Forgiven

As we prepare for our trip to Israel, it feels like there's just too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I keep trying to focus on the fact that in a few short weeks it'll all be done and we'll have some unforgettable memories to share. But today I'm reminded of forgiveness.

Lately I've had some really amazing conversations with some really amazing people in which God reminds me that I'm forgiven. I don't parent my children perfectly, my attitude towards my husband isn't always loving, my house isn't immaculately clean, dinner is often late (and sometimes doesn't taste that great), laundry waits until no one has clean underwear; I'm lazy, lacking self-control, a people-pleaser, impatient, prone to anger... the list goes on...

But at the very top of the list is "forgiven." Some days I like that it's there and other days I don't, but that doesn't change the fact that it's there: FORGIVEN.

On my nightstand sits a book titled Give them Grace: Dazzling Your Children with the Love of Jesus by Elyse Fitzpatrick and her daughter, Jessica Thompson. I've recommended a few books before on our blog, but I think EVERY Christian parent should read this book. I'm not even done with it, but have recommended it to several of my mom friends. It's convicting, yes, but has re-aligned my thinking not only in my parenting but in the rest of my life.

I want to be more willing to show my imperfections to other people, especially my husband and children. I want to be ready to ask forgiveness when I know I've sinned. Isn't that what the gospel is all about? We're sinners in need of a Savior. Our Savior is in the business of forgiving sinners who know that they are sinners in need of a Savior. No one has it all together, no matter how much it seems like they do. But when we sinners accept Jesus as Savior, it's not like all of a sudden we don't need grace anymore. We still need forgiveness. We are dependent on it.

Or at least we should be.

2011 Book List

Below is my 2011 reading list. The titles in bold were my favorites. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Reading List 2011
Goal: 60 books

1. Decision Points by George W. Bush
2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
3. Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn
4. Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
5. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
6. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament by John Walton
7. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson
8. Church Planting is for Wimps by Mike McKinley
9. American Assassin by Vince Flynn
10 Cyndere’s Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet
11. Raven’s Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet
12. The Unexpected Journey by Thom Rainer
13. Upside Down by Stacy Rinehart
14. Evangelism: A Biblical Approach by G. Michael Cocoris
15. The Ale Boy’s Feast by Jeffrey Overstreet
16. Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels
17. Business As Usual in the Missions Enterprise? by Tom Steffen
18. The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
19. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
20. Ministering Cross-Culturally by Sherwood Lingenfelter
21. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement ed. by Ralph Winter and Steven Hawthorne
22. The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands
23. John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock by Iain Murray
24. Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore
25. Golf’s Sacred Journey by David L. Cook
26. The Searchers by Alan LeMay
27. Slave by John MacArthur
28. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle
29. The Purity Principle by Randy Alcorn
30. Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church by Michael Lawrence
31. Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
32. I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris
33. The Next Story by Tim Challies
34. Teach as Jesus Taught by Roy Zuck
35. A God-Sized Vision by Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge
36. Don’t Call It a Comeback ed. by Kevin DeYoung
37. The Mission of the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert
38. Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas
39. Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris
40. Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism
41. The Cross of Christ by John Stott
42. Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? by C. John Collins


Fiction: 13
Non-fiction: 29

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

I'm going through this book with some of the girls in our youth group. It's a great book, but hard to read some times. Here's a quote from the chapter called "The Sovereignty of God."

Our first priority in times of adversity is to honor and glorify God by trusting Him. We tend to make our first priority the gaining of relief from our feelings of heartache or disappointment or frustration... We honor God by choosing to trust Him when we don't understand what He is doing or why He has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur. As we seek God's glory, we may be sure that He has purposed our good and that He will not be frustrated in fulfilling that purpose.

God is Love, Right?

I enjoyed reading through D. A. Carson's little book The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. Originally a lecture series at Dallas Theological Seminary 13 years ago, the book has been tightly focused and provocative in thinking about the love of God in the Bible. Carson did a great job in translating his mostly serious, sometimes witty style of speaking into the text of the book.

I especially appreciated Carson’s refusal to capitulate to easy, casual explanations of God’s love. It is right that Carson ends the book by encouraging the reader to engage the abstract thought world of God’s love, but not without connecting it to the living, breathing world around us where so many are unloved.

I found the following quotes very helpful:

"Strange to tell, not once is Jesus or God ever described in the Bible as our friend. Abraham is God's friend; the reverse is never stated." p. 41

". . . the love of God in our culture has been purged of anything the culture finds uncomfortable. The love of God has been sanitized, democratized, and above all sentimentalized." p. 11

“God in his perfections must be wrathful against his rebel image-bearers, for they have offended him; God in his perfections must be loving toward his rebel image-bearers, for he is that kind of God.” p. 69

2010 Books

My goal was to read 60 books this year. I failed. However, for the first time since 2006, I've read 50 books in a year. Below are the books in the order I read them. The bolded books were my favorites of the year. Feel free to comment below.

1. The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
2. Understanding Four Views of the Lord’s Supper ed. by John Armstrong
3. Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
4. The Reason For God by Tim Keller
5. College Ministry 101 by Chuck Bomar
6. Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong by John MacArthur, et al.
7. Adopted For Life by Russell Moore
8. The Art of Pastoring by David Hansen
9. Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
10. John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life by Herman Selderhuis
11. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller
12. Calvin and the Atonement by Robert Peterson
13. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
14. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
15. What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert
16. The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
17. Start Your Family by Steve & Candice Watters
18. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke
19. Pendragon by Stephen R. Lawhead
20. Invitation to Biblical Preaching by Don Sunukjian
21. A Harmony of the Gospels by Stanley Gundry and Robert L. Thomas
22. The Words and Works of Jesus Christ by Dwight Pentecost
23. Grail by Stephen R. Lawhead
24. Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur
25. Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey
26. Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne
27. War by Sebastian Junger
28. Taking Your Church to the Next Level by Gary McIntosh
29. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
30. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
31. Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung
32. Going Solo by Roald Dahl
33. The End of the Law by Jason C. Meyer
34. A Painted House by John Grisham
35. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
36. The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander
37. Looking For Calvin and Hobbes by Nevin Martell
38. The Green Mile by Stephen King
39. Trail of the Spanish Bit by Don Coldsmith
40. Radical by David Platt
41. The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire
42. Life After God by Douglas Coupland
43. Here Today, There Tomorrow by Gary McIntosh
44. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
45. The God Conversation by J. P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff
46. The Elk-Dog Heritage by Don Coldsmith
47. Follow the Wind by Don Coldsmith
48. The Rainmaker by John Grisham
49. Buffalo Medicine by Don Coldsmith
50. The Heart of a Great Pastor by H. B. London Jr. and Neil B. Wiseman
51. More Than A Carpenter by Josh and Sean McDowell

The Not-As-Old Age-Old Story

The title isn't referring to the "old, old story,/How a Savior came from glory," but to the seemingly eternal debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. So often it's not put in those terms, but involves vitriol and disgust over terms like "free will," "predestination," "election," "prevenient grace" and the like.

I've declared myself to be a Calvinist many times and mainly read books and listen to sermons by Calvinists. And however much I believed in reading and listening to those I disagree with, I haven't practiced that very consistently. Okay, so not really at all!

That is going to change and part of the way I am endeavoring to change by reading Arminian Theology by Roger E. Olson. I'm only on page 30, but so far it has already been helpful to read the views of someone on the other side of this intramural debate. I think that Roger Olson is a brother in Christ and loves God with all his heart. His tone is irenic, but he is not willing to become a doormat for Calvinists either. I appreciate that very much.

I'm also reading Radical by David Platt. It's currently ranked #27 on all of amazon.com! The book's subtitle is "taking back your faith from the American Dream," an apropo title to worry this reader who grew up in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb. I love David Platt's preaching and listen to his podcast religiously. I would already encourage to pick up this book and read it. It's fairly amazing/amusing to me that a book about a young man who downsized his house and regularly calls people to give most of their money away has made it on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Have a good weekend!

A Systematic Summer

This summer I'm reading through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I was spurred on to do it by a variety of influences, one of them being an ambition to know exhaustively the doctrines of the Christian faith.

Every morning I have been reading a chunk of the book and I'm currently on page 118 (of 1,164 pages) in chapter 7 - The Necessity of Scripture. This quote substantively says what I try to tell our youth all the time:

"To neglect regular reading of God's Word is as detrimental to the health of our souls as the neglect of physical food is detrimental to the health of our bodies."

I really do believe that and Grudem does a fantastic job of explaining why that is the case in his chapters on the authority of Scripture.
Another reason that I'm doing this--aside from the fact that I'm a huge nerd AND in seminary--is for a series we'll be doing in Reality Check in the fall called "Boot Camp." In the series we'll be preparing the youth for deployment in the Lord's Army (yes sir!) by covering the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I feel that the baptistic tradition I've lived in my whole life has so negatively reacted against other denominations and church structures that we've lost the original sense of confirmation classes. No, I'm not interested in baptizing babies, but I do think that making sure our young people are grounded in the truths of their faith is vastly important and vastly overlooked in most churches in Southern California. It is a direct offshoot of our youth's theme for the 2010-2011 year: War!
Our logo was designed by Melanie Brown, a college freshman who attends Reality Check. Enjoy!

So Much I See . . .

I have not really lived up to my resolution to blog twice a week this year. The funny thing is that my mind is constantly mulling over blog post topics. I see a provocative bumper sticker and potential topic bursts onto the horizon of my thinking. I hear a sermon and am motivated to write out my thoughts. I read a book (I'm at nine so far this year) and "plan" to write a book review on the blog. I counsel someone at church and that leads to a related topic that would be wonderful to post about. On and on it goes . . .

However, it is obvious that I haven't followed through (much) on those thoughts. As I sit here in front of my computer screen in my office at Village Bible Church, I tell myself it's because I'm so busy with work, school, marriage, baby classes, parties, dishes, laundry, etc. Those things are all true, and I am busy, but that doesn't mean I couldn't make time for a simple blog post two or three times a week.

So this post is mainly just me posting my frustrations with my laziness.

I think this post has been percolating for a while, but a book I started a few days ago has really been the impetus for this post. It's called Gilead. I think I first heard about it from John Piper, and then he posted about it again two weeks ago. I bought it with a Borders gift card and realized that it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005.

Anyway, the book is about a dying preacher in Iowa writing down his memories (some of which are so random that you have to work hard to remember that this is not a real memoir - it is fiction) for his young son to read long after he is gone.

It is good.

It is thought-provoking.

Read it.

Further Emergence?

For those wondering or intrigued about Brian McLaren and his popular works, here is a helpful panel discussion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am very thankful to these men for shining the bright light of truth on McLaren's new book, A New Kind Of Christianity.

Skipping

I'm a reader. I love reading. I like to think that someone could call me a voracious reader or a committed reader or a diligent reader. I read history, I read theology, I read methodology, I read fantasy, I read modern fiction, I read classic fiction, I read . . .

I (almost) always read the prologue, the introduction, the preface, the acknowledgements, the conclusion, the epilogue, the footnotes, the endnotes (even though I ABHOR endnotes!), the "about the author" page, as well as the front cover and back cover and dust jacket.

Now, you may think that this is a very self-serving post so far. Well, maybe it has been. But here's why I bring this up and why I entitled this post "Skipping." When I'm reading a Christian book (theology, Christian living, textbook, commentary, etc.) I all to often find myself reading everything but the quoted Scripture in the book! I've been challenged on this omission several times by Gunner Gundersen, the Associate Dean of Men at The Master's College, and yet I still do it quite consistently.

Even now, as I'm reading Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong, I keep having to remind myself to SLOW DOWN and go back to read the Bible passage that was quoted. I think I do this because I grew up in the church, God saved me at a young age and I'm now in my 19th year of Christian education. It's like I've inoculated myself against feeling the need to read the Bible verse(s) not because I don't know the passage - I probably am familiar with it - but because I somehow think that I've exhausted all the truth and meaning from the passage long ago.

This is the very thing that I'm concerned about for the youth under my care at Village Bible Church. I continually tell them not to rely on the third grade flannelgraph (most of them don't have any idea of what I'm talking about! I blame this development squarely on VeggieTales.) stories they learned so long ago as if they heard the story and have the content and the applications/implications for their lives stored away forever! May I see this blindness in myself and fight against it with heart, soul, mind and strength!

What about you? Do you find yourself doing this? Do you even read? Do you read theology and Christian living and Christian (auto)biograhies to strengthen and encourage your walk with Christ? Are there other reasons that I/we skip over the Bible passages in the books we read? Let me know in the comments to help think further about this issue.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

2009 Reading

For those interested, here's my reading list from 2009. I just missed 50 books for the third year in a row. When at first you don't succeed . . . up the ante! My goal for 2010 is 60 books. Excuse me, but I have some reading to do.

1. Atheism Remix by Albert Mohler

2. Darth Bane: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn

3. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards

4. Desire and Deceit by Albert Mohler

5. Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn

6. Christian Psychology’s War on God’s Word by Jim Owen

7. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

8. A Skeleton in God’s Closet by Paul Maier

9. Research Strategies by William B. Badke

10. Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond ed. By Darrell Bock

11. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

12. Unfinished Business by Greg Odgen

13. Spectacular Sins by John Piper

14 The Church in God’s Program by Robert Saucy

15. The Brethren by John Grisham

16. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

17. Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem

18. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

19. What is a Healthy Church? by Mark Dever

20. A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur

21. Safe in the Arms of God by John MacArthur

22. 1812: The War that Forged a Nation by Walter R. Borneman

23. How to Thrive in Associate Staff Ministry by Kevin Lawson

24. Moving On Moving Forward by Michael Anthony and Mick Boersma

25. Finally Alive by John Piper

26. The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

27. The Transforming Community by Mark Lauterbach

28. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

29. Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul

30. Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

31. Believer’s Baptism ed. by Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright

32. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

33. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

34. The Shack by William P. Young

35. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

36. Get Outta My Face! by Rick Horne

37. The Truth War by John MacArthur

38. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

39. Show Them No Mercy ed. by Stanley N. Gundry

40. Crazy Love by Francis Chan

41. Knowing God by J.I. Packer

42. Desiring God by John Piper

43. Moral Choices by Scott Rae

44. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

45. What is a Healthy Church Member? by Thabiti Anyabwile

46. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

47. The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by John Piper and Justin Taylor

Non-Fiction - 34

Fiction - 13

Throw 'Em A Bone!

Okay, keeping up with this blog has been next-to-non-existent, so to prevent me from going crazy in my office right now, I decided to post the books I'm reading/studying right now for those who care:

The UBS Greek New Testament
Christian Theology, Millard Erickson
Knowing God, J.I. Packer
Kregel Dictionary of the Bible and Theology, Henry Holloman (my Theology I professor)
O Pioneers!, Willa Cather
Get Outta My Face!, Rick Horne
College Ministry 101, Chuck Bomar
Everlasting Dominion, Eugene Merrill
Exodus, Philip Ryken
Exodus, John Currid

Exodus, R. Alan Cole

Exodus, James Bruckner

Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Daniel Wallace

Moral Choices, Scott Rae

There it is!

2007 Reading

I have failed. A year after first accomplishing my goal to read at least 50 books a year, 2007 was a failure, as was 2005. Ah well, 2008's off to a great start! Look through the list and tell me what you think!

1. The Testament by John Grisham
2. The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway
3. Tempest by Troy Denning
4. Pursuing Holiness in the Lord by Jonathan Edwards
5. What Jesus Demands From the World by John Piper
6. Love That Lasts by Gary and Betsy Ricucci
7. The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
8. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
9. Whale Done: The Power of Positive Relationships by Ken Blanchard
10. Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis
11. The Last Christian Generation by Josh McDowell
12. Vienna Prelude by Bodie Thoene
13. Exile by Aaron Allston
14. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel by Eugene Merrill
15. The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels by Thomas Cahill
16. Dawn by Elie Wiesel
17. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
18. Going Places with God: A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible by Wayne Stiles
19. Aces: The Last Season on the Mound with the Oakland A’s Big Three by Mychal Urban
20. Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World by Justing Marozzi
21. Humility by Andrew Murray
22. Prague Counterpoint by Bodie Thoene
23. The Summons by John Grisham
24. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
25. God’s Passion For His Glory by John Piper
26. The Legacy Of Sovereign Joy by John Piper
27. Moneyball by Michael Lewis
28. A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan by Michael Kazin
29. Allegiance by Timothy Zahn
30. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
31. The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis
32. Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible by Jay Adams
33. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
34. Preaching the Cross by Mark Dever, et al.
35. Munich Signature by Bodie Thoene
36. Searching For God Knows What by Don Miller
37. The Giver by Lois Lowry
38. Let The Nations Be Glad! By John Piper
39. Sacrifice by Karen Traviss
40. Inferno by Troy Denning
41. The Assassins by Bernard Lewis
42. Suffering and the Sovereignty of God ed. John Piper and Justin Taylor
43. Trusting God by Jerry Bridges
44. A Murder of Quality by John Le Carre
45. Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God by C.J. Mahaney
46. The Parables by Gary Inrig
47. Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Non-Fiction - 29
Fiction - 18

Life is Good

Wednesday morning and I'm already caught up with invoices! Today my ride to work was less than 20 minutes. It was 18 minutes, to be exact. Needless to say, it made my morning :-)

In other news, the great tragedy of our VCR messing up in recording 24 last week is now behind us. Ron graciously recorded it for us (he has TiVo) and we were able to watch it before this week's episode. I'm pretty sure life would have continued if somehow we weren't able to watch it, but I'm thankful that Ron helped us out.

Since I have no invoices to do until the mail comes, I'm planning to read for most of the morning. I'm now a little less than halfway through Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia. They are such great books! I'm sure I've already said that, but they really are. I would highly recommend them for anyone, no matter how young or old. On that note, back to Old Narnia!

Done

That's right. I finally finished the Thoene series I've been reading for quite a while. Despite my first reaction to Happy ("I'm mad at them. What a terrible ending!") I would highly recommend the series because it helps you to have a better understanding of what so many families went through in the years leading up to and during WWII. Then again, the books can't do justice to what it must have really been like to live it. As for me, I'm still very interested in learning more about the Holocaust, but I think I need a little break. I'm thankful I can take a break from it if I choose to. Still, I highly recommend the series.

Next on my list of books to read is Love that Lasts: When Marriage Meets Grace by Gary & Betsy Ricucci. I'm only 20 pages in, but I like it a lot so far, and I like where they say they are heading.

Since we're moving in a month or so, I've been collecting boxes from work (there's a warehouse in back and lots of boxes available). Right now, they are still all empty and sitting in a large pile in our apartment. I've never packed up an entire apartment before so I have no idea how long it will take, but I could usually pack up from college in one evening. I'm thinking that I should spend the two Saturdays before we move packing boxes. Anyone have any advice here?

That pretty much sums up the excitement in my life. I would like to post about Happy's jr. high boys' basketball game yesterday, but I'll leave that to him. I got to go and I'm glad :-) But now I'll get to my invoices. Oh, and I'm putting a reminder on my phone so I post pictures on our blog. That means that as long as our internet cooperates, expect pictures this weekend!

Happenings

Since I've run out of things to do at work, I thought I'd spend a few minutes updating about the happenings of our life.

For those of you who have been wondering, my allergies are doing much better, although I do still get random headaches every so often. But, I'm definitely not as miserable or as exhausted all the time. Praise the Lord for that! Oh, and I'm hoping that I never have to have another scratch test as long as I live. I'm wondering if I should warn all my doctors in the future that I really don't like needles?

Happy has been videotaping Liberty's football games for the season, as you may recall. Last week Liberty lost 64-30 to Saddleback Valley Christian, continuing their losing streak. They are now 0-6 on the season, but everyone was very excited that LCS was able to score a whole 30 points in one game! Actually, it was pretty exciting, despite the comment I heard later that Saddleback Valley was hardly putting forth any effort at all. Interesting how getting more points in one game than you have the entire season can boost your spirits. I will say though that last week's game was much more exciting to watch than most (all?) of the others. Plus, the Saddleback Valley cheerleaders were actually pretty good (even though they did have their share of cheesy cheers--"Let me hear that left foot stomp! Boom! Shake it up, shake it up!") and I got to watch the game with Katie :-)

I finally finished Jerusalem Interlude and have moved on to Danzig Passage, the fifth book of the series. ONE more after this one! I'm hoping to finish them before I go home for Christmas so then I can be reading something else. Like I said a long time ago, I think I want to read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, but we'll see how many times I change my mind. Speaking of books, we finally got our very first dictionary (of our married life)! Happy really loves it. Whenever I ask what a word means he gets an excited look on his face and jumps up to retrieve the dictionary. Oh the joy of little things in life!

Ok, that's all I've got for today. Hopefully the mail will come soon so I can sort it and get to more invoices! It's also payday today so I'll have lots to do once the checks are all cut and signed. YAY!! Have a lovely Wednesday!

Poor little plant

It's Wednesday and it feels like Friday in the office. Rebecca asked me if I could come in at 7 on Friday instead of 8 and stay til 5. I said that would be fine. However, I'm also told that the Friday before a 3-day weekend is usually so dead that we might all leave by 3! Crazy. I'm curious how the traffic is at 6 vs. 7 am... hm... guess I'll figure that out on Friday.

I just got back from a lovely lunch. Every day I make my lunch here at work (the kitchen is stocked with lunch-fixings for us!) and sit outside on a dirty lawn chair at a spider-webbed table, reading. I've finished Munich Signature and am now on to the fourth book of the Thoene series, Jerusalem Interlude. Even though I had said before that I was going to read Mere Christianity, I decided that I'd finish this series before moving on. Plus, I got so sucked in to all that's going on! I cried at the end of the last book and definitely wanted to throw it across the room by the time I got to the last page. Yeah, I was angry at the outcome, but not angry enough to stop reading the series :-)

This morning I searched for thrift stores near our apartment. I came up with a large list and typed it out on a Word document. Guess what we're doing this weekend?? :-D

By the way, we purchased a plant last week (I think) at the grocery store. The leaves on the ends are already withering. Sigh... I've been keeping it watered too. Maybe I just need to let it get some more sunlight? I dunno. Maybe I should resign myself to the fact that if I ever want to have plants, they will be made of silk. Oh well!

Yesterday Happy had to wear a tie to school for his teacher ID card. He looked good :-) Ok, I won't elaborate and lose readers... hehe... Back to work! Have a lovely afternoon!

Cloudy morning

What a wonderful weekend! Saturday Happy and I went to help Heather move and got to see not only Heather, but Nick, Travis, Brian, Becca and Christie! Coming home made me realize how blessed we are to have friends who are willing to help in a moment's notice. Plus, it was good to see everyone after moving to a new place where we have yet to meet many people.

A random thing I've noticed about myself (which I'm sure Happy has noticed already) is that I almost always forget to put silverware and serving spoons on the dinner table. Actually, I usually forget them for every meal. I bring all the food out and sit down and then I realize that I can't move the food from the pot to our plates. Is this something I just need to get used to? I hope so!

Tonight I'm cutting Happy's hair. The other day he wet his hair and stuck it up in every direction (which he is accustomed to doing from time to time) and said "Whoa! My hair is REALLY long! Hey... can you cut my hair soon?" He's a funny one.

Bree called in to work today which means I don't have a whole bunch to do. That also means that I'm really glad I brought my book. I'm only about 60 pages in, but my friend Jeremy has been reading through Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and asking some poignant questions that are making me want to read that book next. It's one of those books that I've always wanted to read and never gotten around to.

This is a seriously random post, but one more thing I wanted to mention. Happy learned this morning that apparently AT&T can't be our provider. He might write more on that, but now he'll be contacting Verizon and hopefully they will have much better customer service than AT&T! I wonder if that means our "home" phone number (which never actually worked for us) will change? I guess we'll find out! Back to work. Have a lovely day!

Office Fridays

Quick update on the phone... Surprise surprise, it didn't work yesterday so Happy called and they supposedly were going to send someone out this morning between 8 am and noon. I called Happy around 11 and they still hadn't showed up. Has anyone else had problems like this with their phone company? Seriously, it is indeed getting frustrating (probably even more so for Happy who has been dealing with most of it).

I finished The Promise. It was pretty good, but I liked The Chosen more. Now I'm 30 pages into Munich Signature and already hooked! If anyone's looking for a really great historical fiction series, this one's excellent! I know my mom-in-law would agree :-)

Fridays in the office are great. Angie brings bagels and cream cheese for everyone and it's casual Friday. It actually isn't much of a difference for most of the people around here, but for me it is! I'm wearing my BOSTON shirt and jeans. Most of the guys in the office wear polo shirts and jeans every day though. The main difference I see is.... myself and Bree (the other receptionist who now helps out in the Accounting Dept.). Then again, this is only my second Friday. Maybe I'll notice the subtle changes in people's wardrobes as time goes on....

Aside from Munich Signature, Happy asked me to read the main article in Christianity Today's August issue. It is called The Case for Kids and I'm about halfway through it. The subtitle is "A defense of the large family by a 'six-time breeder.'" It's been eye-opening for me up to this point, but also kind of sad. I would highly recommend any woman thinking of having a child (ever at any point in her life) to take a look at it. Actually, even those who think they don't want to have any children might want to read it. Anyway, there's my update for today. Lunch time!

Early weekend?

Isn't it funny to notice the differences between my posts and Happy's? Just thought I'd mention that....

For those of you who are interested, I changed my email address. I think I emailed everyone that might be interested (and probably some who aren't interested), but if you didn't get an email from me about my email address change, please let me know!

Right now at work there is pretty much no one here and the ones that are here seem to all be in meetings. Let's just say it's very quiet. Maybe I'll get to leave a little early and beat the traffic :-D

Saturday my former roommate Heather is moving and we are going to help her (Heather, I can't wait to see you!), so we'll be up in Santa Clarita for at least a portion of the day. Before we head up there Happy's planning to play basketball at 7 am at his school. CRAZY! Speaking of the school, for those of you who have asked, Happy is not teaching at the same school as Tim and Leah. I'm not totally sure where Tim and Leah's school is, but I haven't seen them yet. I think they are closer to LA than we are... Do any readers of this blog know more that might help?

Well, I've almost finished The Promise. Actually, I have 20 pages left and am anticipating finishing today. Up to this point the book has gotten better than I had thought at first. Still, I'm looking forward to getting back to the Thoene Series that Happy got me for my birthday last year. I finished the second book before I picked up The Promise. Next is Munich Signature. It should be good! Oh, and I'm sure you'll hear how/if the phone thing works out. It'd be nice to have a phone and internet at our home :-)