Blue Monday

Some people think that winning the lottery might just be the answer to all their problems. It might if all your problems had to do with simply having enough money. Yet few, think about the real issues of winning and what consequences it might bring in the long run. That is just where, Blue Monday by M. Thomas Long takes the readers by the heart.

Pastor Matt McAllister runs the fifth largest church in the state and seems he is always being held to a higher standard than most people. All his actions are constantly under the scrutiny of the people in his church and Monday's are usually the day they let him know just what they thought of his Sunday services through emails, phone calls, letters and often times personal visits. He has begun to dread Mondays and refers to them simply as Blue Monday.

Emails would appear in Matt's inbox and the inboxes of various board members, deacons, and staff members. Sometimes a few would trickle in; at other times, by mid-afternoon, messages would jam each inbox, to be following by a ringing phone. Receiving messages was a certainity, but the subject matter and length was anybody's guess.

"The sermon was your best ever..."

"The sermon was way off base..."

"The sermon was way too short..."

"The sermon was way too long..."

"You should have said..."

"How dare you say..."

"Pray for my mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, neighbor, son, daughter, wife, grandmother, grandfather, boss, co-worker, etc..."

"Cancer, heart attack, surgery, pregnancy, depression, loneliness, overachievement, underachievement, divorce, unemployment, alcoholism, drugs..."

It was hard enough to endure all the criticism that came from his congregation when one of the members, Garrett James, one  of the richest men in the state, had gifted him with a new Mercedes SL-550 for getting his two oldest children through DUI's, jail time, pregnancy, shoplifting, and divorce. Now they were both settled down, married with children and examples of Godly stability. Garrett even made it a point to stand before the entire church and tell them exactly why he gave the car to Matt. Still it didn't make the whispers die down from his church members. They still wondered how a pastor could afford to drive that car.

Now they he was running late for his weekly staff meeting at the church, he didn't realize in his haste while paying for gas and a newspaper that he also paid for a lottery ticket. Just how was he going to explain this to his church members. Well he wouldn't have to explain it to them at all, unless he won. I mean what are the odds he would actually win?

I received Blue Monday by M. Thomas Long, compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours for my honest review and have to say the premise behind this book is what peaked my interest. It does provide a different insight into the lives of what it must be like for a pastor and just how much they are looking at under the microscope by everything they do and say as well as their family members. It is interesting to see just what happens to Matt and his family when they learn not only do  they have the winning ticket but that it's worth over $186 million dollars and they are the sole winner. To find out just what happens, you have to pick up a copy of this amazing book. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars!!!

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Blue Monday by M. Thomas Long

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• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 147832774X
• ISBN-13: 978-1478327745