On the first day of December, my brain said to me "Hey! It's DECEMBER!"
And I didn't even get a partridge in a pear tree.
Each day that passes means that Christ's return is nearer. At present, every day that passes means that Christmas is near. I'm thankful for all the celebrations and service projects in which I have the honor of participating.
Each day that passes means that the new year is near. As I told my mentor, this year is the first time in a long time that I have joy in the present while having hope for future. There's so much I want to get done in the next month; even more to accomplish in the next year.
What's something blogging has taught you about yourself?
Though it sounds trite, my answer is that it has taught me the power of words. The words I've written have helped others, helped myself, started (hopefully) lifelong friendships, and rekindled old ones. Blogging has taught me to better organize my thoughts so that I can present them in a more understandable manner.
Leftovers...are you in the 'reheat and eat' camp or the 'put them in the fridge until they spoil and then toss them' camp? What's your favorite thing to have leftover? What can you not abide as a leftover?
I'm in the "reheat and eat" camp. Offhand, I can't think of anything I won't eat as a leftover; if I enjoyed it the first time, I'll surely enjoy it again. With that being said, there are reasonable limits on reheating. Once it doesn't have the consistency of food anymore, time to get out the Hefty bag.
This question makes me laugh. Since I've moved into my own place, I've realized how for me, a microwave has transformed from a modern convenience to an absolute necessity. Quite frankly, it sucks to not have a microwave and I'm horrible with reheating food any other way. I'm planning on purchasing one ASAP.
'Me time'...your thoughts?
For you, Mrs. Joyce? Sure, so for it!
For me? I'm getting that now. After three and a half years of housemates, I'm relishing my alone time.
When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?
At work, it's a myriad of administrative questions. Outside of work, most people want someone who'll listen, someone who'll give advice, and/or someone to pray for them. My family and friends have learned that if they don't want to hear the truth, don't ask me for advice. I'm not in the business of telling people what they want to hear. I've had (and have) great people in my life who don't tell me what I want to hear; they tell me what I need to hear to grow and succeed.
If your childhood had a smell what would it be? Tell us why.
The smell of the red clay soil of the southern United States. From day one, I've played in that dirt (probably have eaten some of it too). When I was older, I planted vegetables and flowers in that dirt. I've even thrown pure terra cotta clay on the potter's wheel in ceramics class. I loved the smell of that soil just before a good rain shower. Strange as it is, that scent is comforting and homey to my nostrils.
Insert your own random thought here.
Yes, I know I'm missing some days. I really shouldn't have committed to a daily post when I don't have internet at home. #Duh I'll catch it up somehow. Stay tuned for some backdated posts.
This morning found me, for the first time in ages, not wanting to get out of bed. Mentally, I was rip rarin' to go, but my body wanted to stay in bed. After a few minutes of contemplation moaning and groaning, I got up, took a couple of Excedrin, drank a bottle of water, and cranked up some high energy music. That did it! After about 15 minutes, my body was ready to tackle the day. Thanks Mylon Lefevre and Ricardo Sanchez!
Heading out to work, I was greeted by this beautiful sunrise:
The camera on my phone doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea. Thank you, Lord, for painting another beautiful sky this morning.
Info:
Copyright 2016: Nashville:Nelson Books Rating (on a scale of 1-4 stars): ✮✮
Where Acquired: Library check out.
What it's about: Drawing from personal experience, TerKeurst
tackles the insecurity-inducing results of being uninvited—unwanted, rejected,
and unloved.She offers prayers,
scriptures, and encouragement for those suffering from this type of mental
damage.
Favorite Quotes:
We project the lines of rejection we heard
from our past on others and hold them accountable for words they never
said.And worst of all, we catch
ourselves wondering if God secretly aggress with those who hurt us.p. 8
In my research on rejection, I discovered
two core fears that feed a person’s sensitivity to reject; The fear of being
abandoned [and] The fear of losing one’s identity.p. 17
What the mind focuses on, it feasts
on.p. 24
Live from the abundant place that you are
loved, and you won’t find yourself begging others for scraps of love.p. 30
No, God’s love isn’t based on me.It’s simply placed on me.And it’s the place from which I should
live…loved.p. 40
Grace given when it feels least deserved
is the only antidote for bitter rot.p.
80
Acceptance is like an antibiotic that
prevents past rejections from turning into present-day infections.The need for belonging runs deep.The need to belong goes beyond the need for
superficial social ties…it is a need for meaningful, profound bonding.p. 94
No amount of outside achievement fixes
inside hurts.Those hurts have to be
soothed by replacing the ties with truth.p. 98
Rejection isn’t just an emotional
feeling.It’s a message that alters what
you believe about yourself.. And the minute you sense that happening is the
minute you must stop the runaway thinking with truth.p. 105
So even as the closed doors and rejections
seem more prevalent than the new opportunities you’d like to see, even as
you’re seeking to readjust your thinking, remember that there is an abundant
need in the world for your contributions to the kingdom…your thoughts and words
and artistic expressions…your exact brand of beautiful.p. 125
What I liked:
The Kindle Edition has real page numbers.
The author gets high marks for grammar and mechanics.
The first two-thirds of the book weren’t
so great, but the last third was powerful.The prayers and scripture passages included were quite encouraging.
What I didn’t like:
Her incessant comparing herself physically with other women and self body shaming really got on my nerves. If this was an attempt at self-effacing humor, it missed the mark tremendously.
I felt like this book was only for wives and moms. The whole book was written like a mommy blog...a long, whinny mommy blog.
OK, y'all already know how much I loathe the "aside box." This book used its twin brother; what I call the "repeat bar." It's a placement of text in large letters that repeats what the author JUST said. Make...it...stop!
I read the first two-thirds
of the book back in July.Then my
check-out expired and I had to put the book on reserve again.I didn’t get to re-check the book until this
past week.The only reason I was willing
to wait so long was because I’d gotten so close to the end of the book.Otherwise, it would have been relegated to my
DNF category.After finishing, I’m really
surprised that the wait list for the book was so long.It wasn’t worth it.
Takeaway:
After enjoying TerKeurst's book Made to Crave, I was looking forward to this offering. However, I found this book to be very disappointing. It was as if the author was saying "Crap happens; get over it. If you're excluded, it's your fault for not being the right kind of...whatever." While giving encouraging scriptures to see us through lonely times of rejection was helpful, I was hoping she would tackle the issue of stopping this nonsense. Yes, I understand that the world is going to reject us because of the cause of Christ. However, I wanted her to tackle the blatant rejection among Christian women--those given the power to decide who gets "invited" or "uninvited." Why do we who are supposed to be sisters in Christ continue to cut each other to ribbons and toss out those who don't fit a very outdated, mutually exclusive mold? Why do we as women of God keep allowing the world (and uninformed church people) to obliterate the beautiful image that God beautifully formed in His Word? The author didn't do any of those things. In fact, the way the book was written seemed to exasperate the situation.
And I didn't even get a partridge in a pear tree. 
