Today’s Memorable Monday book review and memorable quotes are from the book Soaring Above the Circumstances, by Dean Kilmer.

“More than 117 million people in our country are living with chronic illnesses. Taking into account their family members who provide them with care, almost everyone in our country is dealing with some form of serious illness.”

In spite of the fact that this book is primarily about chronic illness, it is an easy to read book, packed full of encouraging Bible verses and examples of several people in the Bible who “soared like an eagle” above their difficult circumstances by becoming a blessing to someone else.

The author, pastor of a church in Waxahachie, Texas, says he decided to write this book because “everywhere I look I see evidence of faith’s life-changing power.” This includes many from his own congregation “who are weary from years of fighting serious illnesses and yet are living victoriously.” Many of the true-life stories are filled with both faith and humor, and I throughly enjoyed reading it.

Pastor Kilmer gives four common characteristics of these men and women, young and old, whom he calls his heroes of faith:

1. They all inspire others with their faith and actions.
2. They all have great faith in God.
3. They are all involved in serving other people in spite of their problems.
4. They all know that God has a purpose for their lives.

I hope others can see all of these characteristics in my life, but honestly this book challenged me to look for more ways to bless others. Because of my physical problems, I can’t go and clean someone’s house. I can’t take someone to a doctor’s appointment. But I can send someone a card to encourage them. When someone is hurting or in the hospital, I can pray with them and send them a card to help them turn their focus upon the Lord. I don’t know where you are physically, but there are very few people who are too sick to be a blessing to someone else.

A COUPLE MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM THIS BOOK:

“The eagle does not fight the storm; it uses the wind to climb to safety. We need to learn not to be distressed by our illnesses; instead, we can use our struggles to fly closer to our God.”