Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Stolen Life

"A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard

This book is not for the faint of heart. I had watched a video of Jaycee being interviewed and was so intrigued by the way that she handled herself and how amazing her story was that I really wanted to read the book. It is about how she was kidnapped at the age of 11 and held for 18 years. Yes, 18 years! It truly is a crazy and amazing story. Let me warn you that she tells it all and it is detailed in some parts. The beginning is hard to read. I can't imagine the torture that she went through and am shocked and in awe of her ability to move forward with her life. She truly is inspirational. "I don't believe in hate. To me it wastes too much time. People who hate waste so much of their life hating that they miss out on all the other stuff out here. I do not choose to live my life that way. What is done is done. I'm looking to the future." Incredible right? She doesn't even hate the man that stole so much from her. She doesn't really state that she is a believer but I'm not sure how she can walk away from her ordeal, say things like this and not be. What an amazing person she is. If only more of us could stop the hate and just look for what the future has for us. "Life is not kind to all of us." No, I wouldn't say it is kind to most of us but I'm so thankful we have a God that is and makes all things work together for our good. "I'm so tired! Tired of being not in control of my life because it is my LIFE! Why do people think they have a right to my life?" She had her life controlled by this man for 18 years. She was an adult with two children and still she couldn't do what she wanted. "But love is not part time and its not conditional." A truly amazing story, a truly amazing woman.

The Last Lecture

"The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch
Alright I'm a little slow, I know this book was super popular when it first came out and I'm just getting to it. It was worth the wait though! What an inspirational and insightful book. Randy is a professor at a college and is asked to give a last lecture. Thing is he has terminal cancer and has been given only a few months to live so it really will be his last lecture. He wants to leave a legacy for his three small children. By giving the lecture he will be able to pass wisdom on to them when they will most need it. He talks about following your dreams. He had a list of his childhood dreams and he met all but one of them. "Now our lives together had to be squeezed into a few months." Hard to imagine knowing how long you have here on this earth isn't long and trying desperately to fit a lifetime into a few months. "That is what it is. We can't change it. We just have to decide how we'll respond." No matter what we are dealt, that is all we can do, decide how we are going to respond. "When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you." That is not a place I want to be but then that means I have to be willing to listen to criticism and that's not easy either. "There is only one way to teach kids self esteem: You give them something they can't do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process." What is better than a sense of accomplishment? "Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Will we keep reaching? Will we keep trying? If so it was worth it. "Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think." We know not when we will be called home. Say what you need to say, love those you should love and live fully. "We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier." Good advice. "Find something nice to say, even if its a stretch. The worst ideas have silver linings if you look hard enough." Sometimes we just need to look harder. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer." We all have experience and every bit of it is valuable. This book is a short read but a good one.

The Bridge

"The Bridge" by Karen Kingsbury

Yup, another one by Karen. I found this at the library in large print. Wow, it was LARGE print. When I went back to a regular book the print was so small. This is another good one by Karen. It is about two young adults who fall in love in college and then their different backgrounds take them different ways. When they find out the bookstore they spent so many days together at is in trouble and the owner is fighting for his life they are reunited and the past and all it's hurts is finally put to rest. It is a good book about misunderstandings, forgiveness and second chances. It's never too late with God by our side. It's never too late.