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A dead thing can go with the stream, 

but only a living thing can go 

against it.

~ G.K. Chesterton

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years ~ Donald Miller

I loved this book. Not only was it a good wakeup call, but it talks about several things that I have been specifically thinking a lot about lately. 

Donald Miller has written several books--his most popular being Blue Like Jazz. I read it a couple weeks ago, after my sister read it and loved it. (Read her review here.) I liked it, but there were definitely things I disagreed with, and although the overall topics were good, they weren't as impacting to me. Mama read it after I did, and she loved it, so she ordered some more of Donald Miller's books, which included this one.

His writing his amazing. I know several people who aren't fans of his rather odd style, but I love it. He says things in very unusual and beautiful ways. I just want to memorize the whole book! :-) Although he has very different theological views, I think almost everything he said in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was dead-on. It does have some content, so it is recommended for older readers. (Maybe 14+).

The gist of the book is this: Each of our lives is a story, and we should make the best story we can out of it. It really tied into what I have been thinking about lately, deliberate living. Consciously thinking about what we are doing, where we are headed, how we are impacting the world by what we do every day.

I get so excited just thinking about the book. I want to read it all over again!

Here's a quote from the book--

"Once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can't go back to being normal; you can't go back to the meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable tread of wasted time."

I highly recommend the book--it is entertaining, convicting, and just plain amazing.

Have you read it? What did you think?

I Corinthians 13

Memorizing this was on my summer goals, and I finished it! I'm also almost half-way through my list of 20 books.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, 

but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, 

and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, 

but have not love, 
I gain nothing. 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. 

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. 

As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease;

 as for knowledge, it will pass away. 

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 

but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, 
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. 

When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. 

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love.

"A Man Worth Waiting For" by Jackie Kendall

This book contrasts Boaz, the godly, honorable man from the Bible, with "bozos" (lame guys), and encourages young ladies to hold out for a worthy Boaz instead of a jerk.

There are four parts to the book. Part 1 has three chapters. Chapter 1 is an in-depth study about Boaz from the book of Ruth, chapter 2 assures us that the man worth waiting for is not an extinct ideal, and chapter 3 talks about the characteristics of a bozo.

Part 2 discusses the "essential elements of a man worth waiting for". I thought this was excellent--she wasn't saying he has to be perfect, but rather he has to be striving to be more and more like Jesus. She included lots of comments from men and women that had answered her questionnaire about what they thought the characteristics of an ideal man were. This helped me form my official list. :-)

Part 3 talks about "your role in locating a bozo". Basically, your role is to become a "Ruth"! The last chapter talks about practical ways to guard your heart, grow in godliness, and be content where you are.

I really enjoyed the book, and definitely recommend it! Some of her standards about dating I didn't exactly agree with, so I would read this book at the same time as "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" to get a balanced view. :-)

"Hold Me Jesus"

So I climbed all the way to the top of Mt. St. Helens yesterday.

Anyway, while I was in the car with several friends, we listened to this song, and the chorus was running through my head the whole time we were hiking up the mountain. Especially when I was pushing myself as hard as I could to get to the top.

And then I came home and listened to it and thought that this part was interesting...

"Well, sometimes my life
just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
and my faith just seems so small."

I didn't even notice that line when we were listening to it in the car, and I think it's pretty cool that song was going through my head the whole time I was climbing.

Because that mountain looked so big.

Prayer

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt His name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:3-4

God gave it to us as a gift, and I think sometimes don't realize what an amazing blessing it is!

It is clear in God's Word that prayer is a vital, effective part of the Christian life.

Personally, I have found that it is very easy to get lazy about, but once I start making a point of praying regularly, I get into the habit and do it automatically through out the day. Like many other things (worship, loving people, reading the Bible), you have to just do it, even when you don't feel like it, and your emotions will catch up eventually. 

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him,

that if we ask anything according to His will,

He hears us.

1 John 5:14

Something that I think some people are jumpy about is asking God for "insignificant" things.

It seems that God delights in giving us the desires of our hearts, as long as they aren't contrary to His word, or things that would not be good for us.

I think one of the most important things that God tells us about prayer is that we have to trust Him to answer our prayers--whether it be in the exact way we want Him to, or in another way that is far better. If we're just praying out of duty, assuming that he's not really going to do anything about it, we aren't doing it right!

Confess your trespasses to one another,

and pray for one another, 

that you may be healed.

The effective, fervent prayer

of a righteous man avails much.

James 5:16

Set-Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy

READ THIS BOOK!

I thought it was very, very good. It delved into a lot of topics that I have thought about, and helped me to cement my opinions and views on several things. One of the main things she emphasized is summarized in this quote from the book:

"If you ever catch yourself "putting off" happiness until you finally get married, or thinking that when you finally meet your spouse all of your dreams will be fulfilled, that's a sign that Christ hasn't fully captured your heart. If Jesus Christ isn't enough right now, then he won't be enough after marriage either. And you'll always be seeking fulfillment from the wrong things--setting your marriage for disillusionment and tension."

This is something I have been thinking about a lot recently-- it has to do with so many issues that young women face, like insecurity, boy-craziness, self-hatred, loneliness, and discontentment. If we make Christ our all-in-all, we won't have the driving desire to be married, have a boyfriend, or flirt with every guy that crosses our path.

Not only will this keep us pure right now, it will save so many problems in marriage. In my post on love, I talked about this a little. When we think one person is all we need in life, we just set ourselves up to have the relationship fail.

She also had some good thoughts on how to be friends with boys without it getting out of hand. There is a post brewing about this topic, too. :-)

Summer Goals 2010

Mama and I went to the beach last week for just one night, and amidst lots of eating, being on the beach, and laughing (read more about it here), I got my summer goals written up!

Summer Goals

finish reading the Bible

buy a camera

finish all of my sewing projects

learn to make bread

cook dinner once a week

finish memorizing I Corinthians 13

memorize four more Scripture passages

get 30 followers on both blogs

read 20 books

eat a poptart

There's lots more stuff I have planned to do, but those are my specific goals. It's not a huge list, because I wanted it to be do-able. :-)