Caught my attention

Just a couple things that have been running through my head lately. Bits and pieces of things that I've found in the last few days.

#1 This book recommended by several of my gal pals. Really interesting. It's really hard for me to read non-fictions sometimes. It has to capture me in some way. This one did. Really enjoying it right now.

"Creation itself is a great work of art, and all works after it are echoes of the original." -quoted from what I read in it today.

#2 This book I picked it up at the library. After reading the Bible for years upon years, sometimes it feels so amazing to try a different version without my underlines and notes on the side. It's like re-discovering all the amazing things that God continually says to me in new ways. Example:

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen, When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." - Jeremiah 29:11-13

#3 This post from Elsie's blog. I couldn't stop looking at the pictures. And the question about a defining moment has had me thinking for a couple days now. Do any of you have a defining moment that really changed you?

#4 My journal. I can't stop writing. My thoughts have been pouring out by the 100's. It's been a life saver lately.

#5 "Patience is a hard discipline. It's not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not waiting passively until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to its fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand." Henri Nowen

This quote is so good for me, a girl who stuggles so often with patience on so many levels. Found it on another blog. The entry was about how a family was waiting for their daughter in China.

#6 Just talking to God. Where-ever. When-ever. Long conversations. Short ones. Words out loud. Thoughts. It just feels like He's getting ready to do something big and wants me to be ready. Exciting and terrifying at the same time.

My thoughts are always a million different directions. Different things catch me off guard at the weirdest times. Like finding a God-lesson in the middle of Harry Potter #6. Or the out-of-the-blue generosity of a friend reminding me how blessed I am to have the friends I have in my life. Just having my eyes open for new things is a fun lesson to learn over and over.