More Christmas Gift Ideas: 1 for Guys and 1 for Gals…
Friends! This week we’ll briefly discuss two books: One which I’d recommend for guys (although it could really be for guys and gals) and one that is really geared toward women. These are obviously last minute ideas, of which I’m sure thrills you Christmas Eve shoppers…Smile.
The one for guys we’ll touch on contains something we all would love to have more of: wisdom. I’m excited to share some snippets.
Here’s the cover:
Mark also has a neat article in Christianity Today, “Lessons from Evangelicalism’s PR Guru.”
The Little Red Book of Wisdom is divided into two parts:
Part One: Wisdom for Your Professional Life and
Part Two: Wisdom for Your Personal Life
My favorite chapter in Part One is Chapter 4: “Work Less, Think More: Better Still, Work on Thinking.” The chapter opens with a stellar epigraph by Henry Ford:
A favorite quote comes from Chapter 8, “Money Isn’t Everything; Good People Are: Create a Winning Corporate Culture.” Mark had the opportunity to spend two days playing golf at the Augusta National Golf Course with his college-aged son. (May all golfers take a moment to salivate over that sentence.)
In the locker room, Mark and his son had the chance to meet and befriend an employee by the name of Willie. When Mark asked Willie how long he’d worked at Augusta, he answered, “I’ve logged thirty years, but I haven’t worked a day.” Now friends, that will make you think!
In Part Two, Chapter 12 is loaded with pearls of wisdom. It’s entitled “The Wisdom of Firsts: The First Hour, the First Day, the First Dime.” Its’ epigraph is from E.M. Bounds:
Mark tell us where he gathered this wisdom: from his own Father. His Dad also was a fan of Charles Spurgeon, who echoes E.M. Bounds’ above quote:
“It should be our rule never to see the face of men before first seeing the face of God….He who rushes from his bed to his business without first spending time with God is as foolish as though he had not washed or dressed, and as unwise as one dashing to battle without arms or armor.”
Other chapters in Part Two tackle many topics like integrity, regrets, gratitude, and more. The last chapter on “Finishing Well: Living Well Until You’re Finished Living” is extra good. I kept saying to myself, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say Mark must be friends with Robert Wolgemuth!” Soon there after, in the acknowledgments, there we find Robert mentioned who did indeed help Mark.
I recently reviewed a book by Robert, Finish Line: Dispelling Fear, Finding Peace, and Preparing for the End of Your Life. Click HERE to read the review. BOTH Mark’s book and Robert’s books will really make you want to finish strong.
Now let’s jump to book #2 I’d like to recommend for gals. It’s called, When It’s Your Turn to Serve: Experiencing God’s Grace in His Calling for Your Life by Karen Pence.
I learned of this book thanks to my friend, Mary, who had heard an interview of Karen with Newt Gingrich. This was on Episode 617 of Newt’s podcast from 10/13/23.
I confess I must have a little bit of Gladys Kravtiz (for all you Bewitched fans) in me as I love a “behind the scenes” kind of discovery book. That’s exactly what Karen’s book is as she so generously shares her experiences both while being the Governor of Indiana’s wife, a congressman’s wife, and ultimately 2nd Lady while Mike was Vice President of the United States.
More importantly, Karen openly shares her faith and how important her relationship with the Lord is. In the Intro’, she says,
“My faith grew deeper and deeper. The Lord was the One who was constant…When It’s Your Turn to Serve is meant to guide you, the reader, toward wearing the mantle, toward accepting the challenge, toward leading where you are called, to illustrate how, on my own journey, I was blessed by letting go of the safe and secure and embracing the risky and unknown.”
We readers also get a wee science lesson at the beginning of each chapter. Each chapter opens with an epigraph of a fun fact on bees. Huh?
We learn early in the governorship, Karen learned of another Governor’s wife, Ginger Beebe, who at the time was First Lady of Arkansas—that she had a beehive at their Governor’s Mansion. Ginger gave a “riveting presentation,” according to Karen, who immediately had a bee in her bonnet to do exactly what Ginger had done.
Fast forward and we get to see Karen and Mike becoming beekeepers. Soon tours of the Governor’s Mansion in Indiana included lessons on the bees accompanied by a small bear filled with the bees’ honey for children to take home. They did likewise in Washington, D.C.
Karen candidly shares the many hurdles she and Mike and their three children had to jump. They moved eighteen times during their political career!!! (That makes my head spin.) All three of their children married during their time as Vice President and Second Lady, some of which included the Covid virus hampering endeavors….
Karen tells us, “We adopted a Scripture verse for that first campaign that we’ve needed to return to time and again over the years:
You’ll enjoy meeting a plethora of the Pence’s pets. Karen clearly is a brave mom to “host” these critters in their homes. I won’t spoil some of their antics which are highly amusing.
We also learn a lot about their lack of privacy. Once the Secret Service comes into play, life looked a lot different and the Pence’s had to learn to adapt. We readers sympathize with them, however Karen says over and over how grateful they all were and how they came to know and love their protectors.
Multiple Scriptures are dotted throughout the book along with lessons learned from Karen’s time in MOPS and Bible Study Fellowship, choosing life verses for their children, etc. We can all learn a lot from Karen!
Karen was also a devoted art teacher and somehow managed to continue teaching in Washington, D.C. while raising their children, and being 2nd Lady! She is still an advocate for art therapy.
Her own art is included in When It’s Your Turn to Serve as well as her part as illustrator with their daughter Charlotte’s children’s books on the family bunny hilariously named Marlon Bundo.
Here are the covers of their books: ( I reviewed the first one a few years ago)
Now, you know how we like to close! Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and grab some last-minute Christmas gifts for guys (The Little Red Book of Wisdom) and gals (When It’s Your Turn to Serve: Experiencing God’s Grace in His Calling for Your Life). Your friends and family will be so blessed!
May you and your family and loved ones have a Most Blessed and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And, as I always loved to say on the last day of school before Christmas Break, “See ya next year!!!”
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”