Due to Rising Energy Costs. . .by Karen Scalf Linamen

In her book Due to Rising Energy Costs, the Light at the End of Tunnel Has Been Turned Off, Karen Scalf Linamen manages to address some very serious issues in a fun, lighthearted manner.  Being a huge Linamen fan, I had been wanting to read this book but had not yet purchased it when my mom gave me her copy to read.  At the time she gave me the book, I had no idea how much I was going to need it in the very near future.  But as with every Linamen book I've read, I laughed my way through the tears that fell as I related to the circumstances detailed within.

To summarize this book, I'll quote a short excerpt from the last chapter.  "I don't know about you, but I want to live above--not under--the rocks in my life.  I want to stop letting painful stuff in my life smash me down or hold me under, and start letting it take me forward.  After all, the same slab of granite can be a millstone, tombstone, or a stepping-stone.  It can crush, signal the end, or create a path.  I'm voting for the path."

The subject matter is deep enough that one chapter gives the reader plenty to meditate on.  However, the catchy (and hilarious) chapter titles make it nearly impossible to put the book down.  Her witty chapter discussing the positive traits of MacGyver had me nodding my head and saying, "Yes, I remember that episode" and "Wow!  I never thought about it like that."

By the end of the book, I was refreshed, re-energized and ready to face the gloomy circumstances that surrounded me.  While Linamen didn't extol on any new means of finding joy and peace I hadn't known before, her words served as a reminder that Jesus is the source of my song.  My circumstances do not dictate my attitude.  It's up to me how I use the slabs of granite in my life, and I choose to create stepping stones.