In the midst of persecution and trials the Hebrew believers were struggling to keep the faith. This encouraging letter reminds them that the holiest place of the temple has been opened by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now they can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith to fellowship with God Himself. Don’t give up, but rather, “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (10:22-23)
I had an adventure last night.
I sand in a National Trust Property for a special event with my choir. We're going back again tonight. The Place was beautiful, and the room we sang in was spectaculare - almost a Cube of marble. The accoustics were amazing - although you did have to get used to the echo. Fantastic night, and really enjoyed it. can't wait for tonight.
The adventure happened on the way home. Because of low car parking spaces, we car pooled there. I and another girl got a lift with a man, R, who drove us there and back. On the way there, he decided to go via back roads (to avoid conjestion through the towns) and drove over 2 really big Potholes. We did check the tires and wheels when we arrived, as they were enough to jar us. He thought there might be a bit of a dent on the front pasenger side wheel, but that all was OK.
We went home via the main roads. The A24 is a Dual Carriageway. Not quite but almost a Motorway/Highway for my American Friends. As we started building up speed, the car didn't sound right. It sounded almost as if the Seatbelt on the passenger side had been caught in the door and was flapping in the wind. We slowed down for a bit and it was fine. Then we came to another faster section and it sounded worse. We talked about how it sounded and that there was a garage a couple of miles away that we would pull over in.
Then the tyre came off the wheel.
At 60 miles per hour.
Thank God he was able to stop in a straight line and there was no one behind us.
We phoned for the AA (AAA in the states) and they promised to get out to us asap - but it would probably be about an hour. I phoned my dad to try and get a lift home, as the AA would have to tow the car (no spare tyres in Hondas - they only give that spray foam stuff, which is no help when you have no tyre) to a garage, and we'd have to get home from there anyway.
Dad was really helpful and arrived just as the towtruck arrived. I got home at 00:10. I then had to make myself some supper as I hadn't had anything before the concert. I stuck in an episode of House season 5 (Love/Hate relationship with House) to calm down, and didn't get to bed before 1:25am.
I still had to get up for work at 7:00 this morning - only just made it, I fell asleep on the train - rare for me - and my train buddy woke me up as we got into the station!
Thank God all is OK and the Car will be fine too.
I get asked this question a lot. A LOT, a lot. And in the hopes of never having to answer it again, here we go. :)
First, you know how some people like to watch TV and how some people like to listen to all the new music and how some people shop? I read. I watch movies and TV, too, but mostly I'm a reader. I always have been. There's a picture of me as a toddler reading People (this has not changed, even though I've applied for a job there twice now and they haven't hired me...but that's not the point) and family legend says that I started reading when I was three. But I think most people manage to do a lot of whatever their non-work priority is. For me, it's couch time with a book; for you, it might be concerts or shoe shopping or watching every single episode of Top Chef in one crazy weekend marathon.
Second, this year (and next year!), I decided to read for charity. Family and a couple of friends are sponsoring me (most are doing a flat rate, which is what I encouraged) and I've read more this year than I have in any year prior. (I am on pace to beat last year's total by over 100 books.) I think it's because if you give me a goal, I will exceed all expectations. :)
Third, if you look at what I've been reading this year, you'll see that it's not super challenging. I haven't been reading War and Peace or Madame Bovary or anything. I did finally read Little Women, but still. Not the same thing. I've been reading mysteries, general fiction, fun nonfiction (hello, AJ Jacobs!) and a ton of YA fiction.
And finally, I don't have kids. I don't have a significant other or roommate. I have a dog who is fine with me reading all the time, provided he can hang out in my lap while I'm doing it.
Have you ever had this happen:
CO-WORKER: "You know Lindy?"
ME: "Uh..."
CO-WORKER: "Lindy...Lindy!"
ME: "No, I don't believe so."
CO-WORKER: "Come on, you know Lindy."
ME: "No, I don't."
CO-WORKER: "Lindy...cute girl, always carries a backpack?"
ME: "Dude! I've never known anyone named Lindy in my entire life!"
CO-WORKER: "Oh...well...I saw her today."
What the heck is that about????
Have you ever been typing along, paying close attention to the page you're copying like we were all taught in school, and glance up at your screen to find out that somehow the cursor has jumped up into the middle of the previous paragraph and you have an entire section of text that doesn't belong there?
Have you ever done that?
Seriously!
How the heck does that happen??
It's a complete mystery to me.
Help me out here.
I really need to know.
Here's how I'm doing so far:
Books read in November: 22
Books read in 2009 so far : 245
Money raised so far: $360.25 (mostly promised; $100 officially donated on my First Book page so far)
Best books read in November: Fallen (Lauren Kate), Under the Dome (Stephen King), The Secret of Joy (Melissa Senate), Mudhouse Sabbath (Lauren Winner), A Friend of the Family (Lauren Grodstein) and UR (Stephen King).
What I'm looking forward to in December: the new Sue Grafton book.
In case you are curious to see what I've read so far, visit this page.
If you would like to donate to First Book now instead of at the end of the year, you can access my (currently ultra-generic) page here. You can also donate in installments, which is what I'm doing. :)
Finished Reproduction is the Flaw of Love by Lauren Grodstein.
This is completely unlike her other novel, A Friend of the Family.
Miller and his girlfriend Lisa might be about to become parents. The novel takes place during the time while he buys the test and then while they're waiting for results. While he's waiting to learn if he's about to be a father or not, he reflects on his life, his ex-girlfriend Blair (who he still loves) and Lisa.
I think A Friend of the Family is the better book but this is the easier read. Either way, both are worth reading.
I recently received two books from The Ooze Viral Bloggers. One of them has become quite a beautiful edition to my library.
This is not that book.
The book I read is Through the River, Understanding Your Assumptions about Truth, by Jon & Mindy Hirst with Dr Paul Hiebert.
It maybe that I was expecting something different, it may be that I shouldn't have read the Preface, it may be that I already have this in my mental vocabulary, but I felt very 'Bored Now' by the book.
I was expecting something much more in the style of "A New Kind of Christian", where a theological discussion was taking place as a conversation between two fictional characters, or even "The Dream Giver" where half the book was Allegory and the other half discussed it. This book was neither.
The central allegory of the story was very rudimentary. It just wasn't interesting. This made it very difficult to finish the rest of the explorations. I just felt like this book was a lecture that the professor was trying to make interesting by giving it a hypothetical situation.
I still kept feeling like this could have been done better.
The other thing that drove me nuts was the references to Dr. Paul Hiebert. I completely understand the need to give him credit for the work he did, but tone in which they kept referencing him was really supercilious and I wasn't impressed. It felt like they were showing just how important they were that he hung out with them and talked about this.
I just didn't enjoy this book much at all, which is too bad. It was a great idea, it's just the execution that left something to be desired.
Finished Here's to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume.
It's the sequel to Just As Long As We're Together (see post directly below). This time, Rachel's the narrator. It's not long after the events of the first one and Rachel's older brother, Charles, is home. And Charles is a total douche, so Rachel's life is really stressful.
(Although it sounds like Rachel's life is always stressful; Rachel is a perfectionist.)
Stephanie and Alison aren't in this book very much; I missed them.
KEEP THE FAITH
Read Hebrews 10: 1-25
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22 NKJV
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Perhaps these Christians found themselves irritated with their fellow believers in the presence of all the outside pressure. Maybe they were tempted just like we are, to just drop out for awhile and blend in with the culture. Why put ourselves with a group of people who sometimes don’t even get along?
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Help us Lord, to remain faithful to you and to our fellow believers. Give us the motivation to follow this admonition in Hebrews:
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And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
