Cat Pollock Writes

Up for review this week is:   Miracles and Grace in an Unlikely Place: Memoir of a Woman Biker Bar Owner   Charisse Tyson ( website ), 2013. Lifeanew Publishing, 1st Edition* Find it where I found it: Amazon.com Link   Summary: Miracles and Grace in an Unlikely Place is a memoir written by Charisse Tyson, owner of Johnny's Bar and Grill in Hollister, CA. If that bar sounds familiar to you, it might be because an incident taking place there in 1947 was the inspiration for the 1953 movie The Wild One , staring Marlon Brando. The story in this memoir, though, is one of how God met Tyson where she was and transformed her life (and her marriage). Why I Read It: Besides the part where I found it for super cheap (maybe even free) on Amazon right before I left for a mission trip, and was looking for a memoir or autobiography of a Christian woman to read on the plane? Hmmm... It's because I love hearing (and reading) stories about how God meets p...

(When I was surfing the net last night, I stumbled into this awesome blog link-up called Five Minute Friday. Every Thursday night, they post a one word writing prompt. At any time in the week between, you have five minutes to write whatever comes to mind, and when you're finished, you post it. No edits, no worries about grammar, punctuation, etc. Sounds right up my alley as I'm working to start posting again on a semi-regular basis. If you're interested in trying it out, just visit the site: Five Minute Friday link On to the actual post, shall we?)  It's bubbling just underneath the surface, threatening to spill over. Go completely out of control. The anger. The hurt. The feeling of being misunderstood. It's killer. It's the trigger. If I'm not careful, it will come out and land on everyone else. I have to control it. I know what happens when I release it. I know how easy it is for me to hurt the people around me. People I love. People who love ...

Jumping straight from one challenge into another! I'm calling it the 52 Weeks of Books Challenge, and if the challenge isn't clear, here's the link with an explanation and links to the blog posts as they go live ( 52 Weeks of Books Challenge ). The Wild of God: A Global Journey Eric Hanson ( website ), 2013, WestBowPress Find it here - Amazon.com link Summary: The Wild of God is the story of the author's experience on The World Race , an eleven month, eleven country mission trip through Adventures In Missions  (a Christian missions organization based in Gainesville, GA in the USA). It chronicles the people he met and the ways he changed over the course of his journey. Why I Read It: Eric Hanson was one of a few people from the on-campus fellowship I was a part of in college to go on the World Race in January of 2007. In the spring of 2008 (after his return to the USA), he came back for awhile while he started working out what was next. One...

I remember the end of 2009 a little too clearly. On the one hand, life was a whirlwind as I tied up loose ends, filled up boxes with my old life, and tried to pack everything I could possibly need for most of a year trekking the globe without going over a 50 lb weight limit. Visits to the dentist, visits to the doctor, visits with friends and family wanting a chance to say goodbye all clashed with the normal commitments of the holiday season. Thanksgiving. Birthdays. Christmas. The 2009 holiday season was overwhelming. Me with my sister, Mary, at the 2009 NLBC Christmas Dinner and White Elephant Auction. I was excited, but exhausted, and my journey hadn't even started yet! I’m fast forwarding seven years, and find myself in that place of being overwhelmed again. So much more has happened than I know how to put in to words. The good and bad, beautiful and ugly, momentous and monotonous – if they were a sewing project, I’d be looking at the pattern and asking what it...