Brand-New Branches Book Club and Three New Books!
How ‘bout some REALLY good news? There’s a “new kid” in town….or rather a new Book Club in Louisville, KY! Come meet some authors! Come and discuss some great Christian books! Bring your friends! Enjoy treats to eat!
Branches Book Club is a brand-new community-wide Book Club which just kicked off their season October 22nd, 2012. They will meet the fourth Monday of the month in the Connections Center at Middletown United Methodist Church (MUMC). For their first meeting in October, they read and discussed Karen Kingsbury’s Coming Home.
Their next meeting will be on the 26th of November, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Middletown United Methodist Church (MUMC) where they’ll discuss Almost Amish—One Woman’s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life by Nancy Sleeth. Nancy will be coming to discuss her book, entertain questions, and sign books that evening!
MUMC’s Women’s Ministry has had the Branches Women’s Ministry for several years, and they are now excited to offer the Branches Book Club! Two more-than-capable leaders are getting this ball rolling: Maggie Alcorn and Amy Davenport. Nancy Tinnell, Associate Pastor, from MUMC is also helping and mentoring these fine women. She’ll be speaking occasionally as well, and after having sat under her teaching this summer, we are all in for a treat!
Middletown United Methodist Church
11902 Old Shelbyville Road
Louisville, KY 40243
502-245-8839
www.middletownumc.org
The name ‘branches” comes straight out of Scripture from John 15:5, where Jesus tells us: “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
After recently stepping down from facilitating a book club for seven years, I was thrilled to learn about the new Branches Book Club, and to be able to participate! Plus, learning of some of the upcoming selections AND authors coming is so exciting! What a slice of heaven! (In Heaven, I can picture us sitting around discussing books parked next to a chocolate fountain! Well, one can dream…)
Author Nancy Sleeth and her family live in Lexington, Kentucky. She was just featured on the cover of October’s Christianity Today magazine as “50 Women to Watch”. How exciting will that be to have the opportunity of meeting her???!!! Wow!
A favorite quote from Almost Amish is about Nancy’s epiphany: “Few of us can become Amish, but all of us can become almost Amish.” Nancy takes you through some of the Amish principles and you’ll love taking the eye-opening journey with her.
I was grateful to discover Nancy’s honesty and relieved she didn’t serve up any guilt. Chew on this quote with me for a minute: “The Amish have a saying: ‘A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.’ And, of course, happy marriages tend to make for happy families. May all your gatherings with family be part of a long conversation, full of joy, harmony, and faith in an all-powerful Father who loves every one of his children.” Love that!
Another favorite quote which really encouraged me to be more effortful than effortless towards the Amish way of life was in Nancy’s closing remarks: “Yet each time we seek out an Almost Amish path, we move one step nearer to the kingdom of God. Every time we choose the Almost Amish way we come one breath closer to a slower, simpler, more sustainable life.” Ahhhhh.
Grab your calendars and ink in Monday, November 26th, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Middletown United Methodist Church. (Yes, I’m repeating myself in case you missed it the first time!) Please either call Kelly McDonald to let her know you’re coming at 245-8839 or you may email her at: Kmcdonald@middletownumc.org You may bring a treat to eat and share if time allows. While Thanksgiving will have just happened, I believe Nancy Sleeth will better prepare our hearts and minds for a blessed Christmas season.
Another fun fact? Nancy’s husband, Matthew Sleeth MD, also has a brand-new book out called 24/6—a Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life. (Quite the “dynamic duo”, this couple, huh?)
Matthew grabs you from the beginning to the end. I found myself totally immersed, and convicted simultaneously. I soooooooo long to be a 24/6 instead of a 24/7-and-then-some girl. Great stuff, Matthew.
24/6 reads like a prescription for us crazy-busy-souls. (No wonder he was a doctor first!) Three phrases from a poem by John David Walt, from Asbury Theological Seminary, found in the beginning of the book, immediately drew me in: “holy Leisure, guiltless Feasting, Heaven Hugging”. Sold!
NOT that Matthew’s trying to sell us on this keeping-the-Sabbath idea. He’s just presenting the Biblical facts. Oh, and he’s built a great case. (You’ll love hearing some of his episodes in the Emergency Room while doctoring. Thankfully none are too knee-buckling for any of you faint-at-the-sight-of-blood types. Uh, that would be me.)
Please pray for the Sleeth family while they’re “birthing” these two new books and juggling other things called “life”! Checkout their very cool faith-based environmental nonprofit organization they started: www.Blessedearth.org
Back to Branches Book Club: If you’ve got your 2013 calendar handy, I’ve got a date in January to give you which has a two-fold fun purpose. One is you can read and savor over the Christmas holidays, prior to the January date, Liz Curtis Higgs’ new novella, Wreath of Snow. Enjoy the Christmas season and Branches Book Club will resume on Monday, January 28th, same time, same place, AND…. Liz will be joining us in person! What a treat! (More on her book in another blog entry!)
While I really endeavored to merely tell you about a brand-new book club, I can’t simply “list” books without chatting about them just a tad. I pray we’ll have fun on occasion doing exactly that in this blog!
Whether the selection is fiction or non-fiction, you’ll learn Biblical pearls of wisdom which you can wear home. This is putting your feet to your faith at its’ finest. Embrace Hebrews 10:25 which says, “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
‘Til next time!
(This blog entry is dedicated to FOUR lovely, smart, talented and courageous gals who stepped up to start this brand-new Branches Book Club. Having been there, quakin’, shakin’ and then some, years ago, all I can say is: “Lean on God and He’ll hold you up!” May God Bless and guide and hold Maggie Alcorn, Amy Davenport, Nancy Tinnell, and their behind-the-scenes computer expert, Kelly McDonald. You go, girls!!!)