"You are Not Alone" (Jennie Allen)

TITLE: You Are Not Alone: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxious Thoughts and Believing What's True
AUTHOR: Jennie Allen
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: Waterbrook Multnomah, 2024, (192 pages).

Mental health is a big topic nowadays. Ever since the Covid pandemic, we continue to hear news reports and various mainstream articles talking about the need for proper mental healthcare. One of the best ways to cultivate good mental health is toward the young. Many problems arise out of a poor or traumatic upbringing. As the younger population becomes more exposed to the Internet, it is increasingly important to take steps to foster wisdom and tact when dealing with so much information, especially via social media. That is not the only concern. Children needs guidance in almost all areas of life. From discerning Truth from fiction to dealing with thoughts and all kinds of feelings, author Jennie Allen gives us tools and tips to guide the younger ones among us. It is easy to feel helpless with the continuing onslaught of information and mass misinformation out there. Thankfully, this resource helps us put things in perspective. Calling it a "Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxious Thoughts and Believing What's True," this book anchors readers on the foundation of all stability: The Bible. Written in three parts, Allen guides us with clear instruction and biblical wisdom on how to deal with life, and especially our spiritual upbringing.

"Listen, Listen, Speak" (Jay Y. Kim)

TITLE: Listen, Listen, Speak: Hearing God and Being Heard in a Noisy World
AUTHOR: Jay Y. Kim
PUBLISHER: New York, NT: Faithwords, 2024, (256 pages).

We want to be heard and understood. More often than not, people tend to mistake one for the other. In this social media culture, visibility is often linked to those who can speak the loudest, share the most, and attract the most attention. That is not always true. In fact, once the dust settles, we can see that there is more than meets the eye. Our world tends to be filled with all kinds of noises. Many clamour for attention but few bother to listen. In a wonderful push-back against the temptations of a noisy world, author Jay Kim has written an important book about learning to listen doubly hard before speaking. He calls us to distinguish "clarity" from "volume" by saying: ".. loudness often grabs our attention, it’s clarity that holds our attention. Grabbing attention is transactional. Holding attention is relational." Wise words. Listening is a key spiritual discipline. Elijah practices it. Jesus lives it. We are all called to do the same. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to listening. The author begins by helping us take down these barriers.

In Part One, he shows us the pitfalls of the lack of listening. With the rise of fake news and the malicious use of AI technology by scammers, we all need to learn the basics of discernment.

"Worth Seeing" (Amy L. Williams)

TITLE: Worth Seeing: Viewing Others Through God's Eyes
AUTHOR: Amy Lyn Williams
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024, (232 pages).
 

Our society often elevates the externals over the internals, the visible instead of the invisible. In many developed economies, people rush headlong toward attaining the 5Cs: Cars, Cash, Condominiums, Credit Cards, and Country Clubs. With that, people tend to gravitate toward those who are famous, rich, and powerful. Fact is, not everyone can be world famous, materially rich, and powerful. What happens to the rest of us? What about the marginalized and those despised by society? Can we learn to see all people for who they are, regardless of their reputations or ill-repute, poverty or riches, seen and unseen? More importantly, how do we learn to see our fellow human beings the way that God has intended for us to see? Beginning with the story of how Sarai mistreated Hagar in Genesis 16, author Amy Williams shows us that amid Hagar's depressing situation, God sees her and encourages her. God assures her that even when the world do not, God sees her for what she is worth. As one who ministers frequently to gang members, high-risk youths, and people who fell into a life of crime, she calls herself a "Hope Dealer." She also works as a "female gang-intervention specialist and juvenile justice advocate." The key is to learn to see people from God's point of view as best as we can.  Williams shows us the four fundamental ways of seeing: