Naomi Zacharias has been Divorced. But why do you care?

139. (UPDATE: since writing this blog, literally hundreds of people per day have been here. Naomi has been doing some interviews lately, which has upped the public curiosity)

139 times people have come to my blog (specifically my book review of The Scent of Water)  this week seeking a certain tidbit of information that, if you found this post via a search engine, you most likely are after. And thanks to Word Press for the nifty statistics tool that tells me these things.

Naomi Zacharias Divorce. Divorce Naomi Zacharias. “Naomi Zacharias” Divorce. Is Naomi Zacharias Divorced? Naomi Zacharias Wedding. Ravi Zacharias Divorce (Huh?).

139 times this week  human beings ended up on my blog by searching these terms through Google, Yahoo, etc. I have no idea whether or not these are 139 individual people or if someone particularly obsessed with Naomi’s personal life spends his days Googling  her. While this would make my heart sad for that one individual, my heart is made sad with the thought that there were 139 people wondering about the personal life of Naomi.

Where’s the Gospel? A Book Review: The Scent of Water by Naomi Zacharias.

Zondervan provided me with the book free of charge, for the purpose of review.

(See the current conversation on this review and join it at http://amzn.to/m7R6hI)

Synopsis

This is an autobiography of Naomi Zacharias’ life. She takes the reader through the incredible (and enviable) adventures that 99% of us will never go on. Providing opportunities for children to get liver transplants they will never get, visiting the Red Light district in Amsterdam armed with compassion and hope for the women enslaved there, undercover opps into Afghanistan under the cover of darkness, and much more. Through all of these circumstances she weaves us in and out her story.

Best line of the book:

“I remember the time of fearlessness fondly. But in truth, the naiveté of younger years should not be confused with courage. It is only courage when we know the cost of failure. It is only faith when there is the potential for doubt. And it can only be won when we have to fight for it. (p. 77)”

My Thoughts

Here’s the good stuff. Naomi is completely open and honest throughout the book. She is far from perfect, and she lets us know that early and often. Her life is one filled with adventure, chance and heartbreak. Her openness and honesty was refreshing and instructive. In the chapter “Wild Tresses” she lets us in on some hurtful relationships that were ruined by the monster called porn. As a man, she gives me the perspective that I cannot have on my own: that of a woman. That perspective of feeling betrayed, of feeling insufficient, of being less than what a “woman” ought to be; she saw her man falling for someone who had what she did not and would not ever have. The image of God in a woman is destroyed through porn, and she helps us see this from her own perspective.