Anyone who has eaten with a pregnant woman knows that she is apt to crave some unusual delicacies.  Husbands joke (after the fact) about midnight runs to the grocery store for pickles in an attempt to satisfy the woman who is carrying his child.

The Hottie Hubby has learned that the more detailed the description of my particular craving and the more involved my hands become in creating this imaginary food, the stronger my lust for a particular food.

Though I do have cravings when I am pregnant, they typically aren’t all that unusual.  But there is Someone I have CRAVED throughout all of my previous pregnancies:  more of God.  I feel a compulsive need to have hour to two hour long quiet times, as if I am storing up time in the Word to be used for an upcoming lean season when I have a newborn. 

As author Chris Tomlinson states towards the end of his book, Crave, {cravings} “are signs that lead us to Him.” 

When I am pregnant I have such thoughts as,

• Will the baby be OK?
• Is it a boy or a girl?
• Will my midwife get here in time for the delivery?
• What if I bleed to much?
• What if my midwife is sick?
• What will we name the baby?

All of these questions and thoughts are not mine to worry about.  They are things that I must present to the Lord, and trust that He will give us a safe delivery of Wisdom at the proper time. 

Yet God uses my pregnancies to become aware of my daily need for Him.  I CRAVE God like no other time (except when the Hottie is away on a trip and I feel like I might pull my hair out parenting by myself).  When I am working for two, I get tired, grouchy, selfish, stubborn, and emotional.  I need God in order to not be a monster to my children.  I’ve learned that seemingly attainable cravings such as comforting food, extra sleep, TV time, mommy-time, only last momentarily and never provide lasting fulfillment. 

Chris states,

Our craving for happiness and joy is from God.  He created us with a craving that longs to be filled.  And when we fill this hole with anything but Him, we realize none of it works.  We find ourselves in a story that has been told for centuries.  As the pages turn in our lives, each chapter brings a new pursuit that eventually ends in disappointment.  The plot twists and turns, but the cast of characters remains the same: security, comfort, wealth, power, sex, success, popularity, status. . .anything and everything we believe will bring us fulfillment.  We fail to read between the line, to see the beauty of the story behind the story.  I think we misunderstand the point of the craving itself.

It is a funny little process.  I used to crave having kids because I was told that I would not be able to have children.  But once I became pregnant, I craved comfort.  When I was comfortable, I wanted to be thin.  When I didn’t instantly become thin, I craved a Dairy Queen Blizzard.  Once I had a Blizzard, I craved another kid.  And so on and so on.  And now I crave peace and quiet contentment with JUST the Lord.

Now that my 200 word review has snowballed into an essay, let me ask you the same thing Chris asked me as I read his book.  What do you crave?  Are you always looking towards the next event?  Do you struggle to be present in the moment?  Are your thoughts consumed with idols, things that you dwell upon that distract you from what your soul REALLY wants?

As you read Crave, Chris will take you on a tour through various venues within his heart that are revealing, thought provoking, and even piercing.  Be prepared to be lured into reading chapter after chapter, because he hooks you with either sometimes shocking or at least visually descriptive sentences that will arouse your curiosity to read on.

If you are craving a new book . . . why don’t you try and win this book?  I have an extra copy laying around that Harvest House Publishers sent me (for free) after Chris asked me to review his book.  I’m keeping my copy, but I’ll give you my spare.  I will ship it directly to you (cheaply, of course, media mail style.)

The Rules

How to Enter (and yes my friends and family can enter . . . I use www.random.org to pick the winner . . . and you aren’t friends with Mr. Random.  No one is. So enter to win ON MY BLOG NOT through a FACEBOOK COMMENT.)

Mandatory:  Visit Chris Tomlinson’s website, www.cravesomethingmore.org, and tell me something about it. 

Optional Entries (meaning write a new and separate comment)

1. Become a fan of my blog (look over on the right sidebar) and tell me that you are new or already were a fan.
2. Tell me how often you floss your teeth (you’ll understand this question when you read the book).
3. Describe a time when God asked you to do something that seemed utterly foolish but you obeyed anyway (Chris has a lot of these moments).
4. Blog about this giveaway.
5. Put my Granola Mom badge/button on your blog in a continuously visible location.
6. Describe to me the food you often crave.

Giveaway Ends:  Monday, February 21, 2010

Sorry US residents only!

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