I mentioned last week that if a book is marked up, that means it held my attention. Which is diffic…. “Look at the birdie!” Ok, the book is: BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. Some people may not have the same love of history, theology, WWII, Hitler, assassination plots and knowing about people’s personal lives like I do…but if you are intrigued by ANY of the above or simply appreciate incredible writing, then you will be engrossed with this book. You love Hitler …
Later this week, I am going to post a video on how I labeled someone a “jerk”when I shouldn’t have… But first… People ask if I have books I would recommend for learning about relationships. While I do think my father’s book, Love and Respect can and should be read by unmarried people, one of the books that really impacted me a few years ago was John Van Epp’s How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk. Not gonna lie, the cover is a …
The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony by Pamela Paul Paul quotes David Popenoe of the Marriage Project: “The nature of marriage has changed so much. It has become a kind of close friendship with a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. That’s a change. Before, it was a multifaceted institution. A partnership that was legally bound, typically a religious partnership and a partnership between two families. Just because the husband and wife didn’t get along wasn’t a reason to break up. …
After all day email chains over conscious and sub-conscious thoughts on the movie Inception, it felt necessary to write a blog and “plant” the idea in your head that you should see this film.
I know many people haven’t seen the film yet, so I won’t spoil it—but trust me…people are going to blog their little hearts out about this film. Especially Christians. Didn’t we do that with stuff like the Matrix and Bambi?
Another great music video from my friend Ragnar, shot by my friend Matt, staring my friend Hilary, and all of them are related to one of my nearest and dearest friends–Lindsay Sue. At Lindsay and Matt’s wedding, Ragnar and Hilary performed this song and had the whole reception join in on the chorus. While waving our glasses Ragnar swayed with his accordion and Hilary dinked lightly on the keys of a child’s piano. It was a picturesque scene.
Recently my mother gave me a book of letters written by Francois de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon who was Archbishop of Cambrai. (I wonder how often he got, “What’s your middle name?”) He lived during the time of Louis the Fourteenth and was the spiritual advisor to Louis and others in his court who sought a life of true spirituality in the midst of a court life which was shamelessly immoral.
I’m on vacation. But it’s hard to get rest t0day. We save up vacation days to rest but are usually more exhausted by the time we get home.
For me, receiving a mixed CD is probably the equivalent of getting one of those notes back in middle school* that were all folded up and each corner had a different little message. I loved a note that was filled with drawings and secrets on every inch of the page.
Four years ago I had the privilege of hearing John Wooden speak. What stood out to me was his sincerity and wisdom. He was not asked to speak because he had the hottest new book or motivational talk. He was asked to speak because he motivated others by living the life he preached.
It’s funny how you can hear a story your whole life and then one day it just reads differently, based on where you are in life…
That happened to me this week in Matthew….and not due to the fact that I now pay more attention to writing and noticed how many sentances he starts with the word AND.
No, this is not a blog on the ethics of war. This is actually about a band called The Middle East and their song called Blood.
ru’mi-nate: to chew the cud; to muse; to meditate; to think again; to ponder
In April I attended a writers conference where I ran into a familiar face. I was in Michigan where I grew up and the face was an old friend from college in California. It was like being seven years old again and seeing your second grade teacher at the grocery store. Wait, why are you here? You only belong in front of a chalk board!
I remember the first time I heard Jack Johnson. It was my junior year in high school and I was visiting my brother at Westmont College. We were driving on the 101 just outside of Ventura and he put on a bootleg burned CD of Johnson’s acoustic stuff.
I knew California was going to be different than Michigan, and in terms of music, I think Jack Johnson was my first “cross over” musician.
Awareness of lower-back pain can be heightened when you have to wait through a couple bands at a concert before the real band goes on stage. Surprisingly I enjoyed and haven’t been able to stop listening to the newest album from the band SeaBird that opened this week for Needtobreathe.
(Kind of a lame band name, but I love them, and I am a loyalist. Needtobreathe for life.)
I prefer real live-human-contact games over board games. Unless it’s Trivial Pursuit.
In college, my boyfriend and I bought Trivial Pursuit and after the break-up, had to discuss how we would handle visitation rights.
On Sunday my pastor gave an overview of where we have been as a church and where we are headed. The story of our journey this last year actually gave me chills.
(Maybe there was just a draft.)
I feel like I am being hit with all things Michigan lately. 1) On Sunday night my friend’s parents were in town from Michigan. Awesome accents. I claim I never had one, but some beg to differ. 2) Today I travel home to Michigan. 3) Unfortunately many of us saw the sad Michigan State loss to Butler in the NCAA tourney. I don’t want to talk about it. 4) Last night I saw Mayer Hawthorne perform. He is a Michigan native which is fantastic, but …
Just kidding, Just kidding! I know we all get our panties in a bunch at gender stereotypes, but my friend just sent this to me and I figured if you can’t laugh at this, (mocking the extremes) then your panties are too tight. Enjoy the laugh! Boys Will Be Girls The girls strike back…(sadly, not as funny as the guys.)
I realize in my “About Me” video my brother edited me saying “eating with friends” like a million times. Probably because its true. I also confess that the shot of me picking up crumbs and eating them off the ground was not staged. I didn’t even know the camera was on me. Real sanitary, Joy.
(Now that I think about it, maybe I like this devotional because it talks about “JOY” all the time. It was my subconscious narcissism that drew me to this book!)
Weeping uncontrollably is never a way I like to start off a “Stuff I like” blog…but to tell you the story of Miss Annie Bethancourt and myself, is where I must begin.
For Valentine’s Day my mother gave me a book on loving the church. How romantic. While I don’t want to reveal too much of my personal life in this blog, her Valentine’s gift should: a) give you an idea about the current status of my love life; and b) make you question if I am contemplating joining a convent. (Note: If you are wondering, the status of a) rhymes with “shingle,” and b) rhymes with “Jess.”) (Note 2: My parents both had trouble figuring out …
My flight was cancelled yesterday and I am still in Florida. Erin, who I am staying with, is off to work and I am home alone.
I almost wrote a blog on “Stuff I like: Going through peoples stuff when they aren’t home.”
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