In His Grip

I Got A Pioneer Woman Cooks Book!!! Yeah!

The other day I was pleasantly surprised when a friend of mine gave me The Pioneer Woman Cooks,cookbook.  I have been following the Pioneer Woman blog for over two years.  I love her quirky posts about her life on a ranch in Oklahoma.  Since I read her everyday, I feel like I know her.  She has invited her readers into her family and home.  I feel like I have helped her make design decisions on the lodge that she recently renovated, helped her brother, Mike, stay on the wagon, and shared her great anxiety as she appeared on the Bonnie Hunt show.  Now, I am pretty sure she has no idea who Judy @ In His Grip is, but I know that if I saw her in person I might just embarrass myself by running up to her and huggng like she was one of my Panera tribe gals.  Okay, that is weird.  This is the best step-by-step cookbook I have ever seen.  To be honest I don't like cookbooks that do not have a picture of every recipe.  I want to see what I am making.  Not only does she have pictures of the finished product, she has pictures of how things look as you follow the recipe.  You have gotta love that!

My Kind Of Coffee Table Book

Here is my kind of coffee table book.  I was in Calico Corner the other day and saw this book, but for $40, I just walked away, but not before I wrote down the title and author, to do an internet search later.  Even with the paper jacket cover off this book looks good.  I have always been one of those folks that buys my books according to the cover and this one certainly fits that standard.  Not only does it look great on the outside but the inside pictures are to die for.  I do have a special love for design and textiles and this book is filled that.  My own particular style does tend to include a lot of different patterns and textures and there are lots of examples of that.  This books has already inspired, in my head, several different projects.  Here is just a small sampling of the what you can find inside this book.

 

Where Women Create

I bought this magazine on Saturday afternoon and by Saturday night I had it read from cover-to-cover.  This is a publication that shows the studio spaces of artists around the country.  Although I do not consider myself an artist so much, Jeff calls me an innovator, creator, and fabricator, all I really want to be called is a designer of beautiful things.   I am very inspired by these creative women.  The stories of how they were creative as children and looked at as oddities from time to time by what they would make; there were times in their lives that people told them to get real and quit living in the clouds because to make money you had to have a "real" job; are all things that I totally relate to.  All of these gals are well known in their fields of artistry, although I would only call myself well known by family and friends, I have found that I can only feel satisfied when I can find the time to create.  Twenty years ago I went from having a "real" job to creating beautiful things for other people in the spare bedroom of our home.  And in those 20 years my studio space has grown and even become an inspiring place for me to be not only during my work day when I am creating things that others have designed, but in my free time when I have the privilege to create and design things that I like to make.  So I will take my titles as innovator, creator, and fabricator, if that means I can continue to have the privilege of doing what I love.

90 Minutes in Heaven

I just started reading this book this week and it has been something I could not put down.  This is the story of  Don Piper and his experience of being in a horrible car accident dying for 90 minutes and then returning to earth.  He talks about how it is that he actually came back to life, through the pray of one man at the scene of the accident; his experience in heaven, and the disappointment of returning to the life as he would now know it. 

In the small group study that I just completed with some women, we had many discussions of the reason and the power of prayer.  What was the need for prayer if God already knows our thoughts and the outcome, why pray, if he has it all under control?  How do we know our prayers are not just hitting the ceiling?  If anyone has doubts about the power of prayer, all they need to do is read this book. How can you be anything but convinced that prayer really can change things when you read Don's sotry?  Although, I know in my heart my God is big  enough to do anything, I am sometimes worried that what He will do is not what I want or will make me uncomfortable in some way.  This book has made me think differently about why and how that I pray and that God's answers to prayer a lot of the time are not about me but for someone else, and more importantly to glorify Him.

The Hole in Our Gospel

There are things in my life that just keep coming up everywhere I look.  I find it when I am searching for it and when I am not searching for it.  This thing that keeps showing up everywhere is poverty.  God seems to be continuing to show me that there is poverty in His world and it is all around me.  I can chose to ignore it and it will disappear into the landscape of my world or I can pay attention to it and do what I can to help.  Now the question is, what can "I" do?  There is the inadequacy thing where I am sure that there is nothing I can do to change such a large problem; and the; Why even try, I mean, I am just one gal?, Or God has the perfect person to help, I am sure I am not it.  But I do know that if God were only going to use the perfect person nothing in the world would get done.  God will use those who make themselves available to Him.  I read this book, The Hole in Our Gospel, a couple of weeks ago and I have not been able to get it off my mind since.  I am making myself available to help change the poverty in this world.  Today, I can help with the needs of school children in our area by donating to the backpack and school supply drive at Indian Creek Community Church, I can bring can goods to the Johnson County Parade in Gardner on Saturday, August 8th and place them in the Indian Creek grocery carts as they go by in the parade.  I can do something right now and I will continue to see the poor and under resourced in my world and not look away hoping someone else will help. I will get invovled! 

Hope Lives

Today I began a five-week journey reading the book Hope Lives. My desire is to be challenged to become what God is calling me to be.  I believe that there has got to be a reason that I keep finding myself faced with the poverty of the world. I know that God keeps interrupting my life to help me see these people, who He loves, and view them through His eyes.  I know that God values the poor and there has to be a reason that He repeatedly keeps asking me to serve them.  I will post here of what, if anything, that God reveals to me as is go through this study seeking the purpose God has for me in these opportunities that keep finding me here in Kansas.  At this point, I have no idea what will come of this, but I am open to what I discover.

Esther ~ Looking Forward to the Drama

I just finished my first week of homework in the new Bible study that I just started.  We are doing Beth Moore's new study, Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman.  One thing that I am looking forward to is the drama of this story laid out over 9 weeks.  I know the story and in fact read another book, Esther, A Woman of Strength and Dignity over the holidays by Chuck Swindol on in preparation for this study.  But you can never anticipate how Beth will make something come alive and new in how she presents things. 

Beth says on day one of our study, ".....no life is free of troubles, regardless of religion race, or nation........When we trust our lives to the hand and pen of an unseen but ever-present God, He will write our lives into His story and every last one of them will turn out to be a great read.  With a grand ending.  And not just in spite of those catastrophes.  Often because of them." 

Yeah!  I am looking for my life to be a great read with a great ending!

The Struggle to Say Yes

The first time I went to India the Summer of 2006, I went to the bible book store to find a study to do that would prepare me for my journey with God to India.  I ended up selecting the book What Happens When Women Walk In Faith.  Okay, I know, from my previous book choices you know that I tend to pick a book by its cover, and yes this one was no different.  But I do have to say that after doing this study I did feel that I could go on this adventure into India knowing that God would be right there with me and he did not disappoint.  So as I was looking for a new book to study before heading back into India, I choose another book by Lysa TerKurst, What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.  I thought that this is really what I wanted to do, say yes to God.  But right now, today, saying yes seems to be very daunting.  Although, the study is very good and the scriptures are very encouraging, I need to remember when I say yes to God, I need to be ready to go after the opportunities He places before me.  What will saying yes mean and am I really ready for this?  What if I continue to say yes?  How will that change what my life looks like?  After saying all of that, I WILL SAY YES, no matter what lies ahead, yikes!

My Vacation Reading

I read some great books while on vacation.  The Last Time I Was Me, I found one day in Barnes & Noble.  Normally I don't buy a book without reading a review or two, but I liked the summery, lounging on the lake look about it.  Who says you can't judge a book by its cover?  So on a whim, I bought this book and took a chance. This book made me laugh and cry with the main character, great entertainment.   The Beach House, I purchased in the Lifeway store near my home.  Again, I purchased it because of the cover and title, hoping it would be a good summer read.  It did not disappoint and even with a smattering of spiritual truth mixed in.  This is story of four friends meeting again after years and surviving their 40 birthdays.  Check them out, they are sure to give you great reading entertainment this summer.

Home Companion

I look forward every two months for the Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine to come out with a new issue.  This magazine is hands down my favorite of all time.  I have been a faithful reader for years.  Each issue I like to save for a special time that I can set aside to read it uninterrupted.  I like to have a good cup of coffee or tea, put my feet up and read, just for fun.  It is even better when the sun is shinning in my window.  This month's issue I am saving to read poolside on Spring Break. Yeah!