Two.
Did you guys see this announcement from Beth Moore? This is exciting!
Three.
Are you the sort of person who gets a little too overrun with regrets? Boy, I sure can be. This is a great {and truth-filled!} article by Jennifer Rothschild that encourages you to move PAST regret.
Four.
Okay, people! Who out there uses dry shampoo? I had coffee with a friend yesterday and she has thick hair like I do - and she said she loves using dry shampoo in between regular washes. Anyone else ever use it? Have a favorite? HELP A GIRL OUT!
Five.
Appropriate for this season I'm in, yes?
This book is different from the first in that it's not a 30 day study. But it does have twenty-three chapters, so if you read about a chapter a day, it will take you almost a month to get through it. Again, Debbie's careful mix of Scripture and personal story made this book easy to read and yet a good springboard to getting into the Word itself. Her focus was on "the meantime." We're probably all living in a meantime of some kind: waiting on God to bring an answer, living in the uncertainty of tomorrow, working through changes in our hearts and bodies. They're all meantimes.
Debbie is not the least bit judgmental toward those struggling through the meantime, but rather she offers compassion and practical ideas for how to do more than just pass the time in the meantime. She encourages us to understand God is actually very busy in all our meantimes, working in us, working in our situations {even when we can't see what He's doing} and we can actually do some of our best growing and maturing in this time!
As with the first book, I did some serious underlining as I read and studied this one. A few lines:
"The worst part of the meantime is that in the long stretch of middle space we can be easily tempted to live only to make the pain go away." - page 49
"Do not obsess over knowing the plan. Instead, we must trust without knowing the end result or how God will use this situation to further our growth." - page 56 {GULP!!!!!}
"It's quite possible that God will use a poor choice on someone else's part to redirect us into His fuller plan for our life." - page 62
"Her trust life is kind of like tithing: God gets 10 percent, and she takes care of the rest." - page 159
Many more gems like that one are sprinkled throughout the pages - and some helpful places of study guide and Scripture reference are included at the end!
If you're in a meantime of any kind, especially one that threatens to derail you {or perhaps already has!}, I would suggest this book. It won't fix your problems, but it will guide you to look deeper into your life to see what God might be trying to teach you THROUGH them!
Six.
I'd seen some exciting buzz sprinkled here and there throughout social media about blogger Christie Purifoy's debut book, Roots and Sky. Though this book was my introduction to Christie's writing as a whole, I drank in every word and am ready for her to write another book. Tomorrow.
The subtitle to the book is "A Journey Home in Four Seasons," and I think it was our pending move that drew me to this book. {Plus, it's a memoir of sorts, and I'm a sucker for a good memoir.} The cover's rendering of their big, beautiful brick home reminded me of the crafting bed and breakfast I used to visit every year, and I knew it always felt like home to me, so I saw no reason why Christie's book wouldn't feel like home as well. And it did.
The story begins in autumn, when Christie and her husband move their family across the country to a place where they know no one, and they purchase an old-and-full-of-character farmhouse {named Maplehurst} with a long drive lined by mature trees. The farmland surrounding their house has been sold off and turned into subdivisions of predictable matching homes, but theirs sits on five acres that pay homage to the legacy of the past. And they move in, dreaming for their future.
Christie chronicles that first year in the house, telling of the dreams and disappointments, and the overwhelming flood of emotions that pour in with a newborn and a house that needs attention and care. She tells of the loneliness of knowing no one and and the joy of uncovering treasures on the grounds with each new season.
Yes, it's a book about moving in and settling in a house, but it's so much more. It's about settling into life and learning that much like a house, it's never going to be perfect, it's always a work in progress, and there will continually be dreams and disappointments. It's a book of permission to accept the imperfection and a challenge to make the imperfect beautiful. It's a book of honesty and beauty, even in the raw and the ugly.
Christie beautifully weaves the theme of Scripture into life and vulnerably shares her own wrestling with faith and the every day.
Even if you've never lived in a farmhouse, even if you've never been a wife or mom, even if you've never moved far away from all you know, you will find truths that resonate with you in these pages. You'll find, I think, your own Maplehurst, and you'll want to live there with the same intention and fullness that Christie does at her Maplehurst.
I loved this book, I will be loving Christie's blog, and I'll be waiting for her next book!
* Thanks, Revell, for publishing such a meaningful book and for sending a copy my way for review! *
8 comments:
I would love to find a good dry shampoo! Tried one once and it make things worse!
Never tried a dry shampoo. The prices seem high for them when I've looked at various brands in stores. My hair is just greasy looking in between shampoos. Gross, I know, but I wash my hair almost every day so a greasy day or here or there doesn't bother me too much :). Loved the JR article about regret. I've heard the same good buzz about the last book you reviewed and think I'll read it. I've lived in a farmhouse (it had "character" all right- it was FREEZING in the winter and HOT in the summer- and actual "characters"- mice who inhabited the house with us) and now I live in a cookie cutter suburban home (which I LOVE!). Have a great weekend!
Just checked to see if our library has Roots and Sky. 😕 I miss having Cassie work in a bigger library.
Yay! A Beth Moore novel?!?!! How exciting indeed.
As far as dry shampoo...I have terribly oily hair and must wash my hair every day. In fact, even if I wash it in the evening, the next morning it's oily enough that I don't feel comfortable going anywhere until I wash it. But, in an effort to be able to go to the grocery store or stop in the school office first thing in the morning without having to get up early for a hair-wash, I decided to try dry shampoo. For me, it was super hard to find!! I'm guessing maybe that's because I only look at places like Meijer and maybe I should go to a beauty supply store but I hate errands. So the first one I found and tried was called Not Your Mothers and it was awful and smelled terrible. I thought it made my hair greasy feeling. So I recently found Dove dry shampoo and so far, I love it! It smells pleasant enough and does the trick but only if I put my hair in a pony. I still end up washing my hair later in the day or before bed just because I can not stand to go to bed with dirty/oily hair but I can at least run errands without feeling self-conscious. I would love to hear some other opinions about dry shampoo and which brands they like!
I use the Basiste brand (it's the yellow, white and green) one in the middle of your picture. And so far I love it! I order it on amazon. Good Luck!
*Batiste
Tamar - I wonder if it's one of the things your hair has to get used to? I started using paraben free shampoo this year and I had to use it for several weeks before my hair adjusted and didn't feel so gross anymore. Truthfully it still doesn't feel "right" - but it could be the brand I'm using. It was a big bottle, so I'm determined to use it!
Maria - I shivered at the "characters" - NO!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully we've not had those for many years. Last time I did, I was still single and people from work would come by my house every day after work to check the traps for me. YUCK!!!!
Lori - I will unearth my copy post-move and send it to you!!
Tia - I can get two days out of my hair - and like you, I can't do it at night and get it to lay right the next day. But I wanted to at least TRY dry shampoo to see if I could get a third day. My hair is SO THICK that drying and straightening from scratch takes so long!!!
Anonymous - Thank you! I had not heard of that one. I am reading all about it right now!!
"Do not obsess over knowing the plan. Instead, we must trust without knowing the end result or how God will use this situation to further our growth." - page 56 {GULP!!!!!} <-- You can completely say that again. Wow! Did this speak to me today.
"Yes, it's a book about moving in and settling in a house, but it's so much more. It's about settling into life and learning that much like a house, it's never going to be perfect, it's always a work in progress, and there will continually be dreams and disappointments." <-- and this too.
I'd underline both these paragraphs in this blog post, although I really was striving for the perfect life :)
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