Yes.  It is true.  I really like Lynne Spears.

But let me be frank: This blog entry is a somewhat “required” review after I had received a free copy from Michael Hyatt back in late September.

I’m actually 1 day late of the promised post.  Sorry!

And I’m late because it actually took me that long to get up the actual nerve to read this book.  I mean, seriously:  I had your very guessable feelings about the idea of Lynne Spears because of who’s mother she really is, and I had honestly only heard one thing about her prior to this book being released: typical crazy stage mom gone wild.

When I actually picked it up, I blazed through it in 2 days.  Why?  Because it was a good read.  It inspired me, encouraged me, and I really now do have hope that Britney Spears is not outside the pull of the salvation plan.

Crazy, huh?  I mean, there are some people I see in the media and where my first gut reaction is “It’s hopeless for them; Christ is everything that they need but not even close to anything that they want.”  She says herself:

This is why sticking close to home and family is so important.  All that you come from, all the people who don’t have a thing to gain by loving you – this is what grounds a person and helps that individual know his or her own mind.  I want my kids to know their own minds so very much, and they can’t do that unless they know God.

Lynne Spears, she’s a woman of faith.  And, it looks like she’s been like that all the way through Britney’s crazy career and then some. Amazing.

So I can actually, with a straight face, recommend reading this memoir:  The chapters near the end about how this crazy loon Sam took control of Britney’s life… was gripping. It was actually very exciting, and I had some heart felt feelings of sadness for Britney, and a very new found disgust for paparazzi.

But what really won me over were the personal anecdotes of how Lynne personally coped with the rise and fall rollercoaster that she was inevitably pulled into.  It was plain spoken and thoughtful.  And it made me realize, just as she had mentioned countless times in the book, that she’s just a “normal” person.

“Normal” enough to the point where I could actually empathize with her, and throw her an “amen”:

When I reflect, I realize something: the fame that came crashing into my life may have been a shock to me, but God was not surprised.  everything that has happened to my family has passed through his hands.  It says in Scripture that God chastens those he loves, and through that chastening we emerge stronger and closer to him.  He must really love me.

Word.