Many years ago I read a book called 'Heaven in Ordinary'. This book could share the same title. It draws two separate books into one, telling a total of seventeen short stories about God at work in the ordinary lives of women whose backgrounds and ages are all different. I found this a very easy book to pick up and read in short bursts. The author's simple, warm style is immediately engaging, allowing the women who are at the heart of each story quickly to take centre stage. Often what I long for in my own life is to meet more women who are deeply and personally engaged with God and in the pages of this book I encountered some of them. It's an experience that is always inspiring and that always gives me encouragement in my own walk with the Lord.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the geography of the book. It took me to places that I don't know and into faith at work in settings that are outside of my personal experience. It's in those moments that my understanding of all the wonderful ways in which God is fulfilling His perfect plan grows - and that is always good. Perhaps one or two stories felt a bit insubstantial, but overall it was a real privilege to accept the invitation into the lives of each of these women.

Catherine Knights, Lord's Hill Church of England, Southampton