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Confirmation and First Communion
Today was my confirmation at Church. Since coming back into my faith last year and starting attending Pudsey Parish Church, I’ve done lots of things that have made my life so much better, I’ve started going to a weekly Cell group, I’ve been through the Alpha Course, and I’ve met loads of wonderful people.
So at the end of the Alpha Course when the Vicar said he’d be running weekly sessions at the Vicarage to prepare for Confirmation, I knew this was the right time. Since the beginning of January, I’ve been going to these classes with a small group of people, and tonight the Bishop of Richmond, Paul Slater, came to conduct the service, which started with our confirmation and then we all took Communion together, which was absolutely great.
I can still say that my decision to go to see Archbishop Sentamu at the Civic Hall last year was one of the best I’ve made, my life is so much better now!
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Jesse Andrews – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
I really wanted to love this book as I’ve had it on my shelf for about 3 months waiting to be read. But I just couldn’t love it. I think the book suffered due to the obvious comparisons I was bound to make to The Fault in Our Stars, which was supremely awesome.
Whereas in TFIOS I found myself crying at multiple points, I just didn’t get enough attachment to the characters of Greg, Earl or Rachel to get emotional about the outcome of the book. I read the inevitable death as an unknown person rather than a close friend, which is how I felt in TFIOS.
I did find the book amusing, Greg is a funny character and I loved the constant changing writing styles which kept you on your toes and did make the book feel more like the diary of a teenager. And while I didn’t get emotionally attached to any of the main characters, I did find them extremely likeable and relatable as young adults.
I’m going to give the book 3 stars out of 5, I loved the writing style, but the lack of emotional connection in what was obviously supposed to be an emotional book just let it down a little for me. I think I’ll still give the film a try, even though judging by the book cover, the actors in the film bear little resemblance to the awkward teenagers described in the book.
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Mike Erre – The Jesus of Suburbia
I feel quite conflicted about this book. For around 80%, I would say I sat reading and nodding in agreement, occasionally reading the same passage over and over again as it just felt so spot on that it was like someone had taken my thoughts and put them on paper.
But then also quite often, it felt like the author was doing exactly what his book was supposed to be criticising, claiming to know what God would want and denouncing the Church as it currently exists as ‘failing’.
He’s an American author, and the book was specifically about the Church in America, which obviously I have no knowledge of, but I imagine that the same thoughts can be applied to the Church across the world.
The main thought of the book is that we have diluted the Jesus of the Bible to a tamer and more palatable Jesus, using him to make ourselves feel better about our lives. And spending our time learning all about Jesus without actually putting into practice the things he was preaching and making the changes that he wanted to in our lives.
I’d love to read this book again in the future and give it another chance, as my faith develops I might find I get a different message from it.
There were a few great quotes that stuck with me, and I’ll share a couple here:
“Who, then, are the best missionaries, the best demonstrators of the gospel? The pastors? No way. We’re ‘paid’ to be religious. I think it is the mortgage brokers, moms, students, janitors, baristas and executives who fill our churches. How does God reach lawyers? By dressing up some of his children as lawyers and putting them to work. How does God reach college students? By dressing up his children as college students and sending them off to school. As Jesus put it in Matthew 28:19, As you are going through life, make disciples of all nations.”
“We say to God, ‘Show me and I’ll believe’. Instead, God says to us ‘Believe, and I’ll show you’. This is the life of following Jesus Christ. We say ‘God, show me your will and I’ll obey you’. God says, ‘Obey me, and I’ll show you my will’. God isn’t looking for a bunch of ‘I should do this because that’s what good Christians do’ kind of people. He is looking for ‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world’ kind of people.”
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Nicky Gumbel – The Jesus Lifestyle
After finishing the Alpha course before Christmas, I was definitely ready to dive in deeper. As well as signing up for classes to prepare for Confirmation in March (exciting!), I decided to buy a few books to learn more. The first one I chose was one recommended in the Alpha handbook (and written by the creator of the course).
The book takes to pieces Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and explains how each piece relates to ‘real life’, and how we should put it into practice each and every day. It reads kind of like a self-help book, giving you practical steps for making a better life. But instead of the usual self-help books trying to help you get more money or success, the sole purpose of this book is to help you become closer to Jesus.
I found the book very revealing, so many times I sat thinking, ‘that’s me’, making me realise how many ways I’m falling short of living a ‘good’ life. But thankfully, that doesn’t mean the end. The book shows you just how much of God’s love and grace is shown within the Sermon on the Mount. Parts of the text that I’ve previously skipped over or not paid attention to are revealed in much greater depth and my eyes were opened.
There are so many quotes that I could pick out as my favourite, but the one that has stuck with me most was from towards the end of the book, and it grabbed me so much that I read it multiple times before moving on:
“Many have pointed out that when reading the Sermon on the Mount, we recognise that we cannot possibly live up to it without help from outside. The standards it sets are unattainable and therefore we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He alone can enable us to live up to the pattern of life Jesus has set out. Jesus promises us that God will give his Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Only as we repent, put our faith in Jesus, and receive the Holy Spirit will we be able to put into practice the words of Jesus.
250 pages. Published in: 2007Read in Paperbackon 4th-18th January 2016 -
Claire Fuller – Our Endless Numbered Days
Cameron’s mum gave me book tokens for Christmas so I could buy books without Cameron shouting at me (she gets me), so I took myself on a trip to WH Smiths and Waterstones and came back with a few books, including this one.
The description on the back was reminiscent of Room by Emma Donoghue, a book I read in 2012 and absolutely loved. And the cover itself is beautiful, which always helps.
Peggy is eight years old when her father takens her to live in a cabin in a remote Euorpean forest. There, he tells her that her mother and the rest of the world are gone.
The book is set simultaneously in 1976 onwards, where Peggy has been taken to Die Hutte with her father and is living as ‘the last surviving people on the planet’, and also in 1985, where Peggy has made it home and is coming to terms with being back in her real life. I thought that knowing straight away that Peggy would make it home would spoil the suspense of the story, but it didn’t, if anything, everything that happened had you on tenterhooks as you wondered ‘is this it, is this when she escapes?’.
The plot and the characters reel you in with an intensity I’ve not had in a while, leaving me unable to put the book down and stop reading. It flowed so well that I didn’t even feel like I was turning pages, I was so absorbed in the book that I might as well have been inside the pages themselves. I was so taken with Peggy’s character that it was almost as if her life was entwined with mine, and there were times while I was reading that I couldn’t breathe.
The ending of the book (contrary to what you might think) actually threw up a few surprises, including a couple of moments where I actually gasped with shock at the scene that was playing out in front of me, and it made me want to flick back to the beginning and start again to see what I may have missed.
A beautiful start to 2016, absolutely fantastic.
291 pages. Published in: 2015Read in Paperbackon 1st-4th January 2016 -
P. L. Travers – Mary Poppins
I had obviously known that Mary Poppins was based on a book, but I’d never even thought to read it. I don’t know why, but it was on sale at Asda, along with Annie (which I hadn’t known was based on a book), so I couldn’t resist buying them both to see what they were like.
It turns out that Mary Poppins the book is not very much like Mary Poppins the film. I guess when you’re turning a 170 page book into a 2 hour film, there’s going to be some embellishments, but I hadn’t expected it to be so different.
Don’t get me wrong, the book was enjoyable, but definitely not what I had expected. There were a lot more ‘odd’ parts of the book compared to the film, which I think would have been mesmerising if I had read the book as a child, but my childlike imagination has dwindled somewhat and I couldn’t quite find the magic as I think I should have.
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I Heart Fitbit! ♥
I’ve absolutely loved my Fitbit this year. I joined the gym in March, started going in earnest with my best friend in May and it was great for tracking the calories I was burning. Until my world was turned upside down when I was made redundant, I was very happy with the steps I was doing!
Unfortunately, my old office was very close to the beautiful Yeadon Tarn, but I don’t have that any more. I will have to find somewhere new to walk so I can beat my totals next year!
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Books for 2016
As I said before, one of my resolutions for 2016 is to read more books, although I should have been more specific as it should really be to read more books from my shelves and buy less new books. To try and accomplish this, I’ve written a shortlist of books that I want to read this year. Some have been lent or given to me by friends, others I’ve recently (or not so recently bought) and I don’t want them to languish any longer on my shelves.
So, in no particular order, here’s the books that I want to read this year:
- Claire Fuller – Our Endless Numbered Days
- Laura Barnett – The Versions of Us
- Jeff Vander Meer – Annihilation
- Jeff Vander Meer – Authority
- Jeff Vander Meer – Acceptance
- Jesse Andrews – Me, Earl and The Dying Girl
- Cheryl Strayed – Wild
- George R. R. Martin – Dangerous Women
- Carrie Hope Fletcher – All I Know Now
- Frances Brody – Death of an Avid Reader
- Jodi Picoult – Leaving Time
- Rainbow Rowell – Fangirl
- Kody Keplinger – Lying Out Loud
- Thomas Meehan – Annie
- John Sentamu’s Life Stories
- Nicky Gumbel – The Jesus Lifestyle
- Kody Keplinger – The Duff
- Brandon Sanderson – The Rithmatist
- Brandon Sanderson – The Way of Kings
- Anne Bronte – Agnes Grey
- Maria V. Snyder – Poison Study
- Maria V. Snyder – Magic Study
- Maria V. Snyder – Fire Study
That’s 23 books, which shouldn’t be too much of a stretch, but I’m sure I’ll end up buying more books throughout the year and end up not finishing the list anyway!
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Happy New Year!
As it’s New Year’s Eve and as I’ve still got the flu that I’ve had since Christmas, I’ve not got much better to do than to sit down and get back to my blog, which seems to have been sorely neglected this year. I’ve got a few posts coming up today with my plans for next year, which tie in with my new year’s resolutions. I’m not usually good at keeping them (who is?!), but I’ll try my best!
So in no particular order, here goes:
- Get confirmed at Church. This is the most important one to me. After very much coming back to Church this year and doing the alpha course over the last few months, I’ve signed up for confirmation classes starting on the 6th January, for confirmation on Palm Sunday, 20th March. I can’t wait to make a public declaration of my belief in Jesus Christ.
- Read more books (as usual). I have a lot to read, so I’m going to plan a bit more in advance this year.
- Get back on my diet. It will be much easier this year as Cameron is joining me from the off. We lost 2-3 stone each over the summer, but my redundancy knocked us off course. This year, we’re coming back stronger and more committed.
- Tied in to that, cook more often. It’s easy when you’ve had a long day to just cook a ready meal in the microwave, but I really want to eat more home-cooked food this year.
- Blog more often. I find it very cathartic to write here, so I want to do it more often.
- Finally get my new website live. I’ve been working on a new website for the last year or so, and I just need to get the finishing touches to put it live!
Have you made any resolutions for the new year? Let me know in the comments!
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Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all had a day as fun as mine!
Christmas for me started off opening presents yesterday evening as I spent today at Cameron’s house and my mum wanted us to all open our presents together still. Christmas Eve finished with Midnight communion at Church with my Mum and Auntie Ann. Then up this morning for some breakfast (chocolate of course), before back up to the Church for the morning service. I’ve never been to Church on Christmas Day before, but it was fantastic. Starting off Christmas Day celebrating the real meaning of Christmas with the loveliest people. It was a great service as always; you know it’s going to be fun when it starts with ‘A long time ago, in a Galilee far, far away’.
After leaving Church, we came back to Cameron’s house to open presents. It’s the first time I’ve ever not been at home for Christmas Day, and it was a massive change of pace to go from 12+ people to only 4. But it was really nice having a quieter house for a change, and I received some lovely and thoughtful presents. The next few hours were spent watching Cameron assemble his new Lego train set, before a huge and delicious Christmas dinner prepared by Cameron’s Mum.
After dinner, there were 4 hours of watching the glee on Cameron’s face as he set the train set up on the dining table and drove it round and round and through obstacles and causing crashes (some deliberate, some definitely not!). A perfect day, I love seeing other people so happy!
I’m about to finish off the day with some quiet reading and contemplation before a well deserved rest. I hope you all had a great time filled with family and fun too!
Louise Douglas
(I've got no) Shelf Control…
Louise Douglas 