How That Book Went

So I started this post on March 10, 2014, and am just now finishing it. “Better late than never” seems apt here. Anyway, read on if you’d like. :)

I have finished the Smit book about unrequited love. Not recently, I actually finished it sometime in December or January, but hopefully the concepts stick with me for a while. I loved it just as much as I did the first time I read it. I even got teary-eyed towards the end. It’s interesting to hear her side of things about the new creation order that we are moving towards. This is in contrast to a recent speaker I heard talking about modeling Eden in regard to marriage. Even though he mentioned how Jesus introduced the future, the kingdom of God, he still went back to Eden. While Eden was perfect, since Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, it hasn’t been perfect. So, Eden is a model, but is it the end-all model? I’m tending to side with Smit when it comes to examining the implications of using Eden as our present model of marriage. 

For example, what does this imply about having children? Is having children for everyone in order to “fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28)? Is the emphasis still on filling the earth at all? I can’t remember exactly what passage Smit referenced, but she was talking about how the family of God is made up of those who have believed on what Jesus has done for them and have a personal relationship with God. The emphasis is no longer on adding people to earth, it’s on adding members to the family of God.

This is helpful to me when thinking about my own future, and if I desire to have kids in that future. I don’t have a firm opinion on that topic yet, but it isn’t something I want to do by default or because so many around me are making the choice to do that. I want to be intentional about it.

Has anyone read this book by Smit, or have any opinions on the thoughts I’ve shared about it? About having children?

Change of Books

Well, The Piano Tuner is probably a no-go, it has just not interested me as much this time around. However, there is another book I have checked out again. Does it count if I don't actually own the book? I'm gonna say that it does, because this is a good one. In the genre of non-fiction, this one has a very intriguing subject with a biblical worldview. It is called Loves Me, Loves Me Not: The Ethics of Unrequited Love. Quite interesting, huh. While this is a subject often explored in movies and music, not much has been written about how to deal with unrequited love, whether it is yours or someone else's for you. How do you deal with a crush without developing jealousy or possessiveness, or with someone's crush on you with as little pain as possible? Laura A. Smit goes over God's creation plan, as well the new creation order that we are moving towards. I appreciate her point of view, and how she starts with Scripture to develop her points. I started the book not too long ago and I'm on the fourth chapter. Hopefully I will give an update on the rest of the book when I have finished it.

Another Contentment Reading Challenge Update: Through June

So I said I would post about the next book I chose to reread, but I have not finished the one I started! I guess it’s a good thing that I am only doing 5 books for this year. While I am currently reading a few different new books, the one I chose to reread, The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, is still in the beginning stage of being read. I remember liking it a lot when I read it for my senior year of English in high school. That was one of my favorite high school classes. The teacher was great, and exposed us to some amazing works of literature. 

Anyway, back to the book. It’s about a piano tuner who goes on a mission to (I believe) Burma to repair an army officer’s piano. One of the things I appreciated about the book was its use of creative metaphors. Hopefully I will continue to read it again.

Personality Development: What's the Purpose?

Out of all my hobbies and interests, learning about personality theory has been near the top for quite some time. And most of the time, it is centered around those theories, like the MBTI, that are more in the pop-psychology realm. 

So whenever I hear about writers elaborating on an aspect of personality that has to do with, for example, introversion and extroversion, I appreciate that. This particular one was convicting, because while it deals with misconceptions about introverts, the main point of it was how the development of our personality, for the Christian, is about sanctification, about “accepting the realities” of the personality that God gave us and allowing Him to develop that for His glory. It’s not about me and my personality and figuring out who I am, it’s figuring out who I can be for God’s glory. The last paragraph of the article really sums it up well. 

I need to examine my motives for studying this personality theory stuff. Am I simply trying to make myself feel better, or am I using the information I learn to show love to others in a more effective way and to grow as a person and glorify God? Good food for thought. Here's the article: Four Lies About Introverts 

-Rachel

Contentment Challenge Update

So, in the month of March I reread the 2 books that make up the Marta’s Legacy series, Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream by Francine Rivers. While each book is fairly long (around 400 pages), it never takes me very long each time I have read these books, they just seem so real to life! This makes them very impacting as well. I have not reread any books for the month of April, although I have several new ones, either from the library or from a purchase. It always seems easier for me to start something new than to revisit something. However, I am thinking about what I am going to reread next, I will update you with what I decide on!

Contentment Reading Challenge 2013

So I’m reading 5 books this year that I have read before, as part of the Contentment Reading Challenge hosted by Amber, a good friend, and I am starting with Francine Rivers’ book Her Mother’s Hope. I often buy many books, some of which I don’t get to reading, and I want to take a look back at what I have read before and be happy with what I already have. Easier said than done, probably, but it’s worth a try. I challenge you to join in with me on this adventure.

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

Take Free Jung Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Does anyone else know their MBTI type?

After a Long Absence...

Hello, to anyone who reads my posts. In the past, I have used this blog frivolously, but now I'm going to use it as a type of journal. My walk with God is THE most important part of my life, so that will come into play more often than not :)
Anyways, over the past few days I've been digging out old journals I've kept, and I'd like to share an experience I had right before Christmas of 2007. I will now share the beginning of a poem/short story about the experience.

I Went to San Quentin
With an ominous thud
the gate clangs open
interrupting my thoughts and fears.
another clang
as the gate closes
to let the inner gate open:
maximum security.

Inside
buildings
tall, faded, foreboding
no one in sight
then
woman deputy
watching the outsiders come in

and Now
Garden Protestant Chapel
all lit up
we enter
men dressed in denim:
the inmates

Chapel
decorated
Lights sparkling
banners telling
of God and Christmas
old, hard, yet welcoming pews

like the welcoming men
shaking hands
sharing
of God's goodness
they are glad you've come

Amazing
how God can change lives
the joyful men
some have to live here
the rest of their lives
yet they are happier
than many freed men

God sets the lonely in families,
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Psalm 68:6

This is a poem roughly in the villanelle style that I wrote in senior year english. it's, well, interesting:


‘Flowers’
Each flower has a special place
And when you’re feeling blue,
A flower can put a smile on your face.

Whether blowing in an open space
Or placed in a vase, and planter too,
Each flower has a special place.

And of an ugly flower you will not find any trace.
Red, yellow, orange or blue
A flower can put a smile on your face.

How can a flower exist without God’s grace,
The design is much too intricate of a view
Each flower has a special place.

Seeing a pretty flower is like scoring an ace,
And now that you’ve seen it, you know what you must do:
A flower can put a smile on your face.

What starts as a seed in another time and place
Grows up into beauty, it is true:
Each flower has a special place,A flower can put a smile on your face.

and now for a sestina. sorry if it's confusing. there's two girls, possibly two trees, and one flower. see if you can figureout the pattern of the poem.


4/16/07
2nd period
‘The Lost Girl’
In the woods was a girl
She may have been lost
She walked up to a tree
She looked for a shelter
But saw only a flower
She wanted to be found

‘Why can’t I be found?’
Said the small little girl
As she plucked the flower
From its stem, she was lost
And could not find a shelter
Except for the small tree

The smallness of this tree
That has now been found
Makes it not a shelter
And so the little girl
Who may or may not be lost
Stares in disgust at the flower

Which she has picked, the flower
Of her frustrations, the tree
It has become lost
From her sight, she may be found
By maybe another girl
If she finds a shelter

But there is no shelter
Except for the flower
And the hope of a girl:
Discovered by the tree
That she has again found
So she will no more be lost.

By now she has lost
Any hope of a shelter
Any hope of being found
But now as she sits, the flower
Leads the way to the tree
And maybe another girl.


And finally, the sonnet to the jelly stain. I hope you can get a laugh. :)

Sonnet to the Jelly Stain
O that the stain on my shirt would come out,
This situation is making me pout.
There is nothing so permanent to see
As the mark of grape jam upon, uh, me.

The way to get rid of this horrible
Blight, will take a work of genius in my
Sight. Not just in sight, but in mind, you see,
A good solution now must come to me.

I could have it licked right off by a cat,
Or carried off in the wings of a bat.
But these suggestions are rather silly,
These solutions just will not work for me.

In the end, the answer must simply be
The one that takes jam completely off me.

so, tell me whatchya think.

hello!

Hey, I'm starting a blog. I guess it's a fad now huh? well, i have to say I like this fad...anyway, this blog will be about anything and everything, most likely. If you know me, you know that I am a random person, I get fascinated by almost everything. anyway, this blog will mostly contain things about what God has been teaching me (it's funny how many different ways God can teach you , huh?) as well as me practicing writing and possibly starting to write songs....well, I hope you enjoy, and have a great day!
Love in Christ,
Rachel the Goose ;)