What I’m Crunching — February 22, 2026

I finished this book this week. It was a wonderfully accessible, down-to-earth narrative of the life of Mildred Rice, with several great lessons sprinkled throughout.

Here are a few takeaways:

1. On friendship:
   • “When we are with people, especially in the early stages of friendship, we must resist the urge…to be a babbling fountain of perpetual comment, and let God’s Spirit begin to generate in us a deep, loving interest in that new friend.“
   • “Yes, friendships, to keep running smoothly, require maintenance as much as any automobile. A large part of that maintenance is simply communication.”
2. On the “call” to missions:
   • “One school of thought adheres to the philosophy that the need constitutes the call.”
   • “I have come to believe that in order to keep going for God in an uncongenial climate, where living conditions are downright hard and your best labors apparently fruitless, we must have that certainty that we are where we are, not by human whim but by the will of God.”
3. On working with other missionaries:
   • “Through the years the Lord has been teaching me that one antidote to the problem of a critical spirit is concentration on a colleague’s good points.“
   • “What weaknesses I discern in my fellow missionary are probably offset by some very valuable strengths.”

It’s out of print, so I’m thankful for a friend who let me borrow this one. I love reading missionary biographies and autobiographies.