Good Reads

Well here we are, the month almost half over, and I haven't written one single post for this wonderful new year.  What's that all about?!

Well, it's probably about how not much new is going on here.  I'm slowly adjusting to life without My best Helen & Steve living down the road.  Eagerly anticipating the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Spending my days with my 2-year-olds and my nights with One Tree Hill.

I kicked off my new year by reading two really fantastic books, and I thought I'd take a little posting space to share them with you:

Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson

Anyone who loves a good suspense novel will love Dee Henderson's works!  I began reading her O'Malley series when I was, I think, still in middle school. My dad and sister both loved them, so I picked up Danger in the Shadows and fell in love.  Full Disclosure follows the story of Ann Silver, who happens to know the O'Malley clan quite well.  If you loved The O'Malleys, you'll love Full Disclosure.

Lethal Legacy by Irene Hannon

I picked up my first Irene Hannon book at the library because I saw Dee Henderson highly recommended it (as written on the inside of the book). And I'm SO glad I did! Irene Hannon is a wonderful author.  Her books move quickly along, keeping your interest the whole way and leaving you excited for more.  Lethal Legacy is the third book in the Guardians of Justice series, which follows the stories of the three Taylor siblings.  I sat down and read this book cover to cover on New Year's Eve... I couldn't put it down!

If you're looking for something good to read, an escape from reality, I highly recommend both of these books!

Up Close & Personal

I recently came across this post at Princess of Something (a blog I follow), and I really enjoyed reading it.  So... I stole it so I could catch you all up on what's new and exciting in MY life... not just what's going on in my life! :)

Current Books: I just finished Finally & Forever  by Robin Jones Gunn.  I didn't even know this book existed, although I was sincerely hoping she would eventually finish off this series with something a little more final.  Great  book!  I'm currently reading Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury (which I must say was titled and published LONG before...other... books with similar titles...).  Great book about a couple that overcomes tragic life choices (abortion) and finds the redeeming love and grace of God to change their lives.  I'm also eagerly anticipating reading Coming Home also by Karen Kingsbury, which is the final book in the Baxter books.

Current Playlist: Well... since it's July, and it's a million and seven degrees outside, I'm listening to a lot of Christmas music.  Seriously.  It's one of the quickest ways to cool off!  I'm also listening to Mandisa's new cd & Jamie Grace's new CD.  Oh, yeah, and I'm also listening to Some Nights by Fun.  Because it makes me smile... :)

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Hmmm.... Shame-Inducing?  Well... I can't say there's any of THOSE... but I have been eating a larger portion of ice cream lately due to the previously mentioned weather issue... Like the other night when Helen and I ate almost an entire 1/2 gallon buy ourselves... yeah.

Current Colors: Brights.  Anything that is bright and bold that goes well under a black dress or shirt.  I almost ALWAYS wear black.  Oh!  And bright pink or yellow sandals! :)

Current Fetish: Pinterest.  Just like everyone else out in the cyber webs.

Current Food: Fresh garden veggies!  Cucumbers, Squash, & Greenbeans. Soon, I'll add tomatoes, too!

Current Drink: LOTS of water.  It's rediculous how much water I've consumed lately.  Also, anything iced.  Iced coffee, Iced tea, Iced Grape Koolaid... just make sure you serve it over ice.

Current Favorite Favorite: My new family. The one that lives at the Yellow House by the airport.  I love them!

Current Wishlist: Enough money to afford my own place.

Current Needs: None.  All I have need of, God has provided!

Current Triumph: It should have worn off by now concerning the "triumphant" feeling, but sticking with my June Cleanse for two whole weeks (mostly the excercising) still makes me feel like a winner.

Current Bane of my Existence: Hmmm... I would tell you, but I can't.  Anyone that has spent much time at all with me over the last month and a half knows the name of this person...

Current Indulgence: Iced Coffee.  If I make it at home, I either a) make chocolate macadamia nut coffee & add White Chocolate macadamia creamer or b) make regular dark roast coffee & add Almond Joy creamer.  IF I treat myself to Starbucks, I either do the Mocha Coconut OR the Peppermint Mocha. Or sometimes I treat myself to a Caramel Mocha Frappe from McDonald's and think of my daddy while I drink it!

Current Mood: Honestly? Bored.  But also relaxed!  It's a 3-person day in the office! :)

Current #1 Blessing: Two families that adore & love me!  Couldn't ask for more than that!  Also that I didn't get headlice... That almost trumps the two familiy thing... LOL

Current Slang or Saying: Saying "Can I get the bugspray on that?" when asking for the details of something.

Current Picture: from this weekend...at the park... with part of my adopted family & my for-real sister... and also, I didn't center it very well... hence my missing chin... :P

Falling in Love (or at least TRYING to!)

I love Valentine's Day!  I don't know any other family that celebrates the way we do.  Every year we put up lots of festive decorations in early February, and we bake special sugar cookies and have heart shaped cake (or some other yummy dessert).  One thing I really enjoy is watching a plethora of chick flicks, which I can assure you, I definitely have a good head start on that activity!

God's timing is never coincidence.  This week's chapter in GGW is about who directs the love story of the Wise Girl and the Wild Girl.  The Wild Girl writes her own story; the Wise Girl surrenders to God's pen!

When I was in High School, I tended toward the Wild girl's approach.  I always had my eye on a guy, and I had pretty much perfected the art of the accidental "Hey! Fancy running in to you here!" meetings. I am so SO very thankful that God protected my heart despite my constant attempts to give it away!  The good news is that most of my failed attempts at getting these guys attention ended in great friendships, some of which I am still thankful for and enjoying today.

I can tell you exactly when I surrendered to God's pen.  Sadly, the reason I can tell you is that it wasn't very long ago: November 2010.  When I found out last April that God was moving me back home, I immediately began praying more earnestly about a specific relationship I knew would be a possible reality in the months ahead; however, it wasn't until November (seven months later) that I finally quit trying to make the relationship happen.  I quit. I gave it all to God and asked Him to just "do His thing."  And let me tell you, it has been one exciting adventure! I have always loved Isaiah 55:8-9, and I think it's because the truth found there is so relevant: God's ways/thoughts are so much higher than ours! In the short time since I surrendered to God's plan, I have seen him orchestrate things in a way that I could never have even imagined.  Things are still processing, and I'm far from being in love, but I'm really excited to see where God leads!  For now, please join me in praying for patience!

What about you?  Are you still trying to orchestrate just the right circumstances to create a relationship?  Do you try to manipulate that guy (or if your a guy who's reading this that girl) to do what you want?  Or, are you sitting back letting God "do His thing?"  If you fall in to the first category, please take the time to read the story of Samson and Delilah in Judges 16(ish).  Even though the story ends with Delilah appearing to have gotten exactly what she wanted, I submit that the story really ends with Samson dead, and Delilah standing single, wounded of heart, and alone. When you orchestrate your own love story, it doesn't end well for anybody. When you let God orchestrate your love story, the results can last for generations (see the story of Isaac & Rebekah in Genesis 24- Rebekah let God write her love story, and she was given the privilege of being part of the line of Christ!)! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Won't Make Me Fat!

Since I don't LIKE chocolate, it doesn't matter if I eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses every single day of 2011 and don't exercise at all, I won't get fat!  Now, just to be clear, I LOVE chocolate, but I thought this example really made a lot of sense (probably BECAUSE I love chocolate!).  I think we can all agree that it doesn't matter whether or not you like chocolate, if you eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses every single day of 2011 without ever exercising, you WILL get fat!

I don't know about you, but my life is FULL of media.  I love music and listen to it constantly.  One of my favorite things to do is watch movies (at home OR in the theater).  I enjoy a hand full of television shows, and I read a ton, too.  I also enjoy activities like reading my Bible, reading other godly help books (like Girls Gone Wise), praying, discussing with others what God is teaching me, and going to church.  If I did the things on the first part of the list, but never or rarely did the things on the last part of the list,  I'd be in bad shape!  After all, if you eat the chocolate (worldly media) without ever exercising (walking with God), you're not going to be healthy!

Chapter 2 of Girls Gone Wise discusses the source of the Wise & Wild girls' counsel: the Wild girl turns to the world (Proverbs 5:5-6); the Wise girl turns to the Word (Psalm 1:1-2)!  I really appreciated Mary Kassian's view on media. It's not wrong to enjoy movies, tv, music, books, etc., but if you don't fight the worldliness with the Truth of God's Word, then you will quickly adopt the worldly messages usually present (sometimes subtly, sometimes not). The statistics given in this chapter astounded me.  I haven't done my own research on it, but according to GGW, if you fall into the "average" category of hours spent watching television, movies, etc., you will have spent 40 entire years of your life on media by the time you're 65! Now if that's true for you, that means you only spent 25 of your 65 years doing other activities... most of which is probably sleeping!  There's absolutely no possible way you can "eat" that much "chocolate" with such a small amount of "exercise" and not get fat!  Does that make sense?  It does for me (and I guess since I'm the one doing the study, that's really what matters!)!  

After reading this chapter, I am NOT compelled to gather every single DVD, CD, VHS, and book that I own  and throw it in the garbage, but I am challenged to think more proactively about just how much time I'm spending on these things that influence my way of thinking.  

One last thing that stuck out to me in this chapter. Mary Kassian says, "The mistake of the Wild Thing is that she doesn't intentionally think about how to live a godly life."  The Wild girl falls into sin because she isn't combating the worlds counsel with God's counsel. Living a godly life isn't something that just comes naturally; it's something we have to put great effort into- something we have to do intentionally.  Are you and I making the intentional decision to combat the World's counsel with the Word's counsel?  I hope so!

The Foot Bone's Connected To The.... Heart Bone?!

Now, I realize that's not how the song usually goes, but after reading the first chapter of Girls Gone Wise In A World Gone Wild (which I shall refer to as GGW in the rest of this blog and all blogs pertaining to GGW from here on out), I think that's how the song SHOULD go.  Point of Contrast #1 compares the heart: a wise girl's heart is centered on Christ; a wild girl only sees Christ in her peripheral vision.

There were so many things that stuck out to me in this chapter!  From the very beginning, God has only wanted two things from us: Love Me (God) with your heart and follow Me (God) with your feet.  That's it!  Just love Me with your heart and follow Me with your feet.  Sounds so simple, right?  Whether we like it or not, our feet are very much connected to our heart. If Christ is at the center of our heart, if He holds first place in our affections, then it will be evidenced in our conversation, our thoughts, and our decisions in even the smallest of things.  What convicted me most in this chapter was when Mary Kassian put the Proverbs 5:5-6 passage into the scenario of the modern church.  Proverbs 5:5-6 says "Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it."  Mary Kassian puts it this way: "It's important to remember that although her steps wander, the Wild Thing of Proverbs is a very religious woman who moves in religious circles.  Nowadays, you might find her at a youth group, on the worship team, in a Bible study, on a mission trip, or teaching Sunday School.  She could be the leader of the women's ministries in your church.  Or the speaker at your next women's retreat.  She could be me.  She could be you."  Sometimes its hard to recognize the wild woman because she does so many things right.  Perhaps she doesn't even realize that she is a wild woman. In fact, she probably thinks she has it all together and is doing great in her spiritual life. It could be me... it could be you.

What holds first place in your affections?  What holds first place in mine?  There is nothing more important than a girl's relationship with God, and until we get that right, we'll have a constant struggle to get anything else in our lives right.

Girls Gone...Wise?

In today's culture, it's not just the girls who have gone wild. You can't even run to the grocery store without encountering "wildness!" It's everywhere: magazines, billboards, advertisements, even people!  One of my goals for 2011 is to read more "Bible-Help" books.  Bible-Help books are unlike self-help books in that they are geared toward the God-loving woman who seeks to better please Him.  The first book I've chosen to go through was recommended to me shortly after I arrived at CBC.  In her book Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild, Mary Kassian takes us on a journey through the Proverbs where she will compare for us the Wild Woman and the Wise Woman.  I plan to do my studies on Thursday evenings and will try to blog after each chapter.  I began last week with the intro. You know it's going to be a good book when you're convicted even before you hit the first chapter!  I'm really looking forward to getting into this book!  Stay tuned!