Adult Coloring Books – #Write31Days

Look what I found at PUBLIX!  I am super excited about this little find.  I actually grabbed it a few weeks ago, and my intention was to color it.  I had been going back and forth between using colored pencils, markers, or pens.  The pages are thick and single sided, which even brought to mind using watercolors for some of them.

Reality was that I just didn’t have the time to get started on anything, so it sat on my desk.

Today, I had a bit of free time.  I plucked the booklet off of my desk and began thumbing through the pages trying to decide my plan of attack.  Did I want to treat this as a coloring book, working my way through the pages?  Or, would I pick a few pages out and spend a little more effort on staying in the lines.  If I did this, I could potentially frame the pages and hang them as art pieces in my house.

However, to my surprise, I didn’t want to color a single page.  As I looked through some of the intricate designs I had an epiphany!   I could use the pieces for inspiration for a few quilling projects.  I think for now, I just want to work on some of the individual images.  However, I may then piece them together and create a picture/scene of some sort.

I’m curious if anyone else has ended up using the adult coloring books for something other than a relaxing color session?

What About Me? – #Write31Days

To those who know me, I love anything arts and crafts.  I love to craft with paper, or grab a paint brush and create something new to hang in my house.  My home is filled primarily with pieces of art that have been made by various family members.  Occasionally, I will head out with some friends to one of the “sip and paint” style events.  You can bring food and drink, socializing with your friends for a ladies night out… while you paint. 

Painting is not something new to me, I take to it pretty easily but even more so when I am being given step by step instructions. 

A friend invited me to a “sip and paint” party at a local studio, we were going to paint an Octopus on these cool boarded plaques.  There were about six women seated at my table, and despite the instructors best efforts these various octopi couldn’t look any more different from each other if we tried.  Well, maybe if we painted them different colors would could get one step further.

The instructor would pass by and comment on my octopus. 

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“That’s really good.  I like how you painted the tentacles.”

“I love the detail spots you added.”

“Wow.  That’s coming along so well.”

Let me key you in on something, I really do not like public affirmations like that.  I don’t.  I get embarrassed easily (shocking, I know).  It makes me uncomfortable for others who may be struggling.  I am also highly critical of myself and would prefer to float under the radar… or I’m too busy fretting over that mistake no one else notices but is staring me in the eyes challenging me to “fix it”.

After her first few passes and comments, the gal sitting next to me was starting to feel something about the attention.  Kindred to my own soul, she made funny comments about it.  Not directly TO me, but in my range of hearing.  I’d laugh about it, because… well… she was funny.  I’m down with self deprecation, so I chimed in a bit myself.  She laughed.  I laughed.  Then just as the tension was dying, the teacher would whiz by again commenting on my octopus.  The cycle would start over. 

Finally, she began to speak a bit louder to ensure the teacher heard her.

What about me?  Am I not doing a good job?  Is she the teachers pet?

While her tone suggested she was saying these things in jest, we all know there is usually a bit of truth in these types of comments.  The teacher was not picking up on it, but I already had.  So I began complimenting her on certain aspects of her piece.  I pointed out a detail that she added that I had skipped because I didn’t think I would do it right.  I  shared that I was worried about messing up the piece.  The one of the other gals chimed in, complementing another facet of her finished piece.

It is hard, when you are trying to do a good job.  We seek encouragement so that we know we are on the right path.  If we have put in a lot of effort, we desire someone to notice it and appreciate that effort.  That’s a lot to handle and balance with being humble.  It is a check to our pride, graciousness, and humility.

Sometimes, it’s more than just a painting or a task we completed.  We just want to be acknowledged as a person.

There are times, however, where the Lord doesn’t want us out in front of the pack.  He doesn’t want us waving our arms, bouncing in our seats, shouting “look at me”.  In fact, he wants our work to unknown… no credit, pats on the back, accolades.  In a world that is giving prizes for participating, picking weekly superstars, and overloaded recognition we can begin to expect it within all the facets of our lives.  Then, when it doesn’t happen … we take it too personally.

I wonder though, if we are supposed to give the Lord the glory in ALL THINGS… why do we demand such accolades for ourselves?  Why do we demand to be seen, even when He clearly is asking us not to?

Lord, let my human fleshy needs take a back seat to your wonderful righteous glory! Amen.

BOOK REVIEW: Housewife Theologian by Aimee Byrd

If you are like me, any book about being a housewife, mother, keeper of the home or helpmate will grab your attention.  Then slowly, over time… lose it.  Why?  I believe, in most cases, it is because these talented authors are not writing TO ME.  They are writing to the new mom, or a young mom.  They are writing to the newlywed.  They are writing more about relationships with your kids or spouse…  like how to “train up your children in the way they should go”; which is really more a parenting book than a devotional.  It’s more superficial, or about THEM and not as much about ME.

Now, I am not saying that advice of that kind isn’t good.  In fact, IT IS VERY GOOD.   It’s just never what I have been looking for.  As a mom with a teenager, I need a devotional that is going to go beyond potty training and temper tantrums.  As a wife of almost sixteen years, I need advice on how to break those habits we allowed to get out of hand for so long, and reconnect ourselves as a couple.  Or, even better, a glimpse into what the future is going to be like when the kids are grown and living their own adult lives.   As a believer, I am looking for more than a reminder that God loves me, that this too shall pass, children are a gift of the Lord, etc.   I am looking for depth & life application.  As a person with a chronic illness, sometimes I have only enough energy and stamina to get a few pages of reading in.  On those days, I need a solid dose of information versus a light and whimsical devotion, wrapped around letting go of the anger when your toddler spills the cherry kool-aid on your brand new carpet.  My soul cries for MORE.

Aimee Byrd… she delivered it.

In Regards to the Writer: Aimee Byrd

While the book jacket refers to her as “an ordinary mom of three”, I find her extraordinary.  Her writing style is one that I enjoy, because she writes as if speaking to someone with a solid head on her shoulders.  No, I am not talking about it being uber intellectual & so cerebral that the laywoman couldn’t read it.  However, it’s not watered down reading.  You can’t rush through this devotional and get the gist of it.  You really need to slowly ingest every word & take some time to digest it.  (Sorry for the food analogy, I’m trying to ignore the fact that I am hungry.)

I appreciate that Aimee Byrd sees that women not only want more out of devotions, but we need it.  She balances wisdom and information with warmth; you feel welcomed into her world.  She is witty and funny, and real.  You can relate to her.  If you have ever wanted a mentor in your life, she would fit the bill.   Aimee Byrd doesn’t underestimate her reader’s ability to delve into the word, and amplifies the need to do so.

In Regards to the Book:  The Housewife Theologian

I didn’t really catch on, at first, that the book was a devotional or small group style book.  I actually thought the introduction was the first chapter, and even marked out significant passages.  If you are a person who skips the introduction of books, DO NOT SKIP THIS ONE!  You won’t regret reading it.  The chapters are well written, building upon each other.  While I would consider them easy to read, they are also packed full of so much good information, you are not going to want to rush through them.  Each chapter is capped off with a list of Journaling Questions, which you can use for independent study and reflection.  However, these questions would also be great in a book club or small group setting.

Highlights from the Text:

“When you fall in love with your husband, are you satisfied at that moment to learn nothing else about him?  Of course not, the opposite is true; you want to know more and more of him.  And your love grows in this way.  Now think of our all-knowing, all-powerful God.  Can we ever exhaust our learning of Him?”  (Aimee Byrd – The Housewife Theologian)

“Our American do-it-yourself way of thinking may make it more difficult to understand the gift of righteousness.”   (Aimee Byrd – The Housewife Theologian)

“We can get so caught up in the struggle with sin that we can forget that it no longer has a reigning power over us.  We need to be reminded that we are under the reign of grace.” (Aimee Byrd – The Housewife Theologian)

“Women especially play a huge role in showing the face of Christianity to the watching world.”  (Aimee Byrd – The Housewife Theologian)

Information on the Book

Title:  The Housewife Theologian

Author:  Aimee Byrd

Publisher:  P&R Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-59638-665-5

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Hole in our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung

This is a book about the importance of the gospel, being filled by the Holy Spirit to more toward holiness, understanding the balance of faith and works, understanding the importance of the law & heeding Jesus’ commands, facing the world that wants us to be anything BUT holy, repentance,  and the hope that while perfection will never be attainable… holiness can be found in us, through Jesus & He is our motivation for pursuing it.

In Regard to the Writer:  Kevin DeYoung

1) It’s not a short book, but not long either.  DeYoung does a great job of getting directly to his point.  Which for this reader, is HUGE.  You get enough information to drive home the point, without reading endless examples and illustrations.

2) The style in which DeYoung writes is comfortable & fluid.  You don’t find yourself back tracking to read a portion again because it didn’t click.  He transitions to new chapters and ideas smoothly.  His train of thought is easy to follow, as you move through the chapters &  DeYoung never loses track of the main idea of the book.

3) His word choice and sentence structures are familiar without being “dumbed down”.  My great uncle was a lay pastor, and I have heard him speak about theology a few times in my life.  Additionally I have sat in college classrooms with Pastors as teachers, and in churches where the Pastor has more degrees than a thermometer.  DeYoung clearly knows who his audience is, not over complicating thought processes, making relate-able parallels to every day situations and experiences, etc.  He balances writing for “every man” with doctrine and theological vocabulary that we should all be familiar with.  Yet, he makes a point of defining those words through the context of his writing.

In Regard to the Book:  The Hole in our Holiness

I often find myself looking to “experts” to get answers, in particular when I am having trouble understanding a part of scripture or Christian living.  This has a lot to do with my coming to Christ at a later age & possibly even more to do with my analytical brain wanting to get as many thoughts as possible on a subject.  What I tend to find in a lot of writings is that we assume a problem exists, we support with lots of scripture that it IS in fact a problem, throw in a bunch of stories of how others have had this same problem…. and yet fail to ever get to a real solution.  I end up no better of than when I started my research.

Fortunately, this book does NOT follow that suit.  DeYoung does a great job identifying the root problem, getting the scriptural support and even giving us some examples to build the credibility for his argument.  However, he doesn’t let it end there.  Nor, does he end the book with a simple suggestion that we should aspire to be more holy, or pray for it.  In fact, unlike other books I have read, DeYoung really put effort into clearly defining solutions and direction.

He identifies these solutions within each example he gives.  He wraps up the chapters with solutions to that particular facet or challenge to holiness.  Finally, DeYoung caps off the whole book with not only solutions but HOPE.  This book equally convicts us of the areas in which we stumble (or flat out ignore) in our pursuit of holiness, but also gives us hope in a God who sees our heart & desires to be holy.  You don’t walk away from this book feeling beat up, but instead it is more reminiscent of a locker room pep talk.  You may have fumbled.  But, the game is not over yet.  We are still in this.  We can still win.

Finally, the book concludes with study questions you can use on your own, or within a small group or book study group.  It is chock full of scriptural support and references, which are found throughout the text but also recapped in the final pages for quick reference.

Highlights from the Text:

Here are just a few excerpts from the book, that I hope will inspire you to pick up a copy for yourself.

“My fear is that as we rightly celebrate, and in some quarters rediscover, all that Christ has saved us from, we are giving little thought and making little effort concerning all that Christ has saved us to.”    (The Hole in Our Holiness- Kevin DeYoung)

“The Great Commission is about holiness.  God wants the world to know Jesus, believe in Jesus, and obey Jesus.  We don’t take the Great Commission seriously if we don’t help each other grow in obedience.”      (The Hole in Our Holiness- Kevin DeYoung)

“Many Christians have the mistaken notion that if only we were better Christians, everyone would appreciate us.  They don’t realize that holiness comes with a cost.”   (The Hole in Our Holiness- Kevin DeYoung)

 

 

The Hole in Our Holiness

Kevin DeYoung

Publisher: Crossway   http://www.crossway.org

ISBN: 13:978-1-4335-4135-3

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