But now I have another friend Shauna, or maybe I should say that I really want to be her friend. Her name is Shauna Niequist and she is a fabulous writer!!! Honestly, the reason I am drawn to her is because I feel that she writes the way I would LOVE to write... and I'm in the midst of her second book which is totally rocking my world.
I'm apart of a book club (that I love dearly!) and this our book for next month. I'm already almost done with it... and I'm probably breaking the rules by writing about it on my blog but I don't care because it's brought me to tears so often lately.
She's extremely transparent.... talks about the good... the bad... families... death... food... traveling... all the while looking through the glasses of a faithful Christian and trying to figure out how everything fits.
She had just miscarried while she was writing this book so that is a clear thread throughout. But in a particular chapter, she is talking about the difficulties of sharing pregnancies and how it is glorious yet heartbreaking for some. A few quotes:
"I know that most of us are longing for something. I know that longing is part of the deal, part of living in the not-yet-heaven. I know people who are longing to marry, who are longing to be healed from disease, longing for their children to come home, longing for the financial pressure to release. I get that longing is part of how we live."
"And I'll ask for help and tenderness every time I find myself crying in the bathroom. And most important, I'll choose to believe that sometimes the happiest ending isn't the one you keep longing for, but something you absolutely cannot see from where you are."
From another chapter: "Life hands us opportunities at every turn to get over ourselves, to get outside oursevles, to wake up from our own bad dreams and realize that really lovely things are happening all the time."
I'll stop now... just go buy the book.
5 comments:
I was thinking as I was reading last night that I SO wish she could come to our book club... She'd love all of us :) Haha! She's my new bf too, and there are so many chapters I want to go back and re-read. So glad we are reading this together!!
Ah! I remember Cold Tangerines. I'll have to get this one.
I'm pretty sure she would be our friend! It's a goal of mine to read cold tangerine's each year! I'm loving bittersweet too. My response to your comment on my blog is this...
"Left to our own devices, we sometimes choose the most locked up, dark versions of the story, but what a good friend does is turn on the lights, open the window, and remind us that there are a whole lot of ways to tell the same story." -S.N.
I'm glad we have each other to turn on the lights & open up the window!
Since I have Donald I guess I'll let you have Shauna, but at least let me come to your dinner parties. Does't she just make you want to throw a dinner party? Wait! I can't believe that we are actually going to have dinner together when we talk about this book.
Shauna has the ability to express what I'm feeling so much better than I ever could.
Here's a quote for you, my young gorgeous friends (page 90)...
"Every year, you will trade a little of your perfect skin and your ability to look great without exercising for wisdom and peace and groundedness and every year the trade will be worth it, I promise."
My mom is bringing me this book this weekend! I'm so looking forward to it!
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