LOL with God

Farrel, Pam and Dawn Wilson. LoL with God: Devotional Messages of Hope & Humor for Women. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2010.

This is a devotional book for women centered around "text messages from God" created from Bible verses. Each devotional contains a Bible "TXT," a short devotional thought, suggested prayer/application, and a place for women to write their own text messages back to God. Occasional devotionals contain short humorous stories as well.

Hmmm. This particular book definitely gave me pause. I do think that God has a sense of humor, I do think He likes it when we laugh and enjoy ourselves, and I am sure He is glad that some people might find this form of devotional reading more approachable or doable than a traditional devotional.

However, I am concerned about the light-hearted, casual approach this book offers. Turning Bible verses into TXTspeak was completely unnecessary, and becomes redundant since the authors also listed the original Bible verse at the bottom of each page where a Bible TXT appears. Texting back to God seems a bit odd, too. I am all for writing out prayers, especially if that helps a person to think or to focus, but to write out a text-message - which is intentionally short and impersonal - to God? I think that's a bit over the top.

Overall, I think the authors of this book were well-intentioned, but perhaps the book would work better if marketed as a gift book instead of a devotional. I could easily imagine reading a page or two of a book like this if it were left in a guest bedroom or an end table at a house, but I will not be using this book for a devotional study. The texting approach simply pulls away from the seriousness and sullies what would otherwise have been good, timely devotional thoughts for women. Sorry, folks, but this one is not worth your time. Glance through it at the store if you'd like, but leave it on the shelf.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of review.