767 pages later...

I just finished my first book of 2009! I finished the complete Chronicles of Narnia tonight - all seven books! All 767 pages! You'd be impressed if you saw the thickness of the book - I have to admit, I am pretty surprised that I finished it too! I started reading in at the beginning of January and read it all with two days left to spare!

You might think I am getting a bit excited about something quite small, but it's a pretty good achievement for me. I really hope I can keep this up!

My Bible readings are coming along nicely too. I've got one more chapter of 1 Kings left, and then a few more books after that. 1 Kings has been really interesting so far. Such an interesting book. The last few chapters I read were about Elijah, and I have to say, they were pretty cool. It would've been really amazing to be Elijah - he truly witnessed and did some crazy things! Still using Alexander Scourby too - I love how he read out 1 Kings 18:26-27 (if you have Scourby's Audio Bible check it out - it's a hoot! 'Oooooooooo Baal! Heeeaaar us!' - Gold!)

I'm really liking this whole reading thing!

is it worth it?

One of my little indulgences is shopping. OK it's not so little, but it's an indulgence. I have been much better recently, and I haven't really bought much in a while... It's almost as if it's been a bit of a shopocalypse!

I know that in the past, I have gone out shopping and bought things just because I wanted something new. Being handed a nice crisp bag with a new something inside is just so nice for a girl! But so many times, I had brought my new purchase home, realised how absolutely heinous it was, and then returned the item a few days later saying to myself, what was I thinking??

About a week ago, I came across an article in a magazine which had a handy little checklist for when you are thinking about whether you should buy something or leave it on the rack. I'll share it with the rest of you as a community service!

Start off with 100 points. Then add or subtract as you work through the list!

Does it go with more than 3 things in your wardrobe?
Yes (+10)
No (-20)

How many seasons can you wear it in?
One (-10)
Two (+5)
Three (+10)
All year round (+20)

How often will it get a run?
Once a week (+15)
Bi-monthly (+5)
Once (-15)

Does the care tag read 'dry clean only'?
Yes (-10)
No (+15)

Will it work for both day and night?
Yes (+15)
No(-20)

Does it feature any of the following?
Sequins (-10)
Bold Print (-5)
Logo (-15)

Below 50: Don't say we didn't warn you...
50-95: If it isn't dirt cheap, put it back
100-150: This one is a good buy
155-200: You'd be crazy not to buy two!

vocabulous!

From some of the books I've been reading...

candour: noun
honesty and straightforwardness of speech or behaviour

affectation: noun
1. A show, pretense, or display.
2. Behavior that is assumed rather than natural; artificiality. A particular habit, as of speech or dress, adopted to give a false impression.

decorum: noun
Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety

parley: noun
A discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of truce or other matters.

loquacious: adj.
Very talkative; garrulous

estimable: adj.
Deserving of esteem; admirable

lief: adv.
Readily; willingly: I would as lief go now as later

aplomb: noun
imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance

spurious: adj.
not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit

winsome: adj.
sweetly or innocently charming; winning; engaging

curt: adj.
rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner

of punishment and plugs

I like 2 Chronicles. It's cool how each chapter is the mini-biography of each of the Kings of Jerusalem. They all seem to use the same formula to intro each king, name, age, how long they reigned, whether they followed the ways of David, and then their story. You can usually determine from the first few verses if they were a good king or a bad king, and then you kind of prepare yourself to be either impressed, disappointed, or sometimes even shocked!

One thing is for sure, I would NOT like to have been one of the bad kings. Just look at what happened to (the pretty despicable) Jehoram...

2 Chronicles 21:14-15,18-19 Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day....And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

Gross man.

On another note, I find it quite amusing to see the verse at the end of some of the chapters in 2 Chronicles that go a little like...

Now the rest of his story is written in the book of the kings

The little plug at the end makes me chuckle - if you want to read more, check out First Kings! It's like seeing a trailer for the sequel of a movie! But I think it actually works - on me anyways. As I near the end of 2 Chronicles, I can't help but feel a little excited to see what 1 and 2 Kings will have in store!

screening the small screen

I went out today to get some DVDs. Yeah yeah, I know I'm not supposed to because of my resolutions and all, but technically it's not TV - it's movies! There I go justifying myself again..

The thing about getting DVDs out is that often, you don't really know what you are getting in to. Though they are all given ratings (G, PG, M, MA and R), and they tell you how much of each offensive bit of content has been included in the movie, I still find that often I get disappointed with the amount of vulgarity, unnecessary violence, sex, swearing, and all too often the lack of values, depth and morality of the proposed heroes and heroines. What's more disappointing is that the story line is so often predictable and boring.

Enter this website!

Christian Spotlight on Entertainment is a website that has Christian movie reviews of hundreds of different titles. Not only do they give a review about the movie, other Christians are able to share their own review about the movie after viewing it and are able to rate the amount of 'offensiveness' from their perspective as a Christian.

I had a bit of a browse of the website, and though I didn't always agree with the reviews and comments, I generally found it to be quite a helpful guide. The reviews often quantify how many times people swore (for example) and flagged scenes in the movie that a Christian should be aware of. You may think what is a Christian doing watching such obviously bad movies (I thought that!) but I guess it means if they did, then we don't have to - and I guess, even more so, is that we therefore have no excuse to say that we didn't know. If you ask me, I reckon it's much better than just going blindly into Hoyts or Civic Video and seeing or grabbing what 'looks pretty good'. Life is too short for bad movies!

being a bit Asa-ish

Something came up tonight while I was reading about King Asa in 2 Chronicles.

Now Asa was one of the 'good' kings of Israel. He not only cleansed the land of idols and images that had been made previously, he ruled in a way that feared God. The Bible even says that Asa's heart 'was perfect all his days'. But like most other people in the Bible, Asa had his shortcomings.

His problem was that he relied on men more than he did God. He first did it when in the war against Baasha...

2 Chronicles 16:7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.

And then later, when he had a disease in his feet...

2 Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

These verses kinda related to me because I reckon I can be a bit Asa-ish when it comes to my faith. Often, it so much easier for me to just believe in what I see rather than in God who I don't see. When situations seem dismal, I lose heart quickly and forget that God is still in control. Though I am aware of my lack of faith, I still fall into the trap of trusting man above God and in the end, I end up suffering for it.

If I could only walk more in faith, I would save myself a lot of worry. It's an ongoing struggle for me, but I know that as God keeps teaching me, my faith is growing little by little in every day.

current reading

Bible: 2 Chronicles. Very interesting so far.. it's so interesting seeing how the different Kings of Israel ruled. The 'good' and 'bad' kings, and what exactly made them good or bad. I'm still going strong with the audio Bible and have just finished Chapter 12.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I think I'm getting to the end of this book now and it's been pretty cool. While I read this book, I can't help but think it would have been so cool to have read this as a child. But at the same time, I really do appreciate the books a lot more as an adult because there is quite a lot in there that I just wouldn't have fathomed as a child.

Rise and Shine - A Wake Up Call (by Charles Swindoll). This book has been a blessing so far. I picked it up from our church library on Sunday and have been reading it and tagging pages with post-it-notes because there have been so many really good things that I would like to share with other people. Two such gems I will share below.

10 Statements About Ministry (originally from Warren & David Wiersbe)
1. The foundation of ministry is character
2. The nature of ministry is service
3. The motive for ministry is love
4. The measure of ministry is sacrifice
5. The authority of ministry is submission
6. The purpose of ministry is the glory of God
7. The tools of ministry are the Word of God and prayer
8. The privilege of ministry is growth
9. The power of ministry is the Holy Spirit
10. The model for ministry is Jesus Christ

About instruction, Swindoll shares the following:

Before leaving this objective, it might be helpful to add several ways to know when instruction is moving toward an unhealthy extreme. Three situations bear watching.

First, when knowledge remains theoretical, watch out. It will soon breed indifference or arrogance.

Second, when preaching and teaching are not balanced by love and grace, watch out. Intolerance is not far away.

Third, when teaching becomes an end in itself, watch out. At that point, scriptural instruction is coming dangerously close to bibliolatry.

So true.

I'm happy to say that I am still enjoying my reading. On a pretty exciting note, I only have about 8 books left to read until I have finished reading the WHOLE BIBLE!! Wow! Pretty cool hey?

audio-nicles

I have blogged about the audio bible before, but since then, I had kinda forgotten about it until tonight when I was trying to read through 1 Chronicles. With the many genealogies and lists of names, I was starting to lose motivation for reading this book. Though there were little exciting bits in between all the Biblical roll-calls, I have to admit I was struggling.

Then I thought, Why don't I use the Audio Bible! What a brilliant idea that turned out to be! I got myself reacquainted with my old friend Alexander Scourby, with my other good friend Sword Searcher, and he read to me (in a lovely, eloquent voice) while I followed and scrolled through Sword Searcher. After a few chapters of 1 Chronicles I found myself at Chapter 29 and realised I had reached the end of the book! Woohoo!

It must be an audio thing because I reckon in the same time I would read maybe two chapters and not really remember what I had read because my mind would wander off and I would forget what my eyes had been reading. With Mr Scourby reading to me, I have realised that I am a lot more attentive and I actually follow what I am reading! It really works!!

One verse that I thought was pretty good was from Chapter 28. KIng David was briefing Solomon about building the Temple for God and after giving him heaps of instructions he gave him some encouragement (which you could imagine he probably really appreciated having been faced with such a daunting task!). The verse is:

1 Chronicles 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Best of all, another book bites the dust and I am one book closer to finishing the Bible in a year (or two).

bookworming

'Readers today, leaders tomorrow' is something my Dad always used to say when we were younger to encourage us to read more. Though our response was typically to roll our eyes and then pass off the comment as another Dad-ism, I think it did encourage me to read more when I was younger, and as I look back now, I do see the value of reading. Dang, he was right again!

Since the new year, I have resolved to read more, and currently, I am up to my fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia, and I am also about halfway though 1 Chronicles of the Bible - hehe I didn't mean to read Chronicles of Narnia and the Chronicles of the Bible at the same time, but it just worked out that way!

I really do enjoy reading now and I find that I don't get bored as much now too. If I have a spare moment, I can always whip out my book, plop onto the couch and continue my adventure! CS Lewis is a fantastic author, and I really enjoy his style of writing. As I read I almost feel as though he is telling me the story himself. The Gospel parallels Lewis weaves into the stories are quite cool (when you realise what they are) and I can't help but think that CS Lewis was such a brilliant mind to be able to come up with so many in a few children's books and yet tell the stories so well.

I do have quite a few books piling up waiting to be read, and I in turn can't wait to start them too! My parents hadn't bought me a Christmas present last year, and when they heard that I wanted to read more last week, I think they were quite delighted and went out the next day to buy me a whole heap of books! So it's not like I have a shortage of books to read hehe.

I am resolved...

First post for 2009. I don't really know what to expect for the coming year. But with the start of a new year, I was prompted to think about what I want to achieve in 2009. After a bit of reflection there were a few things that came to mind...

Get to know God better. This, admittedly, wasn’t originally the first thing I wrote, which shows that God isn’t always a priority in my life. I’ve known God since a child, but I still feel as though there is so much more about Him that I am yet to find out. So much more that I am yet to discover. So much of a gap that I wish to close. I know I have to read my Bible more, pray more and hang out more with God more. And that’s what I am going to try to do.

Read more books. In addition to the Bible, there are a lot of books that I really want to read. I haven’t really read much fiction since my childhood, and even back then, I never really read much other than those I had to read for school. The Chronicles of Narnia, novels by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, classic books like To Kill a Mockingbird and Jane Eyre, are all ones I would like to try read this year. Maybe not all, but a good chunk. I must confess however, that this new found desire to read more fiction has come from watching the movie version of books like Narnia, Pride and Prejudice, and movies about authors like Becoming Jane and Miss Potter. There are heaps of really good non-fiction books on my bookshelf that I haven’t gotten round to reading yet too. So many really good spiritual books that I have acquired, started reading, but never finished. I want to finish them this year, well at least some of them. I really think that through this, I will be able to expand my vocabulary and my view on the issues of life.

Which leads me to my next point. Find more time. I think I watch way too much TV. Waaaaay too much. I mean, I’m a lot better than I used to be – a few years ago, I used to have something on TV EVERY night that I wanted to watch, and I used to just watch one show after another, after another. And I also spend too much time on Facebook and MSN. So this year, it is my intention to cut back on these time-wasters. I’ll keep blogging though hahah!

Work on creativity-based hobbies. I want to become a better guitar player – I watch people like Jack Johnson, Brooke Fraser, Newton Faulkner, and numerous every-day-Joes on Youtube, and just sigh about my own skills which pale in comparison. I also want to pick up piano again. I used to play back when I was a child, but I quit because my piano teacher moved away. She didn’t move far, but she was no longer around the corner, so I gave up (didn’t take much hey). But I think that has always been a bit of a regret for me because nowadays, I just want to be able to play like Alicia Keys. But no. Someday, I want to be able to compose a song. Don’t know if that’s a realistic goal, given the fact that I am already 25, but hey, one can dream can’t she? I’ve always kinda wanted to learn more about photography and painting too. Maybe this year is the year to start!

Get healthier. I need to stop eating so much rubbish and start eating nutritious food. The muffin top has to go (or at least stop growing). So the joggers need to be dusted off and I need to get basketball happening again or my little jogging group. I don’t like doing solo-exercise, I need other people to suffer with me! Hahaha!

Help out at home more. I sincerely hope that my parents don’t see this one, but I do feel as though I need to start doing more around the house. Not just because someday I will have to do this for my own home (and will therefore need to get used to being a slave, I mean, housewife), but also because my parents are getting pretty old now, and they need more help with stuff.

Less Shopping, more saving. Eventually, I want to buy a house someday. But once I am coupled with the burden of a mortgage, I won’t be able to just go shopping whenever I like – so I need to try get into the habit of saving my moolah. I have heaps of clothes, shoes, bags, accessories – some of which I have totally forgotten about, so I am going to TRY find new outfits in what I have already. Am I going crazy?? Only time will tell.

Be more ministry-minded. As you can see, this came to my mind last – which just shows how selfish my thinking is. Or maybe it’s because I am putting the most important last. Maybe not. Either way, I need to start thinking more about others and less about myself. When I talk to people, I need to listen more. Instead of seeing what I can get, I need to see what I can give. I need to be more thrifty with my self and more generous with others.

I think I will leave it there. Eight things I want to do, and 12 months to try to do them. Realistic? Maybe. Everyone seems to say nowadays that they don’t make resolutions because they can’t keep them, but I reckon even if I don’t achieve these goals, at least I have something to aim towards. If I don’t get there come 31 December 2009, at least I would have made some kind of effort!