Vacation

Was great!!! Creation Northeast was amazing.

I promise I will write all about it. I came home with a cold though. I am also working midnight shift this week so my posts might have to wait. But a review and pictures are coming.

Summer Reading Club

Had lots of time to read this week being in the middle of NOWHERE in PA for Creation Northeast.

I actually finished 3 books:


I love Francine Rivers. I have read most of her books. This is the 4th book in her novella series. She has written stories about the 5 women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. Rivers takes the Biblical account and adds emotions and dialogue to the story. Each story is very well done. Rivers steps back in time and brings you along with her. We often read the biblical accounts and never stop to think or feel the emotions surrounding the people involved in the story. This book is about Bathsheba. We walk in her shoes from a little girl to the wife of Uriah to her affair with King David. I never really put myself in her place to feel her emotions and see the situation through her eyes. Rivers does a great job of getting you to walk in Bathsheba's shoes. Rivers does not add to the Bible she just makes Bathsheba more human to me.



This is the 5th book in Francine Rivers novellas. Mary is the subject of this book. This book actually made me cry several times. I have often wondered how Mary must have felt raising Jesus. Joseph plays a big part in this book also. My heart was broken as I read about a mother and father raising God's son and slowly realizing that He was to suffer and die for our sins. Parts of this book took my breath away and I had to stop and just thank God for sending Jesus. The faith and obedience of Mary and Joseph is astounding. Rivers has an amazing talent to put the possible emotions and thoughts of Jesus' earthly parents on paper. I felt their love and pain as they raised Jesus and struggled with trying to obey God.




Can I get credit for a book that I've read at least 5 or 6 times? I did actually read this book again. I take this book with me everytime I travel. It only takes me about an hour or so to read it but I get out of it everytime I read it. Louie tells us that we were made to worship. We will worship something or someone no matter what. Some people will claim they don't worship anything but that is impossible. God made us to worship and although we may reject Him we cannot change how He made us. This book helps me get perspective on what I put on my front burner so to speak. Where do I spend my time and money? Conviction usually follows after I read this book but that's good. I was made to worship....I want to worship my Creator.

Creation Bound!

Tomorrow Brian and I leave for PA to attend Creation Northeast. I am REALLY looking forward to it. We are packed (well Brian isn't finished but that's not a shock). The car is loaded for the most part and I'm about to go to bed. The only problem is I will miss my dogs terribly. They make my day alot brighter...I'll bring a picture of them with me.

Looking forward to seeing all the bands and chillaxin' as friends of mine would say! Only one thing I would change...Third Day is not going to be there....boo. But I'll survive.

I'll tell you ALL about it with pictures and stories when we get back next week. I'll send out tweets if we have cell phone reception.

See ya!!!

Oh and to everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday or sent me a card or present....THANK YOU!!!! It was a great day. Love you all!

More Summer Reading Club

Nice summer reading book. I've had the pleasure of meeting Nigel and I enjoy reading his blogs and devotionals. I know that Third Day is blessed to have him on the road with them. It is nice to "step inside" the touring world and see how Third Day stays focused and on track with God's will for their lives. The honesty portrayed by Mac, Mark, David, Tai and Brad is refreshing. It is also cool to read about shows that I have actually been to and see how Third Day feels about what took place that night. My favorite is Tai's story about getting involved in his local church. I loved the reference to the "Third Day Tai" and the "Home Tai". We are all guilty of that split-personality disorder. Adulthood, spiritual maturity and consistency is what Tai said God was calling him to....that would be a call to us all. Stepped on my toes and made me look at myself (the "Sunday-school teacher-VBS director-mission minded Wendy" and the "Home Wendy"). This book helped me see I need someone to help me focus my life on Jesus (just as Nigel helps Third Day to stay focused). Too bad Nigel is busy! ;)




This book took me two months to read (being honest here). Not because I didn't enjoy it but because it has a lot facts that need to be processed and digested. It shows the Christian how the unbelieving world views him and it is not a pretty picture. Somehow we know this but do not want to be confronted with the hard truth. After explaining how the research was conducted David Kinnaman takes six topics and explains how we are miserably failing at reaching the unbelieving world. We have our views and we come across as hypocritical, non-caring, antihomosexual (towards the person not the behavior), sheltered, too political, and judgmental. He pulls no punches and does not sugar coat anything. The one statement that spoke to me the most is this "we have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for.". OUCH. This is an excellent book. It is not a fast read and if you highlight (I do) then buy 2 or 3 because I think I highlighted something on each page. This book could change how you think and act. Unfortunately I did see myself in some of the pages and I didn't like what I saw. Jesus reached people by not being any of the before mentioned adjective. That is how we reach people today also.









As stated in my last blog review...I love Max Lucado and that goes for his children's books too. If you have not been introduced to Punchinello and the Wemmicks let me tell you about them. They are wooden people carved by Eli the woodworker. Punchinello is often trying to please others or himself instead of realizing that Eli loves him just as he is because Eli made him. In "You are Mine" Punchinello tries to compete with everyone. He wants more boxes and balls than anyone because he believes that will make him happy and important. He finally realizes that he is not happy and Eli tells him that because 'you are mine' that makes Punchinello important. In "You are special" the Wemmicks start putting stars and dots on people. Stars are good and dots are not. Punchinello gets alot of dots which of course upsets him. He mets Lucia who has neither. The stars and dots just fall right off of her. When asked why Punchinello is told that every day Lucia goes to see Eli her maker. She tells Punchinello to go see Eli. He does and Eli tells him how special he is and that what others think shouldn't matter. As Punchinello leaves Eli's house he starts to believe and a dot falls off.

These books are very short but make me smile. I have read them to my Sunday School class and to my youth that I mentor. Simple is sometimes the best way to get a message across to a person. I have ordered all the other Wemmick books so I'll let you know about them soon too.

(this is for Mark....I will be at Creation Fest next week so no review will be coming until I get back in town on June 30...just fyi). But I plan to read alot!

Busy busy busy

Night shift is wrecking havoc with all I need to do this week. Brian and I leave next week for Creation in PA!!!! So of course this week I have a thousand things to do. I have to clean my house (I can't go on vacation and leave a messy house), I have to cut the grass, pay the bills that are due, post my book reviews, read my emails that I haven't read since last week, do my homework for my photography class, write my Sunday School lesson for this week, go buy dog food and well I know there is something else I need to do. But since I work all night this week I'm exhausted when I get home and I haven't slept very well this week. Yeah...I'm just tired. Tonight is my last night until Sunday though so hopefully I'll get everything done.

Let me go now...gotta work on my Sunday School lesson.

Free Third Day

Okay most of the people that read my blog have no use for this because they have already pre-ordered the cd but....maybe someone will stumble here and be on the fence about ordering the new Third Day cd coming out in July. Well here is your chance to listen to the cd for free and see how great it is and then buy it.

Follow this link THIRD DAY and enjoy.

And here is a great deal...at Lifeway you can pre-order the cd now for $7.99. You get a t-shirt right then and a $5 coupon to be used in July. Pretty cool deal I think.

So go on...get to rockin'.

Summer Reading Club Week 1

This week I'm on a roll (might not happen the rest of the summer)

I purchased The Pawn by Steven James last week. Got it on Tuesday and was finished with it on Thursday (Jason told me I read slow ....haha). The other book I finished is Max Lucado's "3:16 The numbers of hope".


The Pawn is an excellent book. As I mentioned I read it in two days. That is saying alot not because of my speed of reading but the fact that I put everything else I was doing on hold because I couldn't put the book down. I've read murder-mystery books all my life and they can become very routine. This is not! Just when you think you have figured out who the killer is and what is going on Steven James throws you a curve and hits you between the eyes with it. I love when author's put enough twists in to captivate you but stop short of too many that you have to take notes just to keep up. James' research into past historical events is amazing. You can tell that he really took his time researching and writing this book. Writing reviews are not my bag of tea so I'll just tell you to go read it...it's worth your time.



I love Max Lucado. I have read everything he has written (some books more than once). Some people do not care for his style but I like to read his books because they are fast reads and he gets right to the point. Taking the most quoted verse in the Bible and breaking it down could be a daunting task but Max has a way of doing it superbly. We often miss the fact that words in a sentence are important. I was reminded of that this weekend while talking to Traci. She was discussing how the deaf community "speaks" -meaning they start with time (present, future, past) and then they continue with the details. I have not taken the time to actually go word-for-word with John 3:16 so doing so has been refreshing. We just say this verse because we know it but do we really KNOW it. Max helps you with that process. With great stories as always he brings things down to earth. I have not started the 40 day devotion part (so not sure if it will count that I've actually "finished" the book) but that starts tomorrow and I'll make another entry when I'm done.

Human Beings....YUCK

Okay so I'm on day 5 of my 6 day work schedule. I usually work 4 days then I'm off 3...well the way the schedule rotated this time I have to work 6 days straight. Yes I know I'm whining but 6 days of dealing with drunks, attitude, mental cases and people that just have no clue how to act in society wears you out! I am going to Carowinds this weekend to spend time with some of my favorite people on the planet. And I get to see the best band on the planet. Looking forward to this weekend even more now than I was....I'm tired of this joint....still got one night to go.

Summer Reading Club -Mark Lee style

Following Mark's directions.

I like the bonus round!

The two books I just finished reading are:

"Your God is too safe" by Mark Buchanan
"The Jesus I never knew" by Phillip Yancey

But very interesting books (I've read Mark's book twice now....I read it again for another book club I'm in [shock...yes I am in two book clubs!])

I love Phillip Yancey's books...I've gotten hooked on them and plan to read another one of his this summer.

Gotta go make my list of what I'm going to read.


Reviews:

"Your God is too safe"

Buchanan speaks of a place called "Borderland" which most of us are comfortable living in and not leaving. We do not venture out to where God calls us because we are afraid. A safe god requires nothing of you and therefore we don't worship or revere a safe god. Is God safe? As CS Lewis wrote in Narnia "Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you." The irony of it all is that although He is not safe we have to find our refuge in Him to deal with this world and get past the Borderland in which we live. We are told to go into the "holy wild" (which is another book by Buchanan) and find what God has for us. Buchanan emphasizes that we must love as Jesus loved and this will kick us in gear. I know I don't do this very well. Buchanan shows us that we must adopt "holy habits" and live by them. We must take our faith serious and venture out of our comfy box. The habits include prayer, confession, and fasting. Of course we know these already but I like the way Buchanan shows you the benefits of each in a light that is much different from what my church has taught. Buchanan's style is easy to read. He is deep but not to the point that you have to look up the words he is using to get his point across to you. I've read this book twice and gained insight both times from it.


"The Jesus I never knew"
Yancey takes the gospels and shows us the Jesus that most of us miss. I believe our society has lost alot of who Jesus was when He walked on this planet. We of course are not 1st century Jews and therefore are at a disadvantage to understanding some of the context but we can still dig to find meaning in all that is written. Yancey proceeds through Jesus' birth to His second coming. He expounds on God choosing to reconcile us to Him by way of His only Son. I enjoyed Yancey's background chapter (especially realizing that Peter's accent gave him away- yes my redneck accent does that with me ;) ). Yancey gives us insight into Jesus' temptation, the Sermon on the Mount, grace, miracles, Jesus' death and resurrection and accension. My favorite chapter deals with God's kingdom. Yancey explains that what man wants in a kingdom is not God's plan at all. We are told to be careful in wanting God to establish His kingdom now because once He comes back it is over. As CS Lewis writes "When the author walks on to the stage the play is over." Yancey showed me that Jesus is more human than I thought and so much more God than I can comprehend. This book isn't a quick read but well worth your time to expand your mind.

Here I am

Not much going on with me....just too busy or lazy to post for the past week. Gotta start reading because Mark said "reading is fun". Seriously though, just about everyone that reads this blog reads his also so you have already seen the Book club announcement. I need to find some light reading...I always grab some heavy-thinking-cannot-read-it-fast book and it takes me months to get through it.

Starting to get ready for my trip to PA to go to Creation. I sure hope it is as fun as I think it is going to be. I'm looking forward to no phone, computer, work...just me and Brian and a few 1000 other people listening to some good music. Unfortunately we picked the year that Third Day is not playing there (sadness)....but I will survive. I get to see them in 10 days so life is good.

Oh just to show you...Lacy got a haircut today and now we can see her face.


Here is my little man Rusty too...isn't he handsome???