Lessons Learned

I've been reflecting today on time and its affect on me. I love being productive and efficient most of the time, but there's a wonderful kind of rest in having my mind on one track. I found myself praying today while blowdrying my hair and unpacking my bag upon returning from our Christmas vacation. I love that I can talk to the Lord at any moment, but when I'm multitasking it into my day because I feel a desperate need to be with Him, but can't seem to find a spot in my schedule, something's gone wrong. I'm not usually the type to be perpetually busy, but I overbooked myself this Christmas, and I've suffered for it.

A few months ago, Matt preached on prayer. It was a mixture of sweet wooing and gut wrenching pain. Following that, he preached about the Sabbath. Those two messages combined altered my outlook, my schedule, my life. (Click here to listen to "The Art of Prayer" and "Sabbath") I am utterly changed. I immediately put into practice what I had learned and found joy unlike I'd ever experienced. Then, with the onset of Matt's cancer, I found myself constantly coming to the Lord in prayer. I would pray on my drive to work, during lunch, on my way home, and a dozen times in between. After a week, I was struck with the realization that this was how it was meant to be. This is how I ought to always have prayed. It's like it finally clicked in my mind. As my Christmas break came, I found myself out of schedule. I forgot the Sabbath, I had little time alone, and thus, didn't pray.

Guilt is the first emotion that would normally have taken over, forcing me to bow my head and speak to myself aloud until I was satisfied that I had done my best. Guilt didn't come- in it's place was longing. I felt a longing today to be in the presence of the Lord that was so strong, I immediately went to Him. Yes, I was blowdrying my hair. No, it wasn't ideal. But I learned a few lessons I want share with you:

1) This is evidence of a change in my heart and I thank God for accomplishing it in me. Prayer was not about checking off a list today, but about enjoying the Lord because he is my greatest pleasure.

2) God works through all things to bring us to a deeper knowledge of and trust in Him. He has used Matt's cancer to teach me how to pray, and to teach me to love prayer.

3) Time has its affect on me. I slept 8 - 9 hours a night for the last week with a weary soul. I need to schedule rest for my soul. Especially during seasons like this when we're out of town, have people visiting, presents to buy, bags to pack and unpack, etc. Your soul, not just your body, needs to rest.

On a side note. As I look to the coming year, there are many things I want to happen. I have been repeating this verse from Romans to myself: "May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." JR Vassar wrote an amazing post about the difference between hope and desire. I pray I wouldn't confuse the two. Read here to see what I mean, that you may not confuse them either.

Catching up on books...

I am still working through The Brothers Karamazov and am in the 400s, so less than half to go! I have read a few other books in the mean time, mostly things my kids have been reading. I'm going to be short with these- you're welcome. :( (grrr....)

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen: Hilarious. I loved this quick read. Business men would also enjoy it IF they could come to grips with the fact that it's a fictional comedy. Andy couldn't. It says it's around a 4th grade reading level, but the vocabulary in it could be made for high schoolers (financially speaking). Dawson- you would love this, you little saver! ;)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: I bought the entire series and read this book because ALL the boys in my class are reading and loving it! Percy, the main character, is edgy and misunderstood. He acts older than his age, battles anything the gods will send his way, survives a visit to hell, and has a sense of humor about it all. He's every little boy's hero. I'm not into the idea of not letting kids read things because they might be contrary to the truth of the gospel, like magic, witches, wizzards, vampires, hobbits, etc. I have no problem with kids reading that stuff because it's fiction. They read it knowing that it's fiction. It's not truth. Having said that, I was put off by some things in this book. The kids would say things like "Oh my gods," or "Thank the gods." At dinnertime, every person would set aside the best portion of their meal and offer it to their parent god. The book says something in the beginning about how these are "little g" gods and are tiny compared to "big G" God. However, big G God didn't seem to have any interest or involvement in the universe, the little g gods, or any mortals. He was completely out of the picture. So...in my mind, this one borders on the edge of healthy and unhealthy. My advice- you know your kids better than anyone. Use your best judgement. Definitely read it before you let your kids and make sure to talk through some of the issues with them.

POP!

At home group a few weeks ago, we celebrated our friend Daniel's birthday. We blew up balloons to embarrass him and after everyone left, Berkley found quite an interest in them. We decided to play around by throwing balloons up in the air. He was hilarious to watch- he couldn't wait for the balloons to come back down and would start crying in frustration. Gravity just wasn't fast enough...

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

The reason I didn't have this in my "What I'm Reading" sidebar is because as soon as I got it, I had read it. My book club, the Rogue Readers (motto: "leaving no page unturned") has chosen this as our first book of the year. One thing I both love and hate about my book club: I do not have the same tastes as most of the people in the club. The great part is, I get to read things I wouldn't normally read, the bad part is that I have to read things I wouldn't normally read. (The only book I've truly disliked was No Time for Goodbye. It's your typical trade paper suspense novel- I am a completely unashamed book snob.) A love for the classics is preferred, an appreciation of them is essential!

I was very excited to read this book: the reviews were raving. The book is about a high school girl named Hannah Baker who has very recently committed suicide. Before she did, she recorded herself on audio cassette tapes. There are thirteen people/events/reasons that brought her to decide to end her life. On the cassette tapes, she gives those reasons and mails them to the thirteen people they involve. Each person listens to the tapes and passes them on to the next person. If they don't get passed on, a second set of tapes will be released publicly (in which case, the people they are about will face consequences. Some of the things that happened were illegal.)

Everyone who read this book said every middle schooler, high schooler, parent, and teacher should read this book. It would be life-changing. In sum, I had high expectations. I hate going into a book with high expectations- again, I was let down. Don't get me wrong- the book was good. But it wasn't life-changing. Not like Same Kind of Different as Me was life-changing. Most of Hannah's reasons seem small, and while they do build on each other, and in the end lead to devastating events, something was missing. Certainly the actions of others affected and influenced her in deciding to kill herself. But, there was also something inside her that was bent toward her decision. I would have liked to hear more about that.I think she was also weighed down by the guilt of some of her own actions. I wanted to know how that affected her decision. I also thought it was strange to hear so little about her parents- what a small role they played! She says in the beginning, "I know my parents love me," and then they're never mentioned again.

All that to say, I thought it was an ok book, but it seemed one sided. I was confused about why she wanted to die. As the reader, I want to feel what Hannah is feeling, and I didn't feel like suicide was an option, much less the only option. If Jay Asher had gone into some of those missing elements above, a heavier weight would have been felt and understood by the reader.

A good book, but I wanted more.

Videos from Costa Rica

My camera has a video feature, but I couldn't get any of the videos onto the computer. I've figured out what I was doing wrong, so here are some videos of our trip. I don't say anything through most of them, because I quickly discovered that I don't film and do (anything) at the same time very successfully. Talking in addition ruined most of the videos. :)

These two are of the waterfall hike, my favorite activity.

The next two videos are from the rainforest. I had one going across one of the hanging bridges, but I tried talking through it and I was completely distracted. You mostly only see the railing around me. Needless to say, it's not worth putting on here. I love this waterfall because it's like its being hammocked by the rocks.

Wouldn't you like to slide down it?

Like I said before, in each city, a church occupies the very center of the town. It's the church everyone goes to. All around the church, there is a park or garden. This is where everyone hangs out during their free time. The downtown forms a square around this park, and then the houses form along the outside of the downtown area. So the church is at the heart of the town. It's so different from here, and it was refreshing. I don't know what town we're in, but we stopped when we saw the gardens. Here's a shaky clip:

Going to a place like Costa Rica, we were surrounded by beauty everywhere. It was humbling to sit in the midst of God's creation. We watched nature and saw the hand of God. We followed a trail of leafcutters, we looked to the movement of clouds, the cut of water through rock, the web of a spider, the climbing cow at the top of a mountain, the eruption of a volcano, the colors of a macaw...all put in place by God, for God. Sinless creation. I am but a mist.

Our friends, Chad and Sarabeth, took care of Berkley. (Yes, he got to spend another week with Miss Ella and was thrilled about it.) This video is of us coming to pick him up. :) My only regret is stopping the camera too early, but check out the huge butt wiggle! I love it!

Pura Vida!

We've just gotten back from Costa Rica, I've only got three days of summer left, and have no time to be blogging about our trip. So...here's a summary and a selection of some favorite pictures.

Day 1: tour San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica
Day 2: lounge around the house (laying out, reading, eating, talking, etc.) Two Can Jam party
Day 3: waterfall hike with Andy and one hour massages on the 2nd floor balcony with the cool breeze and the tapping of rain (this was my favorite day of the trip!)
Day 4: Arenal volcano, hanging bridges tour through the rainforest

If you'd like to view all the pictures, click here to go to my web album.


The hike down to the waterfall: my very favorite thing we did.


After this we went to the top of the waterfall. Now, the day before Andy and I visited this place. I told him I wanted to get a picture from the very edge, and he agreed to let me. That night we both had dreams of falling off the edge of the waterfall. So, this next picture is the one I got crawling on all fours to the very edge, practically hanging off of the edge of the waterfall, while Andy is pulling me back so hard I could hardly breathe. We both agreed afterward: totally worth it.
These are from our day trip to Mt. Arenal, one of the top ten most active volcanoes on the Earth.

Top 5 favorite things about the rainy season or Costa Rica in general:

5. I could be a green thumb here: everything grows.

4. The fresh fruit.

3. Being within a few hours of mountains, the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Ocean, volcanoes, grasslands, rolling hills, etc. Adventure is never far away.

2. The year round weather varying from 60 - 85 degrees. Year round!

1. The clouds.

Top 5 things I missed while gone:

5. Sidewalks and streetlamps

4. Paved roads

3. Rules and codes (and things like time)

2. Getting anything I could ever want at the grocery store.

1. Berkley

Great trip, glad to be home, wishing I had more of my summer left! Now I'm heading to Mardel and Teacher Tools for some bulletin board border.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I have been criticized for writing "reviews" that are always good. I am taking this opportunity to correct this and appease my husband. :)

On preparing for our trip to Costa Rica, we have a list of "American items" to bring with us for Andy's parents. We planned last night to go to Wal-Mart to get all of these items. Ever since poor month (March) we have been trying to shop at Wal-Mart for some of our things. Usually we do this on the way home from the Village on Sunday mornings. I was trying to weasel out of cooking dinner, so I let Andy pick where we could pick up food on the way. We left our house at 6:45 p.m. Andy picked the fast food joint, Krystal's. He said he was 100% positive I wouldn't like it. I assured him that I am not that picky with fast food, and how bad can you screw up a cheeseburger? But I made him promise that if I didn't like the fries that we would proceed to McDonald's next door to get me some. He agreed.

We were on our way, and I was putting on a happy face. I was excited to try a new place. There were pictures up on the wall of the food and the burgers looked great! We sit down, I'm smiling to reassure Andy that I am going to love it, being upbeat and funny. The lady comes over to bring us the food. As soon as she sets the food down in front of me, the smile disappears from my face, my shoulders droop, and I look at Andy in confusion. Why is the burger that color? Why is it so thin? Why is it shaped like a square? I look over at the enormous pictures of the burger on the wall and back to the ones sitting in front of me. "False advertising!" I vehemently whisper/shout to Andy. Nonetheless, I put this behind me, pick up my slider, and take a bite. Oh no, gag reflex! I manage to plug my nose, chew, and swallow. I look at Andy and give him a weak smile. I continue. A burger and a half later, I announce, "This is the worst burger I have ever had in my entire life. We are NEVER coming back here!" Andy, finding this very humorous, bursts out laughing, "I KNEW you wouldn't like this place! I knew you would hate it!" (Are all husbands like this?)

Each of the tiny burgers comes in its own individual box (irresponsible packaging, if you ask me). On each box is a picture of someone, the date they became a "Krystal's lover" and a quote from them. This is when I come across the box below:

Let me write for you the quote by this man, John Hires from Jacksonville, Florida: "I'm a youth pastor and I know how to get kids' attention: Preach a sermon about Krystal Lovers, then have a Krystal eating contest!" Now, when thinking about how to address this filth on my blog, I decided to not say a word. The exploding expletives in my mind would be offensive to some, funny to others, and don't quite do Mr. Hires justice. So, in order to keep my cool, I'm done talking about him.

We leave Krystal's after Andy finished his disgusting sliders. The rest of the time I let him know what I thought of Krystal and John. We headed straight for McDonald's. Andy was surprised to find that I was ordering an entire meal. One look and he recanted, but was still grinning with the hilarity of the event. We get my food and park at Wal-Mart. Here's where detail becomes important.

All of the spots around us are filled. Andy and I are sitting in the car so that I can eat my food before going into Wal-Mart. A woman comes up to the car directly in front of us. The trunk of the car is facing us. She puts all of her groceries in her trunk, and she notices that we are watching her. Not wanting her to think we're creepy, I make a show of eating my food, so she knows why we're just sitting there. When she's done, she walks around her car and gets in. But the cart is just sitting there next to her trunk! I say to Andy, "No way! Surely she's coming back for it!" She shuts the door, the engine turns, she looks back at us in her rear view mirror- I give her a shocked face with my hands in the air asking, "What are you doing? Go put your cart away!" Then she speeds off. I couldn't believe it.

Not one minute goes by, and another woman comes to the vehicle to the left of the one that just left. Again, she sees us watching her, so again, I make a show of my bag of fast food. When she's done, she brings her shopping cart around to the now empty space in front of us, balances in on the steep decline, and gets in her car. This lucky woman was facing towards us, so I stare her down like my eyes can shoot fire! She definitely sees me and knows exactly why I'm giving her this look. A flash of guilt crosses over her features. I continue to bore into her until she's out of sight. I am utterly in shock. All of the cart drop-offs must be full. That explains it! Andy gets out of the car, because he can't stand the smell of my meal. He collects the carts, and when he comes back by, he's picked up three more stranded carts to bring to the drop-off.

I've finished my meal, and we start walking through the parking lot toward Wal-Mart. On the way we pass six more stranded carts scattered throughout the parking lot, leaning on cars, tossed under trees, straddling curbs. We also pass three cart drop-offs, each one of them completely empty. "The nerve!" I keep saying over and over. We get inside only to find that no carts are available. Probably because the drop offs are all empty! We go searching for a cart and begin getting items from the list.

Two hours later we find the shortest check-out line available. During the last two hours, we have picked isles for their lack of screaming children. The place was swarming. It felt like the inside of a free-for-all ant hill without a queen. I was going insane. We wait in line for 30 minutes to check out. We get back home at 10:30 to unpack the groceries, swearing to boycott Krystal's and Wal-Mart, and being gratefully lacking in nerve.

Michelle is home!

I flew to Austin last Wednesday to help celebrate the homecoming of my cousin Michelle. Michelle has spent the last two years on mission in Tanzania teaching second grade. We have been so proud of all that she accomplished for the Kingdom there, but missed her terribly. We all waited at the airport for her to arrive- it was so great to see her and hear her voice after two years apart! I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to miss being there, and also because I was all tears. I get really blotchy when I'm like that.

On Friday, my little bro turned 23! We celebrated by going to Fogo de Chao- what a meal! Being my unabashed self, I indulged in 4 cheesy rolls, skipped the salad bar, and ate to my heart's content (long after everyone else's plates were cleared away.) This time the rankings stood: #1 the fillet; #2 ribeye; #3: top sirloin. Usually, picana, the house special, is on this list. Fogo didn't do it as well as TDB and it didn't even make the top three. I tried the lamb (again) and took one bite, grimaced, and moved on (again). I am determined to like lamb and I've no idea why.

I only got one good bite of this cake because everyone indulged while I was trying to take pictures. Poor Dustin got about as much of it as I did. Who's birthday was it anyway? He's such a sport. Happy Birthday Bud- I love you!

Throughout the weekend, I got to spend some time with Michelle. She has quite a lot of different restaurants on her list of places to eat as soon as possible. I consider eating a hobby these days, so I was more than willing to tag along.

On our last day, we headed to Austin Stone for a wrap-up of 1 Corinthians by Matt Carter. Then we had a family get together at Sandy's house. Lindsey wanted to play "parachute" so this is us playing Duck, Duck, Goose with the parachute. That little girl has us all wrapped around her finger.

Michelle, we are so glad to have you home! I love you!
All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. Psalm 25.10

Birthday Weekend continued...

I want to draw your attention to the girl behind me in this picture. The Six Flags people let us in and everyone is scrambling to get to the horse they want. I wanted this grey one, because I love grey horses! So naturally, Andy goes to the brown one beside it, and as he's climbing up the horse, this little girl jumps up onto the horse out of nowhere! Andy of course gets down and goes to the horse on the other side of me. We thought this was hilarious and somewhat awkward for the rest of the ride. She didn't seem to think anything of it...

By 8:00 we could hardly move. On our way out of the park we took a quick picture with Elmer Fudd. Exhausted, aching, and on the verge of heat stroke, we called it a day. We ended up doing Mr. Freeze three times, and I think it was my favorite ride. Andy's favorite was the Titan, but we also had a lot of fun on Superman. It was a day full of memories!

It is tradition for my mom to call me at 8:45 a.m. on my birthday. That's the time I was born. So this morning, I woke up to my phone ringing, and my mom's voice on the other end. Then I tried on my birthday presents from Andy. He got me these TCU nike shorts (I could wear them every day) and polka dot wellies for our trip to Costa Rica. My mother-in-law said it will be raining anywhere from 1-12 hours a day, so we thought I'd need some of these.

My cousin Michelle is coming home after spending two years in Dar es Salam, Tanzania. Andy and I have been using her second bedroom furniture, and needed to get it back to her in preparation of her coming home. My brother was so great- he rented a trailer and brought me some of my furniture from when I was a kid and took away Michelle's furniture for us. We also go to grab some lunch on my birthday! The last time we actually saw each other on my actual birthday was when I turned 19, so it was a real treat! Our birthdays are only 5 days apart, so I will be wishing him a happy 23rd in no time. We went to Fuzzy's and I'm ready to boycott them all over again...intestinal disagreement.

My friends, and the leaders of our Village Home Group, Chris and Jen, came over to wish me a happy birthday. They are so sweet! It was a fun surprise to get to see them and put the cherry on my sundae! What a great birthday weekend- I'm 26 now!

My Birthday Weekend!

I had a great weekend celebrating my 26th birthday with friends and family! This past week, my friend Sawyer took me out to lunch at Lily's on Magnolia (which I've been wanting to try for a very long time)! There I had the best burger of my life!! It was a 1/2 pounder with gorgonzola dressing, bacon, and tomato. It was delicious!

Friday night Andy and I went to Central Market on the strict policy: "If you want it, grab it!" Yum! We left with most of the things you see above: bread, our favorite cheese, crab cake, apples, kiwi, oranges, wine, peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, etc. We rented Australia from the red box, made a picnic on the floor, and enjoyed!

While we were at Central Market, we made trail mix for our trip to Six Flags! Andy picked one of the pre-made trail mixes, but I wanted to make my own. It included peanuts, sunflower seeds, pecan pieces, pistachios, raisins, and vanilla almond granola. I would have liked to also include m&ms and pretzels, but I couldn't find them, plus the chocolate would have melted. Anyway, this is us at the entrance to Six Flags!

When we first arrived we headed strait for Mr. Freeze, found no line, and took front row seats. It was a blast! 45 seconds later we headed right back in line for another go. In the first three hours of the day we hit 1/2 of the park. Then two things happened all at once: it became unbearably hot and all the rides had hour long waits. This is a picture of Andy in line for some lemonade. We bought one of the souvenir bottles so you can get free refills. We probably spent over one entire hour in line for drinks- at one point I thought I was melting.

We stopped to get on the carousel simply because my feet ached and it was in the shade. Notice our shimmering faces. While I took this picture Andy informed me that I had the biggest pit stains (or as my friend Chris calls them, "puddles,") he's ever seen. It was true. I can't deny it.

My new camera!

I've recently gotten a new digital camera for my birthday. I love it! I mentioned before that I planted some hibiscus in front of the house. I had a new art project all planned out. I was going to take a picture of the flower blooming and then dying. The blooms only last a day, so I planned a day when I would be home the entire time. I set my watch to go off every hour, when I would go outside and take a new shot of the flower. This is a project I will never complete. Since that day, I have discovered that hibiscus only bloom at night. I'm just not that dedicated. Nonetheless, here are a few of the pictures I got of the bud (which remained a bud every hour of the day).

I thought I should also update on my reading. I know I have three books listed, and it's a little deceiving. I have OCD tendencies. I'm waiting to read Feminine Appeal until my mom can get a copy, because we plan to read it together. I have read the first few chapters of The Goose Girl but haven't been hooked yet. I plan on The Brothers Karamazov taking a few years to complete, though I've set a tentative deadline for this Christmas. It took me four years to read Crime and Punishment, another book by Fyodor Dostoevsky. One thing I learned in the last book: draw a character tree as you go. The Russian names are so confusing, and each character is called a number of different names by different people. The edition that I am reading has a list of characters and a brief description, so I have made a character web on the inside cover of the book and have read about 30 pages. It's wonderful so far! Here's where things get a little obsessive. I went with my HG to dinner and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this last Friday! It was my favorite movie in the HP series so far, but it was also my favorite book. All day Saturday I kept trying to think of the things that were left out- all the little details. I found myself forgetting. Unacceptable. So, though I've read it three times before, I decided Sunday afternoon that I should reread it again. When I finished it on Tuesday, I decided I needed to go ahead and read book seven as well. I finished it Wednesday night. Whew...now that that's over, I'm back to my normal reading, but you won't see a post for a while, because I'm attempting to tackle The Brothers Karamazov. If I can actually do it by Christmas, I just might attempt the improbable: Les Miserables.

One thing I like more than having a dog, is having two!

Meet Ella Underwood, or as I affectionately call her, "Miss Ella." Our friends, Chad and Sarabeth, took their sweet boy Owen B to California for Sarabeth's brother's wedding. Andy and I are the lucky people who got to take care of Miss Ella while they were gone. Isn't she beautiful?

We knew Berkley was going to love having Ella around for a few reasons. 1: Berkley is in love with Miss Ella. 2: Berkley thinks I am the most boring person in the world to spend all day with, being that I'm usually reading which is very dull for him. He must resort to staring out the window of our bedroom, wishing he had a more interesting Mommy.

However, I was looking forward to Ella's stay as well. See, in the world of dogs, girls rule. So aside from being the dominant one of the two, Ella is also older, bigger, and stronger than Berkley. She was going to be my puppysitter! (She's also very well behaved in the house...)

Andy warned me that Berkley was also excited for Ella to come because he'd want to get some action. I assured him he couldn't be more mistaken. Ella and Berkley were both "fixed" at an early age to assure that nothing of the sort would ever happen. Berkley proved me wrong within the first five minutes. By the end of the day, I was so tired of yelling, "Berkley, get off! Get off of her!" that I resorted to separating them by the butler door. I've now learned that some natural instincts are irrepressible. (This really only lasted the first day. After that, he realized it was not socially acceptable. Berkley has such manners.)

Sometimes, I would want to walk around without having two shadows. If Berkley was feeling calm enough to control himself, I would put both dogs in the back half of the house. This is how they would spend the rest of the time. Ella would stare at me, and Berkley would stare at Ella.

Ella is in love with the tennis ball. We took frequent trips to the dog park while she was with us. She has a one track mind when the tennis ball is out. We played fetch with her until she refused to move.

It was a good workout for Berkley too. Ella is in love with the tennis ball, Berkley is in love with Ella. We would throw the ball, Ella would chase after it, and Berkley would chase after her. It was wonderful! When we got home, Ella would zonk out on the floor, and Berkley would stand over her and lick her face until we made him stop. Then he'd lick her feet until we made him stop. Then he would decide to take a nap as close as he could get to her. She was very patient with him. :)

I just thought this was a cute picture. Look at Berkley's tongue!

Hydrate or die. Some of you will remember the motto.

I have always wanted two dogs, so this was a perfect opportunity for me to see what it would really be like. Here are my conclusions about the pros and cons.

Cons: 1. Everything costs double: vet bills, food, grooming, bones, etc. 2. It's harder to take them with you places, especially if you're by yourself. 3. Finding people who are willing to take care of your petS when you go out of town. Two is asking a lot more than one.

Pros: 1. They entertain each other, leaving you some time to yourself. 2. I found that talking to two non-responsive beings is much better than talking to one. 3. Better photo opportunities. 4. When you've got as much hair as Berkley, a little more doesn't make much of a difference. 5. When you go walking, you feel like you're driving a sleigh. (I tried to get a picture of this, but we always took walks first thing in the morning, and Andy was at work. It's hard to take candids by yourself.) 6. Leaving them at home is guilt-free!

So, don't just get a dog. Get two!

This Momentary Marriage by John Piper

John Piper always has a way of telling me something so that I cannot argue with him. And I also can't get angry with him. It's one of the reasons I love reading his books, this one included...

After being married to Noel for forty years, Piper decided to write this book. In it, he explains that the primary purpose of marriage is to showcase God's covenant-keeping love with his people, his bride, the church: "Marriage is not mainly about being or staying in love. It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives. It's about portraying something true about Jesus Christ and the way he relates to his people. It is about showing in real life the glory of the gospel. Jesus died for sinners. He forged a covenant in the white-hot heat of his suffering in our place. He made an imperfect bride his own with the price of his blood and covered her with the garments of his own righteousness. He said, "I am with you...to the end of the age...I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5). Marriage is meant by God to put that gospel reality on display in the world. That is why we are married. That is why all married people are married, even when they don't know and embrace this gospel" (26).

He then goes on to talk about forgiving and forbearing your spouse. The greatest lesson I learned here was this: "The Lord "bears with" us every day as we fall short of his will. Indeed, the distance between what Christ expects of us and what we achieve is infinitely greater than the distance between what we expect of our spouse and what he or she achieves. Christ always forgives more and endures more than we do. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Bear with as he bears with you. This holds true whether you are married to a believer or an unbeliever. Let the measure of God's grace to you in the cross of Christ be the measure of your grace to your spouse. And if you are married to a believer, you can add this: As the Lord counts you righteous in Christ, though you are not righteous in actual behavior and attitude, so count your spouse righteous in Christ, though he or she is not righteous...Marriage is meant to be a unique matrix for this display of God's grace. This is what marriage is for ultimately- the display of Christ's covenant-keeping grace" (46 - 47).

After that, Piper talks about the biblical responsibility of headship for every husband and the biblical responsibility of submission for every wife. He talks about the calling of some to a life of singleness. He talks about the divorced. He talks about the secondary purpose of marriage: to raise children to become disciples of Christ. He mostly talks about how the family of believers supersedes kinship: "Man-wife-children families are temporary blessings for this age. In the age to come, they will not exist (Matt. 22:23-30). But the church will exist as a family forever" (106).

There were no new miraculous revelations in this book, but it served as a reminder of the purpose of God in this life. The display of God's character in order to spread his saving gospel of grace is the purpose of my life. So as a teacher I am called to show my kids who God is through my job. And as a wife, I am to show God's never ending covenant with his people through my never ending covenant with my husband.

So...single, married, divorced: read it. Let it be a reminder to you too of your purpose in this life.

Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse

I love this author's writing! This is my second book of hers to read, and it was good. It is the story of a little Jewish girl who attempts to escape to America at the beginning of WW1. It is a series of letters she writes to her cousin, Tovah, who because of her wealth, was able to stay in Russia. At twelve years old, this little girl survives the harassment of Russian soldiers, being separated from her family, suffering illness after illness, with strength and an irrepressible hope for the future. Reading level: 4.2

Like I said, this book is good, but...it's nothing compared to her other book, Out of the Dust. Every person in the world needs to read that book. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. So, though it's a little rude to ignore the above book, I'm going to instead recommend the following (what I deem as one of the best pieces of young adult literature out there):

It is written in free verse. It's so raw and creative. The story, as well as the writing, will take your breath away.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I got the desire to read this from Tim Keller's book The Reason for God. He had a quote in it, and I was so taken in by it that I knew I must read this book. I had thought it was just some scary classic. It was so much more!

This is a quick read- a little over 100 pages and I read it in two short sittings. In the last chapter I have scrawled notes all along the margins. So many times as I was reading I felt such familiarity with the transition back and forth from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The battle of good and evil (or my sin nature and my new nature in the Spirit) within me was encompassed in this book. I should never desire to separate the two, as the book shows, because I would die of shame for what the evil in me would heartily accomplish. Thanks be to God who restores all that my sin has broken!

Read it- you will love it.

Happy Birthday Andy

Again, apologies that I don't have pictures for this, but we have one broken digital camera and one working (but non-digital) camera.

Andy turned 26 on Sunday! All weekend we did whatever Andy wanted. We started celebrating on Friday: Andy came home early from work and we headed straight to Golfsmith, where he got to purchase new golf clubs! He has been waiting for this day for a long time! Everyone pooled together and he was able to get the very set he's had his eye on: Callaway X20s. We went to Central Market, picked up some crab cakes, our favorite block of cheese, meat, baguette slices, and a bottle of wine. We added some grapes and strawberries, and our favorite date night meal was complete! We set this delicious spread all over the coffee table and feasted while we watched The Incredibles.

Saturday morning we were up early and heading to Leonard Golf Links, our favorite driving range to try out those new clubs. We stopped at Panera for breakfast and swung by the house to pick up Berkley and take him to the Kimbell's lawn. This is Berkley's favorite place to go. As soon as he's off the leash he makes a mad dash for the water fountain. He spent the entire time splashing around in the fountain, chasing after his wubba kong, and having the time of his life. We all got home completely worn out, spending the rest of the afternoon snoozing on the couch.

That evening we went to our friends Jimmy and Waverlee's house. They just finished building a house out in Aledo, so we got to see the place- it's beautiful! We spent a great evening with friends, delicious food (Jimmy, those bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno peppers were to die for!) and fireworks.

Sunday morning we made it in at the Village and heard Matt give a fabulous talk on Luke 19.11-44. Every Christian needs to hear this message- it was terrifying and assuring at the same time. Click here to hear this great teaching: http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/sermons On our way home we ate lunch at Red Cactus (one of our favorite places to eat that is now open on Sundays!) We wanted to walk around TCU and see all the new buildings, so we picked Berkley up and took him with us. We stayed in this huge lawn and threw the frisbee until Berkley refused to move and passed out on the grass. We walked around the new campus while it started to sprinkle and ended up at a tree swing. Andy pushed me on the swing for a while while Berkley just sprawled out on the grass watching. It was my favorite part of the entire day.

So, that was our Birthday/Fourth of July weekend. It was a wonderful time for our family. Happy Birthday Andy!

The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

I was reading through some journal entries and came across one in 2007 that mentioned how I was reading this book. It has taken me a loooonnnngg time to read. The first reason is that each chapter is independent of the others. This book is actually a series of radio lectures CS Lewis gave during the last years of WWII and the immediate years after the war. Because each chapter covers a completely different topic and doesn't build on itself, I felt comfortable leaving it for long stretches of time without feeling like I had "forgotten something." The second reason is that I am drawn so strongly to fiction that it takes a good amount of discipline for me to continually stick to a non-fiction book. (As you can see now, discipline is something I am in great lack of.) Despite these things, this is a quick read. Each chapter feels new and the book itself is not long.

If you were to flip through the pages of my book, you would find notes scribbled in the margins. Questions, comments, worship springing up from what was read. This is a fabulous book, centered mostly on Christian Living. It covers topics such as (church) Membership, Why I'm Not a Pacifist, On Forgiveness, etc. to name a few.

My favorite chapter, titled the Inner Ring, was the most applicable chapter I have read in the last few years. It's relevance spreads across all cultures over all periods of time. It is the idea that there is an inner ring, a group of people on the inside, which you desire to be a part of. There exist a plethora of inner rings of all kinds. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:

"In the whole of your life as you now remember it, has the desire to be on the right side of that invisible line ever prompted you to any act or word on which, in the cold small hours of a wakeful night, you can look back with satisfaction? If so, your case is more fortunate than most" (150).

Unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life, from the first day on which you enter your profession until the day when you are too old to care. That will be the natural thing- the life that will come to you of its own accord. Any other kind of life, if you lead it, will be the result of conscious and continuous effort. If you do nothing about it, if you drift with the stream, you will in fact be an "inner ringer" (151-152).

Of all passions the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things" (154).

It is the very mark of a perverse desire that it seeks what is not to be had" (154).

P.S. If you click on any picture of any book on this blog, it will take you to the book on amazon.com where you will be able to get more information about it, and my hope is, purchase it. (You may also borrow any of these books from me if you don't want to buy them.)

The Mysterious Benedict Society

I came across this book about a year ago. Andy and I were spending an evening walking around downtown. I found myself, as always, in the children's section at Barnes and Noble. I saw the cover of this book, and it reminded me of The Royal Tenenbaums, one of my favorite movies. I read the back, then the first chapter, sitting on the floor against the bookshelves. I knew right away I would like this book.

This is Trenton Lee Stewart's first children's book. This is not a new book, and Stewart has already come out with two more books about the Mysterious Benedict Society, which I will now have to buy and read this summer. Through a series of tests, four extraordinary children are chosen by Mr. Benedict, to form a secret society. They are to be planted in an evil school as spies, and are to conquer the ringleader, Mr. Curtain. The action kept me interested, but also a love of the characters did. They all have two things in common which brought them together: they are all without parents, or a family of any kind. They are all exceptionally talented in different ways. Reynie, the main character, has an incredible ability to solve puzzles. He's the natural leader of the group. Sticky, has a photographic memory. He can read at an incredible speed, and remember every detail of anything he's read or heard, word for word. Kate is smart, but not incredibly so like Reynie and Sticky. Instead, she is as brave and adventurous as any child could be. She keeps a bucket attached to her by a belt. In it she keeps things like: rope, swiss army knife, a magnet, clear fishing line, a penlight, super strong glue, a slingshot and marbles, etc. Her physical aptitude and agility is her strength. Constance is the fourth member of the group. She is rude, obnoxious, and doesn't seem to have any special ability besides rhyming, though this perception of her is shattered at the end.

I like this book because it's very different. The writing style is dry for a children's book, which I liked. It's also very clever, and would be a difficult read for some young readers. It also has parts that could be scary (children being kidnapped, punishment at school, the dangers of being a secret spy, etc.). For those of you who are parents, I would recommend this book. I would say it's written at a 5th-6th grade level, though it says it's for students grades 5-9. I would let my child read it in 3rd or 4th grade if it was in their reading level. Boys would probably enjoy it a lot more than girls. Enjoy!

(By the way, I'm glad I have the "I'm a teacher, so I have to read kid's books," argument to fall back on, but if I'm honest with you, I love them. So, you adults who think you can't bring yourself to read a book for kids, that it won't be entertaining, etc. just need to try it. You may just find that you love them too. Happy reading!)

No pictures

So I was going to post a blog to tell you about the gardening adventures I've been having, but when I went outside to take some pictures of the beautiful hibiscuses, I realized our camera is broken. Something about the lens...

I have an SLR camera, but it's not digital, so I took pictures with those. However, it will be months before I finish the roll and get it developed. So... this blog is going pictureless for a while. I'm hoping to get a new digital camera for my birthday. We'll see ;)

Things I was going to post about and have pictures of:

*We celebrated our friend Emily's birthday at Dutch's two weeks ago. I had great pictures of the whole group, and some of the guys (who just found out Jesse has a Harley Davidson- I won't tell you how much Andy went on about how cool the bike was and how cool Jesse looked on the bike, and how cool it would be if he could have a bike to look cool on.) You can imagine how thrilling this conversation was... ;)

*My mom came into town last weekend and we got to spend lots of time together. She is my favorite shopping partner, so we did what I like to call "buying." (Andy knows I do not like to shop- who likes looking at a bunch of things you don't get? Buying is what I like to do.) Banana is always hit or miss for me, but this time it was a huge hit!! Thanks to my school for giving me a visa check card at the end of the year, I have some new clothes for next year!

*I dug up the purple flowers I had put in our flower beds a few months ago, replacing them with some bright pink begonias. I also pulled out our big pots that sit at the steps up to our house and filled them with bright pink hibiscus. The two flowers match so well, and I had such a great time planting them. I got up early Monday to do it, which was our one day of cooler weather (by cooler, I mean upper 80s). It was so fun, and Berkley loved sitting on the porch with some ice cubes for toys watching me work the land. What a joyful morning!

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I know you guys are thinking this blog is turning into a library, but I can't help it. It's summer- this is what I do during the summer! Besides, this book was fantastic!

This is Khaled Hosseini's second book. His first one, The Kite Runner, I read while camping about a year and a half ago. It's one of those books that is hard to read (those of you who have read it know what I mean). Terrible, tragic things happen in that book that made it hard to read. But once the conclusion is reached, it's worth it. It's a beautiful story.

Hosseini's second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is similar in that it's also hard to read (and worth it). For one, it's the kind of author he is- he will write about terrible, tragic things, but they are terrible, tragic, true things. He writes about Afghanistan because it's his homeland. He writes about the sufferings of his people, because they're his people. He moved from Kabul to the United States in 1980- many people would have fled and not looked back. I'm glad he hasn't chosen that path. In this book, I learned about the Soviet's control of Afghanistan, the communist takeover, the promises of the United States, each government turning corrupt within months, the entrance of the Taliban, our promise finally kept by the bombing after 9/11 that allowed many refugees to return to the Afghanistan they hadn't known in decades, but mostly I learned about life in wartime. It puts a whole new perspective on everything. As it should.

This is an even better novel than his first. Two main differences I want to note: Those of you who thought The Kite Runner was too hard to read, need to read this one. I did not find it as difficult to endure with the characters. I think it's because there is more hope in this novel- there's a kind of reconciliation that takes place that the first story lacked. The second difference is that in The Kite Runner my attention ebbed and flowed with the story. In this second book, I was grabbed by the first chapter and held for the entirety of the book.

My favorite thing about both novels: There is a deeply sacrificial act (sometimes several acts) that portray this image of love so deep it could (and does) change lives. It reminds me of someone else I know...

If this looks interesting to you, I want to encourage you to read The Kite Runner first, and then to read this second book. They aren't related, so I'm not sure why it matters, but it just seems like the right way to do it. Please comment with your thoughts if you've read The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Please comment!

Just a quick note- I've just posted about two books that I finished last week. If you've read either of these books, if you would click the "comment" icon at the bottom of the post, and write about what you thought of the book too- whether you liked or didn't like it, what you thought it was like, your favorite thing about it, who else you think would like reading it, etc. I would love to hear back from you to see what your opinion is, and so would everyone else! Please do this with all future book, music, movie postings that I do. Thanks!

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I love reading the classics. There is a confidence I have when reading through them that they will be worth the effort. Having stood the test of time, they are recommended by history itself. They usually teach me something while they tell me a story, and I love that!

I initially picked A Tale of Two Cities because I wanted to read something by Dickens. His language is so beautiful! I am completely ignorant when it comes to history of any kind, so I liked this one because I would also learn about the French Revolution: the Reign of Terror, La Guillotine, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death!" etc. The edition I bought had great footnotes to explain a lot of what was meant by phrases I knew nothing about.

My real love for reading it came about after I had begun the book. First of all, Dickens knew the Scriptures so well- they are referenced or quoted at least a hundred times throughout the book. I only hope that one day I would see all the world in reference to the Truth that is inscribed in my heart! I also got to learn about the path of Christianity in French culture. The French Revolution was "deeply anticlerical in ideology, method, and symbols. The divorce between church and state in France remains absolute" (a footnote from the book). Dickens describes the transformation: "Above all, one hideous figure grew as familiar as if it had been before the general gaze from the foundations of the world- the figure of the sharp female called La Guillotine...It was a sign of the regeneration of the human race. It superseded the Cross. Models of it were worn on breasts from which the Cross was discarded, and it was bowed down to and believed in where the Cross was denied" (272).

The last 100 pages of this book more than made up for the confusing middle section. By the end, all confusion was made clear, and a beautiful story unravels in language that cuts right to the heart. As one character trades places with another, dying a death sentenced to the other for Love's sake, he meets his death with complete peace saying, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known" (372). May my life end with such peaceful confidence!

The Reason For God by Tim Keller

I am in love with literature, among other things. I have always had a deep love of reading within me, so I try to read often, I try to read varied texts, and I try to force my love of reading onto others (and at my job, that's exactly what I am paid to do). So my blog will be one more way that I attempt to get others reading as much as possible.

On the sidebar, of course, I have listed the books I'm currently reading, but I realize that most don't check them out or know if the book actually ended up being worth the time. During summer especially, when I have an abundance of free time, the books will change out frequently and I don't want anyone to miss one. SO, every time I finish a book, I will write a little blurb about it. I also do this so that it will be in the archives and you will be able to look up any book I've read because I will post about them all. (Please use this lovely feature in the future!)

This week I happened to finish The Reason for God by Tim Keller. I can reasonably recommend that any book by this man is worth your time in gold. In this particular book, Keller lays out the most common arguments against Christianity. He agrees with them, argues for them fervently and with an understanding that is beyond me. Then, he logically shows the error in which the entire argument falls apart, or what daunting implications arise from such a view, which most people at that point, would quickly forsake. Some of the arguments were scientific, which was good to read, but less practical to me here in the Bible belt. This is a great book to give to skeptics that for whatever reason, have well thought out, legitimate beef with Christianity. The greatest thing I learned from this book was the mode with which I engage in discussion with those who don't believe the gospel of Christ. In my sin, I quickly answer their confusion or frustration as a means of proving "my case" to them. Keller shows a much more loving, gentle, and effective way of discussion. In the second half of the book, he lays out the major theology of the gospel. Like I said, this is a great book to give to intellectual skeptics, but it is also a great book for Christians to read, as a learning tool for engaging our culture where they are at in this postmodern world we live in.

Spur58

This is one of my favorite cds. If you're like me, you feel like lots of Christian music is the same as secular music, only it sounds bad. I am always on the lookout for great Christian music- I need it on my drive to work every morning. It puts my mind in a mode of worship and readies me for whatever is to come that day. So I look for music with solid lyrics and a sound that I don't cringe at.

A couple times at Austin Stone, Andy Melvin (the lead worship pastor) has been gone and a guy named Aaron has stood in for him. Aaron played the keyboard (I always love piano driven music) and after each time, I said, "That guy is great- I love his sound!" When Andy was at Austin Stone without me one time, he found out Aaron was in a band called Spur58 and bought a cd to put in my stocking for Christmas.

I looked at the jacket inside (always my first step with a new cd- I'm nothing if not thorough.) They were signed by Indelible Creative Group, whose mission statement is: "helping to build God's Kingdom by creating remarkable experiences through media products that are culturally and spiritually relevent." Where the lyrics usually are, instead I found the scenarios and situations that brought on the writing of each particular song. When I first listened to the cd I thought it was catchy but that the lyrics were a little simple. The more I listened to it, I began to feel a depth of truth in the lyrics that had at first seemed plain or overdone.

I've listened to this cd almost 100 times now. This morning I kept thinking one of the lyrics over and over again: "I was made for so much more than breathing in and breathing out so let me find my everything in you." I am sure to get pulled over listening to track 11, because I get so into it, by the end my foot is pressed to the floor and I'm going 85 in a 60. But I will weep at the end of this album every time, with track 12 repeating over and over, "It's never too late to start over."

Listen to it, love it, enjoy!

Our Fun Weekend at LBJ

This past weekend we went with our friends, The Taylors, to their lake house on LBJ. Over the past two years, this has been something we love to do together. They are always quick trips, but we get to relax and spend some good quality time together, outside of our normal schedule, and surrounded by beautiful land. We arrived on Friday evening and spent a nice night indoors. Then Saturday we hit the lake all day long!

Berkley loves the lake house more than anyone, because he gets to go wherever Mommy and Daddy go! The only downside: wearing the life jacket and having me surprise him with a spray of sunscreen to the nose. But look at this picture- does he seem to mind?

Andy and I have been hoping all week that Berkley would now be brave enough to jump into the water from the boat. After a lot of whimpering and crying as we all screamed encouragement to him, he jumped in. He doesn't quite understand the life jacket's ability to keep him afloat, so he swims in circles around the boat. He slept almost all day Sunday as a result- mission accomplished!

Berkley and I love watching Andy ski. I have never been skiing in my life, and I don't think I'll ever try. I'm not that into water. BUT I love to watch Andy being a rock star- and apparently Berkley does too.

On Sunday, we met up with our friend Parker and my mom at Austin Stone (one of our favorite churches!) before grabbing lunch and heading back. They were going through a short series on self feeding. As Christians, we often exchange the wisdom God can reveal to us for the wisdom God has revealed to others through sermons, podcasts, great books, etc. The Austin Stone is challenging the church to believe the promise of God- that He Himself will teach you through the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit. They went through a format called REAP (Read, Examine, Apply, Pray) as a way of reading the Bible for spiritual sustenance. I was so convicted by this message. I think we can all see how we are trusting in others to teach us instead of learning about God, by God, through God's Word. How beautiful it is that He provides all that we need! Click here to hear "The Art of Self-Feeding" (Part 1: the theology behind self-feeding; Part 2: a practical way to self feed). http://www.austinstone.org/resources/sermons/