Books, books, books

Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent Donovan- Brittany and I read this one together; she borrowed it from a colleague. It is the true story of a Catholic priest/missionary who worked with the Masai people in Tanzania in the 70s. He had some pretty groundbreaking methods for the time, great insights expressed with wonderful writing.

The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey- In this book Yancey discusses how the Old Testament is applicable to us, how it answers questions that plague us as a human race. He chooses five sections: Job, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, the Prophets and Ecclesiastes –works that are often overlooked due to the fact that they are considered hard to understand, boring or strange; and he unpacks and discusses what God is communicating about his nature through them.

Things I wish I’d Known Before I Got Married by Gary Chapman- Don’t freak out people, I just like to be prepared. This was a recommendation from a friend, when I got it; I skimmed the chapter titles and was prepared to be disappointed, because they mostly sounded fairly commonsense. But, as I actually read the book, I learned a lot and am glad I bought it.  He’s got 12 chapters based on a statement he uses as a chapter title, like I wish I had known…….that I was marrying into a family.

 

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller- So, I had had this book on my kindle for a while, I had heard talk of this Keller guy. But what made me start the book was hearing a friend of mine (someone much smarter than me) call Timothy Keller today’s C.S. Lewis, what!  This book is great, the first section takes arguments and doubts against Christianity that Keller has heard all his ministerial life and gives rebuttals to those. The second part is a positive argument for Christianity. So, yeah, I am on the TK wagon now. 

Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber- I had always meant to read this book someday, but a family member was diagnosed with cancer this month, so I figured now was the best time. Brittany read it over a year ago and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. It is one of the main reasons she (and as a result me too) has made so many changes in diet.  Which is why I expected it to be all about diet, but it isn’t. It is much more personal than I expected it to be; it is Dr. Servan’s journey from being a fairly impersonal doctor, to being diagnosed with cancer and feeling pretty helpless about it. From his research since then, he has written this book on how cancer victims can take control of their lives through positive attitude, good support system, and lifestyle changes- not as a substitute to chemotherapy and radiation, but as a supplement. It is interesting and helpful so far, I haven’t finished it yet.

A review and revision of resolutions

It’s that time of year again-resolution time! I actually wasn’t gonna do them this year, but then I was looking at last year’s blog and realized that yes, actually I will give it another go. So, below are last year’s resolutions in italics, with a review of how I fared, and revisions for 2013:

    1. Spiritual- I want to really work on scripture memorization this year, I should probably name a quantity to keep me accountable....lets say a passage (vague on purpose) a week-Fail, echec, ail-fay, and any other language you would like to say it in. I did good maybe the first month.  So, this year I am revising my goal, making it more attainable and realistic- one passage a month. Start small and hopefully grow from there.

    2. Intellectual- this one is easier, I just discovered i-tunes free weekly podcasts, they have ones on economics, science, history, all kinds of things I will never sit down and read about but can listen to a podcast about! Well, I did indeed listen to podcasts for like two weeks, then I realized how massive itunes was slowing down my already burdened computer, and deleted it. So I didn’t get any smarter this year.  But, in 2013, I will read some already-on-my-kindle history and science books to expand my horizons.
   3. Physical- one word: jogging. No diet resolutions this year, come on people I live with Brittany Bedford!- yep, did it! Not everyday, but fairly consistently all year, it was so cool to jog among the mountains in France! This year it is p90x workout videos in my house, bring on the Micheal Scott-ish workout trainer in 2013!

4. Social- I will not hole up in my room and hide from French-speaking people, I will talk to them and make mistakes but build relationships through it! Ch-ch-check! Though my French is nowhere near perfect, I did indeed accomplish this resolution. This year all I have to do with this resolution is change the word French to my new language and voila!

  ok folks, hold me to it:) Happy New Year, love you!

Cool story

I meant to get this story in writing soon after I heard it at a conference in Kentucky, that was two years ago now. It has been on my mind the last couple of days, so I finally used that wonderful internet contraption and found that message online!  As he shared this story with thousands of strangers, I am taking the liberty of passing it along.

 Dr. Walt Larimore is a very accomplished physician and well known in his field, and his whole message was powerful; but this story is what I remember the most. I generally cry when I tell it, so it is a good thing I am typing now! To get the whole message you can go to http://www.medicalmissions.com/learn/resources/a-person-is-a-personno-matter-how-small

The doctor was working in his early years as a general family practitioner in a small North Carolina town. He and his wife struggled with the miscarriage of their second child. Right after the miscarriage, Larimore cursed God, but then turned to the Word and felt enveloped by invisible arms, that brought peace and comfort and in the end he turned back to Jesus.

  One day sometime after this, seventh grade boy named Danny came to his office with an injured arm, he had been injured while playing football. Instead of just a broken bone, they found bone cancer and they had to amputate his arm in an effort to eradicate the cancer. Though all this time, Danny was more than a conqueror, he trusted in God and was joyful through losing his arm, he was, he said “God is good, and this is not what I would have chosen, but this is what he chose.” 

Later they found that the cancer had spread, and the cancer research center sent Danny home to die. He was Dr. Larimore’s first hospice patient, and he visited Danny several times a week. He was often unconscious due to the medications, and Dr. Larimore took his hand and prayed that his passing would be peaceful. That is when Danny opened his eyes and said “It will be, don’t worry- I know I won’t be much longer, but I know where I am going.”

The doctor asked “where?”

“Heaven”

“How do you know for sure?”

Danny paused and said “Because Azar told me so.”

“Who is Azar?”

 “You don’t know Azar? He is my guardian angel, he comes and sits with me and we talk about heaven. He’s big and he is strong, and he has golden hair, he has a big sword, Azar said it will be him who takes me to heaven, and that is how I know.  You haven’t met him? You are sure?”

“Not that I remember.”

“That’s very interesting.”

 “Why is that very interesting?”

“Well because he says he is your guardian angel too, and your wife’s and Kate’s (Larimore’s first daughter). Azar was with you the night you lost your baby, it was Azar who took your baby to heaven, it was Azar who held your wife as she wept, and it was Azar who held you after you cursed God.”

Dr. Larimore says that nobody knew about that, not even his wife.

And that’s it, the rest of the message is great, follow this link above to hear all of it. But is that not an amazing story? Isn’t God great? I hope you were touched and that you were drawn closer to the heart of God by that account.

Lazy Post

Lately every time I sit down to write a post, I can't decide where to start. Too many themes I could start on, I get overwhelmed and decide to do it later! So, instead of forming a cohesive and thoughtful piece of writing, tonight I think I will just take advantage of this good internet connection to give you some random blurbs of life in Guinea thus far:

-We buy our bread on the street, and then flame it over the the stove to kill any fly eggs that may  have made homes there

-We bleach our fruits and veggies before eating them (well not everyone does this, but many westerners do)

- I learned how to make homemade tortillas, yummy, but a lot of work!

-I had my first fresh coconut, and drank all the milk out of it-  which I heard has like ten times more potassium than a banana.

-I have been terrible at taking pictures here, I just feel lame every time I pull it out- so I stopped, I promise eventually I will show some real Arica-y type images!

- Climbing in and out of a landcruiser in a long skirt gracefully and non-harmfully.....more difficult than I thought

I am seeing that most of those things have to do with food in some way....lol, well that pretty much sums it up, I think outside of ministry, food has been a big topic of conversation in both my orientations, procuring and preparing food becomes such a bigger deal when you have no walmart to go to!
Voila my lazy post, Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

What I have been reading lately

With the purchase of my kindle, I have been going back and forth between several books, and now have for you my own little review of what I have been reading. Going in a rough order from most recommended to least. 

Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale- Oh my goodness, I would love for all my supporters to read this book, to get an idea of the ministry strategies our team would like to use, and to see just how much their prayers can affect the Kingdom! It is full of real life stories of people in this area of the world encountering Jesus in  powerful ways. Please stop reading this blog and go buy Miraculous Movements right now! 

Spiritual Survival Handbook for Cross-cultural workers by Robert S. Miller- this little book is full of wisdom on spiritual warfare and staying strong on the mission field. It is written by a missionary to missionaries, and it really challenged me to step up my game when it comes to being dedicated and steady about spending time with God and not just studying the Bible but “lingering with God” as Miller puts it. 

The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler- I really like Matt Chandler’s kind of in-your-face style of teaching and preaching.This book was pretty much what the title indicates; he talks about how the Gospel should be central in every message and action of the church, and goes on to distinguish between the ‘gospel in the air’ and the ‘gospel on the ground’ and then their implications and applications.

Praying God’s Word Day by Day by Beth Moore- this is a wonderful devotional that is a great quote followed by a short prayer made up entirely of scripture based on different themes for each day of the year, so good. 

How and When to be Your Own Doctor by Isabelle Moser- wow, that title is really good. Sounds like it would be great for life in Africa, right? I thought I was so lucky to find it free on Amazon….no  I am being unfair, I haven’t finished it yet, it’s just not what I was expecting/hoping for.  From what I have read so far, it is all about cleansing our bodies of the toxins introduced to them by the gross American diet. So a lot of fasting/colon cleansing/right nutrition kind of talk happening. Which I could be on board with, but I am not in the states anymore, and telling someone to fast when they get sick isn’t what I am going to be doing here in West Africa. 

Dreaming in Black and White by Laura Jensen Walker- I think being in Africa is changing my tastes a little. I used to love these light chick-lit books, but this was just ok. It was fun that the main character was a classic movie fan, and I like old movies too, but the jokes and references were kind of lame, I thought. Plus, I don’t know whether to be amused or annoyed, but the main character said stuff like “Dear God, I’ll go be a missionary in Africa, just don’t make me { insert some task]”  Maybe it’s just that I can’t relate to the character or her problems so much.

Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell- no, not the one from the Bible. I really like some other stuff from Gaskell, she is kind of Jane Austen/Louisa May Alcott-ish.  But I couldn’t finish this one, I was skipping whole pages (well kindle pages, they are smaller.) Soo wordy! Like a whole page on the way the land looked after  a rainstorm, or something-again it is possible that my tastes are just changing. So yeah, gave up on that one.

Halloween (posted late, but I actually did write it on Halloween)

Happy Halloween! On this day a year ago, I was boarding a plane for France. Today I have since been ten months in France, a month and half in the US, and half a month in Guinea. What a year!  I got to experience so many new and exciting things, and meet so many wonderful people.  In that time I said some tearful goodbyes, learned a good deal of French and formed relationships in France, came home and reconnected with family and friends, said more tearful goodbyes, and now am in the beginning stages of culture learning here in West Africa. 

But of all the cool and glamorous things I got to do this year, I can honestly say my relationships with the people around me are what make my memories so sweet.  Yes the French scenery is amazing; yes, the buildings are old and beautiful; and yes the people here  wear wonderfully colorful clothes- but all the things like that aren’t enough to make me say “that was worth leaving my friends and family and home.” The only thing that makes me say that is getting to share God’s love with the people around me through investing in relationships with them.