The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough

Bibliography
Jackson, Neta. The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough. Nashville: Integrity, 2005.

Plot Summary
This is the fourth installment of 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
I feel like an extra member of this group (which they get in this book with Becky Wallace a.k.a. "Bandanna Woman"). I can identify with the narrator Jodi, but I'm starting to feel like friendships are forming with the others. I am seeing my world differently because of these books. What am I teaching my daughter and my students about diversity? Like Jodi's son, I wonder is there a point in trying? The main story of this book focused on Mark and Nony Smith. I felt the sting (which I wonder if Jackson meant) and almost cried reading this book. I am glad that I finished this book because there is hope, (Jodi sees a cardinal and realizes the bird is an analogy for the Yada Yada group itself) and yes, there is a point in trying (Jackson 24). . Thank you Ms. Jackson for once again stepping on my toes, making me think about tough topics and ultimately creating a world in the fiction that is very real.

One "take away" from this book I thought was a great idea: put an alarm clock outside your room set for curfew time. When the kids come in on time, they turn off the alarm and you get to keep sleeping. If, however, they are late, the alarm goes off, and you will know when they arrived. GOOD IDEA!