Week 14, Captivating.. again

Captivating, by John & Stasi Eldredge 
Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul

This book really is wonderful. If you haven't read it and are looking for a good book to dive into, I strongly recommend this one. It talks about the woman's heart and the desires of our heart and what God intended for our hearts, while making references to scripture. This particular quote really caught my attention:

God's Heart for Relationship

"The vast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God's vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships. In fact, this may be the most important thing we ever learn about God- that he yearns for relationship with us. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God" (John 17:3). The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and his people. He yearns for us. He cares. He has a tender heart."

Elderedge goes on to make references to different places of scripture to back up what she is saying here. Then she says,

"What a comfort to know that this universe we live in is relational at its core, that our God is a tenderhearted God who years for relationships with us. If you have any doubt about that, simply look at the message he sent us in Woman. Amazing. Not only does God long for us, but he longs to be loved by us. Oh, how we've missed this."

Really, how can you not find that comforting? The fact the Creator of this universe, of all being, longs for a relationship with us? With you and me? We find ourselves time and time again being blessed and loved by God, though we are again and again so undeserving. It's awfully humbling. Just as we want to be loved, He wants to be loved by us. Just as we have desires, He longs to be desired by us.

This reminds me of something my dear friend said not too long ago. He was talking about a girl he liked, and they were hanging out in a big group. As he looked around, he realized he was getting attention from everyone except the girl he wanted to get attention from. And while he was so happy to be surrounded by all his friends, he wanted this one girl to just make eye contact. To say hi. To give him some kind of attention. Just when I was going to ask him what his point was, he said "You know, I sat there looking around and thought sh**. This must be how Jesus feels. Everyone is giving Him attention, except the one person who He longs to get attention from." That's just really been laying on my heart lately. We've all felt it. We know how it feels to be ignored by the one person you want to get attention from. The one hudred other people just don't make up for it.

Anyways, I've been putting off Crime and Punishment (oopsies..) for this book, so I can't exactly blog about Crime and Punishment. I hope everyone had a wonderful week off, only three more weeks 'til Christmas break!

Week 13, Captivating

I've started a new book just for fun, it's called Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge. It's fantastic so far and I recommend it to any girl. (There is a book they wrote for boys, it's called Wild at Heart..)

This quote was in the introduction and it really stood out to me.

"Sometime between the dreams of your youth and yesterday, something precious has been lost. And that treasure is our heart, your priceless feminine heart. God has set within you a femininity that is powerful and tender, fierce and alluring. No doubt it has been misunderstood. Surely is has been assaulted. But it is there, your true heart, and it is worth recovering. You are captivating."

I think so often, in today's society, we try to be the women everyone expects us to be. Everywhere we look we're told how to dress, what to say, how to act, and the standard for "beautiful" (skinny as a bean pole with a perfect complexion, of course). It's sad to realize somewhere along the road from toddler to teen, the fire of our heart can be extinguished.

Week 12, Scatterbrained.

I can't even remember what we did this past week in class, to be completely honest...

I'll write more later.

Week 11, Student Driver

It's funny how you can realize something about yourself through the most minor moments. In middle school, if someone "changed" it always came with a negative connation. You always heard the girls saying "OMG I can't believe how much she has changed, do you see who she hangs out with now!" As we get older, we realize it's a part of life. We change. It just happens. Driving home from work Thursday I realized how much I've changed in the past two years.

I was driving down Sparta Road going home from a long day of school and work, and I was so ready to be home. I have a hard time going the speed limit as it is, but after a long day I usually book it to get home. As I came up to Dunn's Canyon, a student driver car got it front of me and was going extremely slow. Instead of getting frustrated and yelling at them to hurry up from inside my car (which is what I would have done last year), I smiled as I remembered the first few times I was behind the wheel. I surprised myself through my reaction, and quickly realized.. I've changed.