Amy Scott's Thoughts

As expected, I flew through Bread & Wine. This whole book was about food and preparing food for the ones you love and dinner parties and living life around the table, about nourishing our bodies and  our relationships and our souls. I think the reason I love Shauna so much is because is so different from me. She mentioned that she grew up in a ministry household where the home was sanctuary from the busy world. Her home life was quiet and always wished it could have been a little louder, even though she understood quiet was what her parents needed. I can relate because I feel like my home is my sanctuary. It’s my quiet in a  busy, hectic ministry life. Instead of opening my home to people, I tend to recover in my home and recharge my batteries.

This doesn’t mean that I can’t connect to the idea of nourishing people through food and through relationship. I believe the table is a very valuable place and it is often missing in our fast paced American lives. I love family dinners. I dream of feeding my own family someday and sitting around our dining room and talking about the day. In someways I find that 1950’s housewife role ideal. Clean the house, take care of the kids, make dinner and feed the family. I like the sound of that.

Let’s be honest, I have little to no cooking skills. I’ve tried a few things, but really I’m not a cook. Shauna includes recipes at the end of almost every chapter and I couldn’t help but notice how brave she is with food. Her palette is more refined (in some ways… she admits to loving fake cheese). I’m more of a comfort food kind of a girl. I like simple pasta and burritos and macaroni & cheese and pizza. I’m not really into bacon wrapped dates or salads with feta cheese crumbles. Her recipes sounded interesting, but I’m not sure I would make a lot of them. The enchiladas sounded good and Sarah Bessy made them and agrees. Shauna’s blueberry crisp recipe that she got from her mom also sounded like something I would make.

The hardest part about reading this book was I had the flu part of the time while I  was reading it. It made the food portions sounds less tasty, but the great thing about this book is it about so much more than food. Shauna writes with such honesty about her relationships. Her tales of miscarriage and high risk pregnancy are gut-wrenching. Her closeness to her family and core friends is touching. She shares about her marriage and raising her boys. She writes about her crazy schedule and how the world can flip upside down sometimes. I love these essays because they speak such life to me. They are heartfelt and authentic and they move me to tears. She is so extroverted that I know we could never be alike, but I would love to have her as a friend. Who wouldn’t love someone who cooks all the time and throws awesome baby showers and makes care packages for new moms that include lots of good food. As I was reading this I was thinking about how I could really use a friend like her in a couple months (less than 6 now…).

This book inspires me. It inspires me to step out of my comfort zone and into my kitchen more. It inspires me to share my table with the ones I love. It also reminds me that the Shaunas of the world are there to throw dinner parties and the Amys of the world are here for quiet sanctuaries. We are all different and that is okay. I can learn a lot from people that are different than me and I can love them for what they bring to the table. Any book by Shauna Niequist is a must read in my opinion and her new book is no exception!

Good Reads!

I was really excited to get my hands on this book. I tried to place a hold on it at the library and I discovered that I was 45th in line. What a wait! Lucky for me, I have a friend and mentor who allowed me to borrow her copy. Thanks, Vicki!

Wow, let me tell you after all the hype surrounding this book, I found it a lot harder to read than I expected. It’s really good, don’t get me wrong. It’s just so full of research and data that at times it can feel a bit like reading a textbook. Nothing wrong with that! It’s just not a book you fly through. Each page has some serious weight behind it.

I’ve long known that I am an introvert and I do love reading books that validate my wiring. Especially in church culture, there is a strong emphasis of extrovertism being the “ideal” leader. It’s been freeing, the more I read and the more I get comfortable in my own skin, to know God made me this way and he will use me this way. I don’t have to be something I’m not. Yes, at church I can tend to put on an extroverted mindset, especially in a classroom environment. However, if you were to watch me in the office throughout the week, you would see my introverted tendencies. Also my schedule screams that I’m an introvert. I have lots of down time in my life and I need it in order to be with people. When I am constantly on the go and always up front, I get really burnt out, really fast.

I think my favorite paragraph in the book was  in the conclusion. Let me share some of Cain’s closing words with you:

“Love is essential; gregariousness is optional. Cherish your nearest and dearest. Work with colleagues you like and respect. Scan new acquaintances for those who might fall into the former categories or whose company you might enjoy for its own sake. And don’t worry about socializing with everyone else. Relationship make everyone happier, introverts included, but think quality over quantity.”

I love that paragraph because most people assume that introverts don’t like people or avoid people. This is not true. I love people very much. The relationships I have in my life are extremely important to me. My friendships run deep. I may only have a handful of close friends on this planet, but that doesn’t matter to me because I agree that quality matters over quantity. Overall this books a good read and very insightful. I understand why introverts have really raised the banner over this book and made it so well known.

As a side note, my copy of Shauna Niequist’s newest book, Bread & Wine, arrived today just as I was finishing Quiet. Shauna’s writing has moved me so much in the last year. She has become an instant favorite for me.  I am so excited that this book arrived early! Originally I thought it would arrive right before I left on a week of ministry conferences. I would rather be alone with a good book than social in a crowd any day so I was worried about the tension of wanting to be with my book when I should really be with people. Now I can totally devour this book before leaving and not worry a bit about looking anti-social! Hurray! Happy dance!

I’m happy to say that I finished Multiply this weekend! It sadly took me longer to read than I had expected. Part of the reason is I am reading multiple books at a time right now and I’m learning that I don’t do that well. I like to process one thing at a time. My brain gets overwhelmed by topic hopping. Lesson learned.

Multiply is a great book for anyone who considers themselves a Christ Follower or might be curious about what the Bible is about. This book is written in a very different style from Chan’s other books. It’s very basic and simple. It’s completely user friendly. The beginning starts off with why disciples should make disciples – practically how does that look.

The book then moves into what I would call a brief commentary of the Biblical narrative. This is very sound teaching on what is in the Bible. Nothing too controversial – the book is very non-denominational. Just the basics are presented and I like that. This section of the book is a resource to those who are actively discipling and a lesson for those who being discipled. Chan gives you what to go over and then all the details you need to confidently study God’s word together.

As a Bible college student, I didn’t feel like it was anything new that I didn’t know. However, that doesn’t diminish the power of God’s Word and purpose of the church in reaching out. It was a good reminder for me and a book that I could see myself recommending to those who want to go deeper in their understanding of the Bible and God’s word.  It’s not meant to replace the Bible for study, but it should spur you on in your desire to know God more and to help others know God more. Overall, an easy and moving read. You can’t get over the basics how ever simple they might be. God is good and he is plan. Will we be a part of it?

Now that this book is off my to-read list let me share with you a few more books I’m really looking forward to starting or finishing in the next few months:

• One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp – Yes, this is my 4th time reading the book, but I’m doing it alongside my Growth Group study and it’s been water to my soul, just like every other time I’ve read it.
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain – I’m so excited for this read! I’ve heard really good things about this book. I love anything that validates me an introvert and inspires me to be the way I was created to be.
• Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist –  I’ve become a huge fan of Shauna this last year and her newest book will be released in April! I can’t wait! Seriously, I will be pre-ordering this soon!
• The Synergist by Les McKeown – We just took his work assessment test our staff leadership meeting. Now we’ll be reading his book to dig deeper into the concepts.
• Prototype by Jonathan Martin – I love listening to Jonathan’s podcasts and I’m super excited for his first book! It will be released at the beginning of May, but I’ve heard good things from those who have received an advance copy!

I’m so excited to pour through all these books and learn from these authors! So much good stuff to read!

This week I finished A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. Can I just tell you I’ve learned a new pet peeve? Nothing irritates me more than people who make a big deal of nothing. I’ve been anticipating this book for months. Pretty much from the moment I heard about this project. I also heard a lot of negative things about it. Mostly from men. Things that sounded like, “She’s mocking biblical womanhood” or “she’s trying to overthrow men”. Oh my, why create drama when there isn’t any need. Some people…

Anyway, I was very proud of how respectful Rachel was in this book. She stretched herself and tried things that weren’t “her” things. She got a different perspective and while I doubt she still wears head coverings or camps out in the front yard when she’s on her period, she did learn and grow through all these experiences. You don’t have to follow different walks of a life to the word in order to have respect from them and learn from them.

My personal take on the Bible verses most used to keep women silent and in the home happens to be that they were for a specific group of people in a specific time and place. Paul wrote letters to specific churches. He never said these words are scripture for all people and all time. We can learn from the them and I especially think he was getting at order in the church and dealing with a group of difficult woman who were misrepresenting what this movement was about. I look at Jesus and how he said nothing about women in a negative way. In fact, he went out of his way to value women. He was counter-cultural in his approach to women and he never put them in a box. In fact, I think Paul was the same way. He had women who he worked with in the early church that he valued. I don’t think this should be overlooked. I don’t believe in this idea that all women are good for is being a wife and making babies. I don’t believe women should be silent and have no authority over men. With that being said, I don’t look down on stay at home moms or women who have taken on more traditional gender roles. I believe that you should do what God has called you to do and use your talents to serve – your family, your church, your community, your work place. Serve and love wherever you are at and in whatever you are doing.  The where doesn’t make a difference to me.

The thing I love about Rachel in this book is she tried so many things that were out of her comfort zone. From making dinner and housekeeping to renting a computer baby (the ones they pass out to teenagers to discourage them unsafe sex) to dressing plain and modest, she really put herself out there. She called her husband “master” and celebrated Jewish holidays and Jewish laws. She studied women in the Bible to see if there was a mold, a pattern, something that applied to all women. It turns out the Bible is full of many women with different backgrounds and different talents. God used them in different ways to bring glory to himself. There isn’t a mold. In fact, Jewish tradition doesn’t expect all women to be the Proverbs 31 women. Isn’t that a relief? The Proverbs 31 is a woman of valor to exemplifies women who are active in their own lives. They don’t passively sit by and let life happen to them. Bake bread for your family? You’re a woman of valor. Bring home the bacon? Woman of Valor! Clean the house? Woman of Valor! It’s like a “You go girl” encouragement. This makes me very happy because I will never be ALL the things mention in Proverbs 31.

While there are many things that I loved about this book, I think the best part of me was her reflection on submission. Rachel’s Jewish source explained that the term in Genesis that we translate as “helpmeet” really signifies two pillars leaning on each other with equal weight. Rachel explains that it has always been “Team Dan and Rachel”. She and her husband have never assigned specific roles to their marriage. Whoever does it best gets the job done. Even for a year of submitting, her husband found it uncomfortable that she suddenly acted like less of a person because was a woman. He went through the craziness of this project so that she could succeed. Even in having the “master” card for a year, he only went a long with it so his wife would have  the opportunity to write this book. Their marriage in a partnership and “Team Dan and Rachel” really got this project done together. This really struck a cord for me because I view my marriage as a partnership. Jeremy has always treated me as an equal. Even in his job, he shares fully with me. There is no pulling rank and me being put in my place as the little woman. In every way we are Team Jeremy and Amy. If he succeeds, I succeed and visa versa. This is so stabling and so beautiful. Rachel ends the books by sharing that Dan doesn’t need to make her “respect” him because she already does – just for being himself. It’s a natural respect, not something that is demanded. I feel the same way when it comes to Jeremy. Why would I not respect him? Why should I be made to? I respect him for who he already his – for his character, for all the things that make him unique and so special.

This book made me laugh as Rachel did things in the name of Biblical Womanhood that I have never done. She addressed fears that all women face and the tensions we live in. It was tastefully written and I appreciate how she grew through this process. It wasn’t a joke or a mockery. It was an investigation and I like where she ended up. It’s a book worth reading – both men and women. I am thankful for voices like Rachel’s who bold speak truth. She is a woman of valor and I deeply respect her.

I loved this book! I had heard about Bob from Donald Miller who happens to be one of favorite authors. Anyone that Donald loves and is friends with a sign of a good book. Also, Donald helped Bob with some of the editing and I can I see his fingerprints on the book.

The reason I love this book is because Bob makes me laugh. He tells crazy stories that you can relate to and yet you wonder if their true. The humor and the honesty lead to a thought provoking closure and then you say WOW! Bob has lived an extraordinary life. It seems like he has just happened upon some really awesome people. He’s driven without making you feel guilty about yourself.

Love Does is a great concept. Bob has lived his life based off of love. It’s been his guiding light. All these cool stories and amazing experiences come from doing something with his life. He is the kind of guy that can inspire you to do anything and he has a season pass to Disneyland. What’s not to love!

This book was right up there with A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. It’s all about what kind of story you are writing with your life. Bob has written a good story with his life. It’s not because he is any cooler than you or I. It’s because he has tenacity. It’s because he see Jesus everywhere and lives for him, not for the same things this world hold dear.

Bob Goff is not average in any way, shape or form. His stories of courting his wife, getting into law school, taking his kids all over the world to meet with leaders of countries, helping release kids from prisons in Uganda will take you to a deep place in your heart. They will make you laugh. They will make you think. They might even bring a tear to your eye.

Love is about doing. Not about just sitting in a room talking about it. Love is active and living. Love is about living this one wild crazy life well. Now I might not have the resources to do the things Bob does, but that doesn’t mean my life can be void of doing. In someway we can all do. We all have the opportunity to love with our lives.

When I teach a class, when I pray with a student or a friend or a parent, when I send that encouraging note, or bake those cupcakes – my love is doing something. I want the love in my life to do something. I want it to inspire and I want it to encourage. More than anything though, I want my love to point to Jesus.

Love Does is good stuff. Bob Goff is an incredible author and I’m so glad that he shared his journey with me. I’m the better for it. I hope that I can do the same thing for someone else – I want them to be better off because I shared my journey with them.

I wrote a book review for Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist at the beginning of the month. I was really impressed with Shauna’s honest writing about change, disappointment and rough seasons of life. She balanced it all so well with growth and healing. Such a good read and it did a lot for as I deal with my own bittersweet situations. I decided to check out her first book Cold Tangerines since I loved Bittersweet so much.

I was curious about Cold Tangerines because it was her first book and the tag line is “celebrating the extraordinary nature of everyday life.” I wasn’t sure if Cold Tangerines was the happy book before the bottom fell out and Bittersweet was the sad, realistic book to follow. Now I wouldn’t call Bittersweet sad (it did make me cry), but a mix of both bitter and sweet reflections, so it was fitting for it’s title. I thought that Cold Tangerine might be fluffy and maybe I wouldn’t like Shauna as much if she was too perky. However, I found great consistency in her character. She’s an amazing writer. When I read her work, especially when she writes about writing, I think that I could do that. I could be a writer. I could share short insights into what I’ve learned through everyday life. In fact, that’s what I try to do on a somewhat regular basis here on this blog. Let’s face it though, sometimes I just want to write about cupcakes. Shauna also writes a lot about food, so I think she would understand my need to write about baked goods!

This book covers the period of time where she left her job at a church and become a stay at home writer and mom. I could relate to her as she wrote about her identity being wrapped up her job. I think those of us with “church” jobs think that the job is who we are. We are saving the world and trying to make it a better place. What are we without our titles, projects, meetings, and busy schedules. Would we cease to exist? I hope not. This is a lesson that I’ve been learning more and more. My job is only a small portion of who I am and what I have to offer the world. It’s not my identity. Being a church lady isn’t the only thing I’m good at. I love my job and I love being a church lady, I’m not knocking the profession, I’m just saying I’m more than that.

I find myself being drawn to books about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. I love One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for that reason and now both of these offerings by Shauna Niequist. I used to think that life was all about striving for the next big thing – the next up and coming, bigger and better thing. It was always about striving for more. Now I realize that right where I am is more than enough. I love the simple things and living a simple life. I don’t know why I thought I had to be all important and massively impressive. Talk about a lot of pressure. So like Alicia Britt Chole writes about, I’m choosing to be Anonymous. I’m finding that by choosing the unseen life, I’m slowing down to a pace where I can see the unseen things in my own life. The treasures of each day are plentiful. Each moment if truly a gift. I used to say that in a Hallmark card kind of way – all gushy and happily-ever-after-like. I didn’t quite believe it because it seemed too sweet to be real life. Now that I can take both the bitter and the sweet and be thankful, I’m learning the value of each minute. It’s not going to be rainbows and sunshine all the time, but God is good no matter what and I can see him in all things if I’m looking. Even in the things I don’t understand, I know that he is there, holding me. I don’t have to get it all. I just have to be thankful. Because being thankful makes me joyful and being joyful makes me smile and laugh and feel free.

Now to keep with the theme of my reading lately, I look forward to starting Love Does by Bob Goff. The tag line of this book is “Discover a secretly incredible life in an ordinary world.” Sounds right up my alley, doesn’t it? I’m so glad that God has colored in my ordinary world with his love! No excuse for boredom and never a dull moment! I’m living an adventure!

I first heard about this book from my dad who happens to be an Andy Stanley enthusiast. Back in my (short) days as the curriculum person at our church, I got to preview some of Andy DVDs and like all things put out by North Point, I was impressed and I enjoyed them. I was watching a session of Guardrails and I can vividly remember responding audibly with a “good word”… I was the only one home. Hmm… it was a good point. I think Toby agreed with me ( for those that know me – Toby is my dog and he probably thought I was crazy. Wouldn’t be the first time).

My dad told me that Andy had a new book coming out and that it was going to be a tell all on what happened in his parent’s marriage and how North Point got started out the drama that went on with his father. I’m human. I’m curious about other peoples messes. So much like reading a tabloid magazine, I was set to get the dirt from the inside source. It turns out that book was about a lot more than that. While the chapters on Andy’s leaving his dad’s church and starting North Point were good, the book is so much deeper than that.

This book is pretty much Andy’s brain on North Point. He gives you the look inside why they do things the way they do. Now I’m not a fan of copy-cat churches. I’m not suggesting we all become mini versions of North Point. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Andy’s intention either. It’s just interesting to see how they got where they are and why they intentionally went that direction.

It was a good book for anyone in church leadership to read. It convicted me about some of the things that I’m currently doing in my own ministry. Andy ends the book was the chapter about “What If” – what if he hadn’t of left his dad’s church? What if he hadn’t started North Point? What would he have missed? What lives wouldn’t be changed? This was a challenge to me to live my life fully and take the risks that might seem crazy. I want to live a life that is so on point and so intentional that I would be heart broken if it never happened. I don’t want to miss the God moments. What if I hadn’t give it my all? What if I didn’t connect with that student? It’s empowering to remember that every investment we make into the kingdom of God is worth it.

What I love is that North Point is so different from the church I serve in. I mean size wise there is no comparison. However, Andy has never been about making big churches. The whole premise of the book is creating churches that unchurched people love to attend. It’s so good to remember that the church isn’t a building with walls. It’s a group of people alive and active in a community. It also shouldn’t be exclusive for “members” like a country club. It’s an open invitation to authentic relationships, to family, to find a deeper purpose and meaning to life. Our churches should be a place unchurched people love to come. Okay so maybe they don’t want to come… because they’ve had a negative experience or their scared or worried… but that is the thing. We should put all those fears aside with our love and acceptance. I don’t know about you, but I needed that.

My job is mainly about keeping the church people happy. It’s about making sure that parent’s are happy with the care that their child receives while they attend our services, classes, programs. I really do believe that my job is beyond childcare. I’m not there to make sure kid’s are watched and out of their parents way. Idealistically, that’s not why I am there. However, practically and legally, that’s kind of why I’m there. I need to be reminded that there are some families who show up that may know nothing about this church thing. I need to remember that not every child grew up with a faith in Jesus. Some haven’t made that decision yet and they are just trying to figure this whole thing out. I want to be a safe place for them to come with their questions and with their doubts. I want them to feel loved and accepted and I don’t want them to worry about  judgment.

I do believe that churches can be deep and wide. I’ve often heard the phrase “That church is an inch-deep and a mile-wide. ” – meaning it’s all about the numbers and not growing the people. I’m pretty hardcore when it comes the deep stuff. I don’t want to be a church full of baby Christians who haven’t grown past their faith infancy. So I like the idea of being deep and wide. We need to be wide reaching in our love, acceptance and grace. We need to go deep and be a part of life transformation. It’s a both/and situation.

I’m thankful to Andy Stanley for his honest writing and his ability to share all that he has learned from experience. This is a must read.

My first introduction to Rachel Held Evans was one that made think she was WAY out there. I had been warned that her views were probably more liberal than my own. I was told that some don’t even believe that she is a Christian. I was also told that she’s known for believing in theistic evolution. Still, I was intrigued. I’d read a little bit of her work and I must admit that I didn’t think she was crazy off the deep end. I’m sure that there is a lot that we might not see eye to eye on, but as far as I can tell she loves Jesus and loves others, so for me… I guess I think she’s Christian.

Evolving in Monkey Town is her book about how her faith changed. She went from being a know-it-all who was certain she had all the answers to struggling with some severe doubt. She’s honest about the questions that kept her up at night. She looked at things like life and death, heaven and hell. She struggled with questions about how people who have never heard about God could be punished. Somehow because she was born in the USA with Christian parents that gave her a chance at heaven, but what about those who didn’t win what she calls the “cosmic lottery”, what about those who don’t have the chance? What about the poor and broken? It’s a good book for wrestling and wondering. Personally, I’m glad she had the guts to share her journey and to honest about her thoughts.

I really like where she ended up as a result. It all come back to who God is. While talking about absolute truth, she said that she believes that absolute truth looks like Jesus. I couldn’t agree more. I’m not sure why there are so many denominations in the world and I don’t understand how one person can read a passage of scripture and get “proof” for something and someone else can read that same passage and come up with an opposite belief. I guess when it comes down to it, I don’t want to fight about the small stuff. I just want to focus on the stuff that matters – like Jesus and his compassion. I want to live a life that loves the poor and broken. I want to love God and love others. I think that might be enough. I don’t have to all the answers. I just want to know Jesus.

I’m a bit of a nerd. I loved going to Bible college and studying the scripture in a classroom setting. I really do engaging my mind. Over the years I’ve had to learn the balance of both knowing God in my head and loving him in my heart. It’s not all head knowledge and it’s not all touchy-feely. What I walked away with from reading this book is that God is just so much bigger than I can even imagine. I in no way have him figured out. In fact, as I’ve gotten older, I am leery of people who have it all figured out. I’m less likely to debate and fight as I once was. I just want to live a life that speaks of the love of my Savior. I want to give value to people by seeing them and really listening. I want to reflect Jesus. I know I’m not the best as this and I believe I will have to devote my entire lifetime to it because I will never really grasp it.

I could see myself in a lot of ways through Rachel’s processing. I can see how certainty can lead to doubt and how doubt can led to faith. I guess this life wouldn’t take faith if we really had it all figured out. I’m glad that God is bigger than any box we can put him in. I’m glad he made us and gets it. Not the other way around. Despite differences and uncertainty, I have a peace. I’m also really glad that Rachel was honest about her doubts and questions. I believe that the church needs to be a safe place for questions like these to be asked. We might not have all the answers, but I’m pretty sure that’s okay. I think authentically answering “I don’t know, but I know God loves you” is just fine. It might be freeing. I know it is for me!