Quotable Friday, Vol. 13 September 28, 2007

“Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons.”

–Donald Miller,

Through Painted Deserts

About a month ago I was browsing Amazon.com and came across this Donald Miller book I’d never heard of. Miller is the same guy who wrote Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What. Anyway, on Amazon they had the Author’s Note available to read online. So I did, and it was one of those weird experiences where every single word I read felt like it was meant for me to read, at that moment. I know the above quote is true. Southern California is my home and is home to most of my family and friends. I’m not leaving with a “good riddance” attitude. I hope and pray that when I do come home from my trip, I will be so full of love for the people and places I left, and that I can bless them as they have blessed me.

Warning: next week my quote will also come from Donald Miller’s author’s note for Through Painted Deserts. It applies SO much right now…so just deal.

Relevant? September 27, 2007

I just saw an ad for a seminar about the “culturally strategic church.”  Something about that wording is just wrong to me.  Why do those things give me such a weird feeling?  Why do we need a magazine all about being relevant in our culture?  I feel like I am already so steeped in American culture…I seek respite from it more than anything.  What happened to the church being a counter-culture? 

I Wish I Were A… September 26, 2007

Musician.

 

Golden Spoon September 25, 2007

Oh, how I will miss you while I am in Australia. This will be the longest we’ve ever been apart. *Dramatic sigh* Some people think I’m kidding when I say I’m addicted. I wish I were…

Jo March September 24, 2007

You know that scene in the movie Little Women, when Jo (played by Winona Ryder) runs around the house waving a five-dollar bill yelling, “I’m an author!” because a local paper ran one of her pieces?

Every time I’ve had something published, starting with my first articles in the high school newspaper, I’ve felt like that.

Go to www.radiantmag.com to see my most recent published work (albeit online). 

Quotable Friday, Vol. 12 (Sunday Edition) September 23, 2007

“…when once a man is launched on an adventure as this, he must bid farewell to hopes and fears, otherwise death or deliverance will both come too late to save his honour and his reason.”

–Prince Rilian,
The Silver Chair
C.S. Lewis

Going to Australia is not my first adventure. I feel I’ve been on a few in the past couple years. The night before I left for my three week tour of Europe, I stood in the shower crying and overwhelmed with a panicked fear that spiraled into one shrill, repeating thought, “What am I doing?”

Falling September 20, 2007

 

It’s starting to feel like fall…and I’m actually enjoying it.  How can this be?  I once was the type (ahem, up until now) who would actually mourn the passing of summer. 

The Last Battle September 18, 2007

Last night I finished C.S. Lewis’s final installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle.  For the hundreth time. 

Quotable Friday, Vol. 11 September 14, 2007

“I find television to be very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book.” 

~Groucho Marx

I used to be such a bookworm… I was the kid who carried a book everywhere. I was scolded in elementary school for reading under my desk during class. I was known to talk about characters in books like they were real people and actual friends of mine. My day hadn’t started until I’d eaten breakfast with a novel in my hand. I would lay for hours on the hammock in the backyard reading and re-reading my favorites. I was the type of kid who would walk into things because I would try to read and walk at the same time. What happened to me? Why do I zone out in front of the TV when I get home from work? Yuck. I don’t even like TV. There’s so many books I want to read, but I think the problem is that reading is so emotionally exhausting. Each book makes me passionate about something, makes me want to get up and laugh or love or fight or learn or cry. When I get home from work, I’d rather just be numb. How sad is that? Last night I read a novel while eating my dinner, and it was wonderfully relaxing…it’s good to get back to the things you forgot you loved.

Bring It On September 13, 2007

 

I am, by nature, a competitive person.

This is not some thing I like about myself.  I don’t like that I compare myself often and want the upper hand.  I don’t like that sister-type rivalry feeling I’ve had with girlfriends growing up.  I don’t like that I inevitably run faster and burn more calories if there is someone on the treadmill next to me, or that I motivate myself in my boot camp class by watching the other girl who’s my age.