Rain evokes for me all the mysteries of God's presence (and seeming absences) on the landscape of my life." Through personal stories, honest reflection, and original poetry written straight from her heart, Leslie Parrott shares her struggle to remain open to God's revelations even (or especially) during the "demands and chaos of life.
#1 New York Times best-selling authors, Les and Leslie. A husband-and-wife team who not only share the same name, but the same passion for helping others build healthy relationships. In 1991, the Parrotts founded the Center for Relationship Development on the campus of Seattle Pacific University - a groundbreaking program dedicated to teaching the basics of good relationships.
Married in 1984, the Parrotts bring real-life examples to their speaking platform. Their professional training - Leslie as a marriage and family therapist, and Les as a clinical psychologist - ensures a presentation that is grounded, insightful and cutting-edge.
The Parrotts are New York Times #1 Best Selling Authors. Their books include the award-winning Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts, Love Talk, Real Relationships, The Parent You Want to Be, The Hour That Matters Most and Crazy Good Sex.
Each year Les and Leslie speak in over 40 cities. Their audiences include a wide array of venues, from churches to Fortune 500 company board rooms. Their books have sold over two million copies in more than two dozen languages.
The Parrotts have been guests on many national TV and radio programs such as CNN, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The View with Barbara Walters, NBC Nightly News, and Oprah. Their work has been featured in USA Today and The New York Times.
I think it really depends on what you're hoping to get out of this book what you'll think of it. It's kind of geared more toward being a Christian lesson manual than a casual read. The content is based heavily on The Wasteland by T.S. Elliot as well as the author's life experiences. The application of these things in teaching Christian principles is pretty well done, but it might be a bit mundane for someone looking for an engaging story.
The overriding lesson in the book is that we all have trials, some of them are pretty major, and God is always mindful of us and willing to help if we let Him. If we can learn to recognize His hand in our everyday lives, then it all makes more sense and we can grow from the things that seem to hold us down.
This book intends to promote introspection and self-evaluation from the reader to help him/her refine the ways we involve God in our lives, and I think it can be a great tool for that if used properly. I really enjoyed reading it, and I'm sure any Christian who wants to understand why God uses hardship to build up His children will find it beneficial as well.
This was a light-read, and yet a very personal memoir at the same time. In brief, vignette-style chapters, Leslie Parrott explores a seemingly endless selection of metaphors of rain/water/weather. The only other Parrott book I had read was "Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts" - which I read in my pre-marriage counseling! This certainly wasn't as deep or as instructional as that, but it was a nice little collection of devotional-type pieces.
Thought provoking and comforting at the same time - being a Pacfic Northwest girl myself, I too have much the same perspective on rain as the author. But had not considered it in quite the same way. This was a lovely read.
I thought the premise of the book might be good for me and things that I'm going through in my life right now. I tried to like this book and become engaged with it, but ended up not finishing it.