Unseduced and Unshaken

I just finished reading Unseduced and Unshaken: The Place of Dignity in a Young Woman's Choices by Rosalie DeRosset.

Every young woman should read this book. Parents of girls should read this book. In fact, any woman of any age could benefit from reading it.  This is an important book, written by a woman who not only teaches literature, but also counsels young women. She melds her knowledge of great literature with the practical problems of young women today to give lots of convicting food for thought.

The basic premise of the book is that theology should frame every decision that we make each day. Theology is defined as "knowledge of God and our opinions concerning God and man's relationship to God." DeRosset, a professor at Moody Bible Institute, asserts that so often we forget to allow our theology to permeate our lives and influence the decisions we make.

There is much richness here. I can't begin to describe all the thought-provoking concepts in this book. DeRosset talks about the importance of critical thinking, finding your voice (God created us as individuals!), knowing what you believe, listening to those who are older and wiser, traditions, history, and much more... of course, all of this is through the lens of literature! I know I am not the only one who gets excited about good books (although I don't know nearly as many voracious readers as I would like). If you love to read, you will love this book.

I really appreciate the honesty of DeRosset as she addresses the true issues at stake for young women today. She isn't afraid to talk about the nitty-gritty... there is no "glossing over" here. Something I've discussed with several friends lately is how there are some things that "NO ONE in the church talks about" and it NEEDS to be discussed! This book goes into those kinds of corners in such a way as to get you thinking. I'm not saying I agree with everything DeRosset says - on the contrary, I disagree wholeheartedly with some of it. However, I appreciated the opportunity to think through WHY I disagree. This book excited my intellect more than any I've read in a long while.

Just read it.

Update 7/30/2013 - I'm excited because I found DeRosset's recommended reading list! Also, although I haven't taken the time to listen to it yet, there is an audio recording of a talk she gave last year.  I'm linking up to Modern Mrs. Darcy's Best Book You've Never Heard Of post for this one! 

My Sword, V7

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Ex. 14:14

I hardly need say why I chose this verse... there are so many moments in a day when I need to stop and be still and let the Lord fight the battle for me. Why, oh why, is surrender so difficult? For the last several years, it has begun to dawn on me that I am never without a battle of some kind. And if I am not actively fighting, I am losing. This verse will help me to remember that it is through HIS strength that I can fight, and not my own.

Bracketology

I fill out a bracket every year for March Madness. I do this not because I know anything about college basketball, but because my husband enjoys it. The funny thing is, that I do pretty well! I readily admit that I know nothing about college basketball, but I fill out my bracket on my own because I don't want anyone (read: The Hubs) to be able to say, "You only did that well because I helped you." (This is the same reason that I don't accept any assistance with my Fantasy Football team, but that is a post for another day.)

Just because I don't know anything about it doesn't mean that there isn't a method to my madness! (Pun completely intended! Bwahahahaha!) Here is my thought process: there are ranking numbers next to all of the teams on the brackets, but there are always upsets (for non-bracketing friends, an "upset" is where a lower ranked ream beats a higher ranked team). So, I go mostly with the rankings and randomly choose some upsets. I say "randomly" because it is fairly random. Truth is, ESPN is on the TV so much at my house that I unintentionally absorb some of it and I overheard an announcer talk about his guess that a certain team would surprise everyone. I took that information into consideration (aka, went with what he said).

Here is my bracket thus far this year:

I have been laughed at, scorned and mocked for choosing Marquette to go so far, and also for choosing Oregon. Harumph. That's why I'M WINNING, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Of course, I won't win for long, but it is so much fun to see my uneducated guesses beat the brackets of those who follow college basketball closely all season. (Me? Competitive? Nah!!)

Peace Like A River

Recently, I read Peace Like A River by Leif Enger.

It was one of the best recently written fiction books that I have read in a long time. At first, I wasn't sure about it - there is an element of willing suspension of disbelief required - but by the end I was very glad that I had read it.

Ruben struggles with asthma, and it frames his life. It was actually the descriptions of his asthma attacks that drew me into the story. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with asthma from allergies. I had been coughing for weeks, a dry cough with no other symptoms. Sometimes it was hard for me to catch my breath during these coughing fits. It was a very mild case, and after a couple of years it went away, but I still remember feeling out of breath as if I'd been running when I was standing still.

Ruben is the central character of the story. Many years ago, I remember reading a book about some children whose favorite books (yes, I read a book about children who were reading books) were the "I books." I have always called books written in the first person I books since. This is an I book. Through the events in the story, Ruben comes to have the faith of his father, from seeing the miracles that followed in his father's wake.

The story really starts rolling when Ruben's brother Davy breaks out of jail (he's been arrested and tried for a controversial crime). Ruben, his father, and his sister go looking for Davy. The events of this trip mature Ruben to the acceptance of his father's faith. There is a subtle theme throughout that because Ruben's father has displayed God's love in his life (not just to his family, but to the world, including enemies) Ruben finds it easier to believe. It was the character development of Ruben that solidified my love for this book. You can't help but love his family because Ruben loves them, but in the end it is Ruben who changes the most.

This book asks you to believe in modern miracles of biblical proportions. I recently completed a Bible study in which was discussed the fact that a lot of times we "modern" Christians don't believe in miracles in current times. I'm not talking about miracles for show; I'm talking about miracles like Jesus performed - quietly, without shouting and fanfare and vanity. In this Bible study, the opinion was submitted that perhaps we miss out on seeing miracles because our faith is too small. This is just one theme worthy of discussion after reading this book.

If I was going to rate this book on a scale of one to five, I would give it five stars! If you like to read at all, read THIS book!

History

I have always loved to hear the tales of old. I think it started with the stories my grandmother and father used to tell about "back in the day" and "when I was growing up..."There is that old joke about how older people always had it so much harder than younger people ("I had to WALK to school IN THE SNOW and it was UPHILL BOTH WAYS.") that always causes rolled eyes. Well, I didn't roll my eyes. I loved hearing every story my elders told about their past. I think it was because of those stories that I fell in love with history. I'm sure that growing up I read more historical fiction than was good for me.

Because of that fascination, in college I was spell-bound in history classes and ATE.THEM.UP. (Just because I have a degree in English does not mean that I don't occasionally use improper grammar. Ahem.) At some point during a meeting with one of my advisors in college, it was noticed that I had taken a lot of upper-level history classes and I was told that if I added one more I would have enough credits for a history minor. Ka-ching! My dad laughed when I took a course called "The History of Baseball," but my FAVORITE  history professor offered it, and my then-boyfriend-now-husband was/is a HUGE baseball fan. I loved every minute of that class. It was by far NOT my favorite history class, however. My favorite, without a doubt, hands down, bar none, was my World War I class.

I'd not really studied the time period in detail before, and was mesmerized by it. I still remember a lot of what we discussed in that class, including names, dates, battles, themes and theories. Imagine my supreme joy when the second season of Downton Abbey featured characters during that particular time period! The precise, historically accurate themes and details of those episodes brought tears to my eyes. YES. That is what shell-shock looked like. YES. Disfigured men did try to pose as dead comrades. YES. The horror caused deep pacifist tendencies. (I'm not proposing that everyone go out and watch all of Downton Abbey now. Despite the historical accuracy of the WWI episodes, subsequent episodes lost a lot of that, and a lot of my respect for tipping their hats to liberal media agenda. And not subtly, either. Grr.)

The biggest take-away from my WWI class was the fact that history repeats itself. Humanity didn't learn from that war (or any previous war, for that matter). If you think about that for too long, it can really be a depressing thought. What is far more depressing to me is when I hear people talk about how much they "hate" history. And what is even more alarming is when people don't know the stories about their parents and grandparents. Because I grew up hearing those tales, I thought everyone else did, too. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that often, my peers don't know their family history. How can we understand where we are going if we don't know from where we have come? This is true on a global as well as a personal level.

If we don't know our history, we are going to repeat it.

My Sword, V6

And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:5

Sometimes I feel as though it is impossible to love with the love of God as we are called to love. It is often easy to love my beloveds, but there are those people in my life that I find somewhat - ahem - difficult to love. "The greatest of these is Love," you know, but can I really love in my human-ness? This verse reminds me that because I am God's and His Spirit resides in me, His love has been poured into my heart. THAT is how I can love with His love... He has poured it into me! May I never stifle that love!

White Rocking Chair

Here I sit, holding you
dreaming of all you may someday be
thinking of all you already are
I sing
whispered words of comfort
hopeful my transcendent love
permeates all your memories
redeems all mistakes
points you on The Way
I dream
seeing the fullness of your years
hoping the future is full of light
praying time brings grace
to you and through you
bringing joy, peace and comfort
I cling
these fleeting moments
aching in my heart and soul
a beautiful pain
purposefully impressed memories
pondered forever in my heart
Here I sit, holding you
thankful, grateful you are mine.