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an emotional roller coaster

A Table in the Presence by Lt. Carey H. Cash
Riveting...thought provoking...tear jerking... heart stopping....and definitely a motivational read.

I remember the first gulf war. Sadly I remember all too clearly 9/11 and its aftermath.
But I also remember the prayers. The heart-chilling 11:30pm phone call from my cousin, fearing I was about to hear the worst about his brother, only to have my own thoughts repeated to me "I can't sleep; Kev is on my mind." The next thirty minutes of prayer over the phone will be a night I remember forever. The following weeks it seemed every time I awoke I would be offering up a prayer for God's protection over my cousin and for His spirit to draw him back, for the WORD from his childhood to penetrate his mind, for a fellow Marine to be a believer and encourage him, for there to be a godly chaplain nearby. And then came the letters, about the worst fighting he had seen to date, and of being certain he was about to die, of fear.  And the timing of those battles? Those weeks God brought him to our minds again and again and again, even prompting long-distance prayer meetings over the phone.

Those memories came surfacing back this week. On Tuesday I took a dear friend for an outpatient procedure, and grabbed a "small" book from my reading pile on the dresser before I left. This book turned out to be anything but small. I was almost physically shaking and trying not to cry as I read portions in the beginning, with some descriptions sounding eerily familiar to things I've heard before. Chaplain Cash's book is a reminder to me of the power of prayer, of God's faithfulness, and his everlasting love. We read of miracles in the Bible and sometimes wonder (or at least I do) why we so seldom see God's miraculous works performed today. After reading this book, I realize they are happening...I just may not see them. The book was refreshing to me on another front, because it made me realize God truly answered the prayers of many Christians when the war began.

This book was a vivid reminder of just how much I have to be thankful for: my freedom in Christ, my freedom as an American, a citizenship in a country where I am not a second-class citizen because of my gender, and where I can live out my life and faith without fear of persecution. And truly, most American Christians are NOT persecuted, no matter how much the American Life Association and Christian Law Association likes to claim. We know almost nothing of persecution here.

If you want a heart-stopping, patriotic, religious read (but it's not a book you can read through in one setting), then this is a book I highly recommend.

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