So the flickr pictures that are scrolling by on the right hand side of the screen have been just beautiful lately. I think Mike has them tagged for “prayer” and “church”. The pictures of those praying around the world have brought me joy.
Author Archive for GretchenPage 2 of 2
So I’ve been on a quest to read the Pulitzer Prize winning books. I had an ambition similar to this when, while teaching, I decided to read all of the Newbery Award Books. Each summer, I made my way down the list of 90+ award winning books. Now that my quest of children’s literature has been sated (save the new winners each year), I am moving into the great wealth of “adult” fiction (no, not the naughty kind, sicko).
The great thing about choosing award winning books is that they never suck. You don’t have to get through a third of a book, just to discover you’re not really that interested, but need to finish what you’ve begun (or is that just my dilemma?). The Pulitzer Prize is given to gifted writers, of great books. Win, win. And when finishing a book, I now have a new favorite author with which to discover their other writings.
So all that to say, I just finished 1995’s winner “The Stone Diaries” by Carol Shields. This is an incredible book. It is written as a narrative biography/autobiography by the main character Daisy Goodwill. She has an almost bird’s eye view of her life, and every once in a while breaks in on her own thoughts and writings to contemplate even further, or even question herself. The book is divided into chapters of life; birth, childhood, marriage, love, motherhood, work, sorrow, ease, illness and decline, death. Journeying through a person’s life is amazing. Especially when you consider what is told and what is kept secret or left out. I appreciate Carol Shield’s storytelling, but even more so, her creativity in telling said stories. She uses correspondance, newspaper clippings, journals, different character’s personal dialogues or point of view to tell the story, and by doing so, gives the reader the big picture, a few insights, but doesn’t get bogged down by introducing new characters or having to tell all of the details of an event.
I am truly enjoying this new quest of mine, although with a 10 month old, sitting down for some quiet reading time, doesn’t happen often enough. I know that we have avid readers of all kinds of literature among our authors and commentators, and I enjoy hearing about what literary adventures we all go on.
So I’ve been reading through the Bible this year. Something that has always sounded good, and something I’ve always wanted to do, but haven’t. The main reason I’ve postponed it is, well, in order to truly read through the bible, one has to read Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Whoa. Not the greatest read. I’ve read them in bits and pieces. But day after day? Chapter after chapter?
I am a New Testament Christian. I really enjoy reading through the Gospels, Paul’s letters and even Revelation gets pretty exciting (though a bit confusing in parts). Yeah, I can “meditate on God’s word day and night” no problem. Except half-way through Deuteronomy, that’s right, the second telling of the law (as if the first time isn’t fun enough), I have a minor epiphany. When David says in Psalm 19 “The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold, they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb” he’s talking about those first five books of the bible. The Law. The scripture that most present day Christians would consider not applicable to our walk. David loved this stuff. He thought the law was worth far more than gold. A sweet read, if you will. That’s a bit harder to apply and understand. Not that I shouldn’t meditate on the New testament, or that I can’t find it’s words sweet, but I think I need to meditate on the harder stuff as well. I want to understand what David, and the prophets for that matter, found so remarkable. They fell in love with Yahweh, based on the Law.
God doesn’t seem very aproachable to me when I read Leviticus. He doesn’t seem to be the same loving, personal God that I know. Yet, if God is the same “yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8) then I need to learn about the Old Testament God as well.
What have I learned so far? I don’t have an awe for God the way I should. I’ve become very blase and comfortable with the creator of heaven and earth. Reading through the Old Testament has become a fun challenge for me. I am trying to learn more about God, take the Sunday School stories a bit further, understand them in my adult faith. Once I have finished the Old Testament, I think I’ll return to the New Testament for a second read through, and see if it helps me understand Jesus a little better. Maybe my love of the New Testament scripture will continue to grow, but I truly hope that my love of all scripture will as well.
So here I am, writing a post. Why, after being encouraged by my husband a plethora of times, do I finally write now? Well, two reasons. My team, the Seahawks, are going to the Superbowl, and I want you all to learn how cool the coach and his family are so you’ll be fans by Sunday.
My family has a cabin in the Santa Cruz mountains where I met my best friend Emily and her family when I was two. Emily Holmgren’s family also owns a cabin in Mission Springs and we spent every summer together. Emily’s dad is a football coach. More specifically, her dad Mike is the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. So over the years, our family has followed Holmgren’s career. We’ve been 49er fans, Green Bay Packer fans, and now for the last 7 years, Seahawks fans. And proud of it.
Tonight my husband Mike and I were watching ABCs World News Tonight, and lo’ and behold the story of the night is on the Holmgren family. While Coach Holmgren gets his Seahawks ready in Detroit for Super Bowl XL this Sunday, his wife Kathy and their oldest daughter Calla are in the Congo. Kathy is a nurse, and was a missionary in the Congo before getting married and having children. Calla is an OB/Gyn specializing in high risk deliveries. The two of them are going to the Congo on a medical mission for the next two weeks. How can they possibly leave Mike and the team at the height of the season? Simple. They recognize that there are more important things than football. They want to help save lives instead of simply entertaining people. Is football still important to them and their family? Absolutely. But this family has it’s priorities straight and is being an awesome witness in the process.
As you were saying: