20,000 Days and Counting

*Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers for my fair and unbiased review.*

20,000 Days and Counting was recommended to me by a blogger I respect very much. I'll admit when I found it available for review, I was very excited and ready to take on the challenge no doubt contained within its pages. What I found, however, was not a silver bullet against apathy, but a proven course of action to make living a life of fullness possible no matter your circumstances.

20,000 Days and Counting is a straightforward book with very little extraneous material. The sub-title is that it is a "crash course" on mastering your life, and it is certainly that. The chapters are short and practical. There's no room for platitudes and cliche's. Mr. Smith is keen to make his point which I feel is summed up best in chapter 5: "If We Can Learn how to Die, We'll Know How to Live". Though an oft-repeated idea for fans of the film "Braveheart," the notion of a well-examined life is ancient and one worth taking seriously in the 21st century. Our days are limited, we can fill them with self-help books and fad diets, or we can focus our attention on the things which are most important in our lives. "You only have two choices," Mr. Smith admonishes his reader, and each day--every decision--is down to two options and YOU are responsible for making the best use of your decision.

This book was a quick read, but a powerful one. I found myself encouraged and challenged to make the decisions to take responsible control of the life I have been given. Section 3 is where the practicality really takes root, but without the philosophy and encouragement from sections 1 and 2 the simple, straightforward, steps will be be useless. Read this book through, put it in practice, and live in freedom.

Father Hunger

*Disclaimer*
I received a copy of this book for review from Thomas Nelson Publishing. Below is my unbiased review of the title.

Father Hunger, by Douglas Wilson was a well written, engaging, and challenging treatise on the role of fathers in the lives of families. Where so many families in North America and around the world experience the want of a strong father figure, it is no wonder that boys and girls, men and women, struggle with identity, self assurance, and broken relationships of their own. As Wilson traces the economic, sociological, anthropological, and spiritual elements of fatherhood and its essential role in developing--not just strong men--but also strong women in every society.

Wilson's expertise has been felt throughout the Christian education and parenting movements for the past several decades. He is a well-known speaker and one of the founding members of New Saint Andrews College in Idaho. He is currently involved very heavily in the Classical Education revival, and this book speaks volumes to the vital role of parents (especially fathers) in the education and spiritual formation of their entire families. Wilson argues that it is not just children who long for a father, but that fathers long to be the father that they wish they had had. Ever since the Fall, humanity has been a wandering child at odds with its loving and compassionate Heavenly Father. No wonder then that we can't seem to get the role of fathers correct in our society at large.

Wilson makes an impassioned, educated plea to men and women to embrace a full masculinity which is rooted and framed in the person of Christ and the Fatherhood of God and to use this archetype to shape the spiritual and emotional stability of men in our society. It is not enough for a few to "get it right" it is vital to our continuance as a nation that we get this right. And though he would probably cringe to be placed in the same paragraph with him, the message from President Obama regarding absentee fathers is very much the same. Highly recommend.