The Yada Yada Prayer Group: A Novel

Bibliography

Jackson, Neta. The Yada Yada Prayer Group: A Novel. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.

Plot Summary

This is the story of twelve diverse women who meet at a Christian women's conference because they are assigned to the same prayer group. When tragedy befalls one family, the group acts beyond the limits of the conference to become the Yada Yada prayer group. When tragedy finds the main character Jodi, she realizes just what this sisterhood of prayer partners means to her. She grows in her faith and her own Christian understanding. Not everyone experiences the same life, even if they live in the same town or attend the same church.

My Thoughts

Oh my! Where to begin? I devoured this book (and have the others in the series waiting to read).

I could identify with the main character of this book. I won't say how here, just that I could identify with her. Even though I am not living in Chicago, I feel how diverse my hometown is when I look around my own church. Where are the Adeles and Flos? Why isn't there more outreach to people like Yo-Yo? I know that within my city limits, there are people that don't look like me. Why aren't they at my church? What can I do to change my "Christian" thinking to really become a Christian?

I'm reading this book and thinking about the many circles of friends I have (how blessed I am!), and how I need each circle for different reasons. Yada Yada fills a need for these twelve characters in the novel. They also fill the reader's need for characters who are real--even when it doesn't seem socially correct. I appreciate that Jackson allows the characters to react and say and think like the reader while also showing some insight of how our instinct is not necessarily God's wisdom.

The name Yada means "perceive, understand, acquire knowledge, know discern" (Jackson 119). I hope that within my own life, I can become more Yada Yada in my daily walk (that like Jodi often gets pushed aside by life) with God.