Book Meme

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why? Paperback does mean cheaper but I usually prefer hardcover, they seem to stay in better shape and it's easier to read when lying down because the outsides are sturdier. (Too much thought in that one question huh!)
2. If I were to own a book shop I would call it…The Blue Sea
3. My favourite quote from a book (mention the title) is…I will have to post the answer when I get home because that's where my book is, until now I'll keep you in suspense!
4. The author (alive or dead) I would love to have lunch with would be ….Henry Nouwen
5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be…The Bible. It may sound goody tooshoey like Erin said but it is the only book that provides me with daily bread and on a deserted island daily bread would be a necessity.
6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that….Held the book open (and turned the pages) in front me while I am lying down in bed so that my arms don't get tired.
7. The smell of an old book reminds me of….The hidden spots I used to study in at the Bethel seminary library.
8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be….The grandmother in as "As the Bird Sings" by Elizabeth Goudge (one of my most recent reads)
9. The most overestimated book of all times is….Harry Potter series. I'm sure the books are good but it seems like a lot of hype. I would agree!
10. I hate it when a book….buries it's plot in too many details or descriptives.
Lisa, it's on you!

Calling all blogging friends...

If you have a blog (Becky and Kjersten) please send me your blog addresses so I can read the great stuff you post! My email address is still the same it's been for years!

More thoughts on the fruit of the Spirit

Thanks Erin for reminding me of the ninth fruit....it is gentleness! So, my mind and heart are still grappling with the fruit of the Spirit. What hit me seems very obvious but it was a significant observation that effected how I approach each day. I cannot aquire the fruit of the Spirit by reading about them or even sitting and contemplating each of them--though I wish that were the case--but indeed the only way that I can bear the fruit of the Spirit is to use the fruit in the midst of life. So in essence, when I am pressed if I am walking in that moment by the Spirit then I press into His life and bear fruit but I can only learn to do this if I have situations in my life that require me to display the fruit of the Spirit. Really then it comes down to two things; walking by the Spirit because only then can I press into life, strength and resources greater than myself, and two, having opportunities to display the fruit. I think this realization has changed the way I pray and the way I perceive the events in my life.

Reflections from 1 AM

To all the married folks out there I know that if you haven't already stumbled upon it in your marriage you will, an event or habit or series of situations that makes you ask yourself, "If I had know that [insert challenge here] was going to happen I don't know that I would have gotten married. It's the question my husband keeps asking me lately and whenever he asks I say, "of course I would have still married you" and I mean it. Then last night, following a bad night's sleep the night before, my son wakes up for no reason at 1 AM in the morning and is awake (and not happy) for an hour. As I sit rocking him, I think about that question and I realize that though I say the situation wouldn't have caused me to back out of marriage there are curses arising my heart towards my husband when the heat is really turned on, like at 1 AM in the morning. This troubled me because it matters what comes out of me when I am really squeezed and I realized that at the core this was not between my husband and me but between me and God. I remembered a Sunday school lesson I taught to grade school kids that when you squeeze an orange and orange juice comes out instead of grape jelly it's because what comes out is what is inside. I love my husband and I said yes for better or worse. Even to have my husband appreciate the difficulty of the situation and give me accolade's is not the point--it's what is in my heart. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control (and one other one). Today (and every day) that is the core of any difficult situation--am I walking moment by moment in the Spirit so that these things emanate from me even in the midst of struggle. I would rather have my son bask in the warmth of these things then experience the cold and sharp feelings of being the unjustified object of anger, frustration, and lack of patience.

"Do not let your growth in holiness depend on surrounding circumstances, but rather constrain those circumstances to minister to your growth. Beware of looking onward, or out of the present in any way, for the sanctification of your life. The only thing you can really control is the present--the actual moment that is passing by. Sanctify that from hour to hour, and you sanctify your whole life; but brood over the past, or project yourself into the future, and you will lose all. The little act of obedience, love, self-restraint, meekness, patience, devotion, offered to you actually, is all you can do now, and if you neglect that to fret about something else at a distance, you lose your real opportunity of serving God." [exerpt from H.L. Sidney Lear]

Finally joined the elite group that call themselves bloggers...

So a lot has changed in my life over the last six months and I thought to myself hey why not start a blog. Here it is folks, the byproduct of my crazy life. I quit my job of 8 years to stay at home with my son (whom I love to pieces) and most evenings I have the time to write. My life is filled with changes that require a lot of strength right now so I thought I would turn to writing and see what that does for my soul. Writing is that weird medicine that allows you to make yourself vunerable while still being allusive. That's all for now, until next time.