Beauty For Ashes

Happy Easter everyone. 

So last weekend, we had some friends over for dinner.  In talking with them, they told us that we should read this book called “The Shack“.  T and I have been hungering for a deep, soul bending read for a little while.  So when they left, T went directly to Barnes and Noble and picked it up.  We laid in bed and read the first 2 chapters and decided that we’d better quit before we couldn’t stop.  So, I went to sleep and had nightmares all night long over this book.  When I got up in the morning, I was in such turmoil and was both afraid and compelled to open the book up and read it. 

The subject matter is intense but really got to my heart was the way in which the auther looked at the character of God.  In addition, his take on pure love, independance, freedom and forgiveness has caused a major brain bender in me. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fresh new look at God’s character as well as anyone who is struggling with the nature of God versus all the ugliness in this world.

When you do read it, I would love to hear what you think.

I had to think of a title so “Halloween” it is though this post probably has nothing to do with today’s holiday.

We spent the weekend in Seaside and the weather was simply stunning.  It is so funny to me that the Oregon Coast, Western Oregon and even Eastern Oregon gets such a bad rap for being constantly cloudy and rainy.  I rarely head to the coast and experience foul weather.  Shhhh!  It’s our little secret, okay?  Oregon simply doesn’t get as much rain as it reputation would say.  Most people don’t have webbed feet or moss growing in their armpits.  I digress…

Anyway, our weekend was nice.  We did a lot of relaxing.  Our kids played on the beach and in the dunes.  They even played hide and seek with their Grandma F. in the dunes which they thought was the coolest thing in the world.  Relationships continue to mend and T and I are both grateful.

T took lots of naps as he prepares to begin his new management position.  He is very excited though a little worried that he won’t do a good job.  Stunning, I know!  I keep telling him he is brilliant, capable but most importantly, he cares very much for people around him.  That makes a terrific manager from everything I’ve seen in the many jobs I’ve had, all of which I have been managed at some point or other.

I had the pleasure of beginning and finishing a good book.  I have had a couple of people recomend “The Red Tent” to me so I picked it up.  It was very an interesting take on the the Biblical character of Dinah.  I enjoyed it because of it’s look at the lives of women and how we intertwine and influence one another.  In addition, I enjoyed it because it fueled my every smoldering fire to understand what happened historically.  I love finding out about ancient Biblical tradition.  I didn’t particullary care for the fact that the author really streched to the breaking point in my opinion what the Bible does say about Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, Rachel and all their sons and daughters.  It was creatively done and should provoke some interesting and fun conversations.

We came home yesterday, carved pumpkins, started decorating for Thanksgiving and looked around at my home with delight at our progress on our home impovement project and discouragement at the disaster around me.  It looks like a mischievious pixie got loose in our home while we were gone and just threw things in the air with shear abanondon and delight.  Eeeks, I have a lot of work ahead of me to get it put back together.

 Hope your week is great!