Terribly Interesting

I was riding in the back seat on an eleven hour drive home from Gulf Shores Alabama. I had finished the book I was reading. I was sitting there trying to think of a book I might like to download to read on the way home. Otherwise, who knows what kind of tomfoolery I might get in on the inter webs. Right then, I received a text from a dear friend who is having me speak at their September meeting. The MOPS theme this year is "Be You Bravely." That made me think of Annie Downs new book which I had seen popping up all over social media.  We pulled into a Starbucks for a pit stop and I was going to download the book on my iPad. Right when we pulled in, a transformer blew. I couldn't download my book, but they gave me a free cup of coffee (because they couldn't ring us up without power). I realized that it would be several hours before I was able to have wifi again so I took the plunge and download the book on my phone. Yes, I read this entire book crammed in the bac...

Almost a decade ago, I started thinking about Gomer a lot. Gomer is the prophet Hosea's wife. If you don't know the story, she was a prostitute who left him multiple times for to sell herself to get drugs or whatever she felt she needed. She had children by other men and Hosea took them in. He kept taking her in. She came to the point where she hit rock bottom. She was trying to buy the affection of theses men. She ended up sold into slavery and God told the prophet Hosea to go buy her back. He scraped up what he had and obeyed. He could have brought her home and made her a slave, but he chose to restore her as his wife.  I have read as many commentaries as I have found on the book of Hosea. I've learned more than I would want to know about cultic prostitution. As I watched my brothers struggle with addiction, I wondered if this is what Hosea took on. Did he have to go through detox with her? Did he have to daily guide her heart to the right way of living and loving he...

I'll just tell you that I wasn't excited to read this book. I was expecting it to be another pep talk about doing more awesome things for God. That is not what I found at all. It was a hard book to read because of the extreme content. I was forced to think line by line about the things impacting people who do not live in the quaint life we are generally accustomed to here in America. We feel that we have plenty to complain about, but this wake up call for us, for the church will smack you with some real perspective.  The book is written by a man who runs an orphanage in Brazil. The true stories that he tells left me very often holding my breath. It is very hard to wrap my mind around a culture that prostitutes eight year old girls. The girls often think nothing of it because it is a natural part of growing up there. Sometimes they have it done to them and sometimes they choose it themselves. I cannot even begin to recount for you the depths of what I read. You simply mus...

Honestly, I have no idea what I accomplished this week. I did create about 15 paintings. Other than that, I Just tried to make it through the week. On Sunday, my beloved three-year-old somehow got out of her floatie and jumped into a friend's pool. Thank God she was rescued. I broke my pinkie toe on a brick that night. By the next day I couldn't walk on it. Its much better now. I splinted it like a true professional with some Barbie bandaids. On Tuesday,  Chayah asked to go swing on the porch swing that hangs in the big tree in our yard. There was a giant wasp nest hidden underneath it. They started attacking my head and legs. Wasp stings to the head are intense. My head is still swollen. My head hurt so badly for hours that I couldn't even feel the pain of the other stings. I jerked poor Chayah off that swing so fast that I scared her. Poor girl. A few minutes later she was choking on a piece of ice. I couldn't get into my doctor to see if my ear infection/ retracte...

I enjoyed this book more than I can say. Julia's honest speech and raw wit are delightful. I loved seeing the stories behind what made her who she was. Her drive and compulsion are the stuff of legend. Obviously, she is a perfectionist, but it was her charm and humor made her seem just perfect. How I wish I could have pulled up a chair in her kitchen.  You probably watched Julie and Julia and know the gist of Julia's story. (Wasn't Meryl Streep fantastic!) The book fills in the details and all from Julia's perspective. You can see how her husband's government job led them to France and how her very first meal there led her on a adventure to learn to cook French food, though she had never been interested in cooking before. The book follows them on stints in several different countries. The most fascinating thing to me was how devoted she was to this cookbook for a decade. She truly did master the art of French cooking.  I fell a little head over heels for ...

I cried when I saw that She Reads Truth was going to do a short study on Hosea. The prophet Hosea's deep and wild pursuit of Gomer is the most intense picture of Christ's love for us. If you want to see deep with in the story of the Prophet and the Prostitute, join me in studying at shereadstruth.com for the next eighteen days. Delve into the healing of the unrelenting pursuit of God for your heart. Five years ago we purchased a 100 year old three story Antebellum mansion to completely restore. We use is as a respite and a refugee camp of sorts for wounded and weary pastors and missionaries. We feed addicts and those who love them. I had many years before had this unrelenting obsession with the type of woman Gomer must have become. I thought long and hard about her picture as the bride of Christ fully restored. How beautiful and how lovely she must have been. We named our house after her because of the lengths her husband went to in order to fully restore her. Beautiful....

Well, summer on the road is coming to close. Denbigh is currently doing opening chapel at Lutheran South Academy in Houston. It has been an eventful summer. I have been ill from some serious mold exposure (not at home) and fighting an infection. Being alone with heart attack symptoms (from mold)and caring for three girls was more than I bargained for. I spent my eleven year anniversary at Urgent Care while my husband was leading worship several hours away. I wasn't able to see him. This infection has been hard stuff. Please say a little prayer for me that my body will be completely restored.  I did manage to finish the floor in the guest room. It's stunning. I know I did it. I'm not bragging. It's the wood. It is gorgeous. Let me tidy the joint up and I'll post a picture. Did y'all see that I now have my art in The Dancing Bear in Gruene? I met with the owner and did some wholesale transacting. Y'all, I'm practically famous. Really, it i...