Review
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Title: Challenges and Choices: Discovering the Proper Use of Agency
Author: Alan Mangum
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Genre: Nonfiction
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 209
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59955-095-4
Price: $15.99

Reviewed by Karen Hamilton

There are choices placed before us on a regular basis. In dealing with choices and situations, it is often easy to slip into a simplistic form of thinking. The “Victim” versus the “Aggressor” is a common way of thinking and dealing with uncomfortable situations. After all, there are some things I have no control over, but it would be really nice if I did.

Alan Mangum reiterates that every man has Agency, the ability to act for one’s own self. However, that Agency it is not free. Mangum uses examples from his own life to illustrate that for every choice we make there is a consequence to be paid, and for every action taken there is an opposite and equal reaction. When life is throwing muck at you, there is not a lot one can do, other than hold on and keep praying for help.

Mangum details six principles in this book that flow as easy as a comfortable conversation. Like any great conversation, this is not a book that can be picked up half way through and have it be comfortable. This is a start to finish kind of book. The six principles discussed are:

1. Behold, Here is the Agency of man.
2. This Life is a Test
3. As He thinketh in his heart, so he is
4. Tuning the Receiver – little things that make a big difference
5. Parenting –using the Lord as a Role Model and
6. Be still and know that I am God.

These principles are built on one another and lead the reader from one idea to the next, with no abrupt changes in topic or flow.

This is a wonderful book that can give greater insight into the nature of Agency and its effects on daily life. Challenges come to everyone I know, leaving everyone with choices to make. I HIGHLY recommended this book, especially for those who are struggling with choices made by children or parents that are having lingering effects in their own life.