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cassietea783's review against another edition
5.0
I'm still chewing on this book, but I recommend it. It's challenging, gritty, honest, and witty. Shannan Martin comes across as a loving mom and wife, a loyal friend, and someone who genuinely cares about her community--a community that is often ignored or overlooked. Her compassion for her neighbors is empowering, and I love reading about her relationships with her adopted children. Everything she does seems to take her outside of her comfort zone, and in doing so it challenges us to do the same. She's inspiring without trying to be, and she's very humble in her attempts to love those around her. Read this book and you too may find yourself chewing on the messages therein for months afterward.
nomer15's review against another edition
5.0
What a beautiful book! In "The Ministry of Ordinary Places", Shannan Martin shares candidly the story of how her family put down roots in a neighborhood she never imagined living in and seeing Jesus in the midst of it all. Life changed unexpectedly for her family when God called them from the rural to the urban. Plunked down in the middle of a city where they knew no one, they set out to truly bloom where they were planted, getting to know their neighbors and investing in the local low-income school and dying church. While it's a story of how God has used their family, it's more a story of how God has changed them in the midst of it all. By allowing their vision for life to be shaped by God, they have seen how He has worked in their own lives as they have opened themselves up to be changed and challenged by it all.
I fell in love with this book from the very beginning. Martin writes in a warm, winsome way that draws the reader in right away. The book is divided into four sections. I personally resonated with the second section in particular, which focused on hospitality. So often, we hide behind excuses instead of opening our homes for a meal or a simple chat with a neighbor. Martin reminds us that the hospitality is the point--not the state of our homes or the quality of the meal. Hospitality can be offered by inviting someone over for take-out or by meeting up a local playground. I was challenged to think how I can start opening my home to make room for people at my table.
What a gift this book is. Wise words for a challenging, polarizing time in our society. Simple acts of neighborliness, investing deeply where you are planted, and entering into the lives of others even in the midst of our own brokenness can have more impact than we can ever imagine.
"As Christ-followers, we are called to be long-haul neighbors committed to authenticity and willing to take some risks. Our vocation is to invest deeply in the lives of those around us, devoted to one another, physically close to each other as we breathe the same air and walk the same blocks. Our purpose is not so mysterious after all. We get to love and be loved deeply right where we're planted, by whomever happens to be near. We will inevitably encounter brokenness we cannot fix, solve, or understand, and we'll feel as small, uncertain, and outpaced as we have ever felt. But we'll find our very lives in this calling, to be among people as Jesus was, and it will change everything." (p. xviii)
(I’ve received this complimentary book through the BookLook program in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required and the views expressed in my review are strictly my own.)
I fell in love with this book from the very beginning. Martin writes in a warm, winsome way that draws the reader in right away. The book is divided into four sections. I personally resonated with the second section in particular, which focused on hospitality. So often, we hide behind excuses instead of opening our homes for a meal or a simple chat with a neighbor. Martin reminds us that the hospitality is the point--not the state of our homes or the quality of the meal. Hospitality can be offered by inviting someone over for take-out or by meeting up a local playground. I was challenged to think how I can start opening my home to make room for people at my table.
What a gift this book is. Wise words for a challenging, polarizing time in our society. Simple acts of neighborliness, investing deeply where you are planted, and entering into the lives of others even in the midst of our own brokenness can have more impact than we can ever imagine.
"As Christ-followers, we are called to be long-haul neighbors committed to authenticity and willing to take some risks. Our vocation is to invest deeply in the lives of those around us, devoted to one another, physically close to each other as we breathe the same air and walk the same blocks. Our purpose is not so mysterious after all. We get to love and be loved deeply right where we're planted, by whomever happens to be near. We will inevitably encounter brokenness we cannot fix, solve, or understand, and we'll feel as small, uncertain, and outpaced as we have ever felt. But we'll find our very lives in this calling, to be among people as Jesus was, and it will change everything." (p. xviii)
(I’ve received this complimentary book through the BookLook program in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required and the views expressed in my review are strictly my own.)
lindseyharvey's review against another edition
4.0
I’m a little wary of people that act like living in an urban environment is a prerequisite to following Jesus and I was nervous that that’s where Shannan was heading. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to be wrong. At one point she says “There’s no mile marker and no city limit that can separate you from the dazzling plan of God.” As an introvert and a homebody I reallyyyy prefer to not live on top of my neighbors.
I really enjoyed her “no-hype faithfulness” and this quote specifically won me over “Do I want anyone in the entire world, with one notable exception, to “love on me”? Um, no. Kindly, don’t you dare.”
I really enjoyed her “no-hype faithfulness” and this quote specifically won me over “Do I want anyone in the entire world, with one notable exception, to “love on me”? Um, no. Kindly, don’t you dare.”
jordanak03's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
erinmsalmon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
amyrbounds's review against another edition
4.0
Just finished this and it has left me with more questions than when I started. I think that is a very good thing! I will be looking at WHO is my neighbor very differently now. "I received an Advance Reader Copy from Harper Collins Christian Publishers."
moonwisdom's review against another edition
5.0
WOW. First five-star book of the year! I loved this one.
I'm terrible at living in the present. Like, utterly awful at it. So this book met me in my darker places and showed me where I need to improve. But it did it in such a poetic voice that I didn't even mind all that much. Now, the difficult thing is going to be to put these lessons into action in my everyday life-- but if I'm looking to this book for advice on that, it would tell me that I don't have to be perfect: just myself.
I'm terrible at living in the present. Like, utterly awful at it. So this book met me in my darker places and showed me where I need to improve. But it did it in such a poetic voice that I didn't even mind all that much. Now, the difficult thing is going to be to put these lessons into action in my everyday life-- but if I'm looking to this book for advice on that, it would tell me that I don't have to be perfect: just myself.
isabellesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
“Why oh why do we keep forgetting that family is so much broader than the people who share our name, and that we’re all just looking for a genuine home?”
This book is exactly what my heart needed right now. Such a perfect reminder that humanity is crying out to be nurtured, and we are called to throw grace around like glitter.
This book is exactly what my heart needed right now. Such a perfect reminder that humanity is crying out to be nurtured, and we are called to throw grace around like glitter.