Reviews for From Bad Beginnings to Happy Endings

The average rating for From Bad Beginnings to Happy Endings based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-08-08 00:00:00 Barbara Taylor Quotes from the book that I liked... The missionary poet Amy Carmichael saw scars not as hindrances, but as evidence of identity with the Savior. This book mentions Dr. James Dobson's book titled Children at Risk which talks about a corridor of life. You walk down it from childhood to adulthood. There are doors marked "alcohol," "sex," "drugs," "materialism," etc. From behind the doors you can hear laughter, fun, music, and beckoning friends. You might hear your name. Should you open a door? What if parents are not around? However, there is great danger in cracking open doors that should remain shut. Also, never walk this corridor alone. There are other doors that we don't choose, but they seem to open and try to pull us in. These doors are marked "divorce," "abandonment," "abuse," "conflict," and "loss. Anyone can be whole, regardless of their past. Wholeness is a function of who we are, not where we've been. The currency of parenting is called time. There is no substitute for a parent's time in a child's life. If parents do not effectively discipline their children, the task will ultimately fall to other authority figures later in life: teachers, employers, probation officers, judges. Addictions are based on shame and can be traced to childhood. The pressure of hiding family secrets or our own perceived failures and inadequacies can be overwhelming. It is not possible to be significantly used by God in any area of endeavor without suffering. Joseph should have been able to count on his brothers not to sell him into slavery, but they let him down. He should have been able to count on the chief butler to keep his word and remember Joseph when he was released, but the chief butler forgot him. He might have hoped that Potiphar's wife would reconsider her false claim and confirm his innocence, but she never did. Joseph learned not to count on family, friends, or his former employer to correct the injustices of his life. He learned to count on God to redeem them. Joseph refused Mrs. Potipher's advances because she was off limits. Isn't it interesting that the same rationale Joseph used against the opportunity to sin is the same rationale that Eve used to sin. Prosperity tests us, but in a different way. An average looking guy in a designer suit and a Rolex watch was rated more attractive to women than a handsome man in a janitor's uniform. The tempting appeal of power is the belief that it can change or eliminate difficult circumstances...but remember that power and success are not trophies. They're tools, and they must be used correctly to achieve the desired results. They can become dangerous when they are misused. Guilt can make our truth-telling selective, causing us to ignore facts we would like to forget and to change our message depending on the audience we face. By refusing to forgive, I keep others emotionally indebted to be. I cannot have an open, unhindered relationship with God if I am holding others hostage for something He would forgive me for. Imagine someone asking us and God for forgiveness at the same time. God readily says yes. Who are we to say no? People use guilt as a weapon to manipulate and intimate; God uses conviction as a tool to perfect and strengthen His children. Unhandled guilt will not fade. It only intensifies and deepens with time. We can hide, deny, transfer, or ignore it, but only God can take it away. Guilt not dealt with can be a destructive legacy, handed down from one generation to another. It will not remain unclaimed. Guilt deceives, blinds us from the truth, distorts our perception, paralyzes us from taking action, and imprisons us in the past. When a relationship between two people is broken, it is not uncommon for one or both to go to a third party and confide their sides of the story. Often this is a serious mistake. There is a place for wise counsel, but privacy often provides fertile ground in which healing can at least begin. It shows respect. It takes maturity to keep a grievance within appropriate boundaries. Pointing fingers and assigning blame is a useless exercise if reconciliation is the goal. Resist the urge to make the guilty party sweat-it's counterproductive. Discernment allows us to distinguish between throw-away and usable ingredients of a relationship. What we have a right to do may not be what is best. Forgiveness without an invitation to restoration is not genuine forgiveness. Initiative is the key to real reconciliation. Don't wait for someone else to initiate what you know is right. Joseph was not looking for allies, understanding, or sympathy. He was looking for a healed relationship, and he was willing to provide the best possible climate in which that healing could take place. He told his brothers to bring the entire family to Egypt to be united under his protection. Failure to take this step of inviting others back into our lives can so easily short-circuit reconciliation. Joseph could have said, "It's okay. I'm not mad anymore. Go on home. You're forgiven." But would that have restored the relationship? If we do offer words of forgiveness and acknowledge God's involvement in working our conflicts for the good, we usually stop there. It's a comfortable place to stop, because it costs us very little. At this point everyone walks away from the encounter and goes their separate ways, but there is still a strain in the relationship that is allowed to remain as we keep safe distances from one another. Joseph could have just as easily dismissed them to return to Canaan saying, "If you need anymore bread, just holler and I'll see that you get it. Come back for a visit when you get a chance." But he went a step farther and said, "I want us to live together as a family again. I want us to be close." Forgiveness is rich when the injured party invites us back.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-09-27 00:00:00 Jhon Brown Gordon MacDonald has been one of my favorite devotional writers for nearly 20 years. I first read Ordering Your Private World when I entered college in 1997, and MacDonald has been on my reading lists here and there ever since. This book has always been a whimsical treat because of its chapter on Caleb entitled "What Kind of Old Man Do You Want to Be?" My son is named Caleb because of this story, which intrigued my wife when I used this chapter to develop a sermon on Caleb when we were in college together. My plan is to preach through this book this fall with my congregation. It may be a little dated, however it is geared well for an older congregation.