a stolen prayer

so i am copying this from a friend's blog (her name also being miranda, actually!).  though it takes a humorous approach, it really reflects the desires of my heart, too, minus the part about being allergic to cats.

Dear God,

If there is someone out there for me then I pray that he waits for me. And whoever he is, wherever he is, I hope he thinks I’m worth that wait because he will probably end up waiting on me a lot. Like when I try and decide on what flavor ice cream to get or when I do my hair (blast those unruly curls!) And please let him love dancing - at parties, in socks in the kitchen, and in the rain (NOT a hurricane). He doesn’t have to like fashion at all but I hope he tolerates it enough to let me enjoy it. In return, I’ll give him and his buddies snacks and full reign of the TV for Monday Night Football. If I haven’t met him yet I hope we meet in a funny way that makes a good story. And if we have met...who is it?!?! I hope he is silly, but that he takes his faith seriously. I want him to love me, but You more. Bless that boy in advance for voluntarily spending the rest of his life connected to my crazy family. I pray the reason we are apart now is because you are doing big things in each of us and that when we are together its only because our ministry is better together. Keep us together, forever. And Lord, if there isn’t someone out there for me please give me a passion for something I can fully commit to and emerge myself in. And a good dog. Or two. Because you know I’m allergic to cats.

Amen.

poisonwood

the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver} was my latest read.  i have been moving somewhat slowly the last month or so with my reading list.  life has just been so busy with grading, doing my own schoolwork, traveling, work, and a number of other things.  i am hoping to hit the ground running (or reading) again this week.  i finished the poisoinwood bible a couple of weeks ago.  definitely a sad, interesting read.  it was the story of a christian family that made a sudden move to the congo to serve as missionaries.  though it is fiction, it is a picture of what is wrong with family leaders that get so caught up in the ministry that they forget about serving their own family. 

"i could see that the whole idea and business of childhood was nothing guaranteed.  it seemed to me, in fact, like something more or less invented by white people and stuck onto the front end of grown-up life like a frill on a dress."  the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}

"if your brother is going to steal your hen, save your honor and give it to him first."  the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}

"you can't just point to the one most terrible thing and wonder why it happened...each bad thing causes something worse...if you look hard enough you can always see reasons, but you'll go crazy if you think it's all punishment for your sins...god doesn't need to punish us. he just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves."  the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}

"marriage is one long fit of compromise, deep and wide.  there is always one agenda swallowing another, a squeaky wheel crying out.  but hasn't our life together meant more to the world than either of us could have meant alone?"  the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}

"...you have nothing to lose but your chains.  but i don't happen to agree.  if chained is where you have been, your arms will always bear marks of the shackles.  what you have to lose is your story, your own slant.  you'll look at the scars on your arms and see mere ugliness, or you'll take great care to look away from them and see nothing.  either way, you have no words for the story of where you came from."  the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}

"i think of him exactly that way.  we are the balance of our damage and our transgressions.  he was my father.  i own half his genes, and all of his history.  believe this:  the mistakes are part of the story.  i am born of a man who believed he could tell nothing but the truth, while he set down for all time the poisonwood bible."  the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}