Book Review - You Are a Writer

If you want to be a writer, just write.

The easiest sentence -- the hardest action.

Life has too many distractions. All these shiny objects call my name, and like a sucker, I take the bait. But reading Jeff Goins book, You Are a Writer, reminded me it's not so hard to do this thing called writing.

He writes in a way that makes you feel like you met at Starbucks for a quick conversation on the writing life and this little book is the result. Thanks, Jeff.

You can find him at www.goinswriter.com where this sweet book will soon be available!

Three Tips for a Beautiful Soul

In my fortune cookie today, I read:

"A fair face may fade, but a beautiful soul lasts forever."

And now I can't stop thinking...what does that really mean?  How does one go about developing a beautiful soul?

As we age, we have a choice.  We can become more selfish, believing we have earned the right to say and do whatever we want.  We can forget our mission and decide to check-out, thinking our time has passed and we should let the next generation take over.

Or, we can cultivate a more beautiful soul through...

Loving the unlovable.  Touching them. Choosing to be with them when we'd rather be anywhere else.

Praying and spending time with God.   I say He's number one, but how does that translate to my real life?  How different would my life be if I increased my time with him instead of with my toys?

Holding my hand open.  Everything I own belongs to God.  You want to borrow my car?  Go ahead.  Come stay with me; I have room!  This is His and He may use it as He sees fit. 

And even as I write these, I am thinking -- epic fail, Jeannie.  But He has given me today and I can make today different.  I can love NOW.  In this moment, right where I am.

The Girl with the Red Hair

I had never seen her before in my life. 

But suddenly she was under God's spotlight. 

This past Sunday, I visited a church I'd never been to before to help lead worship with a friend.  When I saw this girl -- early twenties? -- I was immediately drawn to her and I didn't know why.  The pastor mentioned that today was her bridal shower because she was getting married in two weeks! 

Suddenly, I felt that tapping that only the Holy Spirit can do. 

You need to talk to this girl.

I do?

Yes.  Today.  You need to start hanging out with her.

I do? Why?

She's getting married.

Okay...

She needs someone to talk to.

Okay.  Yes.  Thank you.  Help me not look stupid.

No promises.

So, after church, I turned around (how kind of the Lord to put her close by so I wouldn't chicken out) and introduced myself and congratulated her on her upcoming wedding.

"You might think I have lost my mind, but would you like to go out for coffee sometime and talk about marriage, life, and anything else on your mind?"

She said sure!  Then we laughed, I gave her my number, and I hope to see her Saturday.

Hey, listening to the Lord isn't always easy.  I sat there in my purple church chair arguing with God for several minutes:  I don't have time, and she probably doesn't either.  I'm sure she has great friends and a support system; she doesn't need me.  I have nothing to offer and I have sooo much to learn myself.

But God should not be argued with.  Obey.  Immediately.  Ask questions later.

This is my new motto.

Freestyle Friday 4-13-12

Happy Friday!  Guess what?!

You can now find this blog at www.jeanniereid.com.  Just wanted to make life easier and grab my own name before anyone else.  I'm weird like that.  Don't worry, it will still work with the old address for awhile...now onto to the freestylin'!


The picture of those cool journals above are from a great website called Gadanke where you can buy cutey-cute handmade journals for different events and seasons of life.  LOVE!

Rachel Held Evans, a writer and speaker, has just written a book she calls the Biblical Womanhood Project.  Not sure if I agree with everything she did here, but it's pretty interesting - check it out!

I smiled as I read this blog post about living in a LOUD house and longing for the stillness...

My neighborhood book club just started reading this book - Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott -- and it's already a riot.  It's a journal of her first year as a grandma.  Everything this chick writes is superb, and she's the owner of some of my all-time favorite quotes like...

“You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”  

“You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” 

"Laughter is carbonated holiness."  Amen and Amen.

And lastly....if you have ever loved country music, you must read Jen Hatmaker's latest post...you'll be boot-scootin' before you know it.

 

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Scrapbooks

"We all have the pictures of our lives in our minds, how they "should be," how we hope they will be -- how we picture them.  We plan it all out:

• when we will be married
• how many kids we will have
• where we will live
• how much money we will make
• what our jobs will be
• what our houses will look like
• how our husbands will treat us
• who our friends will be
• how our kids will behave
• how close our grandkids should live
• when we will retire
• what our ministries will be like

At some point we realize it doesn't work that way.  We can't control the actual scrapbooks -- the ones reflecting the past rather than the future.  But we still long to try to control our lives and to build them to match the pictures of the lives we want.

And letting go?  The idea that we would actually hand it all over to God and say, "Go.  Build it.  Do whatever you want with all I have"...it is terrifying.

What if God planned any of these as part of the story?

• singleness
• struggle
• adoption
• a difficult husband
• infertility
• moving from the town we love
• an apartment instead of a house
• cancer
• disapproval
• death
• dangerous overseas missions
• financial hardship

What if he lets me suffer?  What if he asks me to sacrifice?  What if none of my dreams come true? 

The very thought of doing anything demands everything. 

 We have to face our fears.  If we believe he is real, if we believe he has an eternal heart, we have to face the fact that a God like that may mess with our temporary comfort and fictional scrapbooks."

-- from the book Anything by Jennie Allen

Freestyle Friday 4-6-12

Welcome to Freestyle Friday!

This is my melting pot of everything that's been on my brain for awhile, so buckle your seatbelts.

BOOKS FIRST!

I got a kick out of this book by Ben Clanton.  It's a fun look at elections and breaks that fourth wall by directly engaging your little reader. (like Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late and The Monster at the End of This Book - literary gems!!)

This is just a picture of a happy little bookshelf I'd like to have someday.  *sigh*

Isn't it beautiful? 

Can you read the has been read/will be read ....?

Sweetness.

My little tribe just got done with a road trip (more on that later) where I proceeded to devour this book in a day. A few hours, more accurately.  It's a young adult novel, but I'd read it before recommending it - some pretty heavy stuff.  I loved the style of the novel as it switches between two narrators throughout.  Completely suspenseful and impossible to put down!

What would it look like if babies wrote poetry?  Here's an example from the hilarious book, To What Miserable Wretches Have I Been Born?

Sometimes I look at you and I am filled
with love and admiration

Sometimes I look at you and I'm like,
"Really?"

You can preview more on the link above, but be ready to spit your Diet Coke on the computer screen.  Hilarious.  I think I found my new baby shower gift.

MUSIC

I only have one thing for you in this category today -- the lovely Miss Christy Nockles.  She came out with a new album this week!  Don't miss it!  My favorite song is the first track...

And isn't that a gorgeous album cover?  I'm sure she sketched it herself, totally.

AND ALL THE REST

Have you met Jennie Allen?  She one of the leading Bible teachers for a new generation.  Check out her blog, book, and Bible studies -- you will be hearing more from her in the future, for sure!

Take your kids over to www.jellytelly.com.  Or just go there yourself for a good time. 

She Stayed

I'll never understand how Mary watched as her first-born son was crucified.

She doesn't run away from the horror of that day.

Instead she remembers all the events leading up to this hill of death.

The angel with the amazing news...the trust of Joseph...the Star....

Changing water into wine...feeding 5,000.....

And so many other moments we may never know.

So she stays. And she worships the child who saves her.

"All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers." Acts 1:14