Trusting the Detours: A Spiritual Guide for College Students is just that – a guide for students who are either enrolled in college or heading to college. .  However, the book is also appropriate for people of all ages. We can all benefit from the words of wisdom found in the book.  The book is small and unpretentious in appearance – purposely designed to resemble a spiral notebook and to be non-gender specific.  The book is 48 pages long and provides fifteen meditations that are appropriate to issues that people face today.  The topics range from issues such as “Your Friends…” to “A Work in Progress.”  The book is unique in that each meditation is accompanied by a course of action to follow during the week – a way to live out the message of the meditation.  Each meditation also includes a Bettyism and a scripture verse for further reflection.  Extra pages are provided for taking notes or adding comments to a particular meditation.   A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to the Caddo-Bossier Cancer Foundation League and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The Way of the Cross: Meditations of a Cancer Survivor correlates the journey of a cancer patient (or anyone who is facing a trial in his or her life) with the journey that Jesus took on the road to Calvary.  The meditations in the book follow the format of the Stations of the Cross.  If you are familiar with the Stations of the Cross, you know that there are fourteen stations, beginning with “Jesus is Condemned” and ending with “The Body of Jesus is Placed in the Tomb.”  (The book provides an explanation of the devotion of the Stations of the Cross prior to the meditations.)  Often, as is the case in this book, a fifteenth meditation is added to include a reflection on “The Resurrection” or the victorious part of the journey.  The book is paperback and 35 pages in length.  Each station or meditation is accompanied by a symbolic photograph which assists with the meditation.  The photographs in this book range from nature scenes in Shreveport, Louisiana, to locations such as Pompeii, Italy. The book came about after Bettye and I had spent numerous hours at the cancer center.  We were both struck by the fact that the journey of a cancer patient resembled the journey of Jesus on the road to Calvary. For example, after you receive a diagnosis, you begin to take the steps toward facing the disease.  Sometimes there are setbacks, sometimes things are difficult.  But, you will have helpers placed along the way to make the journey manageable.  The ultimate message of the book is that you are not traveling this road alone.  The meditations in the book are written from the perspective of a cancer patient, but the book is appropriate for anyone who is facing a trial or struggle of some type.  A portion of the proceeds from the book are donated to the Caddo-Bossier Cancer Foundation League and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

A Bettyism is a simple statement that sums up a wealth of wisdom into a few words.  Bettye constantly speaks in such a way, and her comments are so relevant to a number of different situations that I felt it beneficial to include a Bettyism for each meditation found in the Way of the Cross book and the Detours book.  I find myself quoting Bettyisms throughout the day.  One of my favorites is “We have an agenda, but God has a plan.”  Another favorite:  “I don’t need to see the way when I stay close to the One who does.”  These simple words help me to remember that God is in control, and if I have surrendered my plans, my actions, my endeavors to Him, He will manage and organize the details better than anything I could ever orchestrate on my own.  In fact, it’s quite a joy to step back and look at His plan as it unfolds…