Book Review - Redeeming Love

Redeeming Love
by Francine Rivers


What a wonderful read! It is a semi-modern take on the story of Hosea and Gomer. While some may say once a prostitute always a prostitute, Michael pursues "Angel" with a relentless love. He pursues again and again and by God's grace points his beloved to the one who is the Author of love. What a great analogy of God's relentless and passionate love for us. How often we turn back to our sin not believing things can be different. How often we run from the One who offers us grace. True freedom is found when we surrender to the love that engulfs our soul and let Him define who we are.

It also seemed very relevant to me in terms of the subject matter. Today prostitution forced and by choice is prominent and it is worth noting that what people do is not who they are. They are just as worthy of God's love as we are, which is not at all. He extends his grace and mercy to all who would come to him. How relentless our pursuit should be to bring these "children" out of what they know and show them what true love looks like. I hurt for them. I hurt for the children forced into these awful situations, losing their innocence to satisfy the evil desires of mankind. Hardened by the hopeless situations they find themselves in, locking away their emotions to survive. Who will show them God's love?

3 Apples Doesn't Necessary Mean 3 Apples

I set out to make my first apple pie on my own. I got a nice simple recipe for pineapple, apple pie which looked delicious. I did the easy thing and bought refrigerated pie crusts instead of making my own. I had bought some apples last week. Really, I've been buying apples every week since September and am sad that the season will be coming to an end. But maybe I'll find some really good deals on bulk apples they need to get rid of.

Back to the pie...So the recipe called for 3 apples. I had 3 apples and followed the instructions to the tee. But when I filled my pie crust to the max I still had at least 1/2 the filling left in the bowl. I called my husband over to ask him his thoughts on the matter. There was obviously no way all that filling was supposed to fit in that small pie crust. I re-checked the recipe to see if I had done something wrong. He checked too. Nope. So all I can figure is my apples were really big. This is indeed true, but how am I to know whether or not to use small apples or large apples for the recipe? It does not specify.

However, all is not lost and in fact it turned out quite well. The package I bought had two pie crusts so I just had to make 2 pies instead of one. They came out quite tasty and we will be finishing off the second tomorrow. Yummy. Not bad for a first try.

Before in the oven

All ready to be chowed down!

80's anyone?

We were so thrilled at attend a retro birthday party for a friend of ours. Naturally we had to look the part! John was going for the Vanilla ice look and I guess I was an 80's rocker girl. We got to roller skate! Remember those? It was a blast and something I haven't done for so long. Ahhhh....the memories!

When life gets crazy....

I realize it's been a long while since I've written any posts. It's not for lack of anything to say that's for sure. In fact, I think it's just the opposite. Sometimes life gets in the way. Then before I know it too much life has happened and I feel overwhelmed about trying to play "catch up."

The only solution to this problem that I see is to simply not try. So I will not try to re-cap everything that has happened in life since my last post. It's just too much. Instead let's just start with the present and move forward.

Actually it seems there is probably some sort of lesson in that. If we dwell too much in the past it's impossible to move forward. We just need to let it go and live in the present. So this is my attempt at that. Here's to today! A new day! A new start! A new post!

Seriously #2

I was reading the paper this weekend which is something I like to avoid because it usually leaves me feeling depressed. Anyhow, I came across a crazy little article about a case that was dismissed in court. I am so happy it was dismissed but what got my attention was that the case was submitted at all. Two very well to do young adults were suing their mother for “bad parenting.” Seriously? First of all if people could sue for that, the legal system would be jam packed. No one is perfect. But their “evidence” was ridiculous: a birthday card that was not liked. Not getting a pony or something like that. Seriously? If anything the parents are guilty of raising spoiled brats and the kids are guilty of immaturity. That’s my verdict. And here’s my sentence: Grow up and be thankful for all you have! Be thankful you had parents who provided for you!  

Seriously?

I think I am going to start a new series in this blog called "Seriously?" There are so many things I run across on a weekly, sometimes daily basis that just make me shake my head and say, "Seriously? Are you kidding me?" Sometimes it's things I read. Sometimes its things I hear. Regardless, there are so many things out there that you just have to wonder about.

So today's Seriously? :

The Grapple

I read about this in the Food Network Magazine. The powers that be have modified nature and created an apple that tastes like a grape. Seriously? What is the purpose of that? If you want a fruit that tastes like a grape there is a fruit like that out there. It's called a grape! If you want an apple, eat an apple. I have never once in my life bit into an apple and thought, "Gee, I really wish this tasted more like grapes. That would be the epitome of greatness." What's next? Maybe they can make it a little rounder and smaller, and maybe purple or green. Just a thought.

John turns 30!

It's official. John and I are both now 30 years old! Don't ask how it feels because it doesn't feel any different for him than it did for me. So instead of dwelling on the fact that another year is gone why don't I share what a fun time we had celebrating. Great idea!

Let me start by saying that John's birthday celebrations seem to take on a life all their own. While most people have a birth day. Day being the key word. John has something like a birth week. It seems that the celebration is always stretched out a long time. Not that I mind. I'm not jealous or anything. I guess I'm just happy I get to be in on the celebrations too. 

This year, thanks to groupon we were able to go out to a nice mexican restaurant for his actual birthday. We ate so much and couldn't even finish dessert. No. You did not hear me incorrectly. John actually turned down more food! I know it's crazy. It's hard for me to even believe it myself. If I wasn't there to see it with my own eyes....

Then his small group guys took him out to a sports bar. Guy time. (Insert Home Improvement grunting)

Friday was "our" day to celebrate. We took off work and headed to the Botanic Gardens. John was really impressed and it was a gorgeous day. We had ourselves a little picnic and walked the grounds for a while. They had this crazy Bonzai exhibit and some of these little trees were amazingly intricate! Did I mention that it was a gorgeous day? It was. And also they had some crazy cool flowers which I love taking pictures of.

Our tiny lunch picnic

There is something so cool about lily pads

Ok...natures showerhead?

I love this "hidden" view from Spider Island

John and I just thought these were the coolest flowers.
I mean they are like 4 different colors in 1 flower.

One of the Bonzai trees

I love weeping willows. 

I just thought this looked cool because of the reflection.

So serene!

Some ducks came to visit

We left the gardens and headed to Ravinia where we had lawn tickets to watch the Lord of the Rings on the big screen with the score played live by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. What a cool experience it was! We got there early, but apparently not early enough. By the time we got in the gates all the front lawn seats were taken. We did manage to nab some good seats though and we set up camp. It was tough lugging everything in but well worth it. 

People here take pickniking to a whole new place. Serious is the word that comes to mind. They take it very seriously. Wine, cheese, candleabras, little tables, tablecloths, stakes to hold wine glasses, etc. These are items that were pretty common as I looked around. It was super fun to people watch. We had our subs and chips and cheerwine and were really happy. We had to wait around a few hours before the movie began but it was a beautiful evening and felt great to just be outside. 

Our picnic spot.

The movie itself was wonderful, as always. It was fun to see it on the big screen and I was actually really amazed at the clarity and detail in such a large and far away screen. Since we couldn't actually see the orchestra it was easy to forget that they were playing. The dead giveaways were the odd clapping and cheering that would erupt at the end of various scenes in the movie. That was actually quite amusing. They did a great job though and John really enjoyed it, which is important. 

Saturday we went to Benihana for my cousins birthday and then later to Johnnies Beef, which my Johnny likes. 

Sunday we celebrated with my family at another sports type restaurant. And then capped it off with some Nutty Buddy Pie (another John fav). That ended the celebration but I think he would tell you it was a good birthday. I had fun too. I wonder what festivities next year will bring?