Advent Thoughts: Mary

Two years ago I wrote lyrics for my first and only songwriting collaboration with our choir director at church. He asked me to write something about Mary's perspective on the Christmas story.

I was thinking about how Mary was the first one to know Jesus as Immanuel, his name which translates as "God-with-us." She was the first person in history to experience the indwelling of Christ. The really cool part is that she knew it literally, as she carried the baby who was also God inside her. Because of this ultimate miracle, now you and I can carry Him in our hearts. Isn't that amazing?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14


"The virgin will be with child

and will give birth to a son

and will call him Immanuel."

Then the angel sang

to fulfill those ancient words

that God-with-out

would become God-with-in

Sweet in Mary's heart

sprang the first worship

of God-with-us

Immanuel

Soon this foretold child

would live mankind to save

but just this hushed moment

the joy was hers alone:

"O may my soul sing

forever of your great love!

How can it be that in me stirs

the rescue of all ages?"

Advent Thoughts: It's True

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25


Eight little verses in Matthew open a new chapter in the most fantastic story ever told. Nearly 28,000 verses of back-story in the prelude of the Old Testament, all leading to the first bodily appearance by our Hero... who arrives as a squirming, red-faced baby boy. Who was born of a virgin. Who, along with her husband-to-be, was told about all this in a dream and visitation by an angel. And did you catch the part where the baby was to be the savior of the world, God-incarnate?

It's fantastic. It's so crazy. It's more out-there than the plotline of anything we have ever come up with. Any book, any movie, any other story: there's those and then there's This.

C. S. Lewis, in describing some of how he came to believe that Christ was the Son of God, wrote that he eventually realized that "the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened: and one must be content to accept it in the same way."

He understood that the human race is a people of stories and storytelling. It's our tradition that really and truly sets us apart from the rest of nature. We love stories and we allow them daily to affect us. We cry at movies, we connect with song lyrics, we are inspired by characters in books and their quests and we name our children after them. Lewis came to understand that we shouldn't turn off that part of ourselves when it comes to facing the story of Jesus.

So fall in love with this magical, fantastic story, embracing everything it means. And then, go one step further. See the one "tremendous difference" from all other myths out there.

It's true. Utterly, mercifully, graciously, wonderfully true. Read it again. It's true.

Advent Thoughts

I'm just going to stop numbering these, because then I don't have to feel guilty about my rather loose interpretation of doing "daily" posts...

In a sermon a few weeks ago, our pastor talked about how God wants to move us towards fearlessness. What would THAT be like, huh? To live, unafraid of the future, chasing after God and embracing without a backward glance all that he extends to us...

In scripture's account of the Christmas story, every time an angel shows up, the first thing they say is "Do not be afraid." Here's three times just in Luke:

But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John." Luke 1:13

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God." Luke 1:30

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10

Of course, the angels are saying "do not be afraid" partially in reference to themselves, as seeing an angel pop up in front of you was just as shocking as an experience to these people as it would've been to you or me. But I think what we know of God and His great plan shows us that the "do not be afraid" part is mostly in reference to what is about to be revealed.

God told these people not to be afraid, even though what would come next for each of them was sort of terrifying!

"Zechariah, don't be afraid of the fact that you and your wife are old and that it is scientifically impossible for her to be pregnant. Don't be afraid that the son I'm going to give you has a really important job to prepare the way for my son."

"Mary, don't be afraid that you are the one who is getting this ultimate job of motherhood. Don't be afraid that no one will believe you, because they might not, but I know the truth. Don't be afraid of your husband-to-be and what he will think. Don't be afraid of the way people will talk. Don't be afraid about how this isn't how you thought the Messiah would eventually appear. Don't be afraid even though your son's life - and yes, Mary, someday his death - will change the course of history."

"Shepherds, don't be afraid that people might think you're crazy when you tell them what you saw. Don't be afraid that this baby won't be the king in the way you imagined he should be. Don't be afraid that this is too good to be true; I sent this baby to be to you as you are to the sheep asleep at your feet."

Can it be as simple as that, for you and for me? That God would say to us, "Do not be afraid," and, even if what he says next sounds really really scary, we could obey? At Christmas, we celebrate the most extraordinary miracle of all time. Our Savior entered the world. That's got to be more than enough reason to follow God into fearlessness.

Advent Thoughts #3, #4, #5

I figured I better catch up on my days since I started this a little late so I'm using the three gifts of the Magi to count for three different advent thoughts. I wanted to do a little research (Thank you Wikipedia) on the gifts and their meaning.

Matthew is the only gospel to mention the three gifts by name. And interestingly enough, the traditional nativity representation of three wisemen stems from the fact that three gifts were mentioned. We don't really know how many were in their group. We also don't know when they came to see Jesus exactly, though most scholars agree it was not at the scene of his birth.

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." Matthew 2:10-11

I love buying and giving presents at Christmas. Spending time to pick out something perfect, wrapping it up beautifully, watching the recipient open it and (hopefully) love it... that's my favorite part. If only I would take a hint from the wise men and remember that first and foremost I should bring my gifts to God! I love that they were so incredibly excited to find Jesus that scripture uses TWO forms of the word "joy" in the same sentence. Shouldn't I "rejoice exceedingly with great joy" to find Christ this Christmas; to find him every day?

Here's a little info I rounded up about each gift and its significance:

Gold - Just like today, gold was very valuable during ancient times. It would also have been a practical gift since it could be used for currency by Mary & Joseph. The symbolic nature of gold is to reference Jesus as king. In fact, all the gifts are common to what might have been given to royalty at that time. The wise men recognized Jesus's lordship, even in the form of a chubby little baby.

Frankincense - This gift, like its name implies, was a material that could be burned as incense. It comes originally as dried sap from a specific tree that is native to the southern area of the Arabian Peninsula. It was used by multiple ancient cultures, including Egyptians, Jews, and Chinese, across Africa and Asia as a fragrant incense during religious ceremonies. It was also used in perfume, makeup, and medicines. It relates symbolically to Jesus as priest, as our connection to God the Father.

Myrrh - Myrrh is also a tree-sap byproduct. It has some really interesting historical uses. The ancient Egyptians used it to embalm the dead. Despite its bitter qualities, it was also used in fine perfumes and anointing oils, and is mentioned throughout scripture as such. Myrrh also has a functional use as an antiseptic, and is used as such even today. Whether the magi intended it or not, the gift of myrrh has come to foreshadow Christ's death on the cross. It has a haunting scriptural parallel in Mark's account of the crucifixion:

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Mark 15:22-24

The symbolic nature of these items is fascinating stuff, but when I think of the magi and their gifts, I am mostly convicted about my own gifts to God. Have I brought him my best? My most rare and valuable? My most prized and significant offerings? Gifts to glorify Jesus my God, to honor Jesus my Priest, to thank Jesus my Savior? Clean hands, a pure heart, incessant prayer, songs of worship, obedience, compassion... these and more are the offerings we can bring.

Advent Thoughts #2

Just last night I rewatched the first of the Narnia movies based on C.S. Lewis' beloved series. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the White Witch seeks to rule Narnia. As Mr. Tumnus describes to Lucy, it is this pretending queen who makes it always winter, never Christmas.

What a relief that we have Christmas to celebrate in winter! I think most of us tolerate the cold weather and frozen landscape because Christmas twinkles on the horizon. Don't you find the chill of December more bearable than, say, mid February? The joy of anticipating the holiday and all it means keeps us warm, in a way.

We live in what often seems a winter-numbed world, full of gray circumstances, icy perils and cold-hearted people. But like Christmas in December, Christ in our hearts fills us with hope. God kept his word to send the world a savior. We celebrate His arrival in the dead of winter, a blaze of joy in a most dark hour. Because of Christmas, we can live the other 364 days carrying the flame of fulfilled-promise that God will also do everything else he said he would do, including one day bring us into his glorious eternity.

Lost souls operate in an always winter, never Christmas world. We have to live like Christmas is coming. Because it is, dear ones. It is.

Advent Thoughts #1

I'm a bad little blogger lately, I know. Sorry Mom and small but lovely handful of other readers out there! I thought I would try something special from now through Christmas, and that is to make a daily "Advent" post. It can be a sort of devotional, for you and for me. Let's start now!

***

Rescue. I love that word as it pertains to what Christ means to us weary sinners. There's a drama to that particular word; it heightens my sense of understanding of how very far gone we all were before Christ stepped into the world. Kidnapped by death, held hostage by our sin, eternally incarcerated for our offenses against a righteous, holy, perfect God.

And then there was Jesus. Our rescue was coming, did come, has come. That's what the world was waiting for. That's advent: the anticipation of our imminent rescue.

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Galatians 1:3-5

Just Watch This.

And a happy Thanksgiving to you!

You are

sun on my face and You are easy
song in my mouth and You are happy
blessings at my right, my left and You are giving

weight on my shoulders and You are frustrating
breaking in my heart and You are unfathomable
world closing in and You are distant

but You are, You are
You were and You will be
everything You said, all the things You promised

no matter what You are to me
You are

Just Because I Love Twilight...

...doesn't mean I can't appreciate a really fantastic parody! Or maybe it means I can appreciate it even more. Either way, I give you the latest of SNL's Digital Shorts, the trailer for a little movie called "Firelight."




PS. How adorable and fun was Taylor Swift as host/musical guest this week? She did a great job. I especially liked her spunky monologue song, which you can see here.

Both Hands

Our friends Tim & Carrie are working on the process of adopting from Russia. This past weekend we were able to be part of a pretty cool fundraiser they did. Ben made this amazing video to help them get the word out about what we did, and it is so great! Get out the Kleenex, it is a tearjerker!



You can find out more about Tim and Carrie and their adoption at their blog, http://twetenadoption.blogspot.com. Please pray for them as they continue to work to bring their children home soon!

Ben's Addiction

I went into Ben's studio earlier this evening to look for a camera cable. I found it, stuck under a guitar. As I moved the instrument out of the way, I realized that there were guitars EVERYWHERE. I knew he had several, but it is like they've been secretly breeding in there. I had to document it with my camera and, well, the evidence speaks for itself.








If you're counting with us, that's NINE. And these are just the ones that I could SEE. Now to Ben's credit, at least two of those cases photographed were empty. However, I also know that there are at least two guitars of his that are packed away elsewhere and not pictured here, so. Yeah. It evens out. But I love that he loves his guitars, and I even love that they're laying around everywhere, and that he somehow sneaks them into the house without my knowledge. Just like a proper addict.

Besides, I actually have my own little guitar, and, not to brag, but I'm wicked awesome at it.

Easy level, what what!

Sick Puppy

Poor Scruff-dog has not had a good couple weeks. I took him to the vet for his annual checkup and shots two weeks ago and turned out he had a nasty ear infection. He also has allergies which mostly manifest in adorable doggy-sneezes but had progressed to his eyes. So our tough guy had to have drops in his eyes and ear every day, which he took like a champ.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, he must have caught some sort of 24 hour doggie stomach flu... if such a thing exists? All I know is one day as I'm walking out the door he started making that horrible heaving sound and before I can usher him off the carpet... blech. And again... and again... Then he didn't want to eat or drink anything, and so I fed him what I feed myself when I'm sick: saltine crackers and Gatorade. Well, actually it was Vitamin Water but you get the idea. That only lasted about a day and a half, thank goodness for everyone and especially for my carpet.

Now he has this kind of hacking cough that he's doing, the kind that wakes me up at night and, just in case, makes me get out of bed and go check on him. Poor little pup.

It's hard taking care of someone (or in this case somedog) who is sick, and I don't think it is especially my strong suit. Visiting sick people is easy for me - I'm good at cheering and no-nonsense advising and gift-bearing. But really caring for the sick requires lots of patience and mercy, and if I'm being honesty those are two big weaknesses for me! Still, I know God wants to develop those things in me, and I think this past week He might have used dog barf to inch me a little closer.

Opportunities for lessons learned aside, I really hope Scruffy is better soon and back to his normal self. Or rather, as normal as a mostly-super-chill, other-dog-hating, weird-phobia-having, backwards-walking puppy can be.

This is literally the happiest face Tony LaRussa has ever made.

We're going to the post-season!!! The Cards beat the Rockies on Saturday to win the NL Central, as predicted at the beginning of the season by... nobody.

In that same game, this guy might have pitched his way to a Cy Young award.


If not, don't worry, we have the other front-runner on our team too.


Two aces in the hole, big bats in the lineup, smart (if generally stoic) Tony at the helm, and the adoration of the whole Cardinal Nation... Here's to October, my dear Redbirds!

Emmy Fashion Roundup & Rundown! (Part 3)

MILA KUNIS

To be fair to Mila, I saw this as she walked the carpet, and I didn't think it was that bad. I just think that this length of dress is for people under the age of 12 and/or ballerinas. Unfortunately, she kind of looks like both.

MINDY KALING


In a surprise turn of events, Mindy might be one of my best dressed of the night. Even though I personally wouldn't want to wear this dress, I was really impressed with how well it suited her. It is funky, cute, and contemporary. I love the unique art-deco-esque detailing on the bodice, the color of the dress with her skin, and her youthful, fresh hair and makeup. Kelly Kapoor would most def. try to be recreating this look from Scranton's local department stores.

OLIVIA WILDE

Last year Olivia Wilde was my best dressed from the Emmys. You might want to go look at that dress again, because I don't even have words for what is happening to her here. If I was forced to come up with words, some of them might be "bride," "figure skating," "doilies," "what," "is," and "this."

ROSE BYRNE


I don't know Rose Byrne personally, but I'm kind of mad at her. Because this dress is REALLY gorgeous and I want to be raving about her right now but unfortunately her hair is just ruining everything. It's like her body knew she was going to the Emmys, but her head thought she was going to audition for a part as a small town single mom in a Lifetime original movie. Thanks for nothing, Rose Byrne's hair stylist. Ugh, can't you just imagine how gorgeous it would've been in a low loose chignon? And in her natural dark chocolate hair color? Okay, okay, moving on.

SANDRA OH


I think Sandra looks great. She is glowing in the gold color and I am even going to give her a pass on the little gold rope belt, which I kind of want to rip off. The fit is wonderful on the dress and her soft loose hair is the perfect accessory.


TINA FEY


I was a little disappointed in Tina for going back to a safe, relatively plain black dress after she looked so great in the purple strapless number last year. From the front it just looks a little matronly. But I'm giving her props because I also saw it from the back:

...which looked very classy and elegant with the low draping and jeweled piece. And no matter what I thought of her dress, she got the last laugh as her series 30 Rock won five Emmys including Best Comedy. Or maybe we get the last laugh because we get the pleasure of watching that hilarious show. Either way, someone is laughing. And there's nothing unfashionable about that.

Until next year... or the next awards show... aj

Emmy Fashion Roundup & Rundown! (Part 2)

JENNA FISCHER

I really like Jenna's look from the knees up. An improvement over last year for sure. The mermaid shape is surprisingly good for her, and black, while safe, is also sophisticated when done well. The beading is okay and the sweetheart neckline is a great choice on her. She looked so happy walking the carpet with her new fiance, and I also like her softer hairstyle. Oh, and even though you can't see them in this picture, her very pretty drop earrings. The only thing is, from the knees down, the fabric is doing something weird... like what is happening with the big stiff hem?

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

If it's not one thing with this girl, it's the other. I approve of the dress. The color is sweet and fresh. This is the right shape for a girl like J-Love with some shape to her hips. It is youthful without being inappropriate for her age. However. HOWEVER. Unless she arrived directly at the Emmys after performing the titular role in a new stage production of Rapunzel, those extensions have got. to. go.

KATE WALSH

If a redhead walked up to me and said, "Quick, name a color I would look amazing in," silver would not be the first thing tripping off my tongue. Thanks, Kate Walsh, for teaching me something new! Like Jenna Fischer, a real improvement over her heavy serious look from last year. I have no idea what miracle of technology is keeping that dress up, but color me impressed. And I don't know that I've ever had the pleasure of saying the words "elegant," "flattering," and "saddlebags of draping fabric" in the same sentence, but there you go.

KRISTEN WIIG

Hey, Kristen, thank God I caught you before you got any further down the carpet. Come a little closer... little closer... Riiiiiiip. Wait, let me get the other one. Riiiiiiip. Okay, okay. You're good to go! Knock 'em dead, you look great in that sleeveless halter dress!


KYRA SEDGWICK

Somewhere, Bridesmaid Barbie (1996 Collector's Edition) is crying in the bathroom because she showed up wearing the same thing as Kyra Sedgwick! And her stylist said it was a one of a kind! PS. This is awful.

LEIGHTON MEESTER

I probably had the hardest time making up my mind about this outfit. I'm still on the fence. On the one hand, I love it. On the other hand, from some angles those knots in the shoulder straps looked like giant weird puffs. On the other other hand, from other angles they looked smaller and gave her Grecian goddess gown a unique twist. On the other other other hand, I thought the whole look aged her a little bit. On the other(x4) hand, I love Blair Waldorf like Chuck Bass loves ascots and suspenders, and therefore I'm willing to allow Leighton some wiggle room here. I don't know. Please tell me what your hands think, in the comments.

Emmy Fashion Roundup & Rundown! (Part I)

The Emmys were held Sunday night and I've rounded up the best and... least best. Let's get to it, ladies and gents! I'm going in alphabetical order, for fairness sake...

ANNA TORV

Isn't this a fun little dress? I wish she'd done a little something with her hair but even so she looks great and this dress is flattering her athletic figure. I love the color (up close it is a little more of a pink-red than a red-red), I love the sequins, I love the fact that it has sleeves! Making it look easy to look good.

CHLOE SEVIGNY

I don't often have nice things to say about Chloe's fashion sense. Some people are gaga over it, but I mostly don't get it. This dress, however, I adore. It takes a classic, upscale silhouette but makes it interesting with the fabric and pattern choices. Fun and young and unique. I do wish she didn't insist on doing her own hair and makeup (c'mon, you know she did) because it could be a lot better.

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE

Oh dear, dear, dear. This dress is awful. It looks simultaneously frumpy and overwrought and WHAT is going ON with that weird line across her chest?! Is it a curiously lilting band of beading? Or is it a one-shouldered cape? BECAUSE THAT IS NOT BETTER.

DREW BARRYMORE

Ben loves Drew Barrymore. I like her too, and I like how now in her 30s she is looking better than ever. But I do not like this dress. This looks falls into the dangerous territory of doing unicolor hair-face-skin-dress. I like the shape and style of the dress, but the color is dingy and wrong.

ELIZABETH MOSS


I've recently started watching Mad Men. I really like it! But I don't really like Elizabeth Moss's dress. The rich color is very flattering, and I like the built in necklace as neckline, but the draping is detracting from all that. I think a simpler silhouette, in this same color, would've been nicer. But actually, all I could think was how much better she looked in the one episode where Peggy got glam to go out with the office gents... maybe Elizabeth should've snatched this from wardrobe:



ELIZABETH PERKINS


I like to say something nice about each outfit even if I didn't like it, because I know these ladies tried hard. So... umm... Elizabeth, my, what a fetching color on you.

HAYDEN PANETTIERE


I try not to read other people's fashion reviews before I do mine, so as not to be influenced. But sometimes I slip, and on this occassion I can do no better than the site where I saw her look described as CIT, for Cougar In Training. Hayden just turned 20, but this is the dress, makeup, and styling of a 40 year old woman.

JANUARY JONES


I could not find a single photo that did this dress justice, but when I saw January Jones on the red carpet I was wowed. I imagine she has to try really hard to put together a look for these events. After all, the "old Hollywood glamour" that other women can do would just be a retread of the character she plays on TV. This dress is architectural and truly unique. It manages to look modern and retro at the same time. Many other actresses could not pull this off but she is wearing it well. My only complaint is her hair looked a little last minute. I also included this picture to show that, while out on the red carpet it looked to be white, on stage it was revealed that the dress is actually a fabulous mint color. LOVE.



It's my day off so I'm off to run some errands. I will post parts two and three later today!

November 20th...

...can't come soon enough! Fangirl squeeeeeeeealing.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Five Things

Five Things That Put A Smile On My Face Today
1. This weather
2. My Cardinals
3. Remembering that college football starts this weekend
4. Ben's banjo practicing is actually kind of adorable
5. Reading books

Five Things That Are All Up On My Last Nerve Today
1. Swine flu alarmists
2. Girls in too-short shorts (I call them jean-panties)
3. Celebrities with overly political tweeting habits
4. Jon & Kate and I don't even watch their show
5. My bangs growing out

Maniacs and Red Ferns: Books That Rocked Your Childhood

Working in the bookstore continues to keep books on my brain! As I've spent more and more time in the kids section, I've been thinking about the books that meant the most to me as a child. I don't just mean children's picture books, of which I have a long and varied list of favorites. I'm thinking more of those books that I encountered as an older child, the first and best loved volumes that pierced my child-sized heart and stretched my child-sized imagination. Two in particular come to mind for me.


The first time I remember understanding my mom as person beyond "my mom" was when she read aloud to my sister and I the entirety of Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows. I have the most vivid memory of sitting next to my sister in the bench seat of our minivan, with my mom turned slightly in her front passenger seat, reading to us. She came to the last few pages of the book and I watched, transfixed with simultaneous wonder and horror, as she began to cry. She kept reading through her tears, her voice cracking and her nose sniffling. We cried too, for the death and sadness and love and loyalty of Old Dan and Little Ann, and for our mother, a real woman who could be moved to tears by the wonderful power of the written word. Billy's first encounters with faith and death were mine, too. I have loved that book ever since.


If I could force all my customers at Borders to leave our "independent reader" section holding one book, it would most likely be Maniac Magee. Author Jerry Spinelli is one of those rare types that just seems to "get" kids, and wow did he ever get me with this one. This book broke my heart in the first pages and kept right on breaking it til the end. Family, home, love, hatred, fear, innocence... all the shattering and magnificent and surreal parts of growing up. Maniac was the first literary character I loved and, despite his magic, or maybe because of it, the most real.

The most powerful children's books are never patronizing. The fears and joys of youth are celebrated and explored and revealed in their pages, and the authors who write these books understand and respect the essence of childhood. That is why the best of these works are timeless. Reading them at 20, at 40, at 80 is as wonderful, even if in a different way, as reading them at 10.

What was the book (or, if you're like me, books plural) that rocked your childhood and why? Do share in the comments!

Covering a Classic

Hi people! I know, it's been too long, I suck at blogging on a regular basis, etc. etc. While we were apart, here's what happened to me. I got a part time job at my local Borders here in Brentwood. I will be the Children's Book Specialist, which is basically the job title I would have made up for myself in a fantasy world, so how fortuitous that it turned out to be real!

For these first few days I've just been learning the basics. Days one through three, I spent almost all my time at the register. Having never worked retail before, it was a whole new world for me! A little nerve wracking when something out of the ordinary comes up, but I'm getting the hang of it. The past two days I've spent shelving (or as I apparently pronounce it, "shelfing"), which means taking all the new books that come in and putting them in order where they belong on the shelves. It's a bit of a puzzle, as each shelf has to be full, but books with several copies have to be facing out, and all the books have to stay in order, but also make room for all the new product. So there is lots of scooting stuff around and squeezing things to fit.

The primary function of this task is apparently to taunt me with book after book that I am inspired to add to my must-read list. I was having a hard enough time keeping up with the books I knew about; now I discover there is a whole world of books I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW EXISTED that I also want to read!

One other thing I've come to realize is that the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" is kind of ridiculous when actually referring to books. Probably half the books I come across that I pick up suck me in first by having an awesome or interesting cover. Ah, you got me again, marketing! (Shakes fist.)

For example, today I shelved these really gorgeous new editions of three classics. Penguin commissioned artist Ruben Toledo to illustrate these covers, and I wanted to buy them just for prettiness sake. Take a look:




I love the Wuthering Heights one especially, with the caricatures of haughty Heathcliff and crazy Cathy, and the fabulous way the really intricate branches are drawn into the defined shapes of the trees. What a great way to hook readers into picking up these classics.

What's a book cover you are especially crazy about or have a vivid memory of? Share in the comments!

Yadi Love

Seems ESPN finally realized what Cardinals fans have known for a few years now... that Yadier Molina is delightful and so much fun to watch and his adorable mug will sell this magazine to women!


And, also, in a related story, he is THE best catcher in baseball.

Unexpected

I recently checked out Salinger's Franny & Zooey from the library. I always loved The Catcher in the Rye, and its protagonist Holden is one of my favorite characters in literature. Since Salinger only published a handful of works before withdrawing into his famously reclusive life, I figured I should give one of his other books a try.

It was a quick little read, and is technically composed of two novellas which were initially published separately, nearly two years apart, in The New Yorker. The stories concern a couple particular members of the Glass family, in this case Franny, the youngest, and Zooey, her older brother and the youngest son.

I expected and found rambling characters like Holden, struggling with becoming adults, struggling with making sense of life and more immediately, their own thoughts and actions, all described in the frank and coarse language that put The Cather in the Rye on banned book lists.

What I didn't expect was one character's sudden but impassioned discourse on the person of Jesus Christ, and what it means to pray to and follow Him.

This is but one example of why I truly believe that God's power to reveal Himself is not limited only to the work of those who intend to do so. Salinger is not, at least by all accounts at the time he was being published, a Christian. But something of the truth of God was in these pages as I read them, as Zooey struggled to explain to his sister why she ought to think carefully about who she was praying to and how. Here are a few of the quotes that leveled me.

If you're going to say the Jesus Prayer, at least say it to Jesus, and not to St. Francis and Seymour and Heidi's grandfather all wrapped up in one. Keep him in mind if you say it, and him only, and him as he was and not as you'd like him to have been... The part that stumps me, really stumps me, is that I can't see why anybody... would even want to say the prayer to a Jesus who was the least bit different from the way he looks and sounds in the New Testament... Who in the Bible besides Jesus knew - knew - that we're carrying the Kingdom of Heaven around with us, inside, where we're all too ****** stupid and sentimental and unimaginative to look?

To try and understand the whole person of Christ, as he was, not to cringe away from or try and ignore the difficult parts about who he was and what he taught... what a sobering, convicting challenge. The Jesus who sacrificed himself and loved and healed was also the Jesus who threw tables in the temple, who told me to take up my own cross if I want to follow him, who taught things that are radical and absolute, things utterly at odds with the easy life offered by this world. I have to follow, to love, to obey the whole Jesus. Though more difficult to understand, he's infinitely better and more worthy than any other version I might construct.

Ben's Videos!

This is what Ben has been traveling and putting in 80 hour weeks for! These beautiful videos were, for the most part, shot and edited by Ben, and I'm so proud to share them with you!

To view all the videos and the complete site, visit http://www.yamaha.com/allaccess360/. I embedded some of my favorites below.

Birthday Week!

Ben's an 8-2-82, I'm an 8-8-83. That means the first week of August is Birthday Week in our house!

I love nearly sharing a birthday with my husband, but it was a change coming from a family where everybody's birthdays are spaced throughout the year. Ashley is in January, Mom's in March, I'm in August, Dad is in November. Since we've been married, Ben and I always have a big co-birthday celebration because we know we'll have to wait a whole year before we get to celebrate again! It was actually one of the reasons we decided to get married in March instead of waiting til summer, so we would have something else to celebrate the other 359 days of the year.

I thought it would be fun to take a look back on our birthday celebrations from the past couple years...

2006 we celebrated even more things at once with a combination birthday-birthday-housewarming party. The house was as clean like it will never be clean again, since we'd just moved in about a month before. Ben got to fire up his brand new grill. There were hotdogs and brats and it was as hot as August in Nashville can be.

2007 was the year of the FIESTA! We had a rockin' good party featuring the first appearance of the Wii. There was a donkey pinata named Paco. I made fajitas to feed 50. BYOB. Good times all around.

2008 we spent birthday week in Estes Park Colorado, and I had the most magical of all birth-dates ever in the history of birthdays... 08-08-08! It was so fun we just kept chanting it! The discovery of the brookie. White water kayaking. I met Bethany Dillon. Friends and family and all the good stuff.

WILL 2009 top them all? Well, let's just put it this way. There's going to be this:


And lots of it. So bring on the festivities, it's birthday week 2009!

Blackberry Bottoms

Okay, so I tweeted that I was going to attempt these cupcakes a couple days ago. I did, and here they are for your inspection.

I had purchased some gorgeous fat blackberries from the farmers market last weekend, and I knew I wanted to use them in a dessert. I chickened out on a pie. Plus, I don't like pie. Instead, I went with cupcakes. I intended for these to be buttermilk vanilla cupcakes with blackberry centers/filling. Instead what happened is the berries were too heavy and fell through the batter as they baked, ending up on the bottom of each cupcake. So I rechristened them Blackberry Bottoms.

That's the bad news. Construction, fail.

The good news? They still tasted real delicious. Kind of muffin-esque. And all that means is that I can convincingly eat them as a breakfast food. Oh. Yes.


Plus, you can't tell there's anything awry at all... very innocent and proper looking...


Until... chomp chomp. The blackberries have been located.

Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing" and its Music Video Muses

Twitter was a-buzz today with kudos for the new Coldplay video. It IS pretty awesome, and you can see it here. (I couldn't find a good embeddable version.)

I wasn't completely overwhelmed, however, because it so reminded me of Oren Lavie's beautiful stop-motion video for the song "Her Morning Elegance."



I first saw the video in this post from Inkdryer's blog. Coldplay obviously turned it up a notch with the crazy cool chalk animation but I like the way the other video used the real items as props, like the sock fish.

And, while we're at it, someone already fought psychotic squirrels in a music video, and that someone was David Crowder. Case in point.

PS. Sorry, I fail at blogging lately. I will try not to wait two weeks between posts again!

Happy

Your turn!

Complete the sentence: "Today I will be happier than _______."

This adorable print found at Studio Mela on Etsy.

Grill Master

From the always awesome Toothpaste For Dinner:



From my backyard, yesterday, apx. 7:00 pm:


Love you, my little grill-master!

PS. Thanks Heather for the link!