the.book.chat link-up

Happy Thursday everybody!

Today is another book chat link up with Sweet Green Tangerine and the prompt is: What are your favorite short stories/novellas?  Have you ever written a short story?

I'm not an actively huge fan of short stories (in that I don't seek them out), but I do enjoy them as a genre. Humor-wise, I really enjoy David Sedaris as a short story writer. I think he is witty and brusque in an entertaining way, however, I will put a BIG DISCLAIMER here that some of his stuff goes too far in the inappropriate/adult-content areas for my taste. I have definitely started a story and skipped over bits. I do enjoy his writing so it's a catch-22 on that one. 

Secondly, for classically awesome short stories, I go to Holmes. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories are fantastic and intriguing in a way that few people can accomplish today. There is a reason they're a classic and why people are still making them in to TV shows and movies…Doyle was brilliant and his short stories are so cool. (Sidenote—if you're looking for an incredibly adaption of Holmes to add to your Netflix list, I would strongly suggest the BBC's Sherlock. It is a modern adaption but they stick to some of the old story lines and it is very well acted. You'll love it.)

Regarding my own foray into short stories…yes, I have written several. Most were for class assignments either in high school or college (BA in English Lit…kind of inevitable), but I have tried a few just for fun. I don't think I ever set out to write a short story so much as try to write something really good and run out of plot ideas around the page count of a short story—which far demonstrates my lack of creative writing skill more so than my feelings for the genre. Haha

So what short stories have you really enjoyed? And come join the link-up today!

organized—schmorganized

dear fellow bloggers,

Help! I love your cute pictures and beautiful photography, your ambitious recipes and magical ability to make food look pretty in pictures. And now that I've buttered you up, maybe you'll give me some much-needed advice.

I'm a pretty organized person. I know where everything is and I try to keep all my crazy clutter in some sort of regimented chaos. However…my craft corner is sadly lacking. I have a small desk and side table that sit in essentially a 6"x4" corner. There isn't anywhere else to move it in my apartment and as much as I'd love to install some built-in shelves, the wall is concrete and I'm only renting for another 6 months or so. THUS – I need a better system for exactly the setup I have now. (Please don't judge me for all the mess and my plastic fabric tub!):

I've seen all your posts about incredible craft room/desk makeovers so I'm asking for help. My budget is DIY and I'm at a loss for a better way to use/decorate this small space.
Please help!

Love,

sarah

fighting, fear, and fathers

You might remember me talking about the bible study my sister and I are doing together right now. It's going great and I really love being able to share it with her (even though we're exactly 2,887 miles apart…ugh!). This past week, the focus was learning to fear the Lord. I've heard this phrase about a million times, but never really thought about it. I think I always equated fear of the Lord with the traditional idea of fear…of being afraid of something. But what my now-adult(ish) brain is finally getting, is that fear of the Lord is very different than the other fears I've known.

The truth is…I'm a 'fraidy cat. In a big way. Horror movies or books…nope. Scary Halloween costumes…nope. Haunted houses/mazes/etc…definitely not. However, I've come to understand that my serious aversion to manufactured/Hollywood fear is rooted in the fact that I have experienced true fear—the deep-in-your-heart fear that you never ever forget. 

To be brief, let me say that my dad was truly an amazing guy. And being a professional weightlifter, he was also a very big guy. And it was no secret, that he was also a very angry guy. Our family knows that his rage was the result of a lot of his own emotional issues and alcohol abuse, but to a scared little kid, well, I didn't really it back then. This isn't some pity-seeking diatribe about my childhood, but my point is that this is where my understanding of fear came from. And after we lost my dad, I then felt the true and ever-present fear of worrying about losing my mom. There is a lot more to the story, but the point is that it took me a long while to reconcile the idea of God as a father, because even though my dad was amazing in a lot of ways, he was also the person who first taught me what real fear was.

So now, as I'm doing this study and thinking about the importance of learning to fear the Lord, I feel like I'm fighting to separate the world's ideas of fear (both real and manufactured), verses fearing the Lord, which is about reverence and and awe recognizing His power. To me, the two ideas of fear couldn't be further from each other.

It's strange that after all these years of trying to avoid fear or avoid feeling the deep-seeded fears I've experienced in the past, that now I am actively seeking out fear, though a new kind of fear. But here's the point of all of this…part of last night's study was to reflect on the things that are given to us through fearing the Lord, what benefits we reap. This was astounding to me! because there is no benefit or blessing from fear on earth. You don't get anything for being afraid, other than a racing heart and paranoia. But fear with benefits…now we're talkin! So here are a few that really stood out to me and made me think about the beauty in reconciling the two kinds of fear:

• Psalm 128: 1 "How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways." —happiness? I'm a fan of that!
• Psalm 103: 11,13 "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him." "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him —GREAT love and compassion? Not turning that down!
• Isaiah 33: 6 "There will be times of security for you—a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.." —security that comes out of fear? Now there is something I certainly never felt from earthly fear.

I know this is probably my longest post to-date, but fear has been a big part of my life and it is so liberating to hand it over to God and to start to learn how to fear Him in a new way that brings life and blessings instead of the heartbreak and anxiety from the past. I mean, God redeems even the very nature of fear and makes it new, just by being. So cool!

favorite blog friend friday: Sam I Am

Okay, so she may not actually tout the Seuss connection I make of her blog title, but Sam over at Today I Am is definitely one of my must-read-several-times-a-week bloggers. She is encouraging and fun and I totally wish we could totally hang out in real life!

Sam is in school studying to be a teacher and her love for kids and life is so apparent in her writing. She also loves Jesus and even more than loving kids/teaching, Today I Am reflects her love for God and her joy in faith! I feel super encouraged when I get to read about her thoughts on faith or her devotionals or just plain joy at God's grace and redemption. Plus, her About Me says, "I'm convinced books are one of my love languages." How could she not be awesome, right?!

Today I Am is full of laid-back fun and simple moments of enjoying all the best things in life (great books, friends, Gilmore Girls & Downtown Abby, and coffee). Down-to-earth and just plain sweet, I love seeing what Sam is up to each week. So make sure you have a chance to be her friend too and go check out Today I Am now!

the.book.chat: current reads

It's another Thursday link-up with Sweet Green Tangerine for the weekly book chat (my fav link-up right now, by far…yay books!). 

This week's question is pretty straightforward: What are you currently reading?

WELL—perfect timing SGT because I just got some new books in from an Amazon splurge this week and I'm super excited to start them up! (happy new book dance goes HERE)

The first is a book I've had on my Amazon wish list for long while now and finally gave in and bought it for myself. It's RUMO by Walter Moers. If you've never read Moers (and most people haven't), he is awesome! Seriously–I can't say enough good things! I first discovered him by reading his other fantastically amazing book The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. I mean, if that isn't a title to hook you, I don't know what is! Moers is a German writer who essentially writes kids books for adults, or adult books for your inner child…whatever you prefer. I've read several and about to take a "sick" day just so I can start RUMO (kidding…ish). To me, his books are the perfect combination of an adult-length read with tons of imagination and silliness, but also some illustrations, a glaring love of books, and good ole' fashioned outlandishness. Unlike any other author I've found so far, Moers' books are the perfect escape and ideal for reading in a blanket fort or tree house…but as an adult. If you want to know more about him…I'd be happy to chat—I'm like a screaming girl fan for this guy (okay, maybe not that crazy).

Second is The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book. In my attempt to teach myself quilting, I found this book and about a million other quilters online that have taken part in their own Farmer's Wife Quilts. The book features letters from 1920s farm wives and the 111 quilt blocks that they inspired. Ideally, you read through all the letters, build the blocks, and put them all together in one beautiful quilt of your own making that harkens back to almost 100 years of quilting tradition. No small feat. I am anticipating that to read through it all and to actually build the blocks…well, it will probably be a project for my whole 2013. We'll see! But I think the idea is amazing and I'm really excited to get started reading about these women's lives and working a little bit at a time to be a part of the tradition it reflects.

Naturally, I also have a huge stack of other stuff I'm sort of working on reading/planning on reading soon. Book people…we have no sense of reading portion-control or self-restraint. *sigh* It's awesome.

Now hop over and join SGT & others for the. book. chat.!

tuesdayish tunes

Not a Tuesday, but this song is pretty great and seems worth sharing today.

Happy Wednesday!

snow, sunshine, and silliness

Well, I've returned from a glorious 4-day weekend due to the totally rockin snowfall last Thursday. I didn't believe it, but for once, NC came through! It still wasn't quite cold enough for it to stick and really knock everything out of whack, however, I definitely could not get my car out of my apartment's unplowed parking lot Friday morning…so yay for a grown-up snow day!

I spent most of the weekend just lying around being lazy and silly with Strider (we're experts at silliness), watching movies, baking, and sewing. 

Due to an accidental early morning wakeup on Saturday (like 6:30!), I had enough time to make homemade bread for the first time in forever. I intended to take pictures and post a recipe, but I'll just leave you dreaming of the smell of warm homemade bread in the wee hours of a very cold morning. I also canned some homemade cinnamon honey butter to be given away with the bread. So fun to share homemade treats!

I also started tackling one of my newest and greatest fears…paper pieced hexagons. More on these later, but talk about time consuming and tedious work…if only they weren't so cute and fun to look at!

However…all that fun and domesticity seems to have made coming back to work even harder today. Feeling a bit of a poopy pants. Oh well…at least it isn't Monday!