Walking From East to West by Ravi Zacharias

If you've been around me for the past year or so, you would know that I've recently become quite obsessed with Apologetics.  A part of me wants to blame my husband for this since he was interested in them first, but it is probably more of my inclination toward logic and factual knowledge more than anything.

In November 2013, Hal and I, along with a few other couples from our small group, traveled the short distance down I-83 to Johns Hopkins to hear Ravi Zacharias speak. He and his ministry group (RZIM) were invited by the Veritas Forum to speak on "The Question of Suffering and the Goodness of God." Because of this event, I've immersed myself into read more books written by various apologetic writers.

The latest book I've read is Ravi Zacharias' Walking from East to West, an autobiography detailing his life growing up in India and his journey coming to know Christ after his attempted suicide. I enjoyed the book because despite the difficult relationship with his father, he is always gracious. He never blames his father for the physical or emotional abuse he suffered. Ravi also knew that God had never deserted him, even in his darkest times.

A few of the more memorable quotes:

"Apologetics is not just giving answers to questions - it is questioning people's answers, and even questioning their questions. When you question someone's question, you compel him or her to open up about his or her own assumptions. Out assumptions must be examined."

"I thank the Lord that, even though things were so wrong in my life here, I finally was brought to the realization of what all those struggles were about. There are some wonderful things from your painful past, things with a beauty you may not have realized at the time."

“Often we are not aware of how close we are to that which we need but we think we do not have. In His grace, God has placed some hidden gold somewhere in all of us that meets our need at a desperate moment.” 

"God has an appointment with each of us, and it is critical that every man and woman know this. He will stop our steps when it is not our time, and He will lead us when it is. This is a reassuring truth to know for every believer, and a necessary trust for anyone who ministers in areas of great risk."

I feel like I have so much more to say about this book, but I'm struggling to write it all down. I just find it amazing how God can take a teenager, lying in a hospital bed after trying to kill himself, and create a man, willing and eager to spread the Gospel to all of the world. God knows what He is doing in each and every one of our lives, even though we might not see while we're in our struggles.

Weekly Meal Planning

Each Saturday in our household, I am in charge of coming up with our weekly menu and grocery list. Occasionally, Hal will contribute to the list, usually just informing me of the staples that have run out. Other than that, he doesn't usually add any unusual items to the list since he's pretty easy to please, eating almost anything I make for him.

When I cook, I usually use recipes I find in my ample collection of cookbooks, on Pinterest, or in my Cooking Light or Food Network magazines. I used to subscribe to the Rachael Ray magazine, but noticed that I was hardly ever cooking anything from it; therefore, I found it no longer necessary. By far, my favorite recipes come from Cooking Light, whether they be from the magazine, their website, or the many cookbooks they've published (The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook is my favorite). The recipes tend to be easy, flavorful, and healthy, and they generally don't use a ton of ingredients, which saves on our shopping bill. I know it sounds like they would be paying me to say all this, but I genuinely love their products.

For the last couple weeks, I've had Hal choose a random cookbook from which I can choose recipes for the week. After I vetoed his first couple of choices, he chose Cooking Light 5 Ingredients 15 Minute Cookbook, which looks like this:

Sounds great, right? Well, maybe not so much, but I thought I'd give it a try. What could go wrong with recipes that used very few ingredients and also required such little time in the kitchen? The only real problem with this cookbook is that it uses so few fresh ingredients. Over the past year, I've tried my hardest to make sure that we shop from the outside areas of the grocery store (fresh veggies and fruit, meats, and dairy) instead of the inner aisles of the store (mostly processed foods). I do make exceptions for some food items such as pasta and rice, as well as canned tomatoes. I'll also use frozen vegetables instead of fresh, if fresh aren't in season. Because this cookbook rarely uses fresh ingredients (which makes sense when you only have 5 ingredients to use in 15 minutes), I'm not sure how often I'll be using it in the future, but for this week, we'll be giving it a try to see if it actually produces good meals. I'll try to give an update next week about this week's menu.

On a slightly separate note, I have a couple of grocery shopping recommendations. Now I don't get coupons in the mail because we don't subscribe to the paper, and I'm not too keen on printing out and clipping coupons from the internet. Instead of these two options, I've found a third option that fits what I'm willing to do to save money on grocery trips: I use apps. They usually only require a picture of the receipt and/or a scan of the product barcode. The following are the ones I use (the links are my referral links, which allow me to save more money if people join, but no pressure):

1. Ibotta - this is probably my favorite app because I can save on normal items I buy such as milk, eggs, bread, paper towels, toilet paper, etc, as well as some items I can stock up on even though they aren't on my weekly menu that particular week. You can also redeem coupons for non-grocery items. You redeem your saved money through PayPal or Venmo, or you can transfer it to a gift card. 
2. Snap! by GroupOn - I only use this on occasion due to the random restrictions they have on redeeming items, as well as the fact that the coupons are often gone by the time I get to my grocery shopping. This app allows  you to redeem your money once you get $20 in savings.
3. Checkout 51 - this app has the same problem that I have with Snap! I don't buy the majority of the products on their offers list, but I figure that even if I save a mere quarter on the bunch of bananas, it's worth the minimal effort it requires. You can redeem your savings once you earn $20. 

We probably save anywhere from three to five dollars every week, which does add up over time. I just wanted to share in case anyone was looking for ways to save a few dollars here or there. 

Scripture of the day (taken from the sermon this morning, but I love the story anyway): 1 Kings 17, which tells the story of how God provides for Elijah, and the faith of a Gentile woman despite her desperate circumstances. 

The Inauguration

After much consideration and many suggestions to do so, I have finally decided to start a blog. I wanted to do this months ago, but postponed it because I couldn’t think of a clever title (lame excuse, I know). I finally came up with “Take Me Out to the Bookstore,” combining two of my favorite hobbies that bring me so much joy (and in the case of baseball, agony as well). My goal for this blog is to begin writing down my thoughts about the things for which I am passionate. I suppose that's simple enough.

First of all, two weeks from today spring officially begins for me and the many other baseball fans around the world. For my Texas Rangers, pitchers and catchers finally report to Surprise, AZ, to begin the short couple months of spring training before the 2015 MLB season. I won’t go into what and why baseball means so much to me in this initial post, but I will say that it is my first and foremost sports love.

In other news, I’ve also made it a goal this year to read a book every week. So far, I’m about four weeks behind on my reading goals, but I think I might be able to catch up if I actually put some effort towards it.

The first book I read this year was Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, which I would recommend if you are interested in a fictional take on a kind of Mommy Wars. The book is set in a little beach-side town in Australia where a tragedy has happened at the elementary school’s annual Trivia Night, about which everyone has an opinion regarding how it started and who did it. The only problem for the reader is that Moriarty only tells you someone has died, but not who has died. Moriarty weaves an interesting story, taking on what happens when we begin to keep little secrets and tell little lies to those around us in order to protect ourselves or just save face amongst our friends. 

Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee is another book that I would greatly recommend to almost anyone. The novel was suggested to me by a friend, and I was able to pick it up pretty cheaply at Lifeway. It’s a Christian fiction book, a genre which I don’t typically read because of poor writing, but Lee creates a thought-provoking and well-written story dealing with the fall of Lucifer, the creation, and the redemption, all while telling it from a demon’s perspective. Sometimes it is hard to grasp the love of God until you see it from the eyes of a demon who will never get to experience it. It’s a very powerful book and one of the best I've read in a long time. 

I guess this is the end to my first blog post. It’s a bit scary writing your thoughts and opinions about things for people to read and potentially judge. It’s one thing tweet or write a Facebook status update, but for some reason, it is a very different feeling in this format.

Scripture of the day: 1 Peter 3:4

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.