It's been a very warm and humid few weeks here.  I've been camped in front of the fan reading.  What have I been reading you ask?

• And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers
• I am the Clay by Chaim Potok
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (more about this in a later post)
• The Little Princess by Frances H. Burnett
• Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
• The Dead Don't Dance by Charles Martin

I admit it...I like the old classics. But I try to throw into the mix a few books that make me think - both non-fiction and fiction.

I am the Clay is not at all what I was expecting.  My past experience with Mr. Potok has been The Chosen and The Promise - both are set in NYC, both are kind of "coming of age' books.

This one is nothing like that.  It is set in Korea during the war. The style of writing feels Asian...almost like reading a haiku.  It is more descriptive and you are inside the character's heads as they think and plan and survive.  There is a sense of loss that flows through it all. The sadness of war.

A little boy has lost his whole family and village. An older couple rescues him from death as they weave their way through the country-side just ahead of the battle.
The couple lost their only child as a toddler and the old lady feels this is her second chance at motherhood.  The old man resents the boy, the food he eats, the burden of his care -eventually the man changes his mind.

Together they try to rebuild a shattered world.

Topic of Discussion

Living in the Midwest there is one topic that is probably discussed more than any other.

The weather.

I ran across a diary account from 1886 that talks about a spring storm.

Wednesday, April 14, 1886- we witnessed what was know as Cass county and Audubon County cyclone.  It was preceded by a terrific hail storm which stopped suddenly and it was followed by a ground fog which we noticed was traveling rapidly to the south.  Going out on our front porch we first saw it coming towards us form the south in the form of a black, funnel-shaped cloud several miles distant.  It gradually swung to the east and went directly through Grove City where we first saw the buildings, trees and wreckage flying through the air.  The whole storm was in plain view of where we stood about two miles southeast of us on the opposite hill across the valley.  It passed through the Troublesome Creek valley directly east of us tearing its way through the trees and demolishing houses, and disappeared to the northeast leaving a swath of destruction in its pathway that was marked for many years after.
 by Abbie Mott Benedict
                      ~ excerpt taken from Prairie Voices: Iowa's Pioneering Women edited by Glenda Riley

  We still have tornadoes, hail, wind, rain, snow and everything in between.  Weather hasn't changed much in 120+ years.

Brownish Pinkish Yellowish White

Have you ever read Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein? 

Some of his poems are delightful, some are silly, some are strange and some speak truth.  My current favorite is "Colors" because this describes my thoughts.

COLORS

My skin is kind of sort of brownish

Pinkish yellowish white.

My eyes are greyish blueish green,

But I'm told they look orange in the night.

My hair is reddish blondish brown,

But it's silver when it's wet.

And all the colors I am inside

Have not been invented yet.

by Shel Silverstein               

I suppose some would read this and say "it's about tolerance and being nonracist". And that would be one way of interpreting it- I don't know exactly what the author had in mind.  

But when I read this I see someone who doesn't have life all figured out yet.  A person who sees possibilities and potential and maybe is a bit confused.  Which color should I be today?  Am I a blue?  Or am I supposed to be teal? 

As adults we're supposed to have life all figured out, right?  

We're not supposed to waver about what we think, feel, or value.  

We have opinions!  We have convictions!  We have rights!  

We are adults.

But lately I've been looking at my ideals, my plans, my 'this is how life should be' and wondering if I'm missing out on the "reddish blondish brown, silver when it's wet" adventure.  

Am I living out all that the Lord has planned for me?  

Am I living too safe?   

Am I too comfortable?            

Buffering vs. Streaming

Blogging for some people fulfills a need for expression - an outlet for frustrations, joys and sorrows.  I tend to use a personal journal for my private musings and save this venue for more general observations.
Some things are just not meant for public viewing!

However, that might explain why I am not a very consistent blogger...instead of 'streaming' my thoughts as they come I am stuck in the "buffering" mode.  Evaluating each sentence, rewriting, reviewing, critiquing each word and phrase- my type "A" first-born perfectionist self gets in the way of sharing what's in my heart.

From this point forward, this blog may be about what I'm reading
or it may have some totally random ramblings - Time will tell.
So fasten your seat belt, strap on a helmet or go get some chocolate...
It might be a crazy ride. :)

Write a Book!

The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.

Benjamin Disraeli

Detours and Standing Stones

Some friends and I were conversing about how our lives had not followed our original "plan" but had been full of detours as God changed our plans to fit His Plan.  Afterward I started thinking about some of the authors and books that helped me see and accept these detours as a good thing.  I decided to write them down as 'standing stones' - a record of God's faithfulness to future generations.  (Joshua 4:1-7, 20-24)

Here are a few of titles that I came up with:

• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
• When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy
• When God Writes Your Life Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy
• Moulder of Dreams by Guy Rice Doud
• Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis
• Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy
• A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall
• A Rose In Bloom by Louisa Mae Alcott

There are others but these are a few that have challenged my faith, gave me a new point of view and/or gave me an example to follow.

What books have impacted your life?

Who Needs Thriller Movies?

Have you read any of Joel C. Rosenberg's books? He has been on the New York best-seller list quite a few times but I hadn't read anything by him until now.  Wow.

I have just finished The Copper Scroll and it was way better than the last movie I attended for suspense and thrills.  The clock was into the early morning hours when I turned out the light...just had to read one more chapter and then one more...

His storyline is so well crafted and so realistic that I almost forgot it was fiction.  It is kind of alarming in some ways because of his depiction of future events and discoveries in the Middle East - especially Israel and Jerusalem.  The plot is so well thought out that all you would need to do is change the characters' names and it could be tomorrow's headlines.

If you haven't read them start them in order:
The Last Jihad
The Last Days
The Ezekiel Option
The Copper Scroll
Dead Heat

I didn't realize they were a series and started with the last one first!  I could follow the plot but some of the back-story of the main characters and history of events wasn't as clear as if I had started at the beginning.

In my humble opinion these are better than the Left Behind series and I highly recommend them.