My friend recently posted her top 15 favorite books on Facebook and it inspired me to think about what books have shaped me over the seasons of my life.
BIG BOOK OF THINGS TO DO
This is my first book I can remember. It was huge and filled with different activities and stories. My brother Nicholas would read it to me all the time before I knew how to read and I loved sharing this book with him.
CHILDHOOD FAVORITES:
Encyclopedia Brown/Nancy Drew
anything by Judy Blume
Shel Silverstein's poems
Kid version biographies- my mom loved it when I brought these home to read together. She even chose the story about Jackie Robinson, the first African American baseball player, as a topic for one of her college papers. She also liked it when I brought home Amelia Bedelia books to read. I guess she thought AB was so silly and it was fun to read together.
TEEN CHOICES:
steady diet of Seventeen and YM magazines
The Night by Elie Wiesel- I used a cutting from this in a prose competition and won 3rd place in city of St. Louis
plays of all sorts
Le Petit Prince- it was all in French; good book and huge accomplishment to read a novel in another language
Bible- high school was the first time I read the entire Bible
20's
4 loves by CS Lewis- this book got me into all of CS Lewis' other great books
Severe Mercy
Max Lucado books
Lonely Planet Guide to W. Europe- this book was a life saver for my backpacking trip
Any book on marriage or relationships I could get my hands on. I wanted to learn all I could, even before I was engaged
7 Habits of Highly Effective people- this book literally changed my life!
National Geographic & Victoria magazines- loved looking at the beautiful landscapes and photos
30's
the internet!
Richard Foster- Celebration of Discipline and Prayer
NT Wright books
Real Simple, Prevention, Martha Stewart Living, Everyday Food and Cutting Edge magazines
Kid's books- "You are My, I Love You"- I actually cried the first time I read this to Liliana
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
grumpy troll
a few days ago chris and i hopped on the motorcycle and just rode. we had no particular destination, we just wanted to see where the back roads would lead us. oh my goodness... we live in an AMAZING part of the country. the scenery was gorgeous and reminded me of one of my trips to germany. it was so green and hilly and the sky looked streaked with a storm ready to come in hours later.
we circled back around and ended up in a little town called mt horeb. all the shops on main st. were closed and the "grumpy troll" was the first little place we saw that was open and it looked kind of fun.
we ordered a burger and we requested mustard. the waitress asked what kind we wanted and listed off 6 different kinds. i can honestly say that was the first time i have ever been given so many mustard choices in my life. well, come to find out that mt horeb is the mustard capital of the world. who knew? so she brought out 3 different kinds for us to try out. how fun.
they had tv trivia cards at the table, so chris and i quizzed each other and then laughed about old shows we watched as a kid. (mel's diner with that one waitress flo who would always say "Kiss My Grits"- i can't even believe i remembered that show!)
we ate and then got back on the bike before it rained. it was a perfect evening and just what we needed to fill up our "fun tanks".
we circled back around and ended up in a little town called mt horeb. all the shops on main st. were closed and the "grumpy troll" was the first little place we saw that was open and it looked kind of fun.
we ordered a burger and we requested mustard. the waitress asked what kind we wanted and listed off 6 different kinds. i can honestly say that was the first time i have ever been given so many mustard choices in my life. well, come to find out that mt horeb is the mustard capital of the world. who knew? so she brought out 3 different kinds for us to try out. how fun.
they had tv trivia cards at the table, so chris and i quizzed each other and then laughed about old shows we watched as a kid. (mel's diner with that one waitress flo who would always say "Kiss My Grits"- i can't even believe i remembered that show!)
we ate and then got back on the bike before it rained. it was a perfect evening and just what we needed to fill up our "fun tanks".
Sunday, July 26, 2009
backpack time
It's funny the things you say you will never do when you have kids and then lo and behold kids come and you do that exact thing.
So, I confess, I bought one of those backpacks for Liliana with the tail that I hold on to. Others refer to it as "the leash".
It was the best $10 that I have ever spent.
L and I can walk down the sidewalk now without me worrying about her going into the street or having to sprint to catch her and grab her from potential danger. We went to the zoo the other day and I brought her backpack with us so that after awhile in the stroller she could get out and walk around. Another mom saw me with the "leash" and had that look on her face...the one where you secretly want to buy the leash but don't know if people will think you are a weirdo; then you get hopeful that someone you know owns one and maybe you can go ahead and get one too.
By the end of our time at the zoo she was
A. relieved to know that her son isn't the only one that dashes off any chance he gets
B. heading straight to Target to buy one.
So, I confess, I bought one of those backpacks for Liliana with the tail that I hold on to. Others refer to it as "the leash".
It was the best $10 that I have ever spent.
L and I can walk down the sidewalk now without me worrying about her going into the street or having to sprint to catch her and grab her from potential danger. We went to the zoo the other day and I brought her backpack with us so that after awhile in the stroller she could get out and walk around. Another mom saw me with the "leash" and had that look on her face...the one where you secretly want to buy the leash but don't know if people will think you are a weirdo; then you get hopeful that someone you know owns one and maybe you can go ahead and get one too.
By the end of our time at the zoo she was
A. relieved to know that her son isn't the only one that dashes off any chance he gets
B. heading straight to Target to buy one.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Meet the Neighbors....
We have these amazing neighbors...
Last night 13 of us met outside and grilled pizzas, had an ice cream bar, played washers & play doh and had so much fun!
2 things have meant so much to me this past week from my neighbors....
1. Last weekend we had some people over for dinner and invited Kasey and her daughter Lily. (Lily was born on the exact same day as Liliana- Dec. 28, 2007. We hang out with them A LOT.)
Kasey made an amazing salad with feta cheese. She knows I am Greek, so she found an ethnic store so she could buy real feta cheese instead of the crumbled stuff you buy at the grocery store. It was so delicious and I couldn't believe she would take the time to go to Gino's Deli to buy the good stuff. She had never even been there before but scoped it out for me. And I have to say, the feta was great!
2. We have a new couple Scott and Cassie who just graduated in May and moved a few weeks ago to start their new jobs in Madison. Liliana loves Scott- he is super fun and great with kids, so he likes to play with her. Anyway, Scott and Cassie are already planning something for when Lily and Liliana turn 2. C was starting to tell us the other night, S told her to wait and that we would find out in 6 months what the surprise is. I haven't even thought about Liliana's 2nd b-day and here our neighbors are already brainstorming. Super sweet!
This is actually the first time in my life I have ever lived in an apartment and it has been a great experience. I met some more neighbors tonight in the next building that seem super nice as well. We even have a great maintenance guy from Albania and we plan to have dinner next week with him and his wife. What a fun little community we have!
Last night 13 of us met outside and grilled pizzas, had an ice cream bar, played washers & play doh and had so much fun!
2 things have meant so much to me this past week from my neighbors....
1. Last weekend we had some people over for dinner and invited Kasey and her daughter Lily. (Lily was born on the exact same day as Liliana- Dec. 28, 2007. We hang out with them A LOT.)
Kasey made an amazing salad with feta cheese. She knows I am Greek, so she found an ethnic store so she could buy real feta cheese instead of the crumbled stuff you buy at the grocery store. It was so delicious and I couldn't believe she would take the time to go to Gino's Deli to buy the good stuff. She had never even been there before but scoped it out for me. And I have to say, the feta was great!
2. We have a new couple Scott and Cassie who just graduated in May and moved a few weeks ago to start their new jobs in Madison. Liliana loves Scott- he is super fun and great with kids, so he likes to play with her. Anyway, Scott and Cassie are already planning something for when Lily and Liliana turn 2. C was starting to tell us the other night, S told her to wait and that we would find out in 6 months what the surprise is. I haven't even thought about Liliana's 2nd b-day and here our neighbors are already brainstorming. Super sweet!
This is actually the first time in my life I have ever lived in an apartment and it has been a great experience. I met some more neighbors tonight in the next building that seem super nice as well. We even have a great maintenance guy from Albania and we plan to have dinner next week with him and his wife. What a fun little community we have!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Teachings
One of my primary responsibilities with our church plant is overseeing the teachings each week. Chris is great at sermons, but he is even better at going out and meeting new people. Since sermon prep takes lots of time, we decided that I would teach 3 Sundays and he would teach 1 Sunday, in this season of the church life. This frees up his evenings to meet new people and then after he and L go to bed I can work on teachings. ( I am a night owl by nature)
This has been so good for me for a number of reasons.
1. I have to stay current with Jesus. If I am going to have something to say week in and week out, I have to be spending lots of time hanging out with Jesus and reflecting on the Bible. When we led youth group or various small groups, you could always have a "fun night" planned if you just couldn't get around to a teaching for the week. But not the case for Sunday mornings
2. I have to really spend time extracting out the nugget to be learned. I am a pretty straight forward type person when it comes to teachings. I like it when sermons are easy to follow and there is a main point instead of going all over the place. It is challenging to spend time on verses and figure out what in the world is important about what you just read. Sometimes I get stuck and I have to make myself keep digging in until something clicks. It's so fun when it does click and the Holy Spirit shows you something relevant.
3. It challenges me as a person. In high school I was involved with drama and also competed with speech class. However, after that I never did much with it and so I reverted back to my introverted self. I am naturally very shy and don't prefer speaking to large groups of people. Plus I talk super fast when I get nervous. It is a huge down fall of mine. I remember a few times giving announcements at church and people saying that they had a hard time keeping up with me b/c I talked so fast. But I know that the only way I am going to grow is to have lots and lots of practice. Fortunately we have a great group in our church now, who are super encouraging and give me space to make mistakes and grow in this area. I really love the Bible and have a desire to teach others, so I am thankful for this opportunity to develop this skill.
It's amazing all the dynamics that go into teachings- studying, formulating a thesis and points, making sure you are true to the rest of the Bible and not pulling verses out of context and then delivery. We asked a few pastors how long sermon prep takes them.. the avg is usually 10-12 hours per sermon, more if you are just starting out. Hearing that made me feel much better! I also remind myself that God is bigger than my prep or delivery. If someone has an open heart, God can certainly teach them, even if I am going at lightning speeds. :-)
This has been so good for me for a number of reasons.
1. I have to stay current with Jesus. If I am going to have something to say week in and week out, I have to be spending lots of time hanging out with Jesus and reflecting on the Bible. When we led youth group or various small groups, you could always have a "fun night" planned if you just couldn't get around to a teaching for the week. But not the case for Sunday mornings
2. I have to really spend time extracting out the nugget to be learned. I am a pretty straight forward type person when it comes to teachings. I like it when sermons are easy to follow and there is a main point instead of going all over the place. It is challenging to spend time on verses and figure out what in the world is important about what you just read. Sometimes I get stuck and I have to make myself keep digging in until something clicks. It's so fun when it does click and the Holy Spirit shows you something relevant.
3. It challenges me as a person. In high school I was involved with drama and also competed with speech class. However, after that I never did much with it and so I reverted back to my introverted self. I am naturally very shy and don't prefer speaking to large groups of people. Plus I talk super fast when I get nervous. It is a huge down fall of mine. I remember a few times giving announcements at church and people saying that they had a hard time keeping up with me b/c I talked so fast. But I know that the only way I am going to grow is to have lots and lots of practice. Fortunately we have a great group in our church now, who are super encouraging and give me space to make mistakes and grow in this area. I really love the Bible and have a desire to teach others, so I am thankful for this opportunity to develop this skill.
It's amazing all the dynamics that go into teachings- studying, formulating a thesis and points, making sure you are true to the rest of the Bible and not pulling verses out of context and then delivery. We asked a few pastors how long sermon prep takes them.. the avg is usually 10-12 hours per sermon, more if you are just starting out. Hearing that made me feel much better! I also remind myself that God is bigger than my prep or delivery. If someone has an open heart, God can certainly teach them, even if I am going at lightning speeds. :-)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Good Night
The other night when I tucked Liliana in I just held her as tight as I could, hugged her and thanked her. I thanked her for bringing such joy to her Mommy and Daddy. I told her she has no idea how much joy she gives us and I pray that we can bring her joy as well. I love her!!
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