Airman

Airman, Eoin Colfer

 

This single novel by the same author of the Artemis Fowl series has delivered another good read.   I have not reviewed Artemis Fowl to date on this blog, but simply said – they are good books for children (aged about 10 and older).   Airman is of similar quality, although rather than fantasy this is set in the 19^th century on the Saltee islands off the Irish coast in a fictional kingdom.   Conor Broekhart grows up friend of the princess and mentored by the palace tutor, all the time dreaming and planning machines with the capability of flight.   Yet, his fortunes quickly change when he is set up and imprisoned for treason.   As he realises his only hope of escape is in the air, his long term planning looks upwards.   This is a great story of character and the choices people make.  He is only a teenager, yet Conor faces adult choices – does he run for freedom, save others, clear his name or just make money?  An action packed, fast paced book recommended for those about age 12 and up.

If you like any of Colfer’s books, it’s worth reviewing his website to find more – he has written a lot, and for various ages.

Olympics

Whenever the Olympics (or any similar major sporting event) take place, there is a mixture of emotions - interest in some sports and apathy in many others, amazement and horror at the money spent to stage such events, and a realisation again of how much we idolise physical success and perfection.   Sometimes I wonder what God thinks of it all.

In an attempt to marshall some of these thoughts, I have written a prayer.  Click over to The Prayer project if you are interested.

Star Trek

I have never been a Trek fan, having been scarred forever by The Wrath of Khan (and the bugs that crawled in their ears) in my own youth.  So the TV shows and various spinoffs never held any appeal.  However, Husband suggested it was time to try the new movie franchise.   Thankfully the first two were on TV in the leadup to the new movie coming out.

So in one week, we watched Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond.   Mostly produced and directed by J.J. Abrams, (and in my basic understanding) with the same characters as the original movie series, they are pretty good.  I won’t compare them any previous Trek offering (because I can’t!), but from the perspective of someone who is essentially new to the franchise, I liked them.   It’s a great cast with Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock – and the original Leonard Nemoy as another Spock), John Cho (Sulu) and Simon Pegg (Scotty) as main characters, with many other recognisable faces along the way (obviously a cameo in a Star Trek movie is highly valued).

If you like Star Wars and The Avenger movies (as you know I do!), these will appeal as well.  The visual effects in Beyond were excellent.  The space station Yorktown is marvellous; a 3-D setting impossible in existence, but fantastic to look at.   As a side note it’s interesting that in ‘updating’ the series, Sulu now has a husband and daughter, so the only family portrayed in the movie is one with same-sex parents.

As I watch more movies like these, again and again I see clearly illustrated that light is good and dark is evil.  The good side are always in well-lit, clean and organised settings, while the evil people generally operate in dark, oppressive environments.  Yet another hint that the truth lives in all of us, and perhaps another touchstone with our popular culture that we can talk to for “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) and that even a movie can illustrate that everyone wants to be in the light.

The Deep End of the Ocean

The Deep End of the Ocean, Jacquelyn Mitchard

Published in 1997, this book quickly made it to the top of the bestseller list and I think I first read it about that time. It was later made into a movie (which I must have seen years ago, as images kept coming back to me). Having just found it again at the library, I have just re-read it.

This is a great book, full of depth and detail. Having said that if you have young children, I don’t recommend reading it at your stage. Beth Cappadora, with her three young children, heads off to her 15-year high school reunion leaving husband Pat at home alone for the weekend. Caught up in the excitement of seeing old school friends, Beth leaves 3-year-old Ben with 7-year-old Vincent in the hotel lobby while she sorts out her room reservation. Not five minutes later she returns and Ben is gone. Totally and completely gone.

A shoe found about 12 hours later indicates it was an abduction and from then the family spiral into a parent’s worst nightmare. Over the years, you read how the family deals with it, mainly Beth, Pat and Vincent, along with friends, extended family and the police force. A close friendship is forged between Beth and Candy, the officer in charge.

Those events and the following 9 years cover the first half of the book. While I rarely give spoilers (alert!), this one is on the back of the book, so it seems OK.  The second half details what happens after a strangely familiar 12-year-old from the neighbourhood knocks on the door offering to the mow the lawn.  Astonishingly it is Ben.  What follows next is the aftermath for the families – the Cappadoras with an increasingly delinquent Vincent, Pat who is delighted and insists his family is back together, and Beth who begins to see the pain that Ben is in.  For Ben, now known as Sam, has known loving parents – his mentally ill ‘mother’ did abduct him, but his step-father George knew nothing of it and has raised him, and that family is all Sam knows and remembers.

Mitchard does an excellent job of cataloguing the varied ways that grief, guilt and pain can strike different people, including children.  It’s a book that tears at your heart, yet all the time wills you to keep reading it.  A good choice for some holiday reading.

Stop the shouting

There is a very interesting commentary in The Australian newspaper this morning, from The Times "Stop the Shouting: if we don't tame Twitter, we'll face mob rule". Some excerpts are below:

"...I think communications technologies can decide the political temperature. After decades in which they generally helped moderate discourse, outside autocracies, they are now inflaming it. When blogging was all the rage a decade ago, at least there was space for nuance. Now, opinions are boiled down to a single shout. 

I use Twitter mainly to find and pass on links to articles and reports on topics that interest me. To do so, though, I have to wade through bitter feuds, walk past vicious ad-homs, jump over blatant embellishments and bump into absurd hyperbole... 

We need to find a way to tame Twitter, to fence in Facebook, to insist on net neutrality and revive moderation. To do so while respecting free speech and without handing government the power to propagandise and censor, will not be easy. But it must be attempted before the mutual shouting gets worse."

It echoes some of my own thoughts, particularly observing commentary on world events in the last few months, including our own election.

Full article is here. Apologies if you can't read it, it may be subscriber only access - I can send you a copy though if you ask.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, Rosario Champagne Butterfield

This book has been recommended to me by friends for a number of years, but I had never managed to read it. In the meantime, Husband bought it, read it, and handed it to me!

It is the story of a university professor’s almost unwilling conversion to Christ. Rosario was a tenured English professor specialising in gender studies and queer theory, living in a lesbian relationship and a key supporter and advocate for the LGBT community.

After publishing a critique of a religious group in the local paper, one pastor write to her a letter she couldn’t ignore. It was a letter that asked her gently how she arrived at her theories, what her presuppositions were, and whether she believed in God. Intrigued by its tone and content, she got in touch with the author. It started a deep friendship with him and his wife, in which they talked about what they both believed over meals and time together.

In time she came to believe in Christ: “Although grateful, I did not perceive conversion to be “a blessing.” It was a train wreck.” (p25)

“This word - conversion - is simply too tame and too refined to capture the train wreck that I experienced in coming to terms with the Living God. I know of only one word to describe this time-released encounter: impact.” (xi) It is an open and honest account of how coming to know God completely altered her life.

She details her life prior to conversion, but only in an informative and descriptive way. At once everything changes - partner, friends, teaching, writing, lifestyle, clothes, speech and thoughts. In time, she marries a pastor, they adopt and foster four children and currently home-school them.

You never know when you read a book like this quite what it is going to say. It could obviously go in many directions. It could be lewd. It could be judgemental. It could be shocking. It could be self-aggrandizing. It is none of these.

She is honest about her struggles, open about her questions, and clear that she had much to learn. She is never hostile to the gay community, and continues to love and serve friends who are part of it.

If there is any group who come under her critique - it is those of the Christian faith who are unthought in their responses and unloving in their words and actions, those who are unable to remove the speck in their own eyes before they remove the planks in others. She challenges those in the church to see our own blinkers and blindness and judgmentalism. She challenges church prejudices, the failure to love and to serve.

It’s a biography - one woman’s account of her own experience. At the same time, it is a clear challenge to think deeper on a number of issues. How well do we really love the outsider? How hospitable are we really? Do we know how casual comments and unwise words can cause deep hurt? Are we willing to cross the bridge of culture and belief and talk with anyone, kindly and gently, about what we both believe?

For Christians - this is a book worth reading, it might challenge you and make you uncomfortable - hopefully about yourself. And that is a good thing.


One quote (almost random considering the rest of the subject matter) stayed with me – her comments on being a pastor’s wife and they echo my own thoughts:

I believe… there is a little known secret about the inner spiritual lives of pastors’ wives. The experience of really knowing the man behind the pulpit, counting the costs of his week, palpably knowing how deeply Satan wants the gospel to simply die from lack of interest, and seeing the Holy Spirit triumph in his preaching even when just the hour before all looked grim, is a great shot in the arm to enduring faith. I wish that others knew this: Pastor’s wives get the cream of the ministry, even as we sacrifice certain aspects of our personal, private and family lives to have this. I have found my life as Kent’s wife to be full, rich, amusing, edifying, and exciting. I have tasted a small bit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would not trade this for anything. (p129-130)

Some family movies

We have expanded our movie viewing recently to watch more family and older movies rather than children’s movies.   We have seen:

Heaven is for Real

Our son has a subscription to a Christian kids’ magazine, which gives movie recommendations.  This was one that he read about and then asked to watch.  It’s based on a true story and a bestselling book.  Four-year old Colton recovers from life-saving surgery and starts telling his dad he has been to heaven, recounting details of the surgery that he shouldn’t know and having met people in heaven he hasn’t met in real life.   For his dad, a pastor in a small town in America, it raises a huge number of questions.  Does he trust his son?  Is his account true?  How does he respond when people begin to find out and the media are interested?  How does his church react? 

We didn’t overanalyse it with our kids.  We could have.  It raises questions about God, and makes people confront the idea that heaven is a real place, Jesus is there, other people are there, and it is good and safe.  The movie does not specifically address salvation through Christ alone, but it does only have Jesus in heaven (ie. no representatives from other religions).  We also chose not to talk about how much money has probably been raised from the book and the movie, which is perhaps a conversation topic for when they are older.

It was interesting, and one that I think will keep raising questions as everyone thinks about it.   Always a good thing.

Dolphin Tale

 

This was another one recommended by the same magazine and this one was excellent.   It’s based on the true story of a dolphin found wrapped up in netting off the Florida coast.  Sawyer, a lonely 11-year old boy, finds her and she is taken to a financially strapped aquarium, where she is cared for by the veterinarian and his daughter.   The dolphin, named Winter, ends up losing her tail as part of her injuries and a prosthetic specialist is asked to help.   It has a great cast in Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr and Morgan Freeman, as well as the two child actors. 

This is an endearing story for the whole family, we as well as the kids (aged 8-13) really enjoyed it and were caught up in the drama of the story.   It has a great feel-good ending, and we were all so thankful Mr 13 had read the review and asked to see it.  

Bruce Almighty

Not really a family movie as some bits required fast-forwarding, other bits needed to be explained and others went over their heads.   Yet the premise is clever and worth thinking about.   What would you do if you got to be God?   What does giving people their own free will look like even when you have God’s power?  Jim Carrey is so funny visually and the way he carries on completely obsessed about his own life, thinking God is out to get him; and how he then acts when given God’s powers definitely provides food for thought.  

It was a bit of a risky choice at this age, but was interesting for us all.   I am now on the lookout for Evan Almighty – that is more appropriate for family viewing, and deals with obeying God despite the opinions of others.

Three Men and a Baby

This was a delve way back in the past, remembering some of the movies we liked in the 80s.  Three Men and a Baby starts off with the partying lifestyle of 3 bachelors, Michael, Peter and Jack.  Then Mary, a 3-month old baby is left on their doorstep by their mother Sylvia who can no longer cope (of course, one of them is the father).   Their bumbling efforts in early baby care are very funny, and of course they all fall in love with her in the end.  One of our kids didn’t like this one, disapproving of the portrayal of their early lifestyle.  I thought “good, you aren’t supposed to”, but what they failed to see was how people can change for the better.  Whether or not Christ is in people’s lives, it’s still good for our kids to see that people can change when presented with a better reason for living than just themselves. 

Some of us pushed on to Three Men and a Little Lady, which really is very silly, but fun to see the interactions between the unique family grouping - with Sylvia, Jack, Michael and Peter and now 5-year old Mary.  We all agreed it was not really worth seeing again, but was a bit of fun along the way.

Expectant Parents

Expectant Parents, Suzanne Hadley Gosselin

I was asked recently whether I knew of any books for Christian couples expecting a baby, things to consider for new parents.  A quick search of my shelves revealed a marked lack of such resources. 

Husband and I have couples around for a chat before their first child arrives, usually when they are about 6 months pregnant.  These are people with whom we already have a pre-existing relationship, often people we have also prepared for marriage.   However, it is always useful to have a book to recommend to others. 

So, off to the bookstore again to do some research.  I came up with Expectant Parents: Preparing Together for the Journey of Parenthood, and upon reading it, I was pretty impressed.  I was also somewhat gratified to note that almost everything Gosselin includes in her book were things we also cover when we talk with new parents. 

Gosselin has done a good job of combining together a whole array of sensible suggestions for both pregnancy and the early childhood years.

Some of her topic areas include

• Make your marriage a priority and be prepared that pre-existing stresses will be exacerbated with children
• Being a mum / being a dad - and how that impacts you
• Thinking about post-baby career choices
• Surviving the social side of pregnancy – including extended family
• Finding a community – seek out strong friendships that are understanding and encouraging, not competitive
• How your family of origin comes into play all over again
• Thinking about your long term family goals and ideas
• The false idea that you can be perfect parents – no, we are all in training

I didn’t write extensive notes on this book, I was really reading it to see if I would recommend it, rather than to get things out of it for me personally.   However, some of her ideas and quotes (often of others) did really resonate:

• “While your true goal will be to have a Christ-centred home, the marriage itself is a foundational, God-ordained block for the family” (p14)
• On body image during this life stage: “The biggest lesson I needed to remember was that life is full of seasons – a time to be a skinny teenager, a time to be a growing pregnant woman, a time to be a curvy and comforting mom.” (p38)
• On being a dad: “Be ready for the wave to hit.  The loss of independence and and spontaneity can be depressing.  It’s a beautiful season, but life certainly isn’t about you anymore.” (p62)
• On questioning God on why a child might not be healthy or ‘perfect’: ‘Sometimes my mind wander to what might have been, and I ask “Why couldn’t it have been perfect, Lord?”  And he lovingly answers, “It could have been perfect – by your definition – but then it would not have been my will – My good, pleasing, perfect will.”’  (p118)
• On the myth of perfect parenting “it’s important for new parents to remember that ‘successful’ parenting is not perfect parenting.  Every family has issues; every parent makes mistakes.  Parenting seems so much more manageable when we abandon the idea of doing it right every time.  That’s an unattainable standard.”  (p140)

All in all it’s a good book, and recommended for impending parenthood!

(By the way, if you want something humorous and Australian for some light hearted reading, I also went back and re-read So You’re Going to be a Dad, by Peter Downey.  An online search showed it has now been completely revised and updated, which is good seeing it’s over 20 years old.   It is definitely worth a read, especially for dads, but really for all want to see the funny side of those early months and years.)

Some Movie Reviews

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

If you are in the mood for a light-hearted action spy movie, this is a good choice. Set in the midst of the Cold War in 1963, American thief turned CIA agent Napoleon Solo is tasked to exfiltrate Gaby Teller from East Berlin.  Against the odds and a persistent Russian Agent, Illya Kurakin, he is successful (all in the opening scenes). Gaby’s uncle is involved in the continued developed of Nazi nuclear weapons, so Solo and Kurakin are ordered to work together with Gaby to infiltrate their network.     

As the Russian and American learn to work together (rudely calling each other Peril and Cowboy), the insults fly thick and fast even as they develop a loose friendship. While it is a shoot-em-up, many of the potentially violent scenes are underplayed through the use of low sound and music, and so the intensity of them is decreased. It was produced by Guy Ritchie and I really liked the cinematography and the soundtrack. The humour is dry and clever, with both of the main actors dead-pan expressions just adding to the fun.

A fun, easy-going, action movie and a good choice for a night in.

Captain America: Civil War

If you follow the Marvel Avengers series like we do, you will be well aware of this one and that is bills itself as Iron Man vs Captain America. Of course, the story line is a little more complicated than that – although not much!

In essence it follows the same plot line as the kids movie The Incredibles, that is – what happens when the world gets sick of super heroes getting in the way, saving some people but accidentally killing innocents and destroying property in the process? In this version, the UN gets in the way with a resolution to bring all of the Avengers under their jurisdiction. Iron Man sees the need for such action while Captain America is strongly opposed. Bringing in almost all of the Avengers superheros to date (eg. Ant Man), including some new ones (I won’t spoil the surprise!), in one massive battle you end up with two sides, six Avengers on each pitted again each other. Two of my favourites were missing (Thor & Hulk) but with 12 superheros there was more than enough to go around!  In fact, too many – in this movie they all call each other by their first names and for the less well known ones, I was struggling to remember who was who!

All in all, this is another fun episode in the very long running, multi-million dollar Marvel franchise.  Lots of action, no swearing, funny lines and clever humour. Now I am trying to figure out when it would be appropriate to start watching them all again, under the excuse of introducing them to our son…

Apologies!!

I owe my subscriber followers an apology.   Or at least it's possible I do!

If you received a whole lot of posts from me yesterday regarding an old series on a book called Radical Womanhood, I'm sorry.

I am in the process of transferring old posts from the In Tandem ministry wives blog across to this musings blog.  I was hoping I could do so quietly and discreetly, as they are all old and were keeping their original posting dates.  Unfortunately, I am not sure it happened that way.

So, if you got a whole lot of emails (or one very long email) - again - sorry!

And just so you know - on Monday I will post all the rest - about 70 posts.  I figure it's better to do them all in one go - be really annoying once and then it's done!   Thanks for understanding.

Technology contract

As Mr 13 has started high school and became even more entrenched in technology, it was time to write down some of the principles and ideas we want him to think about and adopt.

So we developed a technology contract (see below).  Mr 13, Husband and I have all had input and it has already gone through a few revisions.  It will be revisited at least annually, if not more often.

We could also have added in bible verses to back up the points, but I was trying to keep it manageable (it's already 2 pages) and just because it's not written down doesn't mean it wasn't talked about!

It has been a good opportunity to stop and think about what we expect, and what we want him to learn, and how to teach it.  There are always new things to consider in parenting!

It has also been a prompt to remind Miss 11 and Miss 8 about our expectations, seeing one has started a private blog and both are on email.  They now also have much simpler versions.

Please note: this also does not yet include specific references to social media, our children are not yet using them. It may need updating with more specific principles at that point too.

****
TECHNOLOGY CONTRACT – Mr 13

Congratulations Mr 13 – you now have a phone and a laptop to use!

SOME PRACTICAL THINGS:

1. We own the phone and the laptop – we paid for them!
2. We will pay for you to be able to use the phone, to a certain amount. You may have to pay any excess.
3. If they are damaged or lost, you may be required to replace it.
4. We will know your passwords at all times.  Your sisters need to always know your phone password, because there are times they will need a phone.
5. You will always answer a call or text from us, as soon as you can. Never ignore us trying to contact you.  We will always try to answer your calls or texts as soon as we can.
6. Check with us before buying or downloading any music or apps.
7. If anything on a screen worries you or is inappropriate (eg. messages, pictures, websites) come and talk to us. You will not be in trouble.
8. All screens will be downstairs overnight, charging if needed.
9. “Find my iPhone” will always be activated on your iPhone, don’t ever disable it.
10. If you are out on your own, we expect you to always have the phone on you and for it always to have enough credit for phonecalls.
11. No games midweek – for schooldays, it is just a phone/laptop. You can play games on the bus, as long as you prioritise real conversations first.

THINKING A BIT MORE:

Technology is pretty cool. Your laptop has lots of power for creativity and design, and your phone is a smart phone. They can be used for many, many things – music, videos, phonecalls, texts, email, games, etc.
Above all – always remember 2 things:

• Real life is better than the digital world – enjoy the real world, real conversations and real people.
• Words and pictures have power. Be kind, honest and respectful with both.

Loving and Respecting Others

1. Always speak politely and with respect when on the phone.
2. Only call people between 8am and 8:30pm. Remember their own families and privacy. If you wouldn’t call their parents at that time, don’t call them.
3. Meal times, family times or overnight are screen-free, as are the movies, at church, when in conversation with friends, or where it would be rude or inappropriate.
4. Follow school rules regarding technology.
5. It is easy to write unwise or unkind things – stop and think before you press send.
6. Reply to text messages and emails when appropriate. Even just saying ‘thanks’ or ‘OK’ lets people know you have received it.
7. Respect other people’s privacy – do not give out their details without permission, do not forward emails/texts that are intended to be personal.

Be Wise and Careful

1. It is very easy to waste time on a screen– be careful how you use your time
   
2. Make sure you control your technology and that it does not control you
• You don’t have to answer a call straightaway (except from us – as soon as possible)
• You don’t have to respond to a text straightaway (except from us – as soon as possible)
• You don’t have to reply to an email straightaway – although it’s polite to answer emails that need answering within a day or two.
• Most replies can wait till the end of the conversation, or the end of the school day, or even until the next day
• Some messages never need to be answered or even read– eg. junk, spam, various requests (lost property, surveys) through school email.
3. You don’t have to give out your phone number or email to any person / company. You have a choice. If you feel pressured to, try and say no, or give one of Mum or Dad’s numbers/emails.
   
4. Remember – every thing you ever do or put online can be recorded forever. This includes emails, posts, tweets, photos, texts, comments, game statistics, web site browsing and time usage. All words and pictures online may be there forever: “only say it or post it if you want the entire world to have access to your message or picture for all time” (David A. Bednar). So, think very carefully how you use technology.

“The caution that marks our speech must also mark our texting, our emailing, our commenting, our blogging and our tweeting. The fact that we communicate at all should cause us to stop and consider every word. The fact that we communicate so often today and do so before so great an audience should cause us to tremble. As we communicate all day we give ourselves unending opportunity to sin with our words.” (Challies)

1. Only say things on email that you would say in person (to their face)
2. Only say things on email or online that you would say out loud with Mum and Dad in the room (or their parents).
3. Never take photos of yourself without clothes on (one day you may think this sounds fun, or someone might ask you to). Always delete any photos of others like this that you might receive. Never forward photos like this on to others.
4. Don’t look at inappropriate photos or videos on any device, and don’t share inappropriate photos or videos of yourself with others. If you encounter something inappropriate, delete it, or close it, whatever it takes. Just as importantly, make a mental note of the path that led to it to help you avoid it in the future.

***
Isn’t it cool to be growing up and getting more fun stuff! We love you and we trust you to be responsible and wise. We also know you’ll make mistakes and we will still love you and forgive you. There may be times that your technology will be taken away. There may be times when you lose it. We will work it out together.

Use all technology to glorify God and serve him and his people. Sometimes this will mean using technology wisely. Sometimes it will mean not using it at all. The rest of your life (and ours) will be spent figuring out how to do this well. We love you very much.

[Signed by all three of us]

Get Real

Get Real, John S. Leonard

This great offering from New Growth Press has been sitting unread as an eBook on my iPad for way too long.   I wish I’d read it sooner.

Leonard has written an excellent book which looks at the pitfalls of so called ‘traditional’ evangelism, and he presents a better way forward.   Many Christians are uncomfortable and awkward with evangelism.  They think they have to follow a set way, explain the gospel completely as soon as given the chance, and then often feel ill-equipped to do so.  Rather than a challenge to learn tracts or evangelistic presentations, Leonard challenges us to think about our whole life as evangelism, a life lived under the grace of God and one which is appealing to unbelievers.  I know that much of what he has to say is not actually new thinking, but it definitely was a helpful reminder of the things that matter when you seek to share your faith. 

He starts by reminding the reader again of the gospel we share, how it is grounded in grace, all of it and how that defines all of our lives:

We must realize it is all Jesus and nothing of use and give him all the praise and glory.  The Christian life is lived – from beginning to end – by grace.  If we are going to share this message with others, we must first know it for ourselves (p22).

Then the bulk of the book: A Real Approach to Sharing the Gospel, deals with many different areas of how we share our faith.  Some of the highlights along the way were:

• Be normal but a bit crazy.   That is, be a normal person, don’t be weird: be honest about your struggles and weaknesses, don’t present a false front of faith.  But at the same time, be a bit crazy in your life of faith – because how you live and what matters to you (time priorities, money priorities, etc) will seem a little crazy to others.
• Be more than a friend – be a support to people.  Get to know people well, ask questions and care about them.   Become the person they will seek out in times of crisis, and the one to whom they will ask when they need answers.   Obviously this takes time and care.  
• Keep evangelising Christians – for they keep needing to remember they are saved by grace not works – and disciple non-Christians – that is, show how we live, what matters, what we prioritise.   You don’t just keep repeating the gospel to unbelievers, you show them how you live it out and how all of the bible can apply to life.  That means the moment of conversion is just one step along the path of becoming disciple of Christ.
• Sow widely.  Be available to a wide number of people who come across your path.  Go through the same checkout to get to know the same person.  Talk to your hairdresser.  Smile at people on the bus and on the plane.  Ask shopkeepers from other countries where they are from and about their families, and then remember the details for next time you go in.   Stop seeking to be efficient in the self-check and the do-it-yourself section – but allow time to talk to people.   If you are clearly available to talk, people will talk to you.
• Change your testimony to include all the ways God has worked in your life since you came to faith.  How he has changed you as an employee, a parent, a spouse, a child.  Don’t stop your account when you became a Christian – for many of us, that story is now very old and God has proven his faithfulness and grace countless times since then in ways which are much more relevant to people you talk to.   Talk of what he has done and is now continuously doing in your life.
• Raise curiosity – challenge people’s views with an idea, but stop talking when you can tell they aren’t interested.   Much better to leave them wanting more and thinking about what you said.
• Pray with your eyes open ­– People can be uncomfortable if you pray with your eyes closed, especially when you meet in public.  They feel self-conscious and awkward (let’s be honest, lots of Christians do too in public places!)  Why not just say you are going to pray but tell them it will look like a normal conversation, so no-one is embarrassed by it?

That is really only a taste of all the very helpful things Leonard had to offer here.   If you want to think about how to share your faith, but living a life of faith by grace this is the book for you.  Leonard will challenge you to be open and real with all people, to listen well, to speak less, to gently challenge where appropriate and to be available.   Highly recommended.