Book Review - Holy is the Day: Living in the Gift of the Present

I had been looking forward to Carolyn Weber's new book ever since I learned she was writing one.  I enjoyed her book, Surprised by Oxford, and had a tendency to tell everyone I knew they had to read it!

Carolyn's writing is just lovely, her way with words is what I hope to achieve someday.  Although I did tell her that as I read Holy is the Day, I was constantly using the feature on the Kindle where you press on a word and the Oxford Dictionary gives you a definition.  She sometimes uses words I need to look up and that is one of the things I love about her writing.  I think it comes with her Oxford education where they learn real English. 

Holy is the Day opens with the story of Carolyn's near death experience during the C-section delivery of her second twin.  That was the one part of the book that was difficult to read for while my experience was different than hers, I also had a moment in the C-section delivery of my son when there was a medical emergency resulting in short term brain damage.  Although Stephanie tells me I was never the same...  ;)

So I could empathize too closely in that chapter but I could definitely enjoy the remainder of the book.  For Carolyn writes of the real days of being a wife and mother to young children.  What it is like to want to combine work and family and faith and everything that comes with that mixture in a world where time and resources are limited.

Carolyn knows how to write about worshiping God in the midst of the everyday, when the laundry is piling up and dishes must be washed and there is writing to be accomplished... but kids are also growing quickly.

One of my favorite chapters is Carpe Deum.  No, not carpe diem (seize the day) but carpe Deum (seize God!).  It is a beautiful chapter about seizing the day... and God within that day... while enjoying a serendipitous picnic at the beach with the children.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves to ponder their relationship with the Lord but especially moms with children still at home.  For they are the ones who will read this book while trying to grab a cookie for lunch, nodding their head in agreement.  Feeling that Truth as stated in the movie Shadowlands, "We read to know we are not alone".  :)

More about Seizing the Day can be found... here.

Note:  The above is an affiliate link to Amazon.