The House of Goodwill book club, Easter edition

I've recently read fantastic books that I absolutely LOVED, and realized their themes - of death and resurrection, not to mention faith, hope and inspiration - made them perfect for an Easter review.  With one exception, I picked them all up at Goodwill.  The only thing better than a really great book?  A really great cheap book!

First up, Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

When my father had his cardiac arrest last fall, I was packing to go stay with my mom (to help with hospital shifts), and I was looking for some appropriate reading material for while I was there.

I had the seen the movie version of this book and liked it.  But the story was so compelling I thought I'd still like the book.  (I rarely read books if I've seen a movie version and already know the plot, but I made an exception for this one.)  Though the movie was good, the book is much better (as usual).

Anyway, this is the true story of a little boy who gets extremely ill and during a major life-or-death surgery, visits Heaven and returns.  Obviously, he survives to tell about it.  But how do we know his experience was real?  Well, as the boy begins to heal after surgery, he randomly shares information about people and things he never previously knew about, to the shock of his parents.

His descriptions of Heaven, which he tells about in bits and pieces during his recovery, are fascinating.

As it turns out, I didn't get a lot of reading done while I was with my parents.  But after witnessing my father's own resurrection story, I enjoyed reading this (and the next one) even more.

The next book is 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey.

I've almost finished this book and wow, what a story!  Another death and resurrection story; it's been a perfect read for Easter week.  A quick backstory: my son is dyslexic and absolutely hates reading.  So to encourage him to read (a hugely important habit to cultivate, in my opinion) I've worked hard to figure out what kind of books he enjoys, and keep him in a constant supply of them.  Like lots of people, when he's got the right book, it turns out he doesn't hate reading as much as he claims.  (So far the category that appeals to him most seems to be spiritually-themed books.)  He's begun a habit of reading before bed, and he burned through the three books in this review so fast it made my head spin.  All that to say, I started reading this because I've sort of created our own two person book club; when we both read the same thing around the same time it gives us lots of interesting stuff to talk about while we're walking the dogs.

These books spawned some great discussions about Heaven!  We still talk about them.

This is the true story of a man who is involved in a horrific - and very grisly - car accident, who is pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics, who, failing to find a pulse, proceed to cover his body with a tarp and leave him alone.  Ninety minutes after being declared dead, a pastor (who was stuck in the traffic jam caused by the accident) comes upon the scene and inquires if there is anyone involved in the accident who needs prayer.  "No," he was told by the EMTs, "there's only one guy and he's dead."  Feeling God telling him that he needed to pray with the victim anyway, the pastor convinces the EMTS to allow him to enter the crushed car and pray with the dead man.  As he prays, he feels God telling him to pray for the man's recovery, and.....

I will leave it right there!  

Yet another amazing recount of Heaven.

And the third book is What are the Odds? by Mike Lindell:

I love a good biography, and having seen Mike Lindell share brief pieces of his life story on tv, I knew I wanted to read this book.  I love bios of successful people, and bios of people who have led really crazy or unusual lives, and this story definitely fits both categories.  I actually don't know exactly what to say about this story, its just so....crazy.  I could not put this book down once I started it, and I've given it to four other people who have read it and agreed.

This is a truly amazing story of God working through someone's life, and in this case, probably the last person in the world you would expect God to use.

The other great thing about this book?  It was only $10, but 100% of the proceeds go to recovery services for people who struggle with addiction.  So since it was such a great book, I ordered extra copies and have given them to others.  I love a great win/win!

And lastly, they aren't books, but I've been reading and enjoying these great finds this week:

I just found these Easter editions of Ideals magazine at Goodwill.

They don't appear to have ever been read or even opened.

Score!

Easter week reading or not, these were three incredible, faith-affirming true stories.  After witnessing my own miracle with my father this year - and God promising his healing to me before it happened - they resonated with my spirit on an even deeper level.

All three will be on the shelves at The House of Goodwill for guests.

The only thing better than a great, cheap book?  A great, cheap book read by the water!