Happiness is elusive. Dependent on circumstances. Fleeting. I feel happy on Christmas morning, at the gates of Disneyland and sitting down to a plate of homemade lasagna.
Problem is that when those circumstances change – when I’m walking into a hospital, in the midst of an argument, sitting in line at the dump or the DMV my emotions switch. Happiness is gone and in its place are feelings of fear, annoyance, sadness. Happiness is fun but grossly fickle. There is a different way. In her book, Choose Joy, Kay Warren warmly shares her life’s journey through hard places to how she learned the secrets of Joy. Joy is the peace of God and assurance of His love. Joy can happen at birthday parties and funerals. While paying bills or baking cookies. On your best days and your worst. I love Kay’s book because it shares practical steps to learn how to live your days in Joy. A few of my favorite quotes: “We are going to experience joy in this lifetime, there’s only one possible way: We will have to choose it. We will have to choose it in spite of unbelievable circumstances." "Those who love lavishly, extravagantly, find their souls flooded with joy.” “When trials expose our faith-life, will others see us embracing both the joy and the pain of our life? We do not need to live out one and deny the other. Those around us need to recognize that both of these elements are part of life, and both give us hope for heaven.” - Kay Warren Kay Warren sent me two copies of Choose Joy and a copy of the CHoose Joy Devotional to give out to readers. I'll be drawing winners tomorrow from the Quirk-Email subscription list. If you haven't signed up yet do so now to be included! Click HERE to sign up. You can buy your own copy of Choose Joy at the link below.
Eric Metaxas is New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer, Amazing Grace, former writer for Veggie Tales and radio show host is a brilliant and funny man. Good combo. Years ago, in a land far away (NYC), Eric created a forum for professionals to gather and discuss life's deep water questions. Like most good ventures, this forum birthed a book.
Socrates In the City, Conversation on “Life, God and Other Small Topics” is a collection of essays by some of today's brightest minds. Questions like “How Good Confronts Evil” or Making Sense out of Suffering”. Tough minded, witty and funny this book will challenge you to think deeply. No light weight faith allowed! Some favorite quotes from the book: "When it comes to a culture that exalts the self, Christianity is countercultural in the extreme." Charles W. Colson "The God of love will not be the puppet master of the universe, pulling every string" Sir John Polkinghorne "Even when God doesn't immediately tow us out of our suffering, the fact that he's with us in it is at the least the most impressive and satisfying answer to the problem of suffering that I know". Dr. Peter Kreeft Eric Metaxas sent Quirky Faith a copy of Socrates in the City to give out to a reader. I'll be drawing a winner from the Quirk-Email subsriber list tomorrow morning. If you haven't signed up yet you can do so HERE. Buy your own copy at the link below. In 2010 I spent ten days in Rwanda. Our team helped build a classroom and start up a medical clinic for a non-profit in Western Rwanda. On the last day of the trip we visited the Rwanda Genocide Museum. It is a haunting, awful, beautiful place. The atrocities of 1 million people killed in 90 days are told in photo and story. We all felt sick. While we were in country we spoke with people who had survived. People who had forgiven. People who had found peace. As we flew home I wondered if Rwanda would continue to rebuild. This beautiful country has proven to me that hope is possible in the darkest of circumstances.
Jonathan Tepperman has written a thoughtful, engaging book called The Fix, how nations survive and Thrive in a World in Decline. His chapter on Rwanda mirrored the truth I saw in country. The Rwandese are recovering because they embraced a radical idea - forgiveness. Tepperman's book profiles ten staggering success stories. Times when the good guys won, when corruption was conquered, when poverty was rolled back. It's a hopeful and encouraging read. The truth is that crisis and heartache and despair seem rampant. I appreciated Tepperman's timely reminder that love and justice and fairness really are mighty tools.
Thank goodness for the delete button. You missed the bits where I slipped climbing up on the gardening table to peer over my fence and also when I dropped my book and my husband's microphone in the mud. SHHHHHH. Don't tell. You should post a comment to enter to win your own new and clean copy of Chase the Lion. Sheesh. I need help.
You can buy your own copy of Chase the Lion by clicking on the book below.
Do you feel discouraged by the hate and violence and rhetoric all around us? Sigh. Depressing. Some days I scroll the newsfeed and hang my head. Some days though I remember to pray while my head is bowed. It helps reset my soul. And clearly we need help from above. We also need each of us to square our shoulders and to do hard work of reconciliation and peacemaking. Be kind today. The book Safely Home by Randy Alcorn is a lovely reminder of hope. I read this book a decade ago. I think about it often. Good books color your perspective and ride along with you. If you need a beautiful book to encourage your soul then this is your chance. Safely Home follows the story of two men; one a pastor facing persecution for his faith in China and the second is a business man in America. This book was a challenge to live out my faith in openness and to pray consistently for people around the world who face tyranny. The book is full of hardship but I left at the end with great joy and encouragement. In this insane season with anger and hate and strife it's worth reading again. Here are a few of my favorite quotes. "When men know they cannot hope in a country, in a political belief, or in themselves, they become free to hope in God." Randy Alcorn, Safely Home "If you are looking for a religion centered around yourself, Ben, I must agree that Christianity is a poor choice." Randy Alcorn, Safely Home "And do you think your refusal to believe will convince God to change his nature? He is who he is no matter what you think of him. Despite what Americans believe, the universe is not a democracy. Truth is not determined by the majority." Randy Alcorn, Safely Home Randy Alcorn with Eternal Perspective Ministries gave Quirky Faith a free copy of Safely Home to give out to a lucky reader. You can visit Randy Alcorns website HERE. No purchase necessary to win. Contest starts September 23rd and a winner will be drawn randomly from all the entries on September 30th, 2016. Five Ways to Enter (and you can enter more than once if you do more than one of the options).
Once a month I get together with a group of girls (my mama, my sister, my auntie and two friends we claim as family) for book club. We call it Bound Together. We read, we laugh, we eat, we donate to worthy causes. We eat a lot.
This month's book was by one of my favorite authors, Charles Martin. Water from my Heart is a big hearted attack on apathy. It made me think. “Since that moment, I’d bought into the idea that isolation would ease my pain and indifference was the remedy for rejection. Clarity was quick in coming. Isolation is a prison and indifference is a lie. Neither work.” ― Charles Martin, Water from My Heart Book clubs, small groups, mentorships and churches are all good formats to break isolation. Find your fit. Don't stay alone.
My friend and fellow book club member, Jill Williamson, is an author. And by that I mean a full on "can I brag about my friend who has 16 books published and I have autographed copies on my shelves" author. Check out her website at www.jillwilliamson.com. One of Jill's skills is her ability to research and put into words what she learns. She also has absolutely no fear to tackle a massive project.
Since Water from My Heart was set in Nicaragua, Jill decided to make an authentic Nicaraguan meal for bookclub. Here is the link to YouTube video that explains how to make the enchiladas we ate. May I point out that it is not in English? So my talented friend (did I mention she is an author?) took notes and watched and experimented and we ate divine deep fried meat and rice enchiladas. Did I mention that calories don't count at bookclub?
Jill graciously let us help for the final steps of making the enchiladas. Oh food prep is fun. If you've been following along on my blog you know I'm a fairly rotten cook. However, I'm a fantastic sous chef. I love to jump in with someone else's plan and help - especially if I get to eat the finished product.
The side dish was Gallo Pinto, literally “painted rooster”. It's a mixture of fried rice and beans. Simple soul food. I could eat it every day. Simple comforts remind me of who I am. The trick is to try to live a life that's consistent with who I am.
“While her emotions were very real and they gnawed at her with a raw sincerity, she was listening to something deeper. She was listening to her will, not letting what she felt dictate what she would do. Didn’t let it dictate her life.” ― Charles Martin, Water from My Heart Yup. Feelings are not facts.
Jill also made spicy mango salsa. I may have eaten most of the bowl. The kick of the jalapeno balanced the sweet fruit. Yummmm. Sometimes I need a kick in life too.
“Indifference is the curse of this age. Indifference is evil, and it couldn't be farther from the heart of God. ― Charles Martin, Water from My Heart
So thank you for dinner my friend. And thank you for the beautiful books Charles Martin.
Want to read more? These are not Jill's newest books. But they are my favorites. The Safe Lands series is a dystopian wild ride of fun and redemption. I can probably get them autographed for you. I know the author.
If you are interested in putting together your own book club and would like a copy of our Bound Together plan send me a note on the Contact page and I'll share what's worked. We have found that six people, once a month is a perfect fit. Gather your fellow readers and eaters. It's fairly fantastic.
My daughters and I went to the library yesterday. I always do this with a little trepidation. I’m not worried about the content of the books. I can filter for my kids until they are old enough to discern for themselves. Frankly I worry much more about the filters on our electronic devices. I love the library. One of my happiest mom moments was when my eldest got her own library card. (Read here). My youngest is getting close to the requirement of writing her own name. Her big day is coming. So it’s not lack of love for the library that concerns me. I’m worried I’ll lose or damage the books I take home. I have life management problems. By the grace of God we have been able to go through some big deal parts of life. But goodness do the details fly crazy. One time I lost a library book. Searched like crazy. Paid for said book. Found book under my car seat. Apparently I lost that one on the way home. It. Never. Even. Made. The. House. I’ve dropped them in the tub. Ripped pages. Spilled coffee. Actually technically I didn’t spill the coffee…. Anyway. We went to the library. Daughter one checked out a couple of books on the Battle for the Books list. She’s trying to get ahead for next year’s contest. Daughter two checked out a new book by Henkes called “Waiting”. It’s gorgeous. She also checked out a chapter book with no pictures. I’m not totally sure why since she can’t read but she’s been carrying it around all day making her cousin and sister and auntie and I listen to what it says. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe she can read. She runs her finger through the pages looking for the letters she knows. And I brought home the best book ever. I am such a nerd that I got a third of the way through it, decided I must own it and bought a copy for my Kindle. My new book is called Lingo by Gaston Dorren. Around Europe in sixty languages. Told you I was a nerd. My grandfather was a linguist. The love of the written word must have a genetic marker because this book about languages and words and the wisdom and why of what we say and what we write is making me grin. Each chapter ends with a word that the author believes we should adopt into English. These are my favorites so far: Omenie: A Romanian word for the virtue of being fully human, that is: gentle, decent, respectful, hospitable, honest and polite. I love this. Someone should name their daughter this. I want this word in my obituary someday. I hope my life earns it. Goennen: German for the exact opposite of ‘to envy’: to be gladdened by someone else’s fortune. I want this word! We need this word! And my favorite: Jolabokafloo: Icelandic. Christmas book flood.
This happens at my house. The Christmas morning joy of a stack of books. Fun and fun and fun. English apparently needs more versions of the letter O as well. So I wrote this blog mostly to tell my mom and sister and aunts and uncles and cousins on my mother’s side that you may also love this book. It’s speaking our language. Er. Languages. Anyone else? Thinking about words tonight had me awake in the middle of the night last night pondering. Do you know that I love how God is described in the Bible? The Alpha and Omega. It’s the beginning and ending of the alphabet. I’ve always been told it refers to God’s totality. And Jesus is called the living Word. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and was God. I love that it’s through language that God meets us and it’s through language that He made us. And it’s letters and words and sentences that I run my fingers through and underline and circle to try and understand my place. I look for meaning just as my three year old does in her chapter book. I love the library. Hope I don’t lose any books this time. Life and meaning wrapped in words. I wish you a merry Jolabokafloo. |
About MeI love Jesus. I think my two daughters can change the world. I think you can too. Past Posts
August 2020
Tags
All
Sign up to receive Mindy's Quirk-E-Mails
|