THE MINISTRY OF A MESSY HOUSE – REVIEW

My wonderful cousin Naomi, general fountain of knowledge when it comes to books, especially Christian ones, recently sent me a copy of ‘The Ministry of a Messy House’ by Amanda Robbie, after reading my blog How does God bless others through our mess?

Well, blow my socks off if it didn’t just put me out of a job. Mrs R has all the hospitality know-all I’d love to have, and has helpfully published it in one easy-to-read paperback.

A bit more about the book

On closer inspection, however, I discovered it wasn’t just a book about hospitality, although that’s a recurrent theme from start to finish, and there are plenty of tips and suggestions and perceptive theological links.

This is a book about ‘mess’ in all its forms: relationships, church, kids, food, homes. So, even if you have a spotless home and manage to stay on top of your kids’ toys, this book will teach, challenge and inspire. Its starting point is that we’re all ‘messy’, and what we have to offer is flawed and not always high-quality. But when we offer it to God through offering it to others, He does something special with it.

Now that is a very simplistic summary – but if I went into more detail, there’d be no point in buying it, right?

What I most appreciated was…

…the humour and reality of it all. Also the fact that the author is married to a vicar, like me. Her home-life bears so many similarities to ours, that I found this fascinating reading – especially given that they’re a few years ahead of us. It was encouraging to see how things had worked themselves out in their lives, and to be reminded of why we do what we do.

Here’s a pic of the book so you know what you’re looking for when you rush over to your favourite online bookseller directly after reading this review:

You’ll enjoy this book if…

…you want something comfortably easy-to-read, radically practical and Biblically truthful. There are pearls of wisdom scattered throughout, and I was certainly kept interested from start to finish.

Buy The Ministry of a Messy House right now!

(And you may also enjoy my 5 Fun Tidy-Up Ideas for Kids…not saying anything. Just leaving it there.)