The story is that apparently the National Endowment for the Arts estimates that the average adult has only read six of these books. Here are the markup guidelines:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Mark in red the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your blog
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. The Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read a LOT, but not all!)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (reading this right now...)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I hated this book.)
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert -
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie -
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Well.... I could have done worse. Still, I have a few of these books on my shelf and I've never read them. I think that's sad. I also think this list is flawed. There are a couple books I feel are duplicated (Complete Shakespeare + Hamlet; Chronicles of Narnia + Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe) and there are an awful lot by Jane Austen (whom I don't particularly like to read) and non by other authors, like Ayn Rand. They're missing some of the classics, too. Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Metamorphoses... anyone? Seems broken. Still, I've read 24 of the ones above. At least that's over the average.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Psalm 55
But as for me, I trust in you.
These are the last words of the Psalm, and words I have found myself saying time and time again as things come up in my life. I have found myself at the crossroads of belief saying, "Either I trust Him, or I don't." And the truth is that I do. I may not understand Him and His ways, but I trust Him.
I am again at those crossroads, and just yesterday I reminded myself that I trust in Him. He knows where I am and He is still leading me. When I become uncertain I think back and remember that it was He who led me here. And I trust Him. So even though I do not like this place, I will serve Him where I am and trust Him to work His will for His glory.
There are lots of other things that struck me in this Psalm, but this is the one that hit home. And so, to quote verse 22, I will...
Cast [my] cares on the Lord and He will sustain [me].
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Psalm 54
A short Psalm, only 7 verses. But in those 7 verses you see change in David's attitude as he prays. He begins with a plea for the Lord to save him.
By verse 4 he has begun to have a little more confidence as he realizes it is the Lord who sustains him.
And by the end of the Psalm he speaks in all confidence as he says he will praise the Lord's name.
Here David did not succumb to his emotions and fear, though he certainly starts out in them. But he was reminded of who God is and what He has done and he responds with praise and reverence for the name of the Lord and confidence in His plan.
Oh, that I may remember who God is and respond in the same way when I am fearful of those around me who would do me harm. For God is not ignorant of circumstances, nor is He incapable of handling my problems. I will put my trust in Him.
Save me, O God, by your name;
By verse 4 he has begun to have a little more confidence as he realizes it is the Lord who sustains him.
Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
And by the end of the Psalm he speaks in all confidence as he says he will praise the Lord's name.
For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
Here David did not succumb to his emotions and fear, though he certainly starts out in them. But he was reminded of who God is and what He has done and he responds with praise and reverence for the name of the Lord and confidence in His plan.
Oh, that I may remember who God is and respond in the same way when I am fearful of those around me who would do me harm. For God is not ignorant of circumstances, nor is He incapable of handling my problems. I will put my trust in Him.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Psalm 53
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
That's how this Psalm begins. 5 verses later it ends with these words...
Oh, that the salvation for Isreal would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of His people, let Jacob rejoice and Isreal be glad!
I love that this Psalm ends on a note of restoration. When I started reading I began to think of all the people I know who don't believe that there is a God. It saddens me that there are those who should know better and have turned their backs on Him, to the point of doubting His existence. Scripture makes clear the consequence for unbelief and rebellion from God. But the end of this Psalm reminds me not to give up hope, not to stop praying for their salvation and restoration. I praise God for His work in their lives and I ask Him to pursue them more fervently and to give them hearts receptive to His advances. And when He does restore them to fellowship with Him, we will rejoice and be glad! Praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy! His love endures forever!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Psalm 52
This Psalm has a completely different tone than the last one, and one verse in particular stands out to me:
These are the words of verse 7, and the previous 6 verses speak of how the man boasts of evil, who speaks falsehood rather than truth, and how the Lord will bring him to ruin.
What the righteous say of him is not that he was a terrible sinner, nor that he was a liar, though he was. His great fault is that he trusted in his own wealth, his own works, himself, rather than trusting in God. The righteous know that they, too, are liars and sinners, and that it is only by the grace of God that they are saved. Because they know this and understand it, they do not trust in themselves, but in the God's unfailing love and His name.
Do I trust in myself and my own wealth (though not necessarily monetary wealth) or do I make God my stronghold?
"Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!"
These are the words of verse 7, and the previous 6 verses speak of how the man boasts of evil, who speaks falsehood rather than truth, and how the Lord will bring him to ruin.
What the righteous say of him is not that he was a terrible sinner, nor that he was a liar, though he was. His great fault is that he trusted in his own wealth, his own works, himself, rather than trusting in God. The righteous know that they, too, are liars and sinners, and that it is only by the grace of God that they are saved. Because they know this and understand it, they do not trust in themselves, but in the God's unfailing love and His name.
Do I trust in myself and my own wealth (though not necessarily monetary wealth) or do I make God my stronghold?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Psalm 51
When David messed up, he messed up big time. He didn't do anything halfway. His adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah marked a very dark time in his life, where he was, no doubt, out of fellowship with God. It wasn't just a few weeks where he was out of step with God, either. He did not repent of his sins until Nathan came to him after Bathsheba gave birth to their son. But when Nathan confronted him with his sin, after David had spent months living in it, David's response was repentance. Not a reluctant admission that what he had done might have been wrong and a statement that he was sorry if he'd hurt anyone. No, David repented like he sinned - wholeheartedly. Psalm 51 reveals David's heart as he comes before the Lord after months of absence. He lays himself bare before the Lord. And even after absence and sin and rebellion, when he returns to the Lord he has not forgotten WHO GOD IS. He KNOWS the Lord - His justice, His mercy. He says in verse 17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart." and that is what he brought before the Lord.
It has been a long time since I have been truly broken hearted for my sin. I would do well to learn from David's example of repentance and fall before my Lord in humility. But how can I expect to be sensitive to my sin if I am not constantly in the presence of the One who is without sin? Reading scripture, meditating on the Word, and being in constant communion and prayer is the only way to make my sin evident, all of my sin, the sins of my heart. Because what I desire is a heart that follows Him and does not go its own way.
It has been a long time since I have been truly broken hearted for my sin. I would do well to learn from David's example of repentance and fall before my Lord in humility. But how can I expect to be sensitive to my sin if I am not constantly in the presence of the One who is without sin? Reading scripture, meditating on the Word, and being in constant communion and prayer is the only way to make my sin evident, all of my sin, the sins of my heart. Because what I desire is a heart that follows Him and does not go its own way.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Ps 51:1-2)
Sunday, June 29, 2008
If I could go back to elementary school....
I'd choose to play the cello instead of the flute. I love the cello. It is so rich, so deeply purple, so beautiful. I would love to know how to play one.
I'm pretty sure it started with the piano/cello duet I played with David Hastie in high school. Arioso is beautiful as a piano/cello duet and it was probably my favorite piece to perform.
Currently I love the theme song to Angel. Soulful is about the only word I can think of to describe it. It's beautiful. I think it's the cello.
My favorite album at the moment is Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet. Amazing. Complex. And... yes, a bit of cello. Click the link to hear some of the album. It's a little bluegrass, a little oriental, and a lot of funky beautiful. She yodels in her own style, sings in Mandarin, plays banjo and shares the stage with another banjo, fiddle, and cello. Makes for a unique sound I've never heard anywhere else and I love it. I think it's the cello.
And so, if I could do it all over again, I'd skip the flute. I'd choose the cello. And I'd play the most beautiful music I've ever dreamed up.
I'm pretty sure it started with the piano/cello duet I played with David Hastie in high school. Arioso is beautiful as a piano/cello duet and it was probably my favorite piece to perform.
Currently I love the theme song to Angel. Soulful is about the only word I can think of to describe it. It's beautiful. I think it's the cello.
My favorite album at the moment is Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet. Amazing. Complex. And... yes, a bit of cello. Click the link to hear some of the album. It's a little bluegrass, a little oriental, and a lot of funky beautiful. She yodels in her own style, sings in Mandarin, plays banjo and shares the stage with another banjo, fiddle, and cello. Makes for a unique sound I've never heard anywhere else and I love it. I think it's the cello.
And so, if I could do it all over again, I'd skip the flute. I'd choose the cello. And I'd play the most beautiful music I've ever dreamed up.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Tyranny of the Urgent
Lately I have been overrun by the tyranny of the urgent. All those things that seem to need to get done right now. I have to do laundry because we have no more clean underwear. I have to kit for a class because it's tomorrow. I have to make dinner because it's already 6:00 and Leif will be home any minute. I have to do dishes because Ellie doesn't have any clean sippy cups. And the list goes on. There are so many things that demand my immediate attention. I feel like I am perpetually behind and I can't get caught up.
The worst part about the tyranny of the urgent is that I am so busy doing the mundane tasks that cry to be done RIGHT NOW that I end up ignoring those things that really do matter. I spend an afternoon trying to put away laundry because it *needs* to be done. And while I'm doing that, I've got Eliana watching a show so I can get work done and Leif comes home to a messy house (because I didn't get the kitchen cleaned up after lunch) and no dinner. Now, a clean house is not the most important thing, but it is one of the tangible ways I can tell my husband I love him. A clean house speaks more than a thousand words could to let him know how much he means to me. And a messy house stresses him out. So I got the laundry done, but I missed an opportunity to tell my husband that he is important to me, and I missed the chance to play with my daughter because I was too busy putting away the socks and underwear.
I'm not saying that the clothes shouldn't be put away. I'm just saying that there are things that are more important than laundry.
Take tonight, for example. I was putting away laundry (because I actually DID ignore the pile of laundry so I could play with my daughter this afternoon) while Leif put Ellie to bed when I got a message from a friend asking me to pray for her. Now, I had been praying for her all week. But I had neglected to take the time to tell her that I was praying for her, so she felt alone and uncared for. And why hadn't I taken the time to let her know I cared and was praying? Because I was too busy doing the "urgent" things. I feel horrible that I left a friend feeling unaccompanied on a journey I promised to walk with her! It was certainly not my aim to leave her feeling so deserted. But I did not make it my aim to make a point of letting her know I was praying for her and so I let her down. And what do I have to show for it? Laundry in the closet instead of in the basket by the bed. Big deal! I can tell you which will have the greater impact, and it's not the one I spent the time on.
I have been succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent lately and I hate it. I hate how out of control everything feels when I am rushing from task to task because they demand attention NOW. I hate that my priorities get sidetracked and I let mundane things take their place. Tonight I scrubbed the shower and the toilet. Why? Because that's what I do when I am stressed. I am stressed because I have lost my balance. I swing like a 5 foot brunette pendulum between slob and perfectionist, letting go of my routines and then clinging so tightly my knuckles are white. I feel like hyperventilating because the clothes in my closet are not organized by sleeve length and color. I feel sick because I did not mop the kitchen today, again. These are the tell-tale signs that my life is out of focus. First because I feel the need for control and order, and second because I feel physically ill that things are not the way I think they ought to be.
And so it is time for a refocus. It's not about me. It's not about my laundry. It's not about my closet. It's not about how shiny the bathtub fixtures are, or how my clothes are folded and organized. It's about HIM. God. Creator of the world and the one who has the plan. The laundry need to be done, but it should be done for His glory, done so that we are able to get up and dressed and ready to serve Him. My house should be clean, not for clean sake, but to speak love to my family and so that our house is ready to be used by God at a moment's notice. He is a God of order and my home and life should reflect that, but serve Him, not the order itself.
Urgent things must be done tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. And I will do them. But that which is urgent should never supersede that which is important. Loving and training my daughter is important. Loving and helping my husband is important. If I can do those things while folding laundry, then Hallelujah! If not, we can go another day with the laundry in the basket. It will be okay.
The worst part about the tyranny of the urgent is that I am so busy doing the mundane tasks that cry to be done RIGHT NOW that I end up ignoring those things that really do matter. I spend an afternoon trying to put away laundry because it *needs* to be done. And while I'm doing that, I've got Eliana watching a show so I can get work done and Leif comes home to a messy house (because I didn't get the kitchen cleaned up after lunch) and no dinner. Now, a clean house is not the most important thing, but it is one of the tangible ways I can tell my husband I love him. A clean house speaks more than a thousand words could to let him know how much he means to me. And a messy house stresses him out. So I got the laundry done, but I missed an opportunity to tell my husband that he is important to me, and I missed the chance to play with my daughter because I was too busy putting away the socks and underwear.
I'm not saying that the clothes shouldn't be put away. I'm just saying that there are things that are more important than laundry.
Take tonight, for example. I was putting away laundry (because I actually DID ignore the pile of laundry so I could play with my daughter this afternoon) while Leif put Ellie to bed when I got a message from a friend asking me to pray for her. Now, I had been praying for her all week. But I had neglected to take the time to tell her that I was praying for her, so she felt alone and uncared for. And why hadn't I taken the time to let her know I cared and was praying? Because I was too busy doing the "urgent" things. I feel horrible that I left a friend feeling unaccompanied on a journey I promised to walk with her! It was certainly not my aim to leave her feeling so deserted. But I did not make it my aim to make a point of letting her know I was praying for her and so I let her down. And what do I have to show for it? Laundry in the closet instead of in the basket by the bed. Big deal! I can tell you which will have the greater impact, and it's not the one I spent the time on.
I have been succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent lately and I hate it. I hate how out of control everything feels when I am rushing from task to task because they demand attention NOW. I hate that my priorities get sidetracked and I let mundane things take their place. Tonight I scrubbed the shower and the toilet. Why? Because that's what I do when I am stressed. I am stressed because I have lost my balance. I swing like a 5 foot brunette pendulum between slob and perfectionist, letting go of my routines and then clinging so tightly my knuckles are white. I feel like hyperventilating because the clothes in my closet are not organized by sleeve length and color. I feel sick because I did not mop the kitchen today, again. These are the tell-tale signs that my life is out of focus. First because I feel the need for control and order, and second because I feel physically ill that things are not the way I think they ought to be.
And so it is time for a refocus. It's not about me. It's not about my laundry. It's not about my closet. It's not about how shiny the bathtub fixtures are, or how my clothes are folded and organized. It's about HIM. God. Creator of the world and the one who has the plan. The laundry need to be done, but it should be done for His glory, done so that we are able to get up and dressed and ready to serve Him. My house should be clean, not for clean sake, but to speak love to my family and so that our house is ready to be used by God at a moment's notice. He is a God of order and my home and life should reflect that, but serve Him, not the order itself.
Urgent things must be done tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. And I will do them. But that which is urgent should never supersede that which is important. Loving and training my daughter is important. Loving and helping my husband is important. If I can do those things while folding laundry, then Hallelujah! If not, we can go another day with the laundry in the basket. It will be okay.
Saw Barack Obama last night.
Yep, Mr. presidential hopeful Barack Obama was here in li'l ol' Bozeman last night. It was one of the smaller rallies, I'm guessing, with 7,000 in attendance. Tickets were free, and thats what Leif wanted for his birthday. So we went.
I'm not going to vote for Barack Obama. Not in the primary, not for president. But who am I to pass up the opportunity to see him for free? When else will there be a presidential candidate in Bozeman? It was a little sliver of history and I got to be part of it.
I'm not going to vote for Barack Obama. Not in the primary, not for president. But who am I to pass up the opportunity to see him for free? When else will there be a presidential candidate in Bozeman? It was a little sliver of history and I got to be part of it.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Here's the sad thing...
I just took this geography quiz. I got a 6 out of 8 after my husband got an 8 out of 8. Now, I'm not too concerned with the result. I know I'm not terribly good at geography. And I didn't learn anything new about myself by learning that I could identify where Iran is and not Afghanistan. I've never been good with the 'stans.
What concerns me is that I took another quiz immediately after, just out of curiosity. It was on scenes from horror films. I make a practice of NOT watching horror films, due to my overactive imagination. I just don't feed the beast and we all seem happier that way. But I took this quiz, which gave murder scenes and 3 movies to choose from. I had to decide which movie the scene was taken from. I had not seen a single one of the films. Not one. My score on that? 10 out of 10.
That's right. I am better at the trivia from horror films I've never seen (and many I'd never even heard of) than I am geography. That's just sad.
What concerns me is that I took another quiz immediately after, just out of curiosity. It was on scenes from horror films. I make a practice of NOT watching horror films, due to my overactive imagination. I just don't feed the beast and we all seem happier that way. But I took this quiz, which gave murder scenes and 3 movies to choose from. I had to decide which movie the scene was taken from. I had not seen a single one of the films. Not one. My score on that? 10 out of 10.
That's right. I am better at the trivia from horror films I've never seen (and many I'd never even heard of) than I am geography. That's just sad.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Loving Well
This weekend was our Ladies' retreat at New Hope. I decided that going to the retreat would be the best way to get to know the other women in the church, so I signed up. I did get to know the women, and I had a great weekend, but I also heard a message that I think I really needed to hear. The topic was loving well and the study was by Beth Moore, who was our speaker via DVD.
Along with the lessons for the weekend, we were given a 4 week follow up booklet. It is sort of a devotional guide, but I think the questions are good ones to think about, so I'll do a little thinking...
1:1 (Week 1 Day 1)
Do I love others better than I did 5 years ago?
Five years ago we had just moved to Montana. I don't know if I love better now than I did 5 years ago, but I definitely love better now than I did 2 years ago. I think. I have a pretty hard time gaging how well I love. I know I make more of a concerted effort to love now than I did then, but maybe that's because I don't love as well now and it's harder. So I guess I don't know the answer to this question. But I do know that I am working on becoming a more loving person, and that in 5 years I certainly hope I will be more loving than I am today.
Am I growing in my ability to love others more openly, with more vulnerability?
Yes. I am in a Bible study with some wonderfully supportive women and I am working on being more open and vulnerable with them. Seeing how the body of Christ is supposed to support and love, without judgment, while holding each other accountable is a beautiful thing.
What marked change or transformation has come about in the way I love?
Hmm... I try harder. I make an effort to love when I don't want to. I am quickER to love and slowER to anger. I certainly have areas I need to work on, but I am getting better.
I John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."
Along with the lessons for the weekend, we were given a 4 week follow up booklet. It is sort of a devotional guide, but I think the questions are good ones to think about, so I'll do a little thinking...
1:1 (Week 1 Day 1)
Do I love others better than I did 5 years ago?
Five years ago we had just moved to Montana. I don't know if I love better now than I did 5 years ago, but I definitely love better now than I did 2 years ago. I think. I have a pretty hard time gaging how well I love. I know I make more of a concerted effort to love now than I did then, but maybe that's because I don't love as well now and it's harder. So I guess I don't know the answer to this question. But I do know that I am working on becoming a more loving person, and that in 5 years I certainly hope I will be more loving than I am today.
Am I growing in my ability to love others more openly, with more vulnerability?
Yes. I am in a Bible study with some wonderfully supportive women and I am working on being more open and vulnerable with them. Seeing how the body of Christ is supposed to support and love, without judgment, while holding each other accountable is a beautiful thing.
What marked change or transformation has come about in the way I love?
Hmm... I try harder. I make an effort to love when I don't want to. I am quickER to love and slowER to anger. I certainly have areas I need to work on, but I am getting better.
I John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."
Friday, April 11, 2008
Bleak House: Chapter 7
I find Charles Dickens extremely verbose. Soooo many words... so little plot movement. I couldn't even read the last paragraph of the chapter because I couldn't keep my eyes open. It will be a sheer act of will if I ever finish this book. 100 pages in, 717 to go...
Monday, April 07, 2008
Prayer for Jennifer Vidmar
I have mentioned Jennifer Vidmar before. She was in our Bible study earlier this year and is one of the women in our church. She is also a Petra parent. We've known the Vidmars since my first year at Petra, and we were in a Sunday school class with them at E-Free. We don't know them as closely as I'd like, but over the years we have witnessed the Lord's work in their lives through good times and bad. Jennifer is one of the strongest women of faith that I know, and her response to the struggles she has faced has always been a response of praise and glory to God.
This week we found out that Jennifer has Leukemia, and it appears to be fairly advanced. Please hold her up in prayer as she undergoes chemotherapy in Seattle, and hold her family up as they support her and go through this with her. Once again her response is one of glory to God, and we know that He is using her for His glory once again, but it is still hard to see her and her family suffering as she goes through this. Please pray specifically for her nine year old daughter Jessica. Jennifer almost died about 4 years ago in a completely unrelated health crisis. Jessica is old enough to remember that and is currently staying with family here in the area while her parents are in Seattle for Jennifer's treatments. The separation is hard on both Jessica and Jennifer during this time, so please pray for strength for both of them while they are apart. Jennifer and Bruce also have another daughter Rebecca, who is a year old. She is staying with family, too, and is too young to know what is going on, but she notices her mother's absence and is having a hard time dealing with it.
We know that Jennifer's desire is to be used for God's glory, whether through her life or death. She is ready for whatever He has in store for her. We know that God can heal her if that is His plan, but we also know that His ways are not our ways and He may have another plan for her. So we pray for her healing, but place her in His hands and trust in His sovereignty.
Please, when the Lord brings them to mind, pray for them too.
This week we found out that Jennifer has Leukemia, and it appears to be fairly advanced. Please hold her up in prayer as she undergoes chemotherapy in Seattle, and hold her family up as they support her and go through this with her. Once again her response is one of glory to God, and we know that He is using her for His glory once again, but it is still hard to see her and her family suffering as she goes through this. Please pray specifically for her nine year old daughter Jessica. Jennifer almost died about 4 years ago in a completely unrelated health crisis. Jessica is old enough to remember that and is currently staying with family here in the area while her parents are in Seattle for Jennifer's treatments. The separation is hard on both Jessica and Jennifer during this time, so please pray for strength for both of them while they are apart. Jennifer and Bruce also have another daughter Rebecca, who is a year old. She is staying with family, too, and is too young to know what is going on, but she notices her mother's absence and is having a hard time dealing with it.
We know that Jennifer's desire is to be used for God's glory, whether through her life or death. She is ready for whatever He has in store for her. We know that God can heal her if that is His plan, but we also know that His ways are not our ways and He may have another plan for her. So we pray for her healing, but place her in His hands and trust in His sovereignty.
Please, when the Lord brings them to mind, pray for them too.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Bleak House: Chapter 4
I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby. For all the good she did for others, and all the time she invested, she alienated her own husband and children, those whom she should have been taking the best care of as a wife and mother. But her reactions to Peepy were horrible. And her poor husband was estranged from her, though living in the same house. All of her housekeeping had gone to pot. Her house was a mess and her children were filthy. Her only concern was for the Africans, and I can't see how her neglect for the family God gave her was glorifying to Him.
I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby.
I don't ever want to be so busy with church commitments that I can't spend time with my husband and make him feel loved. I don't ever want to be so caught up in my own hobbies that I don't spend time playing with my daughter. I want them to know that they are important to me, and if I place them behind other things, no matter how good those things may be, they will not feel important. They will not feel loved. They will feel second rate. And I never want them to feel that way. Leif is second in my life, behind God, but not behind the church. Ellie is behind Leif, but again, she comes before church, and she comes before scrapbooking. I find in scripture where I am commanded to love the Lord with all my heart, submit to my husband, and train my child, but nowhere do I see that I need to overcommit myself to the local church and so push away the ones God has given me.
No, I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby.
I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby.
I don't ever want to be so busy with church commitments that I can't spend time with my husband and make him feel loved. I don't ever want to be so caught up in my own hobbies that I don't spend time playing with my daughter. I want them to know that they are important to me, and if I place them behind other things, no matter how good those things may be, they will not feel important. They will not feel loved. They will feel second rate. And I never want them to feel that way. Leif is second in my life, behind God, but not behind the church. Ellie is behind Leif, but again, she comes before church, and she comes before scrapbooking. I find in scripture where I am commanded to love the Lord with all my heart, submit to my husband, and train my child, but nowhere do I see that I need to overcommit myself to the local church and so push away the ones God has given me.
No, I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby.
Church today
Last week it was announced that we would have a guest speaker in church today and, I admit, I wasn't looking forward to it. I don't know why, but I like the regularity of a single pastor preaching every week. But I knew I would be there this morning because I am participating in a skit for the Women's Retreat in a couple weeks and we were meeting before church to rehearse.
Some days it just seems like God reaches down and places things along the path, just for you. Just so you can see his hand as you walk along a road whose destination you are uncertain of. Today was one of those days.
We met early to rehearse our skit, and then two of the members had to leave to get ready for their Sunday school commitments. That left me and Shannon talking for a while, something we don't normally get the opportunity to do without the interruption of kids or other people. As the conversation progressed, I shared with her a burden I have been carrying in my heart for months. It just came out in the conversation and we had a good talk. And she prayed with me. And I realized that this was fellowship. This is what had been lacking in my life the last couple years. God's love shared through the lives and words of other believers. There was no condemnation, no disappointment, only genuine concern, love, and prayer. And so I entered the worship service with a portion of the burden lifted.
I opened the bulletin and right there was a prayer focus for the beginning of the service and this week. It was Isaiah 49:13
It was as though that verse was there for me. I took comfort in its words as we began to sing. I don't remember the name of the song, but one of the worship songs today spoke of the name of the Lord being a tower of refuge. It is His name that has the power to save. And again I was thankful. Thankful that He has saved me, and thankful that He is my refuge and my strength.
The sermon today was about being God's chosen people, from 1 Peter. The last point was that being chosen should change how we live. And though I've read this verse before, it stood out today and I saw two things I don't know that I've seen before. The passage was from 1 Peter 2, verses 11 and 12
That verse hit home. I am called to live my life in such a way that others, especially those closest to me, who are with me day in and day out, see Christ in all I do. Forming close relationships with those around me is good, but not if I get sloppy and begin living like they do. I am called to be set apart so that others may see God. I am not called to be 97% like them and 3% different. My life should be distinctly different, and that is sometimes a hard way to live. I want to let my guard down around the ones I am close to, but in doing so I am tempted to fall into their patterns and their attitudes, which are not to be my own. And so I remember that HE is my refuge when I am weary, not other people. And HE is my strength when I am weak and don't think I can live to the standard He has put before me. I am to be an example to the non-Christians He has brought into my life, not the other way around. I am to be love to those who cannot yet see where it comes from. I am to be a light to those who are in darkness.
The two things from the passage in 1 Peter that I don't remember noticing before are in verse 12. The first is that little clause that says, "though they accuse you of doing wrong," . It doesn't say IF they accuse you, it says though. We will be accused of things. We will probably be falsely accused. But our duty is to please the Lord, not men. We are to remain faithful to Him, not swayed by the opinions of man. And that is much easier said than done. But our reward is in heaven, not here on Earth, and we do well to remember that. This Earth is a battleground, and we are at war. Our victory is certain, but we do not claim the prize until the race is won.
The second clause that caught my attention is at the very end of verse 12. We are supposed to live righteous lives so that those who don't believe "may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." The impact our actions have is long lasting. We can do what is right over and over and over and never see any result. But those deeds testify God's righteousness to the end and He may use them to draw others to Himself years later. It is not our job to save people. It is our job to remain faithful and obedient to Him so that His work may be carried out through us.
And, with my burden still on my heart, I suddenly find myself singing a song that has long been a favorite of mine. Once again, I can't help but feel as though God reached down and put this song in my heart today as a reminder that He is still God, He is still sovereign, and He is still in control.
Some days it just seems like God reaches down and places things along the path, just for you. Just so you can see his hand as you walk along a road whose destination you are uncertain of. Today was one of those days.
We met early to rehearse our skit, and then two of the members had to leave to get ready for their Sunday school commitments. That left me and Shannon talking for a while, something we don't normally get the opportunity to do without the interruption of kids or other people. As the conversation progressed, I shared with her a burden I have been carrying in my heart for months. It just came out in the conversation and we had a good talk. And she prayed with me. And I realized that this was fellowship. This is what had been lacking in my life the last couple years. God's love shared through the lives and words of other believers. There was no condemnation, no disappointment, only genuine concern, love, and prayer. And so I entered the worship service with a portion of the burden lifted.
I opened the bulletin and right there was a prayer focus for the beginning of the service and this week. It was Isaiah 49:13
"The Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."
It was as though that verse was there for me. I took comfort in its words as we began to sing. I don't remember the name of the song, but one of the worship songs today spoke of the name of the Lord being a tower of refuge. It is His name that has the power to save. And again I was thankful. Thankful that He has saved me, and thankful that He is my refuge and my strength.
The sermon today was about being God's chosen people, from 1 Peter. The last point was that being chosen should change how we live. And though I've read this verse before, it stood out today and I saw two things I don't know that I've seen before. The passage was from 1 Peter 2, verses 11 and 12
"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Life such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
That verse hit home. I am called to live my life in such a way that others, especially those closest to me, who are with me day in and day out, see Christ in all I do. Forming close relationships with those around me is good, but not if I get sloppy and begin living like they do. I am called to be set apart so that others may see God. I am not called to be 97% like them and 3% different. My life should be distinctly different, and that is sometimes a hard way to live. I want to let my guard down around the ones I am close to, but in doing so I am tempted to fall into their patterns and their attitudes, which are not to be my own. And so I remember that HE is my refuge when I am weary, not other people. And HE is my strength when I am weak and don't think I can live to the standard He has put before me. I am to be an example to the non-Christians He has brought into my life, not the other way around. I am to be love to those who cannot yet see where it comes from. I am to be a light to those who are in darkness.
The two things from the passage in 1 Peter that I don't remember noticing before are in verse 12. The first is that little clause that says, "though they accuse you of doing wrong," . It doesn't say IF they accuse you, it says though. We will be accused of things. We will probably be falsely accused. But our duty is to please the Lord, not men. We are to remain faithful to Him, not swayed by the opinions of man. And that is much easier said than done. But our reward is in heaven, not here on Earth, and we do well to remember that. This Earth is a battleground, and we are at war. Our victory is certain, but we do not claim the prize until the race is won.
The second clause that caught my attention is at the very end of verse 12. We are supposed to live righteous lives so that those who don't believe "may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." The impact our actions have is long lasting. We can do what is right over and over and over and never see any result. But those deeds testify God's righteousness to the end and He may use them to draw others to Himself years later. It is not our job to save people. It is our job to remain faithful and obedient to Him so that His work may be carried out through us.
And, with my burden still on my heart, I suddenly find myself singing a song that has long been a favorite of mine. Once again, I can't help but feel as though God reached down and put this song in my heart today as a reminder that He is still God, He is still sovereign, and He is still in control.
Trust and obey,
for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
EPIC
I read the rest of Epic by John Eldridge today. I started reading it at Barnes and Noble last weekend when Leif and I were out on our date. (sidenote: I can't believe we're going to get dates THREE weekends in a row! That's amazing!) I picked it up on a whim, adding it to a pile of scrapbooking magazines I'd planned on leafing through. I read the first chapter and put it on my "to read" list. Then Cheryl saw it on the list and offered to let me borrow her copy! It's a short book, just 104 pages, but is well written and easy to read. Eldridge does a good job of making profound truths and ideas clear and accessible without getting too deep into the theological intricacies. I really enjoyed it.
Epic sets out to explain why stories (including plays, movies, books, etc.) strike such a resonant chord with us as humans. What is it about stories, with their villains and heroes, conflict and resolution, that draw us in? What is it that makes us see ourselves in the story and experience the emotions of the characters? And Eldridge's answer isn't anything new to me. It's something I've known for a long time, and began to understand better during my time teaching at Petra. But there was one thing in the book that I hadn't really thought about before, though I've been contemplating the subject for a while: Fellowship.
When we were thinking about switching churches, one of the main reasons for doing so was fellowship. I longed to build relationships with the other believers in the church, something that I didn't seem able to do at E-Free. And so I chose fellowship over verse-by-verse teaching when we moved to New Hope. I've never really considered the origin of fellowship. I mean, I know that God created Adam and Eve. This is what I have always considered the beginning of fellowship. But it's not. Fellowship predates mankind. Fellowship predates time. Because fellowship is something that God has in the Trinity. And I'd never really thought about that before reading Epic. The reason we, all of us, crave interaction with one another is because we are created in the image of God. He has fellowship with the other members of the Trinity and desires fellowship with us. And so we desire fellowship with one another, and with Him.
It's a good book. It gave me some food for thought. And it's a good follow up to It's Not About Me by Max Lucado, if you've ever read that. That's another short, but profound, book with the potential to change your life and the way you think about it. But Epic? Epic is a good book. After reading the first chapter I gave it 5 stars (out of 5) on Goodreads. Now, having finished the book, I still give it 5 stars. It's worth reading.
Epic sets out to explain why stories (including plays, movies, books, etc.) strike such a resonant chord with us as humans. What is it about stories, with their villains and heroes, conflict and resolution, that draw us in? What is it that makes us see ourselves in the story and experience the emotions of the characters? And Eldridge's answer isn't anything new to me. It's something I've known for a long time, and began to understand better during my time teaching at Petra. But there was one thing in the book that I hadn't really thought about before, though I've been contemplating the subject for a while: Fellowship.
When we were thinking about switching churches, one of the main reasons for doing so was fellowship. I longed to build relationships with the other believers in the church, something that I didn't seem able to do at E-Free. And so I chose fellowship over verse-by-verse teaching when we moved to New Hope. I've never really considered the origin of fellowship. I mean, I know that God created Adam and Eve. This is what I have always considered the beginning of fellowship. But it's not. Fellowship predates mankind. Fellowship predates time. Because fellowship is something that God has in the Trinity. And I'd never really thought about that before reading Epic. The reason we, all of us, crave interaction with one another is because we are created in the image of God. He has fellowship with the other members of the Trinity and desires fellowship with us. And so we desire fellowship with one another, and with Him.
It's a good book. It gave me some food for thought. And it's a good follow up to It's Not About Me by Max Lucado, if you've ever read that. That's another short, but profound, book with the potential to change your life and the way you think about it. But Epic? Epic is a good book. After reading the first chapter I gave it 5 stars (out of 5) on Goodreads. Now, having finished the book, I still give it 5 stars. It's worth reading.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Bleak House: Chapter 2 (On Fashion)
Once again, there was one paragraph that really stood out to me in this chapter. It is the second paragraph of the second chapter, and it reads like this:
Initially this struck me as I am considering what material I want to cover for Protocol this year. There is a place for fashion. We ought to take care in how we present ourselves, as God's creations. But if we get caught up in it, we reveal not the Life that is within us, but the death we are allowing to foster by our misplaced focus.
What Dickens wrote about fashion in the 1800s is true about fashion today. That is not because the fashion itself has remained the same, but because humanity has. And his truth about fashion can apply to any area of life if we allow it. In any God-given field, there is much good. There are people who hold to that which is good and true about it. But there are those, too, who are so wrapped up in this tiny little world that they do not see the other worlds God has created around them, nor the God who created them. And so the challenge is to see the world as God sees it, within the context of Himself and all that He has created, and to take what is good, and true, and right from it and discard what Satan has distorted to blind us.
Using Dickens' example of fashion, we must ask ourselves, "What is good, and true, and right about fashion?" Is there anything good about it? Or is it wholly and completely shallow and base? What are the origins of fashion?
And so we go back to the beginning. Genesis 3 gives us the first account of clothing. When Adam and Eve sinned, they realized they were naked and sewed fig leaf coverings for themselves. After the curse, God made garments of skin from a sacrificial animal. The purpose of clothing is to cover our nakedness. It is a symbolic of the sacrifice Christ would make in order to cover our sins. So when we consider fashion, we ought to remember first and foremost modesty. Is the purpose to cover or reveal? The boundaries of modesty are dictated by culture. In the Victorian era, it was considered immodest for a woman to show her ankles. Not so today. In Irian Jaya, it is considered immodest if a man is seen without his gourd, despite the fact that the gourd really doesn't cover anything by our standards. In the same vein, if an American man tried to walk down the street wearing only a gourd, which would be completely modest by Irian Jayan standards, he would most certainly be arrested in a heartbeat for indecent exposure here. Modesty is dictated by culture, and we would do well to make sure we know what our clothes are saying about us before we wear them.
Once modesty has been made the priority, we ought to choose clothing that is appropriate for the event or task at hand, and finally something that is pleasant and flattering to look at. After all, we are representatives of God, and as His creations we ought to reflect the goodness and beauty that He possesses. But if we focus our attention on the form first, we will almost certainly lose sight of the Creator and His purpose. And then we reflect not Him with our dress, but our own sinful desires. And that is not fashionable at all.
[The world of fashion] is not a large world... There is much good in it; there are many good and true people in it; it has its appointed place. But the evil of it is, that it is a world wrapped up too much in jeweller's cotton and fine wool, and cannot hear the rushing of the larger worlds, and cannot see them as they circle around the sun. It is a deadened world, and its growth is sometimes unhealthy for want of air.
Initially this struck me as I am considering what material I want to cover for Protocol this year. There is a place for fashion. We ought to take care in how we present ourselves, as God's creations. But if we get caught up in it, we reveal not the Life that is within us, but the death we are allowing to foster by our misplaced focus.
What Dickens wrote about fashion in the 1800s is true about fashion today. That is not because the fashion itself has remained the same, but because humanity has. And his truth about fashion can apply to any area of life if we allow it. In any God-given field, there is much good. There are people who hold to that which is good and true about it. But there are those, too, who are so wrapped up in this tiny little world that they do not see the other worlds God has created around them, nor the God who created them. And so the challenge is to see the world as God sees it, within the context of Himself and all that He has created, and to take what is good, and true, and right from it and discard what Satan has distorted to blind us.
Using Dickens' example of fashion, we must ask ourselves, "What is good, and true, and right about fashion?" Is there anything good about it? Or is it wholly and completely shallow and base? What are the origins of fashion?
And so we go back to the beginning. Genesis 3 gives us the first account of clothing. When Adam and Eve sinned, they realized they were naked and sewed fig leaf coverings for themselves. After the curse, God made garments of skin from a sacrificial animal. The purpose of clothing is to cover our nakedness. It is a symbolic of the sacrifice Christ would make in order to cover our sins. So when we consider fashion, we ought to remember first and foremost modesty. Is the purpose to cover or reveal? The boundaries of modesty are dictated by culture. In the Victorian era, it was considered immodest for a woman to show her ankles. Not so today. In Irian Jaya, it is considered immodest if a man is seen without his gourd, despite the fact that the gourd really doesn't cover anything by our standards. In the same vein, if an American man tried to walk down the street wearing only a gourd, which would be completely modest by Irian Jayan standards, he would most certainly be arrested in a heartbeat for indecent exposure here. Modesty is dictated by culture, and we would do well to make sure we know what our clothes are saying about us before we wear them.
Once modesty has been made the priority, we ought to choose clothing that is appropriate for the event or task at hand, and finally something that is pleasant and flattering to look at. After all, we are representatives of God, and as His creations we ought to reflect the goodness and beauty that He possesses. But if we focus our attention on the form first, we will almost certainly lose sight of the Creator and His purpose. And then we reflect not Him with our dress, but our own sinful desires. And that is not fashionable at all.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Bleak House: Chapter 1
I started reading Bleak House last night. I only read the first chapter, but it was a good start. The first chapter is all about Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a case which has been dragging on forever and ever. Just as the High Court of Chancery is at the very heart of the fog in the city, so this case leaves all who are affiliated with it in the fog of its complication and despair.
This paragraph in particular caught my attention:
I have no idea where Dickens is going with the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit, but I can tell you where my mind goes with it. Sin. It reminds me of sin. It is twisted and complicated, just like sin. The longer it goes on, the more it consumes. People fall into it, often without knowing why or how. Entire generations are born into it and die out of it, their whole lives defined and tormented by it. Sin is an ugly thing.
Like I said, I have no idea where Dickens is going with this suit. But I'm guessing that, like God did with sin, Dickens is going to provide resolution to the suit. He's going to provide redemption for those who are caught up in it. Now I just have to read on to see how.
This paragraph in particular caught my attention:
Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. The parties to it understand it least, but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises. Innumerable children have been born into the cause; innumerable old people have died out of it. Scores of persons have deliriously found themselves made parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce without knowing how or why; whole families have inherited legendary hatreds with the suit. The little plaintiff or defendant who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled has grown up, possessed himself of a real horse, and trotted away into the other world. Fair wards of court have faded into mothers and grandmothers; a long procession of Chancellors has come in and gone out; the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality; there are not three Jarndyces left upon the earth perhaps since old Tom Jarndyce in despair blew his brains out at a coffee-house in Chancery Lane; but Jarndyce and Jarndyce still drags its dreary length before the court, perennially hopeless.
I have no idea where Dickens is going with the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit, but I can tell you where my mind goes with it. Sin. It reminds me of sin. It is twisted and complicated, just like sin. The longer it goes on, the more it consumes. People fall into it, often without knowing why or how. Entire generations are born into it and die out of it, their whole lives defined and tormented by it. Sin is an ugly thing.
Like I said, I have no idea where Dickens is going with this suit. But I'm guessing that, like God did with sin, Dickens is going to provide resolution to the suit. He's going to provide redemption for those who are caught up in it. Now I just have to read on to see how.
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