Review of Nearing Home

I just finished reading Billy Graham’s “Nearing Home,” which I received from booksneeze.com. This is the first time I’ve read something by Billy Graham, and I have to admit it was amazing. He is a great writer, even at 92. It is amazing how easily his faith bleeds through the pages and he can’t help, but add the gospel into this book on aging well. He used several good stories to show what to do and not to do. All subjects in the book Graham has experienced, and he writes as an authority on the subject. I don’t think you could be too young to read this book, despite its topic. We are all going to get old one day and Graham shows how to do it for the glory of God. He covers topics such as aging, handling grief, comforting others and, of course, the gospel. It didn’t take me long to read this book of 180 pages. All it took was one good rainy afternoon and I zoomed through it. It was hard to put down. I’m eager to pass this book on to my grandmother, although I think she may know a whole lot on this subject. I’m hoping I’ll be able to find more books by Billy Graham because he is such a good writer. I encourage this book for everyone, no matter the age. At some point, everything in this book will be encountered by every individual. Unfortunately, we aren’t getting any younger so we might as well do it for the glory of God.

Review of The Sacred Meal

Well first off, I lost this book for months and finally found it stashed away while moving. My favorite part of this book is its cover, which makes it look really nice sitting on the back of my toilet or on my coffee table. I guess that sounds bad for the book, but it’s really pretty. OK, the book I’m talking about is “The Sacred Meal” by Nora Gallagher, a commentary on communion. Booksneeze.com sent this book to me by request. It was a good read despite losing the book for so long. The author describes her experiences with communion and how it relates to Christianity and the world. I disagreed with her on several things and a couple of comments made were wrong. I actually was talking to a friend after reading this, and she laughed at me as I explained it. I did like the way the author wrote and how she described her experiences with communion. The best way I could described it is poetic and mystical. Afterward I was ready to go talk to my pastor about taking communion more in our church. I think one of the things I was expecting was more of a history and a way of communion. It’s more of a “these are my experiences” and a relation to Christianity book. Overall, I did enjoy. And the cover is pretty.

Love Story

A couple of weekends ago, I was spending some time with a couple of friends at the lake. One of them said she would like to read a sexy romance novel. We, of course, both looked at her strange and then she made the comment she found “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers very sexy. This is when we both chuckled to ourselves and continued to talk. This is a novel based off Hosea about a marriage between a godly man and a prostitute. It’s an awesome read, one I highly suggest. Now it isn’t sexy like you might think of a Nora Roberts’s book. It’s a romance which centers around a relationship based on God.

Last night I was thinking about this.

Have we twisted romance into something it’s not? I would have to say yes.

Most love stories revolve around nonexistent themes, giving little girls the idea they’ll have these fake romances one day. A typical romance book (not novel, because most of these books are too simple to be labeled a novel) involves some overly sensitive, yet buff male who sweeps the young lady off her feet, carries her to bed and then at some point maybe weds her. The last part is optional. Most of these books have the same storyline and after the third or fourth reading of a romance book anyone with any sense knows what will happen.  

Let’s look at a book that may or may not have the sex part. Now I’ll admit I enjoy Nicholas Sparks every now and then, although it’s been a while. Actually “A Walk to Remember” is one of my favorites. I’ve given these novels a new name. Well, I stole this name from another article: emo porn. The odds of any of these romances happening are slim to none. In fact, if the guy from “The Notebook” was real, we would call him a stalker.

This isn’t love. It’s not real and getting lost in this world is not good for you. It’s like a man who watches porn. You are going to start expecting something from men which they are not. You are going to expect a romance to blossom in a way it can. Not every love story involves a man jumping on a carousal to ask you out or a smoking hot cowboy riding up on his pony all hot and sweaty and still smelling good to ride you off in the sunset. Mr. Carousal would be either a stalker or would give up and, sorry, but the stinking cowboy is more likely to make like Matt Dillon.

These fantasies make love into something it’s not. For one thing, well, there’s carousal guy and I’ve already covered that.  Now I’m still single so I can’t comment on love or marriage or anything other than what I’ve seen. True love isn’t the sparks at the beginning or falling into love just to jump into bed. (Honestly, falling into love sounds painful. I’m not a big fan of falling. Or pain.)

The most beautiful romances I’ve seen are the ones which have gone through the trials, stood by each other’s sides, raised a family, have put up with each other for 40-60 plus years and still are hanging in there. I like to think of my grandparents. I know they’re marriage has definitely not been smooth sailing. Actually how they ended up together is kinda sweet, but that’s beside the point.

For instance, granddaddy had a total knee done about a year ago. When he came home, grandma was helping him into the house and I was standing behind for support. Right before he reached the top step they had to stop and kiss for a moment. It was incredibly sweet. Watching them is amazing and finding out their stories is also pretty cool…even the bad stuff. Because that’s what makes love amazing: going through trials together with God at the center supporting everything and coming out still in love at the end.

Now since I’ve spent the whole time talking about bad romance books let me tell you what to read. Read the Bible. It’s the ultimate love story. For the first time ever I’m almost done reading it straight through. I’ve tried before and got a little distracted. Beside the point. The Bible is the ultimate love story of a gentleman Pursuer who is patiently waiting for His bride. The more I read the more I realize how much Jesus really loves me. Which in turn makes me love Him more. My favorite book of the Bible has become Ruth, and it isn’t so much the love story between Ruth and Boaz, but because it actually represents the love story between Christ and me.

Awww, it gives me chill bumps just typing it. What more do I need, really? J

So in about three hours I will be loaded in a car on my way to my first youth camp where I will spend five days with 50 teenagers, the hot sun and lots of Jesus. Yes, I'm excited. A little nervous, too. In honor of this I've decided to write a blog so my number one fan has a little surprise since she won't see me all week. Course I have no idea what I'm writing about, so I'm just going to keep typing until this thing seems complete.
I guess I could and talk about how much of an amazing weekend I had with two amazing friends. It's not often I take a weekend and do absolutely nothing. It's definitely good for the soul. Jesus did it often and really, I should be following His example and withdrawing from the craziness of the crowds. Maybe if I were to fit more of these weekends into my schedule, weekends filled with friends and Jesus, I wouldn't get quite so stressed.
You also need good friends. I've written on this before, but it's on my mind. Friends who are going to be blunt with you when you're being an idiot. And love ya while doing it. Ones who will quote Winnie the Pooh quotes even though you roll your eyes. (OK, I'm not really sure I know how to roll my eyes.) Friends who will swim with ya and cheer while you touch a wall. Yay number one fan!!
One whole weekend with good talks. I feel refreshed and ready for anything. Maybe even youth camp.
Oh! And as if that wasn't enough Jesus was all showing off Friday night with some shooting stars. They were beautiful.
Ahhh, what a weekend.
:)

Savior, Pilot Me

Now for the past couple of weeks I have been thinking more and more about God's will. It's always been something on my mind. Many times I have asked myself what is His will for my life? Now I think this has just been something I've been asking. Something I like to think would be nice, but really who has complete control. For a long time the answer has been me.
What's bad is I thought I was good at following? The thing is, I was up to a point, but then if it went off my path then I'm grabbing the reins. Like I was asking what newspaper should I apply for or help me with this interview. I didn't stop to ask "hey, should I be a reporter?"
Confession time: I did not stop and ask God if I should be a reporter. I didn't ask Him if I should go to Auburn. To get right down to it, I didn't even ask if I should go to college. I decided in seventh grade I would go to Auburn, major in journalism and become a reporter. Never did I take in consideration God's will. Not until now.
Now I can't say the past year has been because of my stubbornness of following my own plans. Sailing my own boat. Steering my own horse. Manning my own...you get the picture. Maybe this past year has been my big fish God used to grab my attention.
I can almost hear Him saying "OK stupid. You've had your own way long enough. It's time to give it to Me."
So I've been down on my knees a lot lately handing everything over. I think I'm starting to understand what He wants to. He's giving me only one step at a time. What's different is, yea I'm a little unsteady, but it's a good unsteady. I am confident His way is right. I've known it all along, but I've been hanging on to control. I'm tired of chasing my own dreams and coming up short. The last couple of years may have been a waste, but it's what I needed to get my attention.
Thank you God for refining me like gold and silver.

Proverbs 17:3

Top Five

Now most of the time I don't have any time for movies or television. If anything I'm going to read before I turn the tube on. I'm strange, yes. I would just rather spend what little spare time I have in the Word. If you think I'm saying this to make myself sound more holy, I'm not. I'm just your run-of-the-mill girl who likes to read. And has ADD when it comes to sitting there watching t.v. My brother is the opposite.
Today, though, as we flip between the Braves (who are losing) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I'm thinking back on some of the great titles I think everyone should see. My number fan will probably disagree, but that's OK. I'm going to name some off anyway. These aren't the best of all time because I think it would take me a long time to narrow down a top ten list. Just some good movies. Actually I'm going to target the ones my mom decided I had to watch as a kid. I'll show them to my kids one day. (Braves just lost by one point, btw.)
1) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - I'm watching it right now. It's a great movie with lots of adventure, fantasy and Dick Van Dyke. I loved it as a kid and still hold it in my heart (yes, I'm a dork). I loved the toys and the saving of the kids. The rise of the kids and toys at the end is great. At this point I'm thinking I'm horrible at reviews. It is a good movie. Go watch it. It even has a little romance...because I know some people like that kinda stuff. There were several old movies like this one we loved to watch. They're great. Family friendly. Mom went on a spree of showing them to us one time.
2) There were two trilogies my mom had us watch. One of which was Indiana Jones. To this day I love these movies. They're hilarious and the adventures are awesome. Great scenes. "You call him Dr. Jones, doll!" Ahhhh! Such memories. No one can forget the priceless scenes...which I'm not describing. You'll have to go watch them.
3) Stars Wars (original movies) The other trilogy we got to watch. No one can forget Luke Skywalker and all his friends as he rises from farm boy to Jedi warrior. Like Indiana Jones, you also had Harrison Ford to entertain you the entire time. See a trend. Also let me point out both series had a little romance for those who like that (number one fan).
4) I was a big Disney fan and think every kid should be introduced to their movies. Especially the originals like Robin Hood, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King...the list goes on and on. What could incorporate music, humor, action, romance into one movie and make it fun for all ages. Disney can. They've been doing it for years.
5) I almost forgot Herbie the Love Bug. I've heard many people say they didn't like these movies, but I liked them. Herbie was awesome. I want to have a little bug like him. In fact, my first care kinda reminded me of him. Great movies although I may be the only one who actually likes them. Well, my mom likes them to. She's the one who introduced it.
Here's a list of 5 movies. Actually if you ever numbered the movies linked to each one it's more than five. Anyway, I recommend these movies for adults and kids alike. OK, time to read Hebrews.

For My Number One Fan

So my number one fan told me to write a blog. Being the nice person I am, I decided to go ahead with one. Just to satify temporary because I am a little sleepy. Here are her suggestions (I would have just written down my dreams of becoming a boxer): 1. dating I really liked your Discretion blog and i think there is room to expand 2. Clothes and how we put way to much thought into it (feel free to use me as a case study i know i have a problem lol)3. The importants of having good christian friends. ( Sorry for any incorrect grammer, spelling, etc. It's a copy and past. Here it goes:
1) I'm not expanding on discretion or maybe I am. Actually, I may have already written about it. I've noticed people have a fascination in setting people up together. It doesn't make sense why it happens. Although everyone I know thinks they are amazing match makers I have yet to meet someone with any success. I'm speaking from experience. Yes, I like meeting new people. People are fun and interesting and all that good stuff. Somehow I don't think God is behind many of these setups. All you have to do is step back and let Him work. He knows what He's doing; He's been doing since Adam and Eve. I think He has it under control. I know you think you have the perfect match for your friends, but the odds are against. Please, let God do His job.
2) All right, I'm using friend as a case study. Maybe I'm just sleepy, but I can't think of how. I'm not sure I'm the right person to talk about this. Yes, I think about what I wear. I want to look nice to go to church. When I wear a dress or makeup, it's typically for Jesus. Just throwing that out there. It's good to dress up for church most of the time...I usually try to wear nice shirts and good jeans. I have to dress nice to go to work. It's kinda a requirement so I do it. If I'm going to dress up, I'm doing it right. It's another reason I usually don't go all out on Sunday. Jesus loves me as I am. Clothes define some people...or so they think. I've learned this more from observation. Want to act tough or like you don't care then wear black or emoish clothes. Want to be a jock: wear underarmor. Etc. Me. I like to be comfortable. I also want to look nice and some shirts I get really excited about. Like when I run a race and get a shirt I wear it that Sunday afternoon. No one usually notices, but I'm proud. OK, this probably has nothing to do with what she wanted so I'm moving on.
3) I have great friends and they are definitely from God. Everyone needs them. If you are hanging out with people who don't love Jesus, odds are they are going to drag you down. People want to impress. Unless you are solid in the faith, so solid you can handle peer pressure, then you need to be around good people. Christian friends. Bad company corrupts character. (Somewhere in Proverbs. Read the whole book and tell me where it is. You probably need to read your Bible anyway). Yes, your friends need Jesus. But hanging out with just these lost people will hurt you. God will provide Godly friends if you ask for them. It's one thing He won't say no too. Pray for them. Sincerely. They'll uplift. They'll support. They'll provide Godly advice.

OK here are my three topics. Bed time.