing religious writing, & is particularly fond of Christian education, evangelism, lay ministry & self-help books. She is currently writing a book about ways to revitalize declining & stalled churches.