Only Angels Can Wing It: The Rest of Us Have to Have Practice

by Liz Curtis Higgs

Only Angels can Wing it is a book not about how to do more, do it better or do it faster. Full of laughter, stories, and insights offered via surveys completed by eight hundred women from all over the country, Only Angels Can Wing it is best read when at the end of a had-to-do-it-all day.

Genres: Christian, Humor, Nonfiction, Devotional

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Former Bad Girl, grateful for the grace God offers. Happy wife of Bill, one of the Good Guys. Proud mom of two grown-up kids with tender hearts. Lame housekeeper. Marginal cook. Pitiful gardener. Stuff I love? Encouraging my sisters in Christ—across the page, from the platform, online, in person. Unpacking Scripture. Traveling wherever God leads. Listening to His heart. Leaning into His embrace.

Reviews

[Debby Zigenis-Lowery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Higgs' wisdom and sense of humor. This book came to me at just the right time. It provided a very needed boost and more than a few giggles.

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good for a book that is 20 years old and out of print. At the time that Higgs wrote the book, she was known as a Christian humorist, and her tone is light. She makes an obvious attempt to be funny, but the tone of the book makes it rushed and flat, like a stand-up comedian that was trying to make a punchline out of each paragraph.

Along the way, Higgs is gently working through the characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman. She gently discusses word meaning, talks about characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman and pulls together a nice exposition of the chapter. I felt like I had been through a gentle and affirming study of the chapter by the end of the book. That's why I'm giving it 3 stars because my impulse was to give it 2 stars for the cheesiness that passes for humor. I often only read a page or two at a time, and that was a great pace to read the book at because I could appreciate the book without feeling overdone by the humor aspect.

Some of her more serious lines gave me pause as I stopped to reflect upon them for days. One such zinger was when she was discussing the quote of how we often step where angels fear to tread. She reminds us that angels have nothing to fear because they only go where God sends them. I've been thinking about that a lot and about how I get myself involved and overwhelmed so often because I am in a place where God hasn't sent me.

Despite my low rating, I've also ordered more of her books (and thought about giving this book a 4 on that basis). I find that she's really a great, gentle expositor of scripture, and one of my goals for 2017 is going to be to read as many of her books, in order, as I can because I would like to see the growth and changes in her writing and scripture exposition. At any rate it interests me, and I'll be starting another of her books soon!

[Indy_Chick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just want to say that normally I love Liz's books, but this one just was a miss for me. I realize it's a dated, but I don't think that is what bothered me. It seemed like she just polled readers/listeners and wrote around that and Proverbs 31, but it didn't seem to flow well to me. Plus, the humor I usually expect from her just didn't work for me in this book. Maybe it was written more for women who are or have been parents at some point. It won't stop me from reading Liz's other books!

[Lilian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though written in the mid-90s, it still has some lessons for those aspiring to live according the Proverbs 31 model. She argues that perfectionism is the enemy of progress and addresses common societal issues that women facing as wives and mothers while using light-hearted humour. If Mrs Higgs were to do an updated version, she should definitely consider an audiobook.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book - from 1995, not as pertinent to my current season of life- lots of quotes interspersed from women she interviewed that distracted from the flow of the book for me - stopped at end of chapter 9

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Good teaching and it made me laugh out loud!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny practical stories about real life experiences ~

[Tasha enderby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liz is always good for a laugh, really good but I recently did her study on the proverbs 31 women and found this book to be just a fiction recap with lots of real life stories from other ladies. It was a good no brainer read to pass time.

[Judi Dearmond]

Liz Curtis Higgs is funny, but so uplifting! This book was an awesome read! Would recommend to everyone!