A good detective novel. I liked the parts where she focused on the effects of mental illness in children; I didn't care for the parts where she focused on the "interplanal auras" or whatever. And the end was just okay.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Live to Tell: Three-Sentence Book Review
A good detective novel. I liked the parts where she focused on the effects of mental illness in children; I didn't care for the parts where she focused on the "interplanal auras" or whatever. And the end was just okay.
Blood in the Water: Three-Sentence Book Review
A pretty good mystery. Weird ending. Pretty much as sensationalist as the front cover makes it sound.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Shame
This morning at church, the pastor spoke on the topic of shame. His sermon was great, mostly because he did a great illustration. I wanted to share it with you!
Dan (the pastor) talked about how many things can bring us shame. He got a backpack, and had a volunteer put large rocks into the backpack as he named the shames they represented: a job (losing one or being in one that feels below you); a child not living up to your expectations; unfaithfulness (yours or your spouses); certain emotions; being overweight. Stuff like that.
The backpack, obviously, became quite weighed down with rocks. Dan likened this to being weighed down by shame. Excellent part of the illustration (EPI) #1: it weighed him down emotionally as it was hard to carry, but shame also weighs us down and affects us physically!
Then Dan talked about how we try and cover up our shame. He put his suit coat on over the backpack full of rocks. EPI #2: Even though we feel like we're hiding our shame, something is still obviously wrong with us. He said it was like being deformed: when we feel shame, we feel like the way we were created to be has somehow gone wrong.
By the time Dan was finished speaking, I had actually forgotten about the backpack. And I think that's EPI #3: the people we are worried about seeing our shame totally forget about it, but if we insist on carrying it around, we're never going to forget about it.
And, of course, we don't have to carry the shame around. God doesn't want us to. He wants us to put it all at the foot of the cross (which Dan did), and stop feeling ashamed, weighed down, exposed, deformed.
At the end of the service, Dan asked us to close our eyes and hold out our hands, imagining we were holding a bag filled with our shame. I don't know if you've ever held your hands clenched straight out in front of you, but the longer you hold, the heavier your hands feel! It was EPI #4: feeling the weight that shame can bring. And then we let go of our shame.
So here's me letting go of my shame: I am unnecessarily ashamed that I have to take Prozac because I am anxious and/or depressed. I feel non-Godly shame because I have gained ten pounds since high school. I am ashamed that I can't last three hours without eating. I feel shame because I have to have two part-time jobs, and not one full-time. That shame deepens into the shame of not having much money. I feel shame because I'm not furthering my education; in fact, I feel less smart than I did two years ago.
But you know what? You know what, Satan? You are wrong. And that feeling I feel, that shame, those rocks I carry around? They are wrong, they are not of God. This is of God: I am complete; I am beautiful; I am healthy; I am hard-working and dedicated; I am rich in life; I am intelligent. God is for me, so you, shame; you, sin; you, Satan; cannot be against me. So there.
Dan (the pastor) talked about how many things can bring us shame. He got a backpack, and had a volunteer put large rocks into the backpack as he named the shames they represented: a job (losing one or being in one that feels below you); a child not living up to your expectations; unfaithfulness (yours or your spouses); certain emotions; being overweight. Stuff like that.
The backpack, obviously, became quite weighed down with rocks. Dan likened this to being weighed down by shame. Excellent part of the illustration (EPI) #1: it weighed him down emotionally as it was hard to carry, but shame also weighs us down and affects us physically!
Then Dan talked about how we try and cover up our shame. He put his suit coat on over the backpack full of rocks. EPI #2: Even though we feel like we're hiding our shame, something is still obviously wrong with us. He said it was like being deformed: when we feel shame, we feel like the way we were created to be has somehow gone wrong.
By the time Dan was finished speaking, I had actually forgotten about the backpack. And I think that's EPI #3: the people we are worried about seeing our shame totally forget about it, but if we insist on carrying it around, we're never going to forget about it.
And, of course, we don't have to carry the shame around. God doesn't want us to. He wants us to put it all at the foot of the cross (which Dan did), and stop feeling ashamed, weighed down, exposed, deformed.
At the end of the service, Dan asked us to close our eyes and hold out our hands, imagining we were holding a bag filled with our shame. I don't know if you've ever held your hands clenched straight out in front of you, but the longer you hold, the heavier your hands feel! It was EPI #4: feeling the weight that shame can bring. And then we let go of our shame.
So here's me letting go of my shame: I am unnecessarily ashamed that I have to take Prozac because I am anxious and/or depressed. I feel non-Godly shame because I have gained ten pounds since high school. I am ashamed that I can't last three hours without eating. I feel shame because I have to have two part-time jobs, and not one full-time. That shame deepens into the shame of not having much money. I feel shame because I'm not furthering my education; in fact, I feel less smart than I did two years ago.
But you know what? You know what, Satan? You are wrong. And that feeling I feel, that shame, those rocks I carry around? They are wrong, they are not of God. This is of God: I am complete; I am beautiful; I am healthy; I am hard-working and dedicated; I am rich in life; I am intelligent. God is for me, so you, shame; you, sin; you, Satan; cannot be against me. So there.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Some things about our life
1. Sometimes, Macon smells. Like, really really bad. It's apparently the river.
2. I've been watching the TV show "Luther". Good call, Momma.
3. You all should check out the blog I'm keeping on behalf of my students at St. Peter Claver: stpeterclaverreaders.blogspot.com. The kids read books, write about them, and I upload what they've written (except for kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade: they dictate). Isn't it great??
4. We've found a church! Vineville United Methodist. The 9:00am service is the "Praise Service," and both of us really like it. Even Robert! Robert likes it because the musicians are totally legit musicians. Every other week, there's a full band: keyboards, drums, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, back-up guitar, bass, two back-up singers. And on the opposite weeks, the lead guitarist and sometimes the keyboardist do more of an intimate service. We like the switching and I love the songs and Robert appreciates the music. The pastors are very intelligent, very good, and who preaches varies, too: sometimes it's the associate pastor, and sometimes it's the senior pastor. So no two services are exactly the same.
I've been going, for the past two weeks, to the Young Adult Small Group. Robert can't go very often because it meets on Wednesdays, and he has a rehearsal. The Young Adult Small Group is really great. Downside: it's totally homogeneous and everyone's like us: white, middle-class, in their twenties, well-educated. But that's okay. You can't have diversity everywhere, I guess. But they're all serious about Jesus and serious about studying the Bible, and I've been enjoying the discussions! And they're great people. I can see them becoming Christian friends, and that's what we want.
5. Our dog is really cute.
2. I've been watching the TV show "Luther". Good call, Momma.
3. You all should check out the blog I'm keeping on behalf of my students at St. Peter Claver: stpeterclaverreaders.blogspot.com. The kids read books, write about them, and I upload what they've written (except for kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade: they dictate). Isn't it great??
4. We've found a church! Vineville United Methodist. The 9:00am service is the "Praise Service," and both of us really like it. Even Robert! Robert likes it because the musicians are totally legit musicians. Every other week, there's a full band: keyboards, drums, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, back-up guitar, bass, two back-up singers. And on the opposite weeks, the lead guitarist and sometimes the keyboardist do more of an intimate service. We like the switching and I love the songs and Robert appreciates the music. The pastors are very intelligent, very good, and who preaches varies, too: sometimes it's the associate pastor, and sometimes it's the senior pastor. So no two services are exactly the same.
I've been going, for the past two weeks, to the Young Adult Small Group. Robert can't go very often because it meets on Wednesdays, and he has a rehearsal. The Young Adult Small Group is really great. Downside: it's totally homogeneous and everyone's like us: white, middle-class, in their twenties, well-educated. But that's okay. You can't have diversity everywhere, I guess. But they're all serious about Jesus and serious about studying the Bible, and I've been enjoying the discussions! And they're great people. I can see them becoming Christian friends, and that's what we want.
Where We Belong: Three-Sentence Book Review
Beautifully written in two voices. Adopted daughter finds her birth mother, and everyone's life changes (not as cheesy as it sounds). My only complaint: it isn't all tidily wrapped up at the end!
So Far Away: Three-Sentence Book Review
Two distinct stories. 1) Modern-day girl gets bullied; 2) tragedy of the life of a 1920s housegirl. Interesting to wonder how they connect.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Family Communion
Let's start with a funny story.
So at my church, we usually do Communion in the deacons-hold-the-elements-at-the-front-congregation-comes-to-the-front-to-receive-elements way. My family traditionally receives the elements individually, but doesn't eat/drink them immediately. Instead, we make a little family circle in a corner, pray together, and eat together. Usually my dad prays. One Sunday, my dad and Abbie were gone (I think in the nursery), so it was just my mom, Reid, Robert, and me taking Communion. I don't think my mom was quite prepared to pray (come to think of it, I rarely hear my mom pray out loud--usually my dad does it), but she did a great job! I mean, she would've done a great job, except she was praying in front of her three smart-aleck kids(-in-law). She started: "God, we thank you for family, for friends, for faith..." Now, Robert, Reid and I know what alliteration is, and we had noticed that all the words began with F. So I jumped in: "for food..." Reid: "for fish..." Robert: "for French fries..." The three of us added lots of alliterative words, like fungi and fun and Finland. By the end, all four of us were giggling at the front of the church, and my wonderful mother said, "Jesus likes f-words!" And then we weren't giggling, we were stifling laughter. "Amen."
Jesus likes laughter.
Yesterday, at the church we've been attending in Georgia (Vineville UMC), they served Communion. Apparently, yesterday was World Communion Sunday, a time when churches all over the world take Communion together. I don't know if my family took Communion yesterday, but the thought that Communion was about community with each other, not just Christ, struck me anew. In taking Communion, I was participating in a significant act that connected me to Christ's sacrifice, and to all the times my family has taken Communion in the past 24 years. My family might as well have been there; since it was Communion, I was necessarily taking it in spirit with all Christians everywhere. And that includes my family! The tradition was a bit different, the church was different, the state was different, but the elements and the act are the same. When I take Communion, I commune. Amen!
I cried a little.
So at my church, we usually do Communion in the deacons-hold-the-elements-at-the-front-congregation-comes-to-the-front-to-receive-elements way. My family traditionally receives the elements individually, but doesn't eat/drink them immediately. Instead, we make a little family circle in a corner, pray together, and eat together. Usually my dad prays. One Sunday, my dad and Abbie were gone (I think in the nursery), so it was just my mom, Reid, Robert, and me taking Communion. I don't think my mom was quite prepared to pray (come to think of it, I rarely hear my mom pray out loud--usually my dad does it), but she did a great job! I mean, she would've done a great job, except she was praying in front of her three smart-aleck kids(-in-law). She started: "God, we thank you for family, for friends, for faith..." Now, Robert, Reid and I know what alliteration is, and we had noticed that all the words began with F. So I jumped in: "for food..." Reid: "for fish..." Robert: "for French fries..." The three of us added lots of alliterative words, like fungi and fun and Finland. By the end, all four of us were giggling at the front of the church, and my wonderful mother said, "Jesus likes f-words!" And then we weren't giggling, we were stifling laughter. "Amen."
Jesus likes laughter.
Yesterday, at the church we've been attending in Georgia (Vineville UMC), they served Communion. Apparently, yesterday was World Communion Sunday, a time when churches all over the world take Communion together. I don't know if my family took Communion yesterday, but the thought that Communion was about community with each other, not just Christ, struck me anew. In taking Communion, I was participating in a significant act that connected me to Christ's sacrifice, and to all the times my family has taken Communion in the past 24 years. My family might as well have been there; since it was Communion, I was necessarily taking it in spirit with all Christians everywhere. And that includes my family! The tradition was a bit different, the church was different, the state was different, but the elements and the act are the same. When I take Communion, I commune. Amen!
I cried a little.
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