"Carry On, Warrior" by Glennon Doyle Melton
I stumbled upon the authors blog through another blog that I follow. Glennon is just another ordinary mom who started a blog and then it went big and a book came out of it. Glennon has such a heart of love for others. She sees or hears about a need and does something about it. She is a recovering drug addict, alcoholic and bulimic. She has been through the ringer but chooses life and love. She is honest and she is refreshing. The book is about this journey, about this beautiful, brutal-brutiful life. "Life is hard-not because we're doing it wrong, just because it's hard." I love admitting that, it's hard for all of us, all of us in different way but still hard for all of us. "People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who don't need help." No one has it all together and some just hide it better than others. "We talked about how loving one person hard and long and well is the hardest thing on earth to do." It truly is. So much gets in the way, namely selfishness. Loving others well takes a whole lot of doing and a whole lot of serving. "What else is family if not a commitment to keep showing up?" "Good friends become each others keepers. I hold your story in my mind. I carry it for you. I'm a record of your life. I know what you will do next because I know what you've done in the past." When you are blessed enough to find this kind of friend, hold on for dear life, they don't come around twice. "If you run away from the crucifixion, you just might miss the resurrection. We have to go through the hard to get to the good, that is what helps us recognize the good for what it is. The beauty is in both the crucifixion and the resurrection. "Because love is not something for which to search or wait or hope or dream. It's simply something to do." Start doing and there you will find love. "Why is it that the second a mother admits that it's hard, people feel the need to suggest that maybe she's not doing it right? Maybe the fact that it's so hard means she IS doing it right, in her own way, and she happens to be honest." There is nothing wrong in admitting motherhood or this life is hard, it is, but we must give it our best and keep going. "That heartache is called compassion, and it is God's signal to you to do something." Don't ignore it, you'll regret it but you will never regret doing something in love, never. "I'm going to quit chasing happiness long enough to notice it smiling right at me." Sometimes we miss it, we miss what blessings we have right in front of us because we are so focused on something else. "I learned that all things pass; that life is hard to endure but not impossible. I discovered that after the enduring, if you choose not to run away, there are prizes. Those prizes are wisdom and dignity." This is a great book of encouragement. A book full of honesty and love. A book that lets you know you are not alone, life is hard but it is also so beautiful and we can do this. We can do this together and most importantly, with God.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Love Does
"Love Does" by Bob Goff
I was given this book by a friend. It is such an easy read, each chapter a little book in of itself. It is a book that makes you want to go and conquer the world, change it for the better. Bob is just an ordinary man, although extraordinary in so many ways. He is full of adventure and he believes that love is an action, it does. If he wants something he goes for it, doesn't take no for an answer and doesn't always need a plan. This is what the book is about, enjoying this life for all that it has to offer. "That's because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does." What would this world be like if all of us believed and lived this out? Instead of thinking of doing something for someone we actually do it. I know I've thought many times, I should do this or that but don't. It could revolutionize this world if we could just do a little more. "I learned that faith isn't about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules. It's something more, something more costly because it involves being present and making a sacrifice." Love is hard and it is costly but the rewards are great. " But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence." "Things that go wrong can shape us or scar us." It's really our choice. And I think that it's even ok if they do scar us but what will we do with that scar? Will we choose to show that scar or hide it? Use it for good or let it define us? "But I've always wondered if, when we want to do something that we know is right and good, God places that desire deep in our hearts because He wants it for us and it honors Him." "That's what love does-it pursues blindly, unflinchingly, and without end. When you go after something you love, you'll do anything it takes to get it, even if it costs everything." And that is exactly what God does for us. It cost Him everything, His very life. "You know what it is about someone that makes them a friend? A friend doesn't just say things; a friend does." That might just be my favorite sentence of all time. "I think every day God sends us an invitation to live and sometimes we forget to show up or get head-faked into thinking we haven't really been invited." He has invited us all. I am constantly having to remind myself to show up, I'm good enough, He invited me, I don't have to bring a thing, just show up. "He hopes we'll start to see ourselves as His beloved rather than think of all of the reasons that we aren't." Why is it so easy to think of all the reasons we can't be loved than just rest in the fact that we ARE loved? "But know this: when Jesus invites us on an adventure, He shapes who we become with what happens along the way." Are we willing to go on that adventure that He has just for us? "God wants us to get some skin in the game and to help make a tangible difference." "Instead, he leaked what he loved. He was leaking Jesus. And pretty soon the puddle he made swallowed us all by the lake it formed." I want to leak Jesus so much that others can't help but step in the puddle I'm making. The book challenged me to make love more of an action word. Love Does.
I was given this book by a friend. It is such an easy read, each chapter a little book in of itself. It is a book that makes you want to go and conquer the world, change it for the better. Bob is just an ordinary man, although extraordinary in so many ways. He is full of adventure and he believes that love is an action, it does. If he wants something he goes for it, doesn't take no for an answer and doesn't always need a plan. This is what the book is about, enjoying this life for all that it has to offer. "That's because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does." What would this world be like if all of us believed and lived this out? Instead of thinking of doing something for someone we actually do it. I know I've thought many times, I should do this or that but don't. It could revolutionize this world if we could just do a little more. "I learned that faith isn't about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules. It's something more, something more costly because it involves being present and making a sacrifice." Love is hard and it is costly but the rewards are great. " But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence." "Things that go wrong can shape us or scar us." It's really our choice. And I think that it's even ok if they do scar us but what will we do with that scar? Will we choose to show that scar or hide it? Use it for good or let it define us? "But I've always wondered if, when we want to do something that we know is right and good, God places that desire deep in our hearts because He wants it for us and it honors Him." "That's what love does-it pursues blindly, unflinchingly, and without end. When you go after something you love, you'll do anything it takes to get it, even if it costs everything." And that is exactly what God does for us. It cost Him everything, His very life. "You know what it is about someone that makes them a friend? A friend doesn't just say things; a friend does." That might just be my favorite sentence of all time. "I think every day God sends us an invitation to live and sometimes we forget to show up or get head-faked into thinking we haven't really been invited." He has invited us all. I am constantly having to remind myself to show up, I'm good enough, He invited me, I don't have to bring a thing, just show up. "He hopes we'll start to see ourselves as His beloved rather than think of all of the reasons that we aren't." Why is it so easy to think of all the reasons we can't be loved than just rest in the fact that we ARE loved? "But know this: when Jesus invites us on an adventure, He shapes who we become with what happens along the way." Are we willing to go on that adventure that He has just for us? "God wants us to get some skin in the game and to help make a tangible difference." "Instead, he leaked what he loved. He was leaking Jesus. And pretty soon the puddle he made swallowed us all by the lake it formed." I want to leak Jesus so much that others can't help but step in the puddle I'm making. The book challenged me to make love more of an action word. Love Does.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Creating Room To Read
"Creating Room To Read" by John Wood
It's not often that I read a just out book but I happened to be perusing the new releases at the library and found this. It is the second book for the author, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World", is his first book. I haven't read it but am now wanting to. The author used to work at Microsoft and left to start a non-profit. He has one of the most successful non-profits in the country. His non-profit opens schools and libraries throughout the world. It is an amazing non-profit and a much needed one that is brining about hope for many nations. "Two thirds of the illiterate people in the world are girls and women." Room to Read also has a girls education program helping to right this statistic. "Once you have an education, no one can ever take that away from you." We take for granted our education here in the states while so many children wish and hope that they could go to school and learn. "If you have a good book in your hands, you will never be lonely." I love a good book. "We are too poor to afford education. But until we have education, we will always be poor." This statement led the author to start Room to Read, something needed to be done to offer hope and he was willing to be that hope. "Our team believes that by requiring the community residents to pitch in, we are saluting their inherent dignity." Room to Read only builds in places where the local community pitches in. They are not giving a hand out but a hand up. By the community investing in the project it ensures they will take pride in it and it will be successful. "The only thing we wanted our young organization to give was an opportunity." And it has given so many opportunities. "As it turns out there is an alternative to school for these girls-prostitution. It seems unfathomable that in the modern world children of such a tender age could be relegated to this deplorable choice. But this is the reality not only here but in so many other places where abject poverty and antiquated notions of a woman's place in the world force young girls into lives of sexual slavery." For just a few dollars a day these girls can go to school, just a few dollars. "Being blunt immediately cuts through the clutter, of which the world has too much." I like bluntness, with love of course. "I think to myself that the things in my life I consider problems are so trivial that I should be ashamed of ever complaining." This is so true. "In many parts of rural Zambia, four out of five girls do not make it past seventh grade. And yet again, just as with the lack of books, people act perplexed as to why hundreds of millions of people live in poverty, generation after generation." Why are we so perplexed? They can't afford book or schools which continues the cycle of poverty they so long to get out of. Who will help them?" "The world has managed to find ways to get soft drink, beer, and chocolate bars to thousands of rural villages, but not books." This is so maddening and sad to me. "Inaction in the face of tyranny is cowardice." This book is inspirational and an achievement to what can be done when one is willing to dream big and offer hope. It has challenged me to look into what I can do to offer others the value of an education and books to read. I hope that it challenges you too.
It's not often that I read a just out book but I happened to be perusing the new releases at the library and found this. It is the second book for the author, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World", is his first book. I haven't read it but am now wanting to. The author used to work at Microsoft and left to start a non-profit. He has one of the most successful non-profits in the country. His non-profit opens schools and libraries throughout the world. It is an amazing non-profit and a much needed one that is brining about hope for many nations. "Two thirds of the illiterate people in the world are girls and women." Room to Read also has a girls education program helping to right this statistic. "Once you have an education, no one can ever take that away from you." We take for granted our education here in the states while so many children wish and hope that they could go to school and learn. "If you have a good book in your hands, you will never be lonely." I love a good book. "We are too poor to afford education. But until we have education, we will always be poor." This statement led the author to start Room to Read, something needed to be done to offer hope and he was willing to be that hope. "Our team believes that by requiring the community residents to pitch in, we are saluting their inherent dignity." Room to Read only builds in places where the local community pitches in. They are not giving a hand out but a hand up. By the community investing in the project it ensures they will take pride in it and it will be successful. "The only thing we wanted our young organization to give was an opportunity." And it has given so many opportunities. "As it turns out there is an alternative to school for these girls-prostitution. It seems unfathomable that in the modern world children of such a tender age could be relegated to this deplorable choice. But this is the reality not only here but in so many other places where abject poverty and antiquated notions of a woman's place in the world force young girls into lives of sexual slavery." For just a few dollars a day these girls can go to school, just a few dollars. "Being blunt immediately cuts through the clutter, of which the world has too much." I like bluntness, with love of course. "I think to myself that the things in my life I consider problems are so trivial that I should be ashamed of ever complaining." This is so true. "In many parts of rural Zambia, four out of five girls do not make it past seventh grade. And yet again, just as with the lack of books, people act perplexed as to why hundreds of millions of people live in poverty, generation after generation." Why are we so perplexed? They can't afford book or schools which continues the cycle of poverty they so long to get out of. Who will help them?" "The world has managed to find ways to get soft drink, beer, and chocolate bars to thousands of rural villages, but not books." This is so maddening and sad to me. "Inaction in the face of tyranny is cowardice." This book is inspirational and an achievement to what can be done when one is willing to dream big and offer hope. It has challenged me to look into what I can do to offer others the value of an education and books to read. I hope that it challenges you too.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Solo: A Memoir of Hope by Hope Solo with Ann Killion
"Solo: A Memoir of Hope" by Hope Solo with Ann Killion
I found this book at the library, just passing by a shelf. I am a soccer player, I follow the game and I remember Hope Solo from the World Cup so I picked up the book. This is a book of honesty, of one girls struggle in life on and off the field. It is a story of overcoming and surviving. It is a story of hope. Hope grew up in a home with a lot of turmoil. She may not have had the most stable family environment but she did have love from her family. That love is what brought her through many trials. That love held her together in the toughest of moments. Hope is tough and she is honest. I liked the book for it's honesty but it also paints a view of soccer and the politics that I didn't necessarily want to know. I admire Hope and the things that she overcame and her hard work as an athlete. I admire her conviction and her willingness to be who she is no matter the critics. "Hope is, by definition, defiant. It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength." Hope is defiant. I love that because when hope is at its strongest its because everything around it is saying there is no hope. Its hard to hope, it takes strength and courage. "Some things are more important than soccer." Hope lived for the game and strived to be the best but she knew what was most important, family. "Only a daughter cries like that for her father." A stranger saw Hope in an airport crying and knew she was crying for her father. I love the picture that that statement paints, that a father and a daughter have such a bond. "Memories are for you, and nobody can take them away." People may hurt us, people may leave us but no one can take our memories. That is a beautiful thing. "You've taught me so well, Dad. You have prepared me for life. You have taught me how to fight, how to love deeply, how not to get bullied, how to reach out to others, how not to judge, how to enjoy life, how to be happy no matter where I walk. You have taught me to be me, and you are such a part of me. I will carry your spirit inside me no matter where I go." That is a legacy. "Hope, you're a strong person. You're a truth-teller. People aren't comfortable with that." It's hard to be the one telling the truth. Lots of people don't want to hear it but that is what God calls us to, truth in love. "Reality has tested us, but love has saved us." Reality is hard, but love, most of all God's love, saves us.
I found this book at the library, just passing by a shelf. I am a soccer player, I follow the game and I remember Hope Solo from the World Cup so I picked up the book. This is a book of honesty, of one girls struggle in life on and off the field. It is a story of overcoming and surviving. It is a story of hope. Hope grew up in a home with a lot of turmoil. She may not have had the most stable family environment but she did have love from her family. That love is what brought her through many trials. That love held her together in the toughest of moments. Hope is tough and she is honest. I liked the book for it's honesty but it also paints a view of soccer and the politics that I didn't necessarily want to know. I admire Hope and the things that she overcame and her hard work as an athlete. I admire her conviction and her willingness to be who she is no matter the critics. "Hope is, by definition, defiant. It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength." Hope is defiant. I love that because when hope is at its strongest its because everything around it is saying there is no hope. Its hard to hope, it takes strength and courage. "Some things are more important than soccer." Hope lived for the game and strived to be the best but she knew what was most important, family. "Only a daughter cries like that for her father." A stranger saw Hope in an airport crying and knew she was crying for her father. I love the picture that that statement paints, that a father and a daughter have such a bond. "Memories are for you, and nobody can take them away." People may hurt us, people may leave us but no one can take our memories. That is a beautiful thing. "You've taught me so well, Dad. You have prepared me for life. You have taught me how to fight, how to love deeply, how not to get bullied, how to reach out to others, how not to judge, how to enjoy life, how to be happy no matter where I walk. You have taught me to be me, and you are such a part of me. I will carry your spirit inside me no matter where I go." That is a legacy. "Hope, you're a strong person. You're a truth-teller. People aren't comfortable with that." It's hard to be the one telling the truth. Lots of people don't want to hear it but that is what God calls us to, truth in love. "Reality has tested us, but love has saved us." Reality is hard, but love, most of all God's love, saves us.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Heaven Is Here by Stephanie Nielson
I started following this author's blog through another blog a few years ago. It wasn't long after her accident and I was inspired by this woman. The book is about her life, she had the ideal life, handsome husband, four beautiful children and her looks. One fateful day all that changed when her and her husband were in a plane crash. She was burned over 80% of her body. She woke in the hospital months later, barely alive. The book is about her struggle to survive, the pain she had and continues to have just to move each day, her determination to be a mother to her children, her husband who stood by her side and showed her what real love looks like, her faith that she has a purpose here and God spared her. (I do want to preface the rest of this entry with saying that the author is a Mormon. I've quoted the things that she said about God and used my beliefs to explain them.) It truly is an incredible story and she is a very special woman. It is a great book to give perspective on what really matters in this life, and the way we look is certainly not one of them. "How he hoped they would feel God's love in the natural world, just as he did." Stephanie and her husband both love to be in nature and wanted to instill this love in their children. That by being in God's creation they would feel His love for them. I feel this. I look at all that He created and am in such awe. Nature makes me feel closer to Him. "I don't want being physical to get in the way of getting to know the real you." Her husband said this to her when they were dating. What a great thing for a guy to say. "I saw God in those eyes. I saw reassurance. I even saw a glimpse of triumph. I was still me. Those eyes were mine. The life I saw in them came from God, and that gave me hope for the life of my body." This was the first time that she looked at herself after the accident. Oh what a hard moment that would be. She was so disfigured. But in that moment she was given strength. Her eyes were still her. Beautiful. "Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child's prayer? Some say that heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me as I pray. Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening. You are His child. His love now surrounds you." A child's song, a parents response. So simple yet what we all, young or old, wonder from time to time. "When lonely, cold, hard times come, we have to endure, we have to continue, we have to persist...Keep knocking on that door. Keep pleading. In the meantime, know that God hears your cries and knows your distress. He is your Father, and you are His child." And they do always come, don't they? But this life is about enduring, continuing even when it's oh so hard. And the best part is that we are heard, He does care. "We look for Christ's scars because they are evidence of what He did for us. They'll be the first things He shows us when we see Him again. Your scars tell a story, too. Although they may not make you feel attractive, they are a witness of a miracle, that God blessed you to live, and that you have accomplished very difficult things." What a beautiful sentiment. All our scars are a testament of what we have been through, how we have overcome and how God has done great things in us. We shouldn't hide them or be ashamed of them. God uses it all for His glory and our best. He loves us so. "I have accepted myself in a world that does not accept me, because I have learned-and more than any of the lessons of my accident, this is the one I wish I could teach everybody-that our hearts matter most. Your heart matters most, so be gentler and more patient with yourself, and their hearts matter most, too, so be kinder and more compassionate to others. It's a beautiful heart, not a perfect body, that leads to a beautiful life." Good wisdom to live by.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
The Bird Sisters
"The Bird Sisters" by Reecca Rasmussen
I'm not sure why but this was on my to read list. After reading it I can't quite figure out why or what the point of the book is. It's not a bad read, just not a great one. It is about two sisters who help birds who have become hurt. It explains the story of how this came to be. A summer where the course of their lives would change forever. A summer when their dad was in an accident, their mother lost hope, a cousin who came to visit and a boy who fell in love. A summer when all would change and their hearts would be forever broken. A summer when they would choose to make sacrifices. "Time had a funny way of moving when you didn't want it to and standing still when you did." Isn't that the truth? Some day just drag on and you just want them to be over with already. Then you look back and a year or two has gone by already. Time is a funny thing. "Language failed to describe the simplest of phenomena; a fine sunset, for example, was more than fine." Words often fail to describe what we feel or how we see something. So often there just isn't a word for the sadness we feel when a loved one is hurting or the pride we feel in our kids or the joy in our Lord. Sometimes words are just so inadequate. "Happiness felt like freedom. Sadness felt like the opposite." Happiness and joy is so freeing. Sadness is so heavy sometimes that it literally makes you feel weighed down. "That was one of the few marvelous things about aging-Twiss could travel from here to there without having to go anywhere at all. Her memories were her suitcases, and her mind her passport..." Our minds, our memories can take us many places in the comfort of our own homes. "I know what Fruit Roll-Ups are, although she didn't know why they were sold as healthy snacks for children when they were heaped full of preservatives that were engineered in laboratories hundreds of miles from the nearest fruit tree." I just thought that was too funny and so spot on. I do like that this book is about sisters. Sisters who love each other and sacrifice for each other. Sisters who protect each other and grow old together. It is a book about love and the hurts we endure and the lengths we go to to protect those we love.
I'm not sure why but this was on my to read list. After reading it I can't quite figure out why or what the point of the book is. It's not a bad read, just not a great one. It is about two sisters who help birds who have become hurt. It explains the story of how this came to be. A summer where the course of their lives would change forever. A summer when their dad was in an accident, their mother lost hope, a cousin who came to visit and a boy who fell in love. A summer when all would change and their hearts would be forever broken. A summer when they would choose to make sacrifices. "Time had a funny way of moving when you didn't want it to and standing still when you did." Isn't that the truth? Some day just drag on and you just want them to be over with already. Then you look back and a year or two has gone by already. Time is a funny thing. "Language failed to describe the simplest of phenomena; a fine sunset, for example, was more than fine." Words often fail to describe what we feel or how we see something. So often there just isn't a word for the sadness we feel when a loved one is hurting or the pride we feel in our kids or the joy in our Lord. Sometimes words are just so inadequate. "Happiness felt like freedom. Sadness felt like the opposite." Happiness and joy is so freeing. Sadness is so heavy sometimes that it literally makes you feel weighed down. "That was one of the few marvelous things about aging-Twiss could travel from here to there without having to go anywhere at all. Her memories were her suitcases, and her mind her passport..." Our minds, our memories can take us many places in the comfort of our own homes. "I know what Fruit Roll-Ups are, although she didn't know why they were sold as healthy snacks for children when they were heaped full of preservatives that were engineered in laboratories hundreds of miles from the nearest fruit tree." I just thought that was too funny and so spot on. I do like that this book is about sisters. Sisters who love each other and sacrifice for each other. Sisters who protect each other and grow old together. It is a book about love and the hurts we endure and the lengths we go to to protect those we love.
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.
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.
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