Thoughts..

Donald Miller says "Everybody wants to be somebody fancy. Even if they're shy". I thought, no, I'm pretty good, Don, thanks for the thought though. Then as I continue to read Blue Like Jazz, I start to think, 'I wish I was a writer, or a deep thinker. Someone who can be involved in insightful discussions.' Even as I write this, I wish I could say what I want to say in some super amazing and enlightening way. But I don't. My cousin is coming in town tonight, and her and her boyfriend are avid readers and of the literary kind. Her boyfriend sent us an update a few weeks back on a trip they took, I felt like I was right there with them. He was able to describe the events in an entertaining way that went beyond a simple email update. It was beautiful.
Also as I write this, I realize I am writing in the style that I am currently reading from Donald Miller, and that I did that with my post yesterday. Didn't even realize that until now. How insightful of me...
Why am I writing this? I don't know. My husband is on the golf course, my roommate not home, and I'm trying to ignore my dog's whining (and occasionally turning and swatting her nose). So I have no one to talk to, but you, my blog, you're here. I realize how much now I am missing my lifegroups. I have continue PhotoLife, but my womens and couples group have been on hold for the summer. I miss the conversations about faith, life, and such. So for now I will entertain myself with Donald's 'nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality'. Here's a few thoughts I've enjoyed..

the intro
"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was standing outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.
After that I liked jazz music.
Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.
I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened."

"On the drive over the mountain that afternoon, I realized that it was not the woman who should be pitited, it was me. Somehow I had come to believe that because a person is in need, they are candidates for sympathy, not just charity. It was not that I wanted to buy her groceries, the governmanet was already doing that. I wanted to buy her dignity. And yet, buy judging her, I was the one taking her dignity away...
I love to give charity, but I don't want to be charity. This is why I have so much trouble with grace."

"We dream of Christ's love for His bride reading like Romeo and Juliet; two equals inflamed in liberal love. I think it is more like Lucentio's pursuit of Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. That is, the groom endearing the belligerent bride with kindness, patience, and love."

"'Don,' Moses responds, 'before I put you to death and send you home to the one true God, I want you to understand something. I want you to understand that God has never been nor ever will be invented. He is not a product of any sort of imagination. He does not obey trends. And God led us out of Egypt because you people cried out to Him. He was answering your prayers because He is a God of compassion. He could have left you to Satan. Don't complain about the way God answers your prayers. You are living on an earth that is run by the devil. God has promised us a new land, and we will get there. Your problem is not that God is not fulfilling, your problems is that you are spoiled.'"

I hope you enjoy these thoughts-
I promise, there is plenty more photographs coming your way :c)