Bully Bully

We are apparently going back to school this week. Testing yesterday and UGH, bullies today.
I’m reading two books that deal with the topic of bullies:

Wally Lamb’s, The Hour I First Believed

Elizabeth Bettina’s, It Happened in Italy (the Nazi regime demonstrated bullying in the worst way)

I also just heard about Laura Ling and Euna Lee sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp in North Korea…my mind is on bullies.

I had a bully. Every day in second grade I’d return home, bury my face into my mom’s shoulder and then armpit, soaking her shirts with my tears. Bullies bite! I find it humorous I’m now Facebook friends with my second grade bully.

Here’s why the topic is itching under my skin (kind of like the wasp that stung me the other day) ~
My girls are dealing with a subdued and mild case of bullying from some neighborhood kids. It’s typical “girl” stuff, but I have to admit, I don’t like it. I’ll take this moment to remind you I am a softie. I was the kid who turned away whenever someone was pelted with that memorable tongue-colored rubber ball, as a consequence for losing Four Square. I hated watching fights brewing in high school. When my husband switches the TV channel to boxing or wrestling, I snarl. It’s odd though, I will watch some shoot ‘em up, kill ‘em movies with him. Go figure.

My Back To School Questions Today:
How did you deal with bullies as a child? Did you stand up to them? Were you one?
How do you deal with it when your children are bullied?

Testing 123

I love when that happens. Oh, I guess I should probably explain. Yesterday at church our pastor spoke on the very same topic I’d been planning to blog about today – Testing!

Remember that feeling of dread that zinged through you whenever your teacher swished through the aisles slapping a test down on your desk face up? If I was in any kind of math or chemistry class, I was quick to flip my test over so no one could see all the red marks and the screaming D or F on the front. If I was in English class however and the teacher was handing back an essay test, then I’d check out my A or B+, and hold it up against the light so I could get a good look. Okay, I never was so obnoxious to do the latter, but you get my point.

Tests I liked = essay and oddly enough plane geometry

Tests I loathed = multiple choice, fill in the blank, SAT’s, GRE’s, anything that took analytical smarts

Back to church: yesterday our pastor explained that we all go through testing in life; that God tests us. Trials can be tests. Temptations can be tests. But here’s the deal, here’s what I took away from the message. Basically, no matter what, we are bound to get that red mark on the top of our paper. Many of us are just inclined to flip it over and pretend that no one will see or that it’s just one little test and it doesn’t mean much. One way to understand what Jesus did/does is to look at it this way. He takes the test for us (actually, he took the greatest test of all on the cross.) On our papers, Jesus writes in all the answers. He gets an A for us. You may want to call that cheating. You could call it that. Or you could be grateful that He did the work that needed to be done so that God can hand you an A.

Logic tells me we should respond to someone who does something like that for us. Our response plays out in how we take every other test in life. Are we studying? Are we blowing off life and acquired wisdom? Could we do what Abraham did, with faith that God would raise his son after he made the sacrifice? Do we live in gratitude and respect for the One who took the test for us, the One who gave the right answers?

Testing 123.

Question:
What kind of tests did you like or dislike in school? Multiple choice? Essay? What was it about them that you liked or didn’t like?

Come stop by here to see what I had to write about our colorful world.

*photos by flickr

**This blog is not condoning cheating. If for some reason you got that message, you missed the point. Go back and read it again.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

I’m preparing an elaborate meal in my mind, setting the table with classy linens, preparing the centerpieces just so. And now…now for the nameplates. I bet you want to know who’s coming to dinner. Well, in MY THOUGHTS, because you must remember that is where you are when you visit this blog, I’m going to provide you with the guest list and then I’m going to tell you why I invited that particular person.

~ Cordially Invited to My Home for an Agent/Author Dinner ~

Philip Yancey (His books on spirituality have greatly influenced my walk, besides I like his writing style)

Jodi Picoult (This woman can weave a story, keep you guessing and describe something simple as though it’s the Taj Mahal)

Sandra Bishop (Every single book she’s ever mentioned reading and loving on her blog, I too have loved)

Stephen King (I laughed so much while reading, On Writing, besides we all know he’s a master of the craft)

Beth Moore (Her Bible studies have encouraged me from being a tad bit parched to being downright thirsty for God)

Donald Miller (Not sure I’ve ever come across an author so believable and authentic in their work)

Leif Enger (His way of describing things in Peace Like a River blew me away. I’d want to see if he talks that way)

Elizabeth Berg (Her books are moving and she nails the women’s fiction thing perfectly. My mom and I love to pass her books back and forth so I’d be able to tell my mom all about her)

Nathan Bransford (Wit and knowledge of the publishing industry are my top reasons. He’d crack us all up as we chew our food. Not brownnosing here - he already rejected my MS, but w/ kindness—thanks, Nathan)

Anne Lamott (I’m not sure I even need to give a reason. Definition of Anne = cool)

Rachelle Gardner (As an agent she seems to balance compassion with integrity. I take her for a great conversationalist)

And me, of course (My husband wouldn’t care to be invited b/c reading just isn’t his thing, but I wouldn’t miss this dinner for the world)

I wonder who would say the blessing? What a dinner we’d have—conversations filled to the brim with book talk—what more do you need? It might be cool if some thoughts on spirituality were passed around the table too.

All I have left to say is pass the pepper (my new website tells you more about why not salt!)

Who would you invite to your Author/Agent fantasy dinner? And maybe even more important of a question—what would you serve?

*photo by flickr

Who Do You Hang With?

I plan to conduct a more thorough book review for Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, but today I want to share some essential things I’ve absorbed from the book so far…

Two Jewish terms:

Haverim: a group of students partnered together for the sake of enhancing learning, studying religious texts and growing closer to God.

Talmidim: A disciple or student, one who dedicated himself to learning a rabbi’s understanding of Scripture and his way of living it out.

Now, some quotes from the book and then I’ll give you my brief application:

“The overall goal of discipleship is not simply to grow in self-discipline, but to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.”

“A rabbi was to model how to live by using examples of his own life.”

“Rabbis believed that humility was an indispensable condition for learning.”

“None of us is so mature that we cannot be influenced.”

AND

“Someone once said that we should always be discipling at least one person, and being discipled by another. Who are you being discipled by? And who are you discipling?"

Application:

I interpret this to mean:

~~ I should look to have at least one mentor in my life, someone willing to hold me accountable, guide me along in my spiritual walk, someone excited to encourage me to grow. I look for this person to be at a deeper spiritual place than myself, though rich with humility. My goal is to learn, learn, learn from them. Thankfully, I have several women who fulfill this role in my life.

~~ I should have a “haverim,” or group of women “in this thing” with me. This group walks alongside me on this journey, learning with me and also nudging me to grow in my faith. Many of you have taken on aspects of a haverah in my life. I have dear friends in this role and find new ones as I attend different Bible studies.

~~ I should be discipling to others. I should be sharing what I’ve learned in a transparent and loving way to one or more people, urging them on in their faith. I’m touched and honored to say I’ve got my “Bible Babes.” I lead a small group of sharp young women, thirsty for God’s truth and light. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about them soon. We are studying one of the BEST books on faith I’ve ever read, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I know the girls are going to be thrilled to have their picture featured with monkeys. :D

Question for you to think about:
Who are you being discipled by? And who are you discipling? Do you have a haverim (group) or a haverah (singular female) to grow with you?

*photo of three Bible Babes
**monkey photos by flickr

Dissecting The Blog

Today I thought I’d delve into some reasons why people blog. I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I knew little about the blogging world until I entered in. Now that I’m here in this cyber land of Wordless Wednesdays, Friday Funnies, Linky Love and the rest of the comment-crazed blogosphere; I must admit I think about why. I think about why I’m here and I wonder why you are here. Why do we spend our time doing this?

And so I came up with a list:

« Entertainment – I love laughing at different posts and noticing how creative others can be with how they format and “decorate” their blogs.

« Education—I’m not even sure I can begin to tell you how much I’ve learned about publishing, finding an agent, editing and countless other things in the writing world because of blogging.

« Connection—I’ve “met” some wonderfully inspirational people who feel like dear friends to me in the less than four months I’ve been blogging. We’ve developed a mutual understanding in our love of writing and leading others to God. I still find this connection to be a mystery, but I’m willing to excavate, to explore and to delve deeper into its hold on me.

« Curiosity—this may have been my number one reason for creating a blog and it remains one of the top reasons I keep up with mine. I love understanding people and am curious by nature, so I’m utterly hooked.

« Technology—I’ve found it to be an exciting challenge trying to teach myself about widgets, uploading, adding links and all else that goes into the creation of a blog. It helps me to be current and aware of technological advances and quite simply it stretches my mind and forces me to risk and move out of my comfort zone.

« Adventure—blogging is like rock climbing in some ways, knowing what to write about and figuring out how you want to write it. In rock climbing there is a precarious move that you can make in order to advance higher on the rocks. When there isn’t a visible hole or crevice for you to slide your hand/foot into to thrust yourself upward, you are positioned to decide whether or not you want to make what’s called a “commitment move”. It’s risky (you could fall.) It takes bravery. And for some reason, right now it reminds me of blogging.

« Exposure/Publicity—there is definitely an opportunity to “build a platform” or develop a community of people who are interested in what you have to say by blogging. Personally, as I blog, I hope not only to draw people into my words but I also hope to cause them to think more about their life and our God.

« Practice—what an opportunity it is to discipline yourself to write and post a set number of blogs per week. It forces you to be creative, develop grammar skills and assemble your ideas so that people can understand them.

« Fellowship—I’ve been blessed. I already mentioned that I’ve “met” some unbelievably precious people through blogging. This thing I’m experiencing isn’t just a feel good, make you smile, and tell you all nice things-type of bond. It’s honest, it’s challenging and it has inspired me to want to be closer to God. Now, that is fellowship!

« Bored with TV—I used to have my regular shows. I’d watch The Today Show for good chunks of the morning and I reserved certain hours in the afternoon for popular talk shows. Just the other day my daughter asked why we don’t watch Ellen and Oprah anymore. I told her I wanted more time to write and read. I’ve invested some of that time in blogging.

« Desire to Reach Others—this is my ongoing number one reason for sitting at the computer every day to post. There is just about nothing else as thrilling to me as the ability to stir a new thought in someone else. I get to do that here.

After reviewing the above reasons for blogging I want to know why you do it. Why are you here? I should say no matter your reason; I am glad you are here.

*photo by flickr

Daisy Chain Winner

I would like to do the honors of announcing Julie Gillies as the Daisy Chain contest winner. Julie, let's be in touch so I know where to send your new book.

My husband read through the comments and found Julie's answer to be "foundational and a nugget of wisdom." Well, actually at first he said, "I like this one." My master probing incited further explanation.

Thank you all for your wonderfully creative and inventive answers.

I hope to be back later today with a regular post & I will certainly be giving my responses to the comments in my own comment.

Hip Hip Hooray for Julie!

*photo by flickr

Daisy Chain Confession & Contest

First I need to confess something. I won Mary DeMuth’s novel, Daisy Chain in a contest Jaime held several weeks ago. I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to begin reading it. Here’s where the confession comes in—I didn’t even get to the bottom of the second page before I stealthily whipped out my pen, looked left, looked right and then wrote MY NAME on the inside cover of the book. I wanted to claim it as mine right then and there. It might help to understand I had all intentions of passing THIS book along, of holding my own contest and sharing the Daisy Chain love…but I couldn’t. I wanted it. Mine, ALL MINE. Can’t you just hear Gollum? Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the creative descriptions, the unique characters and the storyline. BUT, a commitment is a commitment and I am going to buy a new Daisy Chain to send to the winner of the contest below:

And now for ~ THE DAISY CHAIN CONTEST ~

Within the first few pages of the book, Daisy Chance tries to convince her best friend, Jed Pepper that the name of her street indicates their destiny. Her street name is Love Street and she is certain she is to marry Jed.

Now it’s your turn ~ What was the name of your street where you grew up? Convince my husband that the street name has had some great significance in your life and means something symbolic or profound and is somehow tied into “your destiny” and you will be the winner of a brand new Daisy Chain!

Just for fun: I lived on Mountain Road growing up and I feel as though most of my life I’ve been climbing a mountain and as it is with hiking, some days are exhilarating and rejuvenating where I can look out from amazing peaks and other days are grueling, filled with sweaty effort to stay the course.

*As a side, in the novel there is a church called Crooked Creek Church. My parents, along with two or three other families had the opportunity to rename our street from Mountain Road to Cricket Creek for mapping purposes only…just one other thing about the book that made me smile.

**Check out what I have to say about beauty in numbers over here.

***photos by flickr