Six Word Memoir

Some time ago, I read a review of a book entitled, "Six Word Memoirs"; at least I think that was the title! I do remember the objective was that people from all walks of life submitted a "memoir" of their life or life's work or life's belief using only SIX WORDS. Legend has it that Hemingway was once asked to write a story using only six words. What he came up with was something like this: "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." Doesn't that just grab you and make you want to know MORE! I remember another one from the review: "Not quite what I was planning." Wow....

Being a lover of words, I was captivated by this thought. Many nights I have sat with a notebook and doodled, trying to sum up my life's passions in six words. I don't exactly know what is so special about six words, as opposed to 7 or 12, etc. But this was the book's premise and many people seemed to be doing so well at it.

I've come up with a few different ones; perchance I am too verbose for such a task. Here are just a couple of mine: "Earnest Godseeker; Offspring's Teacher; Secret Dreamer"; and "Unworthy by nature; Chosen anyway; BLESSED."

I'm thinking some of my readers could blow me away with this assignment! I would love to hear them. So, what about you? Can you write a SIX WORD MEMOIR?

Update: After posting this, I decided to refresh my memory a little as to the actual book; it had been awhile since I had read about it. So I did some searching. I learned something interesting: for one thing, the book's actual title was the memoir I already posted: "Not quite what I was planning." ; something else I noticed is that people will submit their deepest and most anguishing personal truths when it is published anonymously. For instance, two I found particularly painful: "I Am A Child Of Adultery." and "Wedding Bands Can Easily Come Off." In these situations, you can tell that a person truly has reduced their darkest inner pain to six words. Wow.

Book Review...

So, I've nearly finished reading the book, "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge. I had mentioned in my Recommendation section that I was reading it and would post my thoughts. I decided to just do it in a post, rather than actually adding it to my personal list of recommendations.

Let me start by saying that I know that there are probably many women (even some of my fellow bloggers) who like this book very much, and feel it helped them in some way. I do not mean to denegrate that at all. My sentiments are strictly my own personal feelings and reflections.

This book was difficult for me to get through. In fact, it has taken me an unusually lengthy period of time to finish it. I wanted to enjoy it so much, and every time I would take a break from it, I would approach it again with fresh gusto thinking I would finally "click" with the book. As much of a sentimental sap that I am, and I AM one, there was just too much waist-high wading in mush and gush for me in this book! I kept trying to find some semblance of a woman I could relate to, and I never really found her. Oh, there were certain blanket observations about women, and our core desires, that I could appreciate. But most of the illustrations were geared toward women particularly with a "father wound". I want to emphasize here that I am not mocking that term. I am well aware that it is a real thing, and a truly tragic thing. It's just that I can't personally relate to it. My relationship with my dad has always been wonderful, and having God described to me as a Father figure early in my childhood was not a fearful thing. Indeed, it only made the idea of a Heavenly Father seem that much more desirable. So that was my first issue with the book, strictly from my personal viewpoint. After that, there was constant and continual movie referencing to drive home a point. I have no problem with some of that, but I found it to be excessive. I think they may have done that partly because it supported one of their foundational concepts that all women want to feel that they're part of a great adventure. Movies are the epitome of losing yourself to an adventure. But again, I just found the references to be excessive, and wished that there would have been some additional methods of emphasizing their points.

Overall, I would recommend this book very sparingly to particular audiences, and not just an "every woman should read this" kind of book. Expectations are a major part of how we come to view EVERYTHING in life (I'm learning this more as I grow older); we all approach things from our own unique standpoint, and therefore can take away different things from one main source. My expectation in buying "Captivating" was that perhaps I would learn some really cool stuff that would help me understand myself in ways that I hadn't previously done. I think that expectation formed after my husband was able to really "click" with some of John Eldredge's writings for men. In full disclosure, I must also point out that Derek had some of the same issues with mush and gush like I did in the mens' material; he was just also able to find some very helpful insight that helped him understand not only himself, but also really strike a chord in his dealings with the young men that he works with in his youth ministry. Having seen him have that reaction, I was a little disappointed that "Captivating" didn't do that for me!

In summary, the authors endeavor to reveal the mystery of a woman's soul, by exploring the following three concepts: 1. Every woman longs to be swept up into a romance 2. She longs to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and 3. She longs to be the Beauty of the story.

I cannot say that I disagree with ANY of those suppositions that were laid out in the book...I can see myself there from girlhood to womanhood. It was only the exploration of these that fell short of drawing me in.

I look forward to hearing comments from any of you who have read it and maybe have a different perspective from mine. I welcome it.....

Thanks for reading!

Encouraging Word For All Who Pray....

The following is an excerpt from John Piper's book, "The Pleasures of God."

"...God loves to magnify His glory in the lives of his people. So he designed prayer as a way for this to happen. Jesus says, 'whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' (John 14:14) So God has designed prayer as an occasion when he and the Son will be glorified as the source and agent in doing good to his people. This is one of the reasons Revelation describes the prayers of the saints as golden bowls of incense before the throne of God. (Rev. 5:8) God delights in the aroma of his own glory as he smells it in the prayers of his people. It is as though God has a favorite food. When we pray, he smells the aroma from the kitchen as you prepare his special dish. When God hungers for some special satisfaction, he seeks out a prayer to answer. Our prayer is the sweet aroma from the kitchen ascending up into the King's chambers making him hungry for the meal. But the actual enjoyment of the meal is his own glorious work in answering our prayer. The food of God is to answer our prayers. He has no deficiency in himself that he needs to fill up, so he gets his satisfaction by magnifying the glory of his riches by filling up the deficiencies of people who pray.
This seems to be the point of Ps. 50:13-15, 'Do I eat the flesh of bulls or the drink the blood of goats?' says the Lord. NO. Therefore, 'offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving...and call upon him in the day of trouble, and he will deliver you, and you shall glorify him.' The demonstration of the glory of God in answered prayer is God's special feast. So if we want to feed him with the only kind of joy he is capable of, we hold up the empty cup of prayer and let him show the riches of his glory by filling it. "

This portion of reading has been food for my own soul for about two days now. I couldn't find a good spot to cut off my quote, it is so good! I hope it was an encouragement to you today, as well . Wherever we are, blogging friends, stretched across the globe, may our collective prayers rise to Heaven and be a sweet aroma--a bountiful feast--for our Heavenly Father.