captivating

that's me! at least, that's what Jesus says! my parents and two little sisters came over last night for my birthday supper, and to take back some of my furniture already. and they gave me the book "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge. it's the "Wild at Heart" for women. i wish there were someway to show you my excited face!!!!! so i started reading last night, and here's some snippets...

[you] want to be desired, to be pursued by one who loves you, to be someone's priority...

as echoes of the trinity...made in the image of perfect relationship, we are relational to the core and filled with a desire for transcendent purpose. we long to be an irreplacable part of a shared adventure.

we desire to possess a beauty that is worth pursuing, worth fighting for, a beauty that is core to who we truly are. we want beauty that can be seen; beauty that can be felt; beauty that affects others; a beauty all our own to unveil.

i can't wait to really dig into this book! i think so often we can get hung up on the details of the Word - don't get me wrong, i love studying the word and taking it apart to fuly see it, but the beauty of eldredge's work is that he takes lessons that are implicit in the Word. and scripture completely backs it up, but we so often fail to see it if it's not laid out explicitly.

last night after supper with my family, i headed out to st. norbert to watch a movie with some friends from church, and i was a little early (they had all been mini-golfing while i was out for supper) and so i drove out to the country, since they live at the edge of the city. how i miss open spaces. i could belt out dixie chicks here and now. i love the land! i'm tired of being surrounded by buildings, traffic and people. i want sunsets over the hills, i want walks in the pasture with my dog (who has returned, by the way) and i want gravel roads to drive on. fires outside in the dark, to lie on my back and actually see stars, and to smell dirt, animals and rain outside, not just greasy muck and exhaust. one more week and i'll live there again!