James and various other readings...

Everyone, meet James... he's the "brother" of Jesus. He has a good book in the Bible, it's 8 pages long. 5 short chapters. All of which are packed with goodness. I finished reading it quickly and decided to pick up a Max Lucado devotional/Bible study on the book. It is 117 pages long... notice anything funny about that? I guess it should really just serve as a reminder of how full God's Word truly is... it takes humans 117 pages to analyze 8 page of Biblical text. James is awesome though... I like the whole Thomas Aquinas approach "do good- avoid evil"... actually, Aquinas probably stole that from James, but I digress. 

So, clearly I've had some time to do some reading... mostly because I haven't been in school or studying for an actuary exam (and I was home sick for about three days). I'll have to start that up again soon, but for now I'm enjoying it. While we are discussing reading let me tell you about something AWESOME from Beth Moore. This probably isn't new, but it is certainly new to me. She has produced three new books. They are large, hard back books entitled 90 Days with ____ (Jesus, John, or David). I got the Jesus one. I'm on day 5 and let me tell you... it is so wonderful! You only cover a little scripture each day, but the depth in which you cover it is just amazing. I highly recommend this series. I'll be doing the other two when I finish this one. For Beth Moore fans I understand that these books are based on her Bible studies, so there may be some overlap between Jesus the One and Only and this book - fyi. 

Lastly, is a little series of books turned Hallmark movies called Love Comes Softly.  If Natalie is reading this, I bet she's tearing up right now ;) . I rented the first few movies in the series (6 movies so far - 8 books total) because Natalie and Olivia said they were so good. Oh my goodness, they are SO good. Well, to be honest the acting is sort of bad in parts, but the message is phenomenal. Imagine Christian living on the prairie... like Laura Ingles Wilder, but more Jesus-y!!! So I decided to read the books, which true to form are much better than the movies and guess what Nat and Liv??? There is a Prairie Legacy series that follows Marty and Clark's grandchildren. I read the first one in a day... SO good also. 

So, that's my Barnes and Noble meets the good Lord readers list. Enjoy!! :) 

Toby the Tennessee Walking Horse

Everyone, meet Toby... well this isn't actually Toby, but it is what he looks like. The real Toby, who I hope to get a picture of soon, has a white blaze on his face. Some of you may or may not know anything about horses... essentially they have two purposes: to eat grass and to have humans ride them. Guess which one Toby hates??? 

So here's the back story - my department VP really likes me. He's very paternal. He and his family have two horses: Toby the fire breather and Rusty who has at least one foot in the grave... fortunately for him he has four of them. Anyway, Mike's daughter used to ride Toby. I'm guess it was infrequently, but at least he didn't hate it then. Well, I would call ole Tobster "barely broke" if I had to describe him. Lucky for me they have this nice piece of equipment that keeps their head tethered to the girth (the thing around the tummy) so they can't throw their head up... why is this important you ask? It's a physics thing: momentum. If Toby can't push his head all the way down and then fling it back up, he has a hard time throwing me off. I know this because he tries it. One thing he has gotten really good at, to compensate for the inability to buck, is turning so quickly it would throw someone off. Again, fortune is on my side, and Toby isn't the first strong willed beast I've met - so I plan for it. I've been helping re-break Toby for two short weeks now and while it isn't going well, I would have to say the overall score is Toby - 0, Haley - 2.  :) 

Whitman and Twain

Two men I respect for their writing abilities are Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. I am not a master of words, so I am always taken with people who speak, or write, with so much eloquence. One thing I abhor is indifference. Not in the sense that I would never say "oh it doesn't matter" (this is an especially common saying for me when the question: Where would you like to eat? is posed. Because I do not care. Ever.). I mean real indifference, to things that matter. I am not a poetry person, but I believe this poem of Whitman's best captures the true danger found in indifference... 

I Sit and Look Out - Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass: By the Roadside)

I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame,

I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done,

I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate,

I see the wife misused by her husband, I see the treacherous seducer of young women,

I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be hid, I see these sights on the earth,

I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny, I see martyrs and prisoners,

I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest,

I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;

All these -- all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon,

See, hear, and am silent.

He truly is a master of words. My other favorite writer is also a favorite figure of mine, Mark Twain. He was a man of great humor, great character, and great pain. Ken Burns (the PBS documentary guy) has a phenomenal biography about Twain. He has too many good quotes to choose from, but here is one of my favorites:

"I was made merely in the image of God, but not otherwise resembling Him enough to be mistaken for Him by anybody, but a very near sighted person." - Mark Twain

So funny and so true of us all. 

Jeremiah

I've been reading the book of Jeremiah for some time now. I try, emphasis on try, to read at least one chapter every day. Some days I'm on a role and read more- and other days I fall short of grace ;) Below is the a painting of Jeremiah from the Sistine Chapel (by Michelangelo). 

I love this painting and I love the book of Jeremiah - mostly because it is God's word, but recently something interesting struck me. I have to be honest and admit I happened on this revelation by being a tool... So, I'm in the 32nd chapter and so far Jeremiah and the Lord have a done a WHOLE LOT of warning. I wasn't bored, but I was ready for the story to start, or something to happen, you know? Then I started really thinking about it... and you know what? God has to warn me about a million times too! Isn't it odd how humans just never seem to learn? Don't get me wrong I'm getting better with age, but still, I'm a slow learner in the game of life. 

Speaking of wisdom...

 ... easily one of my favorite people in the world. Brad, my former boss (still coworker) and someone I am honored to have as a friend. I call him Poppa Bear. Well, sometimes. Either way, he is the human version of a golden retriever. He's wise, loyal, intelligent, and fun! I have the best time working with him because he understands that you can be efficient and pleasant. Just because you are working doesn't mean you have to make everyone (including yourself) suffer. I recently asked him how it he came to know SO much- there isn't a subject I've discussed with him where he wasn't more than proficient- and he said "Haley, when you live this long you've made every possible mistake, at least once, and you'll get to do the same". I was hoping to just magically learn without the mistake part, but I guess if we could do that God wouldn't spend so much time warning us not to do what He has repeatedly told us not to do!! Either way, I think Poppa Bear is the wisest (and easily one of the greatest blessings in my life ever). 

Happy Birthday Dave!

The Newmans throw the best parties - Robin is SO creative!!! The party's theme was "Texas" so she made cakes representing 4 of the 6 flags Texas has had in its history (there was even a trivia game where I learned that Texas has had 6 flags). Myself and NY Mike (yup that's really what he's called) are both "Yankees" so we were at a disadvantage, but I still think we fared pretty well. Also, there are 9 bands on an armadillo's shell in case you were wondering.

So, Robin and *Dave are a fun married couple. Which basically means she still buys him toys. One set of toys he has are fake mustaches. One for each day of the week to be precise. He wanted someone to rock a 'stach with him. I was the obvious choice. I chose the one that most closely matched my hair... it's the Tuesday Square Mustache. Dave is rocking the Sunday Dress Mustache - I'm assuming the dress mustache is reserved for Sundays because of church, but I think it is equally appropriate for the office, weddings, and funerals. Enjoy: 

Good Times!

The last few months of my life have been the happiest. Actually, happiness can fade, but peace and joy as gifts from God never do. Maybe a better way to describe life of late would be to say that God has started works so good, I know He will carry them out to completion! God communicates with everyone in different ways, and mine has always been peace, a peace that nothing a human can do can produce. Lately, I feel like I live in complete peace - so yay! 

I know how much Natalie loves Christmas, and I got a new camera around that time... so these are pretty much for Nat, but everyone can enjoy it! =) 

I have more Christmas pictures here and here. 

Intro...

Natalie inspired me to start blogging again. I have an older blog, and if I can figure out how I will just merge the two, but this setup was just so much better.