Books, Music, Art
MUSIC
Josh Groban....he's wonderful...check out his website http://www.joshgroban.com/ for more music....I love the song REMEMBER WHEN IT RAINED off his CLOSER cd.
Phillips, Craig, and Dean
Let Your Glory Fall
"Unstack the building blocks of your life, and take a good hard look. Free yourself from the weight of expectations. Unpack your dreams and see if they still exist. Now… take a deep breath, exhaling whatever has kept you arms length from God. Because if you can, you’ll experience life the way it was meant to be. Simple. Honest. Real."
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The Simple Abundance 2005 Daybook of Comfort and Joy (Rizzoli/Universe) is now available in online at Amazon and in bookstores. Go to Amazon
Join Sarah in Sedona, AZ on May 14, 2005 for a 1 day retreat at A Woman's Way ,www.awomansway.com for more information.
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BOOK SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MONTH
*Tessie and Pearlie: A Grandaughter's Story by Joy Horowitz
reminds me that someday I wish to be a grandmother (Christi/Rachel get NO IDEAS here that I wish that to be SOON! *smiles) that my children's children can talk to and hopefully have the intimacy that Tessie and Pearlie shared with their own granddaughter. Great recipes in the book too for those of us who are still aspiring to be 'good cooks':) Here's what another reader had to say:
In this powerful memoir overflowing with warmth and humor, Horowitz, a freelance journalist, illuminates the lives of her two bubbes (Yiddish for grandmothers ). Over the course of 18 months, she interviewed Pearlie, her mother's 93-year-old mother, in Santa Monica, Calif., and 94-year-old Tessie, her father's mother, in Queens, N.Y. Both women live alone and share an immigrant past and the physical impairments of old age; their personalities are very different. An orthodox Jew, Tessie boycotted Horowitz's wedding to a gentile, does not fear death, advocates a pragmatic approach to life and is a dynamite gin player. The more emotional Pearlie loves to dance, is still a great cook, wants to go on living and believes that religion is in the heart. Horowitz intersperses her grandmothers' accounts of their childhood poverty and reminiscences of love, sex and childbirth and her own struggle to come to terms with her dying father's lung cancer and her yearning for a spiritual comfort that she receives, in part, from talking to Tessie and Pearlie, the smartest women I know. Photos.
*The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg ( I would have liked the author to expand the ending....and how the sister came to the place where she could accept to move on in this fashion...still...worthwhile reading).
*Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (Gives us much to think about in daily living).
*Cane River by Lalita Tademy ( I read this book and was deeply touched by her intimate stories and the courageous women I came to know through her research).
*I've Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked out All the Pots...(hmmm seems that I've loaned that book out and the author escapes me now...I'll FIND out soon and post it)...older book...the title DREW me to it...the author kept me in it for the entire day i spent reading it=)...great book to read either before or after Cane River. OK..found it=)...the author is SUSAN STRAIGHT. This book is a well kept secret=).
Instructions for Your Discontent
How Bad Times Can Make Life Better
By Barrie Dolnick
Foreword by Sarah Ban Breathnach
Principles of the Instructions What you are about to encounter is a little strange. You're just going to have to get over that. These Instructions work. I can attest to it. That said, if the discontent we encounter together in this book isn't suitable for these Instructions, you'll be encouraged to seek help elsewhere. I always enjoyed those Dear Abby columns where she evenly and firmly indicated that the concerned letter writer should seek professional help. If your brand of discontent is outside my experience, you're going to know it.
Discontent is a truly universal experience: you're going to see many of your friends, family, and colleagues in this book. But you're the only one who can follow these Instructions. You can't fix other people. You can only fix yourself. Apply these Instructions liberally to your life and you will, by example and by healing, help others. But that's as far as it goes.
The tenets in this book aren't founded on "what's right" but on finding "what's the right thing for you." One person's ambrosia is another person's arsenic. You're the only one who can call the shots in your life. It's your free will, which is the most difficult and the most blessed thing about it. Yet you may be tempted to judge someone else's choices or way of life. When your attention starts to wander in someone else's direction and you feel the urge to utter "Ugh" or point out the error of his ways, resist! You are here to explore your own reality, not to judge others. You're here by the grace of God (or whatever the Great Energy may be to you) and no one appointed you (or me) keeper of the Right Way. If people around you seem to be going astray, let them -- as long as they don't harm anyone else. If no one is hurt (I mean gravely hurt) by another's choices, you have no reason to interfere. This is what's known as the harm-noneprinciple.
Some of these Instructions require action on your part. Most of them require you to reevaluate your beliefs. In many ways, your beliefs about the way the world works can keep you from finding serenity and happiness. You will be challenged to look into what you have accepted to be "right" about the world. This isn't to say that you're wrong, but the "Re-Beliefs" in this book can enhance your vision, expand your scope, and broaden hope and healing. Discontent can't be contained or outlined to fit your agenda or your convenience. It appears in your life in its own time and place and pops up in almost every area you can imagine. For that reason, this book is organized based on the most commonly expressed discontents to the less expressed but certainly no less important.
Discontent has layers, like an onion. The outer layers are typically the problems that we're more willing to share with others. We can all gripe about money -- that's perfectly acceptable. We can complain about other people, too. That's not too far from the surface. Money and love are the two most pervasive forms of discontent. The inner layers are more personal and less commonly articulated. These are personal issues that include self-esteem, time management, anger, and your inner spiritual life. For this book, we'll work from the outside in, but you can go wherever you need the Instruction. Be sure to read the first two chapters before you get started.
You're going to enjoy examining your discontent, and moreover, you're going to love being happy again.
Copyright © 2003 Barrie Dolnick
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ARTICLE FOR REVIEW:
Relationship Advice
Hey Guys - What’s your priority?
By Michael Smalley
May 10, 2004, 11:08
Hey MEN, have you ever felt like just giving up in a relationship? Then you need to learn how to adapt…
ADAPTING INVOLVES MAKING CHANGES THAT HELP US TO EXCEL AT THE TASK AT HAND. ADAPTING HAS HELPED HUMANS SURVIVE AND FLOURISH IN ALL SORTS OF CONDITIONS. PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN COLDER CLIMATES TEND TO HAVE MORE FAT CELLS. PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN WARMER CLIMATES TEND TO HAVE DARKER SKIN PIGMENTATION TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE SUN.
IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE IN RELATIONSHIPS, YOUR EMOTIONS MUST HAVE THE ABILITY TO ADAPT. YOU CAN’T ACCEPT THE OLD ROLES OF A TYPICAL MALE BEING DISTANT AND UNINVOLVED WITH YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.
IT’S GOING TO BE YOUR ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH THOSE YOU CARE FOR THE MOST THAT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE FULFILLED. DO YOU NEED TO ADD SOME SKILLS TO YOUR MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS? TIMES HAVE CHANGED! AND IT’S TIME YOU DID TO. PUT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS FIRST, THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
YOU DON’T WANT TO SPEND YOUR LIFE GOING AFTER THE WRONG THING, MAKE THE CHOICE TODAY TO PRIORITISE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS AND PUT THEM #1 IN YOUR LIFE.
© Copyright 2003 Smalley Relationship Center
*please note that the above article is used in its original format from the Smalley Relationship Center....I have NOT corrected typos or misspellings...even though, in professional work, it BUGS me to death;)
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Daily Strength=)...http://www.walkintheword.com
http://www.harvestbible.org/
"Perhaps in your past experience, you too have experienced the transforming power of God as never have before. Yet you would admit that you found victory only for a time and then fell back into a pattern of defeat. Maybe you got fired up at a youth retreat or a special conference or during a difficult time, and for once you were really walking in the joy of the Lord, but then it all fell apart. You are not alone! Most Christians today are not living at the peak of their spiritual experience. They know how to fire it up, but they don’t know how to keep it going."~James MacDonald
Pastor James MacDonald is one of best teachers of the Bible I've had the extreme pleasure of listening to....a great way to start your day!
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WHAT IS LOVE?
Never argue with a child:)
Subject: What is Love?
A group of professional people posted this question to a group of 4 to 8
year olds. "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader
and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think.....
When my grandma got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore. So my grandpa does it for her now all the time, even when
his hands got arthritis too. That's love...
Rebecca- age 8
When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouths.
Billy- age 4 (this one is so beautiful)
Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving
Cologne and they go out and smell each other.
Kari- age 5
Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your
French Fries without making them give you any of theirs.
Chrissy- age 6
Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.
Terri- age 4
Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip
giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.
Danny- age 7
Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you
still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are
like that. They look gross when they kiss.
Emily- age 8
Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop
opening presents and listen.
Bobby-age 7 (wow!) Yes - WOW!
If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend
who you hate.
Nikka- age 6
Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.
Noelle- age 7
Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends
even after they know each other so well.
Tommy- age 6
During my piano recital, I was on stage and I was scared. I looked
at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was
the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.
Cindy- age 8
My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else
kissing me to sleep at night.
Clare- age 6
Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken.
Elaine- age 5
Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he
is handsomer than Robert Redford.
Chris- age 7
Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him
alone all day.
Mary Ann- age 4
When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little
stars come out of you
Karen- age 7
Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and doesn't think it's
gross.
Mark- age 6
You really shouldn't say "I LOVE YOU" unless you mean it. But if
you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.
Jessica- age 8
And the winner was a 4 year old child whose next door neighbor was
an elderly man who had just lost his wife. When the child saw the man
cry, the little boy went over into the man's yard and climbed on top of the
man's lap and just sat there.
When the boy's mother asked him what he'd said to the neighbor, the
little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
Now that is love.
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