I added a few titles to the list of books in my side bar that I've "read" this year.
To be fair, at the moment, I'm counting it as having been "read" if I make it 100% of the way through either a book book, or an audio book.
My friend LP/CA recommended a pair of audiobooks on her blog a while back. "Funny in Farsi" and "Laughing Without An Accent" were both well worth the time I spent on a couple weeks worth of commutes and evenings playing a computer game that I spent listening to them. They were funny and poignant stories of adapting to life in America and the world, and really did make me laugh aloud quite a number of times.
Reading is something I've always loved, but have struggled to do for much of the last six months as I've struggled with some other things in my life. I started reading at four years old, and I honestly can't remember a time when I haven't been lost in one book or another until these last several months.
But, a few weeks back, the desire to read slowly started returning, and my attention span and eagerness to travel through a book has slowly increased.
Tonight, I finished a book for the first time in several months. "Chasing the Dragon" by Jackie Pullinger. I've been encountering an ongoing theme lately of the importance of giving testimony to the things Jesus has done. The importance of the testimony in both creating faith for more works of God, and in simply remembering the wonderful things God has already accomplished.
I've been in a space where I needed to be reminded of some of those testimonies, in my own life, and in the broader world, and "Chasing the Dragon", though simply written, quite nicely accomplished this. With tale after tale of the miracles she encountered working with the heroin addicts of the walled city in Hong Kong, Pullinger has managed to stir my heart to again begin believing for the bigger things offered in the kingdom of God. And for that, I'm immensely grateful.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Home sick...
Funny how it works.
I was feeling fine this morning (albeit a little bit sleepy), but about mid-morning my stomach carried out a coup.
So, I'm at home.
I've just graduated from bed (where I spent the last three hours) to couch (where I plan to spend the next several, perhaps even until bedtime.)
And, while I had things on my plate that could have been done today, there was nothing too urgent that I didn't manage to take care of before I left the office. And, to be fair, an enforced day of rest, in an empty house, is really not such a bad deal. A few hours of drifting in and out of sleep, planned to be followed by several more of dvd watching, reading, writing, and just generally engaging only in activities that can be accomplished from a horizontal pose, is not such a bad thing.
I was feeling fine this morning (albeit a little bit sleepy), but about mid-morning my stomach carried out a coup.
So, I'm at home.
I've just graduated from bed (where I spent the last three hours) to couch (where I plan to spend the next several, perhaps even until bedtime.)
And, while I had things on my plate that could have been done today, there was nothing too urgent that I didn't manage to take care of before I left the office. And, to be fair, an enforced day of rest, in an empty house, is really not such a bad deal. A few hours of drifting in and out of sleep, planned to be followed by several more of dvd watching, reading, writing, and just generally engaging only in activities that can be accomplished from a horizontal pose, is not such a bad thing.
Monday Morning
It's chilly outside today. The wind blew viciously all night, and it's cool and not supposed to get very warm at all today. Which means the skirt I unthinkingly put on this morning was probably a bad idea.
It's a new month, too.
And it'll be a busy one.
I spent hours yesterday, with dvds playing in the background, staring at the pages of my journal, and writing. Trying to process a week that included crazy dreams, unexpected meetings, roommate tensions, family stuff, and a number of milestones or rather emotional moments with God.
It perhaps helped a little.
Timing to me is always a funny monster. This morning I received an emailed prayer request from a family I have minimal contact with, but a family that appeared in a dream I had last week. The prayer request had nothing to do with the dream, but the timing of it made me pause.
And I smiled, just a little, when I came into work this morning and flipped the calendar over to the quote for the day. Not so much because of the quote, but because it was a quote from Clare of Assisi, whose life has also deeply impacted me in this crazy last year and a half. (The quote read, "Transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation.")
There are so many things that must be done this week, and high on my priority list is arranging a place to live, and settling a moving date. I will be far less stressed and far more equipped to handle the coming month if those two things can be removed from my plate.
And, I've made fun plans for Saturday. I think I'll wait to share. But I'm going to indulge something I've been quietly thinking about for quite some time. Something I've thought about so quietly that both of my roommates commented that it seemed quick, and wondered if it was a thought through plan, or an impulse decision. Something that makes me smile at the ridiculous nature of it. And I've found a friend to come along and take photos!
It's a new month, too.
And it'll be a busy one.
I spent hours yesterday, with dvds playing in the background, staring at the pages of my journal, and writing. Trying to process a week that included crazy dreams, unexpected meetings, roommate tensions, family stuff, and a number of milestones or rather emotional moments with God.
It perhaps helped a little.
Timing to me is always a funny monster. This morning I received an emailed prayer request from a family I have minimal contact with, but a family that appeared in a dream I had last week. The prayer request had nothing to do with the dream, but the timing of it made me pause.
And I smiled, just a little, when I came into work this morning and flipped the calendar over to the quote for the day. Not so much because of the quote, but because it was a quote from Clare of Assisi, whose life has also deeply impacted me in this crazy last year and a half. (The quote read, "Transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation.")
There are so many things that must be done this week, and high on my priority list is arranging a place to live, and settling a moving date. I will be far less stressed and far more equipped to handle the coming month if those two things can be removed from my plate.
And, I've made fun plans for Saturday. I think I'll wait to share. But I'm going to indulge something I've been quietly thinking about for quite some time. Something I've thought about so quietly that both of my roommates commented that it seemed quick, and wondered if it was a thought through plan, or an impulse decision. Something that makes me smile at the ridiculous nature of it. And I've found a friend to come along and take photos!
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