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A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit |  | Author: Mike Huckabee
Publisher: Sentinel HC
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 47
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 1595230629
Dewey Decimal Number: 976.7053092
EAN: 9781595230621
ASIN: 1595230629
Publication Date: November 3, 2009 (New: Last 30 Days)
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Product Description
"The first Christmas was a simple one. So simple that it had all the makings of a first-class disaster. It's a miracle it turned out well at all. In fact, that's the whole point. It really was, and remains, a miracle--the greatest miracle of all time. And it really was simple."
-Mike Huckabee
Christmas has become synonymous with shopping, overindulging, competition, and stress. But according to Mike Huckabee (who was a pastor before getting into politics), that was never God's intention. Going back to the Nativity, Christmas is supposed to be about simple things: faith, love, family, and hope. The hard part, in today's crazy world, is remembering that those simple things are the most precious of all.
Now Huckabee recounts twelve Christmas memories--often funny, sometimes deeply moving--that range from his childhood in Arkansas to his years as a young husband and father to his time as a governor and then a presidential candidate. These true stories will help you smile, take a deep breath, and maybe slow down your own holiday treadmill. For instance:
As kids, Mike and his sister would sneak open their gifts before Christmas, play with them, then rewrap them so their parents wouldn't notice. The plan worked great for several years until one Christmas morning when young Mike unwrapped a brand-new football...that was covered in mud. That led to a powerful lesson about patience.
In 1966, like millions of preteens, Mike was obsessed with the Beatles. He dug in his heels, telling his parents that if they wouldn't buy him a guitar for Christmas, he didn't want anything at all. He was selfish, stubborn, and obnoxious, with no idea what it would take for working-class parents to find an extra $99. It took many years for him to understand the sacrifice they made for that life-changing gift--or how it connected to the Lord's own sacrifice.
Only a year after Mike and his wife, Janet, had gotten married, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the shocking age of twenty. That Christmas of 1975 was the most terrifying and upsetting they would ever know, as they wondered if they would ever get to share another one. But in retrospect, it's a Christmas they will treasure forever.
If you're looking for a little clarity, sanity, and inspiration at this insane time of year, you're sure to enjoy A Simple Christmas.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
We to get back to the real meaning of Christmas November 23, 2009
Patricia K. Fagerstrom (Gilbert, AZ USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an uplifting book, but Huck is an uplifitng positive person.
After listening to the depressing nightly news, I read a chapter or a half a chapter before I go to bed. I sleep much better because the stories counteract the negative mood of this country.
Some of the stories I can relate to. I was married about the same age as he was but about thirty years before. There were very few apartments to rent because none were built during WW2 and we didn't have much money. But, with God grace, we made it. Simpler probably not but sixty-one years later we still have each other and appreciate what He has provided for us all these years.
Patricia Fagerstrom
Mike Huckabee Discusses Christmas November 22, 2009
LEON L CZIKOWSKY (Harrisburg, Pa USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The author offers stories of 12 aspects of Christmas: patience, sacrifice, loneliness, family, traditions, crisis, hope, stability, limitations, transitions, faith, and rewards.,
Huckabee writes about fighting business bureaucracy. He was offering a solution that he was willing to pay the business extra for that would financially help the business, yet several company representatives refused to approve this beneficial idea because doing so was against their corporate rules. He writes how glad he was to finally speak with someone who understood the businesses should help their customers. The help from this individual allowed Mike Huckabee to see his family at Christmas.
The story of patience related the anticipation of gifts to the anticipation of learning about spirituality.
The story on sacrifice tells of Huckabee selling his prized guitars to help pay rent.
The story of loneliness tells of his uncle's struggles with cancer and moving in with his family as he had nowhere else to go.
The stories on family and tradition related some family Christmas memories.
The story on crisis discusses a time when his wife had health issues with a cancerous tumor at age 20 and how her prayers were answering by helping them deal with the crisis.
The story on hope tells how the child Huckabee expected to be born around Christmas instead was a Thanksgiving baby.
The story on stability explores the challenges of becoming a homeowner.
The story of limitations notes how relatively little Jesus is considered during Christmas and realizing when one needs to ask someone else for help.
The story on transitions discusses Huckabee's deciding to move from being a pastor to becoming a politician. He studied the works of Paul Weyrich, Howard Phillips, and Phyllis Schlafly. He was angered when Arkansas Health Department Director Jocelyn Elders stated "preachers need to get over their affair with a fetus". It was while reflecting during Christmas that he decided to run for office.
The story of faith discusses Huckabee's father's fatal illness and the pleasures his last Christmas brought him.
The story on rewards tells how Huckabee became Governor. He was Lt. Governor when the Governor was convicted of felonies. The Governor at first refused to resign causing confusion as to who held the powers of Governor. The Governor finally resigned and Huckabee took over as Governor. The previous staff took all files, records, and even phone books, making the transition difficult. Being Governor is a round the clock job and Huckabee jokes he learned to always be dressed when exiting the bedroom as there likely will be someone awake at work at the Governor's Mansion. He discusses Christmas in the Governor's Mansion. In conclusion, Huckabee wishes for his readers that "most of all, I hope you have a simple Christmas."
Readers Be Warned: Get Some Kleenex Before Starting This Book November 22, 2009
James R. Holland (Boston, MA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This reviewer is not a big Mike Huckabee fan, but this book has some very moving non-political messages in it. Even a jaded, cynical critic like me found some pretty powerful messages in at least two of the chapters in this autobiographical book. Those dramatic Christmas stories may have affected me as strongly as they did because I find them particularly poignant because our family is going through a similar situation as the life and death battle against cancer of the spine that Huckabee's young bride faced only a year after they were married. The lessons the author details about how this first-hand experience with miracles was only another of the important lessons he learned as a twenty-year old man. His words give hope to all of us.
As the title suggests, this collection of twelve Christmas Stories from Huckabee's life do celebrate the true Holiday Spirit. Not all of them will move the reader to tears, but they all have a moral and in a few instances it's easy to see the source of the former Arkansas Governor's conservative philosophy. This is the story of a man who lived the American Dream and moved from real poverty to the highest success that hard work and trust in God that only America offers all its residents. This is definitely an inspiring read even for the Ex-Governor's political opponents and people who simply don't like him. Some messages transcend mere politics.
The Power of Simplicity November 21, 2009
Henry Flood (Aventura, FL United States)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The Power of Simplicity
Whether you are a believer or not, Christmas is a time of family gathering, personal reflection of the year expiring and of course, the year to come. Most importantly, it is an affirmation and celebration of what C.S. Lewis termed "the Grand Miracle".
As is usual, the bookstores are full of re-issues of Christmas classics and new books too. They come in all varieties. There are inspiring stories that lift the spirit and others that display the many shades of faith. Each year, I try to find at least one Christmas book that offers something unique.
Such is the case with A Simple Christmas by Mike Huckabee, a former Governor of Arkansas, a Baptist minister and now host of the Huckabee program on Fox. He shares 12 stories that celebrate the true Christmas spirit--stories than can engage all audiences--not just Christians.
By turns large and small, the former Governor shows us the importance and power of simplicity for families during the Christmas season and beyond. The stories are largely autobiographical and told with unusual grace warmth and wit. You get to know Huckabee in an intimate, direct and personal way. He writes much like he speaks and you can identify with him on many levels as each story unfolds.
In the introduction, Mike uses his famous wit and humor to describe how he would have done things differently if he were God but in the end, God's "Grand Miracle" was both radically simple and superior to our sophisticated thinking. In doing so, he makes the story of Mary and Joseph become alive for us in contemporary times 2010 years later. You feel the power of simplicity.
And then, we are treated to 12 stories from childhood to now in Huckabee's personal and family life. Each story is headlined by a one word theme or focus. Patience is profiled from his childhood--a lifelong problem for him. Sacrifice describes his hardscrabble existence starting out in near abject poverty. Two others share perspectives on the timeless importance of families and traditions being the glue that holds us together.
Some stories stand out because you can identify with them in a very personal way. Such is the case with story number 6 titled "Crisis". Married only seven months to his wife Janet, their world was plunged into crisis when Janet was diagnosed with spine cancer in 1975. Thirty-three years ago, cancer was a much more deadly diagnosis then than now for many cancer forms.
My wife and I faced the exact same crisis in 2006: spine cancer. A 10% chance of walking again for her but aggressive treatment and 24 months of intense physical therapy restored her ability to walk. Janet too had a good outcome following surgery and thankfully, a much shorter recovery. Suffering tests our soul and spirit but we do not suffer adversity alone. "God's greatest gift to us is not to remove us from crisis, but to walk through crisis with us."
In the closing chapter titled "Rewards" Huckabee reflects on the rich rewards of life despite its ups, downs and surprises. He reminds us that "a great Christmas isn't the expensive one or the elaborate one. It's the simple one." We might not hear it above the din of parties and bright lights.
You'll surely hear and realize it in stillness and in silence. With open hearts and thankfulness we encounter God in Christ. We encounter his saving grace and providence. This warm and witty Huck wishes us a simple Christmas.
Huckabee: A politican AND a writer November 21, 2009
HH (New York City)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Not only can Huckabee articulate the issues of the day...he can write--write well...and write about non-political themes...
I could relate to the story of Mike wanting a guitar...When I was in my teens nothing would do but for me to have a guitar! (I was going to be a rock star, don't you know...) My single mom was strapped for funds, but I didn't know how bad it really was. Well, she got me my guitar. And with every passing year, I appreciate her more...
This book truly touched me.
Another holiday book that touched me:Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices: A Holiday Novel of Hope and Healing This inspiring story shows how the actions of just one individual can have far reaching effects for good...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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