12 weeks today; For this I have Jesus.
One of my favorite old commercials I've updated to fit my life, is "My
face has fallen and it won't get back up!" Stress does make me wonder where my
brain and memory went as the last 12 weeks have been incredibly sad and
stressful. I can see the age creeping up each time I look in the mirror and yes,
I need to do so many things but sometimes getting out the door with my hair
combed, such as it is, may be the miracle for the day. Aryel's hair is more
important. She's doing well at the new school and I'm so grateful that she not
only has Shirley Temple's hair but her personality for the most part. She loves
to sing and dance and watch old reruns of Full House. Especially when her mom
comes over.
I'm incorporating my book review of Andy Lee's new book here. I love Andy,
having met her at FCWC and felt a kindred spirit right away. All I have to do is
look at her sweet, smiling face and I'm comforted. I was so honored that she
would send me an advance copy of her book to review. I wish I could afford to
buy you all one, it is that beautiful. I would've loved to have copied and
pasted paragraphs all over facebook of some of her quotes as they meant so much
to me.
Here it is:
A Mary Like Me is one of the few books that as soon as I finished it, I
wanted to read it all over again. Andy Lee is a poignant, loving woman and her
books and writings are the essence of her spirit. Holy Spirit, that is. Andy is
well qualified to write this book with a degree from Eastern Nazarene University
and has taught Bible studies for over twenty years but I have to say it's her
heart that draws me to her writings.
I loved when Andy described original Greek words that acquaint us with
this book and scenarios of the stories. There are resources in the back of the
book and also an invitation to start your own Mary Group. The meaning of the
name Mary/Miryam which is: bitter, rebellious, defiant, beloved, gift
of God don't even seem to belong in the same sentence let alone meaning, but in
a way, it was comforting to me. Haven't we acted at times, like all of those
meanings?
This quote is one of the reasons I so fell in love with this
book, "Some of the most fearless, determined, and brilliant women I've met have
struggle with mental turmoil. I've often found myself beside them, begging them
to give up and go home. But they didn't surrender the situation until they won
the battle or became too weary to continue. The truth is, when a woman has been
forced to fight for life---whether in a bad family, bad marriage or mental
illness---this person, more times than not, becomes a survivor." From beautiful
Andy Lee in her book, A Mary Like Me, Flawed Yet Called
I thought of several women when I read this and some that I'm
hoping will learn to survive soon. Some that I love dearly and anguish with the
thoughts of their torment yet sometimes the choice is beyond what we can do to
help. The choice is theirs. My thoughts from reading this book: make good
choices today, people, it affects more than just yourself. It affects the whole
family and generations to come.
Another
quote that I want to include is:
“There is no one that Jesus does not want to
heal and cannot use for the furthering of the Kingdom of God. There is no one
who is worthless, or incurable, or unusable. May it be noted the gospel of Jesus
Christ resurrected was first proclaimed through the lips of a woman to men. God never intended to
silence half of his creation in proclaiming his gospel.
Perhaps if Peter had hung around long
enough at the tombs that day, he would have been given the opportunity to tell
the Good News, but he didn’t. Mary did. God is an equal opportunity employer.
May we employ our mouths today as Mary did, no longer affected by the rejection
of others but unswervingly, undeniably convinced of the life of Jesus.”
Andy
Lee has done a wonderful job of expressing who the many Marys in the Bible were;
women like many of us.
