bekahcubed

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (July 2011)

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Thanks to an airplane jump and a visit from state surveyors to another of my buildings (not the one they visited last month in time for the Nightstand!), I don’t have pictures or my last week worth of reading. I have only what I’d already written prior to the excitement of this past week. Nevertheless, I do have a bit of reading I can share.

Read and reviewed in brief:

C.S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer, and Mentor by Lionel Adey
C.S. Lewis is, like, one of my favorite authors (the Valley girl accent is absolutely appropriate, since I’m often a bit of a fan-girl where he’s concerned.) And I’m participating in Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge. So I really wanted to get through this book. I forced myself to read way past when my sister told me I should give up–and finally skipped through to the chapter about Narnia. This book was shelved with the biographies, but that’s not what it is. It’s…something else. It’s a literary critic reviewing what all sorts of other literary critics have said in criticism of C.S. Lewis as a literary critic and as literature-creator. Dull as dust.

I Was a Teenage Fairy by Francesca Lia Block
If I were to try to describe Block’s writing, I’d have to stay that she’s a stereotypical YA author–except that she does it extremely well. Her books are full of edgy and inappropriate material; they’re almost devoid of adult-adults; and they try to be artistic. Except that Block succeeds where other authors fail. This particular book is about a girl-model who had been molested as a child, and about her fairy, who convinced her to keep living (or something like that.) I wish I could recommend Block’s writing, because it really is something to behold–but the sex, drugs, homosexuality, pseudo-bestiality, etc. make me loathe to recommend anything she’s written.

The Next-Door Dogs by Colby Rodowsky
Sara Barker is terrified of dogs. She has been since she was very little and had a bad experience with her aunt’s dog. She’s mostly kept her fear a secret from her friends, but when a nice next-door neighbor moves in–along with two dogs–Sara is forced to confront her fear (or have her friends confront her for her fear.)

Reviewed elsewhere on bekahcubed:

To be reviewed (Maybe):

The Fool’s Progress by Edward Abbey
Eyewitness Books: Photography by Alan Buckingham
The Holocaust Ghettos by Linda Jacobs Altman
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Thrive by Dan Buettner
Food, Inc by Peter Pringle

Read but not Reviewed (even in short):

  • 1001 Horrible Facts by Anne Rooney
  • Bones and the Birthday Mystery by David A. Adler
  • The Camp-Out Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • The Greatest Invention in the History of Mankind is Beer… by Dave Barry
  • The Yellow Feather Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon

Additionally, I read somewhere around 30 children’s picture books.

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

What's on Your Nightstand?

Categories Everyday Life

I’m Alive

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I realized, on my way home from work, what my silence (especially on this Nightstand day!) might seem like to my long-time readers.

Last you knew, I was jumping out of an airplane. Then I don’t participate in the carnival I’ve faithfully participated in for almost two years.

Clearly, I died.

Except that I didn’t.

I went, I jumped, I lived. (I loved it!)

State surveyors showed up in one of my “away” facilities yesterday–and I needed to be up bright and early to meet them this morning.

Ten hour workdays are fun when you’ve got an hour and a half travel time on either end.

Even more fun when you’ve got to try to be there by 7 am.

Long day today, long day tomorrow.

I’ll share jump stories and photos when the madness stops.

For now, I’m just thankful to be alive–and reminding myself of James 1:2-5

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Categories Book Notes

What You Meant

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*Spoiler alert: If you haven’t read A Horse and His Boy, this post gives away almost EVERYTHING.*

A fellow heard the prophecy regarding how the baby Cor would one day save Archenland. Desiring the downfall of Archenland, he purposed in his heart to thwart the prophesied end.

His purposes seemed to be accomplished when Cor, now known as Shasta, grew up doing menial labor in the house of an uneducated Calormene fisherman, completely unaware of Archenland and unconcerned with its fate.

But what the fellow meant for evil, Aslan meant for good. His evil action only set the stage for Aslan’s great plan–the prophesied deliverance.

A Tarkaan saw the boy working hard in the fisherman’s tent. Desiring a slave with whom he could do whatever he wished, he purposed in his heart to buy the teenaged Shasta.

His purposes seemed to be accomplished when the fisherman begins to barter, selling away his “son” for a few crescents.

But what the Tarkaan meant for evil, Aslan meant for good. The Tarkaan’s evil intentions only gave the impetus for Shasta to begin his flight.

A stepmother sees her step-daughter and hates her. Desiring to have away with her, she purposed in her heart to marry the girl off.

Her purposes seem to be accomplished when the engagement goes through and the girl leaves her home.

But what the stepmother meant for evil, Aslan meant for good. The stepmother’s evil intentions only made a way for Aravis and Shasta to meet, and to become traveling companions.

Dozens of characters, each with their own purposes. The pleasure-seeking Lasaraleen. The lust-driven Rabadash. The conquest-happy Tisroc. The favor-currying Vizier. Even Shasta and Aravis have their own selfish motivations.

Evil actors seem to drive the story to its deadly end.

But all the evil actors, however much evil they meant, had no power against the purposes of the main Actor.

Each actor is a free agent, acting according to the intents of his own heart–and it seems that every actor’s intents are evil. Even the “good” choices were often made with poor intentions: pride, self-preservation, shame. Every bad choice is fully the actor’s responsibility. He clearly chose, of the evil in his own heart, to act as he did.

Yet every evil perpetuated out of the evil in man’s heart was turned into good by the sovereign hand of Aslan.

Conversely, any good that any actor did was not out of the good in his own heart (as though he had good in his heart out of which to act), but was generally the result of the direct hand of Aslan–the Lion at their heels, driving them wherever He willed, compelling them to ride faster than they thought themselves capable of riding.

As such, no actor deserves glory for his good actions; each actor only deserves punishment for his evil.

Yet Aslan, in His mercy, withheld just punishment from many who did evil–and justly received glory for every good deed.

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
~Genesis 50:20

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge
This post is yet another collection of notes from my reading of The Horse and His Boy for Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge.

Categories The Week in Words

WiW: A quest for Joy

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The Week in Words

There’s a pang in my heart, a rumbling in my gut, a nagging in my mind.

Something in my soul says this can’t be all there is.

Somewhere deep inside, I have an insatiable, unquenchable thirst.

I’m not sure exactly what it signifies–but one thing is sure.

THIS will not satisfy.

Is this what Lewis spoke of when he talks of his quest for Joy?

“Even when he first experienced Joy as a child, Lewis recognized that the feeling was not mere nostalgia or love of nature. It was a desire, then, for what? Trying to answer that became a kind of personal grail quest for Jack, a quest he would recount first in his highly autobiographical allegory, The Pilgrim’s Regress, and again in his memoir, Surprised by Joy. Both books are organized around the search for Joy, trying and setting aside many false objects of “Sweet Desire,” until one finally comes to rest in humble recognition of the true Object one has been seeking since childhood.”
~David Downing in The Most Reluctant Convert

I can identify with Lewis’s grail, his quest to capture the elusive Joy.

I think we all can.

What was Solomon’s story but a search for Joy? Spending every resource at his disposal, seeking a Joy that none of his resources could give.

Money. Fame. Women. Wisdom. Work.

The same things I try to find meaning and purpose, Joy, in.

“Solomon had the resources to do whatever he wanted, which is exactly what he did. He gorged himself on pleasure and filled himself with wine. He poured himself into great architectural projects and bought hordes of slaves…He had money, sex, power, fame, a big house, and entertainment. He was a test case for human happiness.

If the things of the world could satisfy, then Solomon should have been the happiest man to have ever lived. And yet, after standing at the pinnacle of life and surveying all that he had accomplished and accumulated, he came to one conclusion: ‘All is vanity.’

In reality, we’re not that different from Solomon. We have our vision of what would make us happy, of what would finally give us satisfaction. And so we pursue our dreams…

And you know what? Sometimes dreams come true. We get married, have children, land the new job, buy the new house. But we’re not cured of our madness. One dream replaces another, and the circle of discontentment starts all over.”

~Stephen Altrogge in The Greener Grass Conspiracy

Joy, the elusive fulfillment of my inner longing.

The flavor I taste in a thousand things, but can only satiate in One.

“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of Joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
~Psalm 16:11

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

Categories Family & Friends

Snapshot: Little Miss

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Anna and I were in Lincoln when Little Miss Menter was born–but we weren’t going to try visiting until Dan and Debbie blew the all-clear.

Little Miss with Anna

At the same time, both of us had to work in the morning–so neither of us could stick around town waiting for the whistle that might or might not come that evening.

Little Miss

Which meant we were halfway home when the text came to tell us that visitors were welcome–too late to turn around.

Little Miss sleeping on Daddy

So we worked our weeks and made the trip back down this Saturday–ready to meet our newborn niece.

The Little Miss was definitely a Menter baby, tall and skinny. What differentiated her from the many Menter babies who have come before her was the hair.

Daddy kisses Little Miss

All the rest of us were bald.

Thanks, Debbie, for introducing baby hair into the Menter gene stream!

Daddy and Mommy with Little Miss

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Church Every Day

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Y’all are savvy enough to know that “church” isn’t a building. And I think you’re also savvy enough to know that “church” isn’t a service that’s held once or twice or more times a week (depending on the size and/or ardor of a particular congregation.)

You know that the “church” is the collection of those called out to Christ from around the world–and that the local church is a smaller subset of the universal church that gathers together for God’s glory and their own mutual encouragement.

Well, for my part, I’m thankful for the church–for Highland Park Evangelical Free particularly, and for this wonderful group of people I have the opportunity to live life on life with.

Thankful Thursday banner

This week I’m thankful for…

…Friday’s coffee shop

Listening as Lori and Jenna played and sang. Sharing computer stories with Eric and Cathy. Laughing with Ruth, Anna, and Laurie. Letting the little girl I’d just met “teach” me how to play “Farkle” (using rules she’d made up on the spot.) Jon’s gracious agreement to take my bike home in the back of his truck. Watching JTT from the comfort of the potato–laughing as one person after another jumped during the “scary” parts of the movie.

…Saturday’s Zoo Expedition

Driving down and chatting with Paige. Pictures of lions and tigers and bears. Gorilla’s giving their best “Blue Steel” impression. Bats in the basement and traversing a swamp.

…Sunday’s service and Party with the Pastors
Not enough time for steaks at my house. Find a way to make the time work. Chinese, Doozy’s? How ’bout party with the pastors? We’ve only been to the “newcomer’s” party a half dozen times. How long can we milk the “new in town” story (since even I have been here nine months)? Jacqueline is new. Truly new. So of course we should party with the pastors–we’ll just go along as “moral support.”

…Monday’s Contentment Conversation
Chilling in Anna’s room. Chatting while I try yet again to make my computer work. Challenging me to humble myself and ask for help. Conversing about Contentment on our way through The Greener Grass Conspiracy.

…Wednesday’s Interview
Meeting Rachel. Meeting Cindy. Sharing my stories. Hearing their affirmation. Passing the child protection process. Preparing for girls to stay with me.

…Wednesday’s “Bible Study”
Hugs from Jana. Hilarious Stories. Pranking Pastor Justin. Better than crack brownies. Hearing each others lives. Laughing a lot. Loving our girls (and Pastor Justin and Jana.)

…Thursday’s Sewing Time
Cutting out dresses. Sewing on yo-yos. Discussing books and football and zoos. Companionable silence. Scissors swishing. Enjoying just being with Taylor.

I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without this church, without these people. They have encouraged me, challenged me, become a part of my everyday life.

I am so thankful for each one of them–for Anna and Ruth and Beth and Jacqueline and Paige and Jasmine and Jenna and Laurie and Jana and Justin and Jon and Kathy and Cathy and Erik and Taylor and…the list goes on and on.

Mostly, I’m thankful for God, for the wonderful thing He did when He put together the church, His body–and the church at Highland Park particularly.

Categories Everyday Life

Bat Dreams

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The music was on, the bedroom was ready to accept coats. Everything was in order, but only one coworker had shown up. I was starting to get nervous–this was, after all, a work Christmas party.

My sister threw open the door and flashed on the lights. I woke with a start.

Oh no–I was late for work. I’d overslept.

I glanced at the clock.

4 am.

No I hadn’t overslept.

“How long have you been awake?” Anna asked.

I was absolutely bewildered. I hadn’t been awake. I’d been dreaming of Christmas parties.

“Can you help me catch a bat?”

The story spilled out. Apparently, Anna had been awakened some time earlier by a whirring sound in her bedroom. I guess she’d started yelling when she realized it was a bat–which is why she’d assumed I’d be awake.

At any rate, I threw on some clothing (extra covering necessary lest said bat be rabid and attempting to bite) and went to catch a bat.

By then, the bat had ceased flying about–and we had a difficult time finding it.

I’d searched the entirety of Anna’s bedroom floor before Anna found it curled up in the track on which the windows slid. It was a motionless ball smaller than a mouse.

Perhaps it was dead, I thought. Which was rather a frightening proposition. If so, we’d have to save it and take it in for rabies testing.

My hands clad in oven mitts, I draped a towel over the semi-prone figure. A whirr of movement I could barely feel beneath the towel and my oven mitts indicated that the bat was still alive.

Now to extract the creature for its cubby.

This was the hard part. I couldn’t feel much through the clumsy oven mitts–and even the towel by itself was difficult to maneuver. The bat was snuggled in between two little runners. How could I get it out without squeezing it to death?

I sent Anna out for a ruler. When she returned, I slid the thin metal ruler under the bat and gently lifted it up, enfolding the ruler and all into my towel.

Outside, some distance from the house, I laid down my package and unwrapped it, standing ready for the animal to fly away.

A few moments and it took off. I dropped my used towels and oven mitts into the washing machine, checked my sister for bite marks (there were none) and made my way back into the world of dreams.

Categories Following Christ, Technology

A call for help

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When Cathy said Erik was caught up in my computer-building drama, I didn’t really believe her. She was just saying that he’d be interested in it because he’s a computer guy–not because he actually is interested in it.

I learned that I was wrong when week after week, Erik asked me how the process was coming along.

When I started having difficulties and issued a general request via Facebook, he was pleased to lend me a DVD player.

When I described how I was moving my files onto my new computer via flash drives because I couldn’t hook both hard drives up and have them read correctly, he chastised me for not calling him for an adapter.

Then the computer troubles I thought I’d resolved began again. The OS that I thought I’d installed properly started giving me problems.

I had to start over–and I wasn’t sure how exactly to start.

“Call Erik,” Ruth urged me. “You heard what he said Friday night–‘If I have diet questions, I call you… If you have computer questions, you call me.'”

I didn’t want to do it.

My pride says I can do everything on my own. My pride resists asking for help. My pride wants to be in control.

“Either you call him, or I’ll call him for you,” Ruth threatened.

My throat started to close up and my eyes started watering. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to ask for help. Didn’t want to admit (until I’d figured out how to solve it on my own) that I was having trouble.

But I knew it wasn’t Ruth’s call to make.

It was mine.

I just had to be willing to humble myself enough to call for help.

I called. We talked. Erik gave some suggestions.

It wasn’t that bad.

It didn’t kill me–only my pride.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Love at Last Sight” by Kerry and Chris Shook

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“I think it’s wonderful–love at first sight,” Alice exclaims with youthful longing as Millie and Adam stand before the parson to be wed in the classic musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Adam and Millie had known each other for barely an afternoon.

Love at first sight is a thing of dreams, of romance novels and chick flicks.

Love at last sight is an art that requires hard work.

Or so Kerry and Chris Shook posit in their book Love at Last Sight.

I was initially drawn to this book when I read that it was not just about romantic relationships, but about all relationships. I’m somewhat of a lone ranger and I think relationship skills are one of my hugest weaknesses. So I was excited to have a chance to learn some valuable information about building lasting relationships.

What I didn’t bargain on was that the book would assume that you already have some pretty deep long-ish term relationships. In the opening chapter, the authors ask the reader to think of three “key” relationships:

“Now I’m not talking about business acquaintances, casual or distant friends, fourth or fifth cousins. We all have a lot of relationships in our lives–maybe too many–but quite frankly, not all are created equal.”

The problem is, I had a hard time coming up with three “key” relationships–which meant that I also had a hard time following the “30 challenge” aspect of the book.

Because this book is set up to be read in 30 days: 1 short chapter every day. At the end of each chapter, there are questions to journal about and challenges to take to help deepen your closest relationships.

I think this format is likely fantastic for people who can automatically think of at least one or two close relationships that they want to strengthen. The book is divided into four weeks, each with their own theme:

  • Week 1: The Art of Being All There
  • Week 2: The Art of Acting Intentionally
  • Week 3: The Art of Risking Awkwardness
  • Week 4: The Art of Letting Go

To be honest, the writing style in this book reminded me of the relevant-fluff preaching style of many of modern evangelical pastor–which I suppose isn’t really surprising since Kerry (and Chris?–I couldn’t tell if she calls herself a pastor too) is a modern evangelical pastor.

The information is good–and I found some of it quite useful on various occasions (even though I didn’t do the whole “program” as it was intended). For someone who can easily identify their own “key relationships”, I’m sure this book will be even more useful.

A few examples of the Shook’s writing style (and things that stuck out to me):

“The truth of the matter is that being all there is not very efficient….If you’re the type of person who tries to make every minute and second of your waking hours productive, then the relationship work of stopping, focusing on another person, and giving them your time and attention will feel uncomfortable and even wasteful. But if you long for a friendship or marriage where you can share rich memories, secret dreams, and bellyaching laughter, you need to know that this is what it takes. Being fully focused in your relationships isn’t efficient, but here’s the great news: it’s stunningly effective.”
~page 26

“The most important thing to remember in planning activities to implement your vision is that they must be steps into another person’s world. Many people want to be closer to someone in their life, but they’re not willing to move out of their own comfort zone and into the other person’s world to engage in something that person would enjoy.”
~page 86

“First, if you’re the one going through the in-between, you may think, I don’t have much faith, so it’s hard for me to see that I’ll ever be out of this place. Jesus taught us that it’s not the amount of your faith but the object of your faith that matters.”
~page 107

Rating: 3 stars
Category: Relationships
Synopsis:A 30 day program to enrich your closest relationships.
Recommendation: Nothing particularly profound, but I have little doubt that when used as intended (working through day by day with your “key relationships” in mind), this could be life-changing.

**I received this book as part of WaterBrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books Program. Apart from the free copy of this book, I have received no compensation for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.**