Memoir of a Misfit: Finding My Place in the Family of God

Rating:
Summary: Never Felt Like You Fit In...This Book Is For You
Review: If you've ever felt like you just don't quite fit in -- whether it's a church function or social gathering -- then Memoir of a Misfit is for you. Marcia Ford cleverly shares the highs and lows of her spiritual journey to reveal that her place isn't found as much in a church service as it is in the secure loving arms of her Heavenly Father. The book is extremely-well written and downright funny. It's a laugh-out-loud adventure that will keep you captivated. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Never a Popular Opinion
Review: In the preface to this book, Phyllis Tickle writes, "Misfits give texture to life. They also tend, on a routine basis, to challenge the preconceptions that masquerade among us every day as normative behaviors." I so readily identify with Marcia Ford, not simply because our stories are remotely the same, but because of her willingness to view herself as a perpetual misfit -- hoping to one day fit, but ultimately realizing that it probably is not to be. My favorite line in the book: "I started to believe that never in my life had I held what could be called a popular opinion" (p. 140). Ditto!

In this delightful book, Marcia recounts her life from her early days to the present. Her story involves encountering and being influenced by a wide variety of religious traditions: She was converted by Methodists, taught the Bible by Baptists, introduced to charismatic renewal and contemplation by Roman Catholics, and taught to laugh by Pentecostals. Her spiritual pilgrimage has finally led her to the Episcopalians. She has come to resonate with the centrality of the liturgy where "Everything, everything, pointed to Him -- not to the rector, not to the sermon, not to the music, but to Jesus. This was clearly an evangelical church" (p. 181).

Marcia's self-deprecating humor and candid opinions make her book a delightful read. Throughout the book, she willingly expresses doubts, disillusionment, and despair. In the end, however, she learned that "God [was never] more fully present in my life than He was in those times when He seemed farthest away" (p. 185).

Rating:
Summary: Never a Popular Opinion
Review: In the preface to this book, Phyllis Tickle writes, "Misfits give texture to life. They also tend, on a routine basis, to challenge the preconceptions that masquerade among us every day as normative behaviors." I so readily identify with Marcia Ford, not simply because our stories are remotely the same, but because of her willingness to view herself as a perpetual misfit -- hoping to one day fit, but ultimately realizing that it probably is not to be. My favorite line in the book: "I started to believe that never in my life had I held what could be called a popular opinion" (p. 140). Ditto!

In this delightful book, Marcia recounts her life from her early days to the present. Her story involves encountering and being influenced by a wide variety of religious traditions: She was converted by Methodists, taught the Bible by Baptists, introduced to charismatic renewal and contemplation by Roman Catholics, and taught to laugh by Pentecostals. Her spiritual pilgrimage has finally led her to the Episcopalians. She has come to resonate with the centrality of the liturgy where "Everything, everything, pointed to Him -- not to the rector, not to the sermon, not to the music, but to Jesus. This was clearly an evangelical church" (p. 181).

Marcia's self-deprecating humor and candid opinions make her book a delightful read. Throughout the book, she willingly expresses doubts, disillusionment, and despair. In the end, however, she learned that "God [was never] more fully present in my life than He was in those times when He seemed farthest away" (p. 185).

Rating:
Summary: Making life easier to live...
Review: It was an incredible experience to read into the world of Marcia Ford. I found myself unable to put it down, thinking, what could possible happen to her next!? She has been through so many hardships, most that she can look at now with a humor that makes life seem easier to live. I myself am still searching for that home that is so frequently spoken of in this book. I learned so much from her life, and thanked God that I didn't have to learn it the hard way like she did. Her strength encouraged me a great deal. The day I finished I let a friend borrow it. It is the kind of story that HAS to be shared because different people will gain differently from it.

Rating:
Summary: A Funny, Fresh and Frank Memoir
Review: Marcia Ford claims she's always felt like a "misfit," and for most of her life, she says people have looked at her "funny." Initially, she thought it was because her family was so weird, walking down the sidewalk in a straight line, as they often did. But at the age of ten, when she was away at camp and her family moved without telling her, Ford found herself standing in a room full of strangers who were all looking at her funny. And lo and behold, she wasn't with her family. Unfortunately for Ford, the funny looks continued long after she was "born again" and desperately tries to fit in with other Christians.

In MEMOIR OF A MISFIT, Ford writes what it's like to be a square peg trying to fit into a round hole --- something most of us can relate to, especially within church walls. But what sets Ford apart from the rest of us "misfits" in Christendom is her willingness to stop embracing the impossible ideal of what a Christian is supposed to look, act and feel like and just be...herself. On the way there, though, she runs around in circles, trying everything --- promiscuity, marriage, drugs, alcohol, suicidal thoughts, fundamentalist Christianity, finally chucking all religion --- before eventually coming around, thanks to a couple of Christians showing her unconditional love, to a new faith and realistic understanding of God.

At certain points in her narrative, I felt Ford was sharing too much personal information and it made me a tad uncomfortable. But it works because she writes her tragic tale with so much honesty and tongue-in-cheek wit that it keeps you from getting bogged down in just how sad her story really is. Maybe it's because there's so much to read between the lines.

I thought about Ford's words and my status as a "misfit" as I sat in church last weekend, surrounded by people who all seem to have their act together. Everyone was smiling. Everyone looked so perfect. During the sermon, I actually turned every which way, scanning the crowd to see if I could find someone, anyone not fitting that mold Ford desperately had to break free from before she was able to have an honest and growing relationship with God. I was a hair's breath away from asking the person sitting behind me if she ever questioned anything or if she had any problems. I admit, Ford's book made me wonder how much of myself I had checked at the sanctuary door without noticing before that moment.

Ford's bottom line? Breaking free. And that bottom line serves several purposes: First, to admonish fellow Christians to allow others to discover God loves them, quirks and all. To deny that basic tenet of the Christian faith narrows the Gospel message to one of "fitting in." Her life story echoes Jesus' words in Matthew 9 as he scolds the Pharisees, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Ford's should serve as encouragement to other misfits in the church --- and all of us fit into that category, really --- to stop contorting ourselves into acceptance. Right now. Her journey of faith hasn't exactly been a straight line, but thankfully, she's forged a path for all of us who love God but have been turned off by the church. She wants us to come back and try again. This time, not looking around, comparing ourselves to others but rather looking up and getting to know God --- the God of misfits.

--- Reviewed by Diana Keough

Rating:
Summary: A Funny, Fresh and Frank Memoir
Review: Marcia Ford claims she's always felt like a "misfit," and for most of her life, she says people have looked at her "funny." Initially, she thought it was because her family was so weird, walking down the sidewalk in a straight line, as they often did. But at the age of ten, when she was away at camp and her family moved without telling her, Ford found herself standing in a room full of strangers who were all looking at her funny. And lo and behold, she wasn't with her family. Unfortunately for Ford, the funny looks continued long after she was "born again" and desperately tries to fit in with other Christians.

In MEMOIR OF A MISFIT, Ford writes what it's like to be a square peg trying to fit into a round hole --- something most of us can relate to, especially within church walls. But what sets Ford apart from the rest of us "misfits" in Christendom is her willingness to stop embracing the impossible ideal of what a Christian is supposed to look, act and feel like and just be...herself. On the way there, though, she runs around in circles, trying everything --- promiscuity, marriage, drugs, alcohol, suicidal thoughts, fundamentalist Christianity, finally chucking all religion --- before eventually coming around, thanks to a couple of Christians showing her unconditional love, to a new faith and realistic understanding of God.

At certain points in her narrative, I felt Ford was sharing too much personal information and it made me a tad uncomfortable. But it works because she writes her tragic tale with so much honesty and tongue-in-cheek wit that it keeps you from getting bogged down in just how sad her story really is. Maybe it's because there's so much to read between the lines.

I thought about Ford's words and my status as a "misfit" as I sat in church last weekend, surrounded by people who all seem to have their act together. Everyone was smiling. Everyone looked so perfect. During the sermon, I actually turned every which way, scanning the crowd to see if I could find someone, anyone not fitting that mold Ford desperately had to break free from before she was able to have an honest and growing relationship with God. I was a hair's breath away from asking the person sitting behind me if she ever questioned anything or if she had any problems. I admit, Ford's book made me wonder how much of myself I had checked at the sanctuary door without noticing before that moment.

Ford's bottom line? Breaking free. And that bottom line serves several purposes: First, to admonish fellow Christians to allow others to discover God loves them, quirks and all. To deny that basic tenet of the Christian faith narrows the Gospel message to one of "fitting in." Her life story echoes Jesus' words in Matthew 9 as he scolds the Pharisees, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Ford's should serve as encouragement to other misfits in the church --- and all of us fit into that category, really --- to stop contorting ourselves into acceptance. Right now. Her journey of faith hasn't exactly been a straight line, but thankfully, she's forged a path for all of us who love God but have been turned off by the church. She wants us to come back and try again. This time, not looking around, comparing ourselves to others but rather looking up and getting to know God --- the God of misfits.

--- Reviewed by Diana Keough

Rating:
Summary: Misfit or not, this book's for you-
Review: Marcia Ford has captured the experience of so many of her sisters and brothers who've made the journey from religion to faith; from conformity to relationship. She is funny, wise, and unafraid to tell the truth, no matter what. This book is for all of us - every unique, odd, different person and those who already know they're cool in the eyes of God. Buy it, read it, give it to your friends!

Rating:
Summary: Honest Search
Review: this book by marcia ford is excellant!i loved it and irecomend itfor everyone who has felt out of place.It has helped me so much this book im so thankful she wrote it .read this book for a honest,well-written book that is full of heart,love and faith.thanks marcia

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Witty, moving, encouraging...a beautifully written account of one woman's faith journey. If you've ever felt like an outsider, if life hasn't always gone the way you planned, if you've ever longed for God yet kept stumbling over Christians, this book is for you.