Whatcha Readin'

I recently finished The Shack and The Girl Who Played with Fire, yes conflict of interests for sure. I quickly put The Shack in the mail to my mom who has to read it! I was skeptical when first hearing about it for some reason. I didn't even really know what it was about but something just wasn't intriguing at the time. Funny how God works though. The book's message, or should I say messages, are so fitting for my life right now. Somehow I needed to hear God's love for us, for me, gently resting on those pages. I think they'd hit any believer thirsty for God at any moment in their lives. But God chose this moment for mine.
I picked some of my favorite lines to share. Sift through them; they may reel you in to reading. Sorry, I can't send you my copy though. It's in LA. Actually, it's my mom's copy anyway!

Then scroll down to see what I'm reading next.

A bird’s not defined by being grounded but by his ability to fly. Remember this, humans are not defined by their limitations, but by the intentions that I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image.”

.“Mack, pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly.” She waited a moment, allowing her words to settle. “And if left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.”

"Evil is a word we use to describe the absence of Good, just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of Light or death to describe the absence of Life. Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from me, you can only draw upon yourself. That is death because you have separated yourself from me: Life." 

"Don't ever discount the wonder of your tears. They can be healing waters and a stream of joy. Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak."

"So, why do I have so much fear in my life?"

"Because you don't believe. You don't know that we love you. The person who lives by his fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational fears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe that I am good not know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don't know it."

"Love is not the limitation; love is the flying."

"I am especially fond of you." 

I'm especially fond of this guy, but God feels that way about all of us!

What's a blog post without baby pics

“Emotions are the colors of the soul; they are spectacular and incredible. When you don’t feel, the world becomes dull and colorless.

The trouble with living by priorities is that it sees everything as a hierarchy, a pyramid, and you and I have already had that discussion. If you put God at the top, what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go on about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more?

"I am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active and moving. I am a being verb. And as my very essence is a verb, I am more attuned to verbs than nouns. Verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing, and on and on. Humans, on the other hand, have a knack for taking a verb that is alive and full of grace and turning it into a dead noun or principle that reeks of rules. Nouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead. Unless 'I am' there are no verbs and verbs are what makes the universe alive."

Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception—what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms—what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn’t make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly. But even then, you don’t want to trust them more than me.”

So what's next? I'm currently on page 156  of my large print, library copy of Juliet by Anne Fortier. Interesting so far. Giulietta (maybe a name for Wyatt's younger sister??? no, not an announcement!), formerly Julie Jacobs, is not in Italy with a key to a safety deposit box left to her by her dead mother through her dead Aunt. If that makes any sense. It's a modern Romeo and Juliet complete with Shakespeare allusions throughout. Check it out.
 I'm not sure where I heard about it, perhaps one of Oprah's "Books to Watch For." Don't worry; Oprah does not dictate my reading by any means. I simply like to see what she's hyping, and a book catches my eye here and there. 
I also checked out Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan after seeing it on Blue-Eyed Bride's Goodreads. I was looking for something light, and this look into the lives of four college roommates is sure to recall sweet memories of my own college besties and help me remember to cherish them more and more as we travel though life's chapters. 

AND THEN...I just bought Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.  Again, looking for something purely entertaining, and hearing about this memoir on a blog I follow drew me in. 

Time to wrap this up and get reading! Check out our little reader below. He's starting early.