In lieu of my normal Teaser Tuesday, I’m so, so excited to tell you about a new book, just out today, called Radical. Written by David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, has written a book that is both the most challenging/life-altering and the most encouraging book other than the Bible that I’ve ever read.

I was reading this book at the same time as several friends of mine, and we couldn’t stop talking  about every chapter as we worked our way through the realization of how easy it is to hijack worshipping Christ and replace it with a faith built on the American Dream. God wants us all to accumulate stuff and be successful, right?

Not so fast.

According to David, our role on earth is to proclaim the glory of God, to share the good news of His grace and gospel. Our role is not to choose which parts of scripture we want to follow. Ignoring the parts of the Bible that tell us to care for the poor and widows and orphans isn’t an option. When we serve them we’re serving our God.

You’ll be blown away by this book. I’m certain of it. Just ask my parents and friends who keep saying “David Platt is ruining my life!” Or ask the families (like David and his wife) who have sold their homes or given away all their things to bless others with the Good News. This message will ruin you. In the best possible way.

Please find this book at your library or local bookstore. Or check out www.waterbrookmultnomah.com to see about contests to win copies. This is one you can’t miss.

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

Tags: David Platt, Radical

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip …

Well, it’s actually a tale of a fateful ship … the Meribel. Here is her story, in pictures and words.

Meribel was a good ship. A friendly ship. She liked the open water and her place of rest among the other boats in my backyard next to her friend, Little Blue Boat.

But then, one day the waters started to rise. And rise. And rise. And Meribel’s friend didn’t float. Meribel was sad.

When Little Blue Boat disappeared, Meribel thought she’d be all alone, floating on the water. But then Floating Storage Shed arrived.

But then Floating Storage Shed became a bully, pushing Meribel back into a corner.

Will Meribel get out of the corner? Will she fight back against Floating Storage Shed? Check back soon for an update.

(In all seriousness, these are pictures I took over 3 days in my new backyard during the flooding in Nashville. As of right now the water is still rising in rivers and creeks all over the city, including the one feeding the basin behind my home. Please pray for the people who have lost everything in the floods of Middle Tennessee.)

While my dad and I were tooling along I-70 through Kansas from Colorado to Tennessee, we drove past about 100 crazy billboards. Probably our favorite was: THE 2ND BEST YARN AND BUTTON STORE IN THE UNIVERSE. Seriously, what’s not to love about being the 2nd best.

And just as we were talking about how we never stop to enjoy any of the interesting stops while traveling, we passed a billboard advertising the Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene, KS, at exit 275. We both looked at each other and said, “That sounds pretty cool.” So we pulled off the interstate a couple miles down the road and rolled down the main drag in Abilene. Not a whole lot there, except some historic mansions that looked pretty cool from the outside.

And just past the railroad tracks sits the welcome center of the Presidential Library and Museum for Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was a Sunday, so the Library wasn’t entirely open, and we didn’t have time to go through the museum, but it was still a really cool experience.

We walked through Ike’s childhood home.

Then through the ornate marble halls of the library, we looked at the quilt display.

The 11-foot statue of Ike was one of the coolest things. Around the five sides of the base (signifying his status as a five-star general) were five quotes from him, mostly from his time as the Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force during WWII. This one was my favorite.

Dad and I both walked away with I Like Ike buttons, and I have to say, after this stop, I like Ike even more than before.

Tags: Friday Favorite

I have absolutely no commentary on the Motorola Backflip, but man, do I love these commercials! I hope you enjoy them, too.

Just in case you were wondering, I, too, am totally psyched for flip flop weather. Twitter confirms.

MizB of Should Be Reading hosts the Teaser Tuesdays weekly event

Here are the rules:
* Grab your current read
* Let the book fall open to a random page
* Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
*You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
* Please avoid spoilers!

This week’s teaser is:
“A linchpin is an unassuming piece of hardware, soemthing you can buy for sixty-nine cents at the local hardware store. It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential. It holds the wheel onto the wagon, the thinger onto the widget. Every successful organization has at least one linchpin; some have dozens or even thousands. ”
pg. 49  - Linchpin by Seth Godin

- My new boss gave me a copy of this book. Do you think he’s trying to tell me something? But I’m super-excited to read it, as Seth Godin is so well-respected in the business world. Thanks for the book, Dave!

Tags: teaser tuesday

Thanks to a recent post on one of my other Friday Favorites, CakeWrecks.blogspot.com (Go there. It’s hilarious!), I’ve just found this website called 1000AwesomeThings.com. One Mr. Neil Pasricha started this blog, which counts down the top 1000 awesome things (in his opinion).

What kind of awesome things?

I’m glad you asked. Take for example number #575 – When the guy with a full cart of groceries lets you go ahead because you’re only buying one thing. Or take #995 (a personal favorite of mine) – Finding money you didn’t even know you lost.

Every weekday Neil shares another awesome thing–probably something so small you wouldn’t even think about it, except, when you do, you realize that Neil is right. It really is AWESOME! And a reason to be thankful and grateful for the little things in life. Because if you’re anything like me, you probably spend way too much time focused on the negatives and not nearly enough time enjoying the simple gifts.

So check out Neil’s book, The Book of Awesome, of course. And swing by the blog. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Tags: Awesome Things, Friday Favorite

As many of you have heard, this author has packed up her stuff and is moving to the South. Well, I guess Nashville is about as far north as you can get and still be in the South, but it’s the closest I’ve ever lived. I’m a western kinda gal, growing up in Arizona and living in Colorado for the last almost 4 years.

Making the decision to move to Nashville wasn’t easy, but God opened every door so wide that I knew it was Him making the path so clear that I couldn’t deny it was what I needed to do. I’ve taken a gig as a marketing specialist with a Christian publisher–cool! And I’ll continue writing, and am looking forward to getting involved in a writing group.

All in all, it’s going to be some big adventure!  

But leaving Colorado means leaving some really great friends, an amazing church, a city I’m familiar with, and the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. So in order to keep all wayward emotions in check, I’ve decided to focus on

The Top Ten Things About Living in Nashville

1o. Lots of history in the area, including several Civil War battlefields within driving distance–I love history, especially the Civil War, and I’m totally going to have to see a reenactment. Hmm … I smell a plot line.

9. Reasonably priced real estate. I might actually think about owning my own home. Kind of makes me feel like a grown up.

8. A fantastic writing group in the Middle Tennessee Christian Writers. Two of my favorite authors, Kaye Dacus and Tamara Leigh, are part of this group, and I can’t wait to get involved.

7. Three words: Music City USA.

6. Kaye says the weatherman on channel 5 looks like Ryan Reynolds. Works for me!

5. Awesome concerts! I love me some good Christian music, and I might just have to see about being a seat-filler at the Dove Awards or something.

4. Random celebrity sightings. I’m hoping to spot Kimberly Williams Paisley or Dave Barnes.

3. My friends back in the Springs still have 6 months* of vacation and now have a good excuse to visit Nashville and a place to stay.

2. The Bluebird Cafe, which is seriously one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to. Picture a tiny room with four songwriters (who write for a few little names like Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, and Leann Rimes) sitting in the middle of the room, playing their guitars, and singing their songs. Wicked awesome!

1. Brandon Heath. ‘Nuf said.

*exact amount of vacation time may vary, but it’s still more than I’ll have

Farewell, Colorado Springs. Hello, Nashville!

Tags: Friday Favorite, Nashville

MizB of Should Be Reading hosts the Teaser Tuesdays weekly event

Here are the rules:
* Grab your current read
* Let the book fall open to a random page
* Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
*You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
* Please avoid spoilers!

This week’s teaser is:
“Outside the Jack and Hammer, a dog growled. Inside, his view of the High Street obstructed by the window at his shoulder, Melrose Plant sat in the curve of the bay drinking Old Peculier and reading Rimbaud.”
pg. 1  - The Man with a Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes

- In honor of the recent release of Martha Grimes’ newest book, featuring Richard Jury, I thought I’d offer you the first 2 sentences of her first Richard Jury book. Jess Barnes and my other good friend Rachel love these books, and I can’t wait to dive in and read them too. Apparently Melrose Plant is Jess’s literarly soulmate. I hope to find my own literary soul mate some day. Until then …

Tags: teaser tuesday

Okay, so I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I want to. Very much badly!

You’ll remember from my Easter post last year that I love how Louie Giglio uses pictures from the Hubble Telescope to show God’s amazing creation. The heavens declare His glory, and now we can get an even more exciting veiw of God’s handiwork via Hubble 3D in Imax.

I want to see this so badly, but the timing is totally off for me. But I’m trying to figure out a way for my dad and I to get to see it next week. We’ll have to see what we can work out.

Anyway, visit the website and find out if it’s playing in your area. I hope you all get to go see it.

Tags: hubble, Louie Giglio, Monday Movie