The Shack

I had the opportunity to read "The Shack" while I was in AZ for work this week. I thought about including it in my hodgepodge post, but decided it needed a tribute of it's very own.


My dad is the reader of our family. He has always read, which is great, but also frustrating when the only think he wants for Christmas every year is a book! You can wrap it in a sweater box or put it in a bag, but everyone knows his package will undoubtedly be a book. What put me over the edge to read "The Shack" is that this is the only book he's ever asked my mom and I to read! He's made suggestions over the years, but he actually brought his copy to me at Thanksgiving and said, "read this" & I'm so glad he did!


I won't get into the story line too much b/c I don't want to spoil anything, but it's a fictional murder mystery that addresses a lot of questions about who God is in a very unconventional way. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews & have learned this is a rather "controversial" book, but as long as you start reading with an open mind then I think you will see how amazing it really is.


I don't know if it's a generational or personal appeal, but I finished this book with a lot of questions I battle with over and over being answered. The reason I allude to it possibly being a generational issue is that I've learned of older readers having more questions when finishing this book. I personally experienced the opposite effect. I can't say I've ever read a fiction book that has made me want to grow closer to God as much as this one has.


Once you've read it we can discuss it a little more since it's hard to explain and talk about without reveling surprise moments within the story. Just remember the key is to be open minded & be prepared to take God out of the box....and you'll never want to put him back in (yes...a little cheesy for me, but I couldn't resist).

Hodgepodge

This post is named hodgepodge b/c it is exactly that....a bunch of little clips from the past week or so rolled up into one big post. I decided to do it this way instead of having multiple little posts so this one may be longer than normal & I guarantee the subjects are bound to change!

My suitcase was finally delivered to my hotel around 2:30am...ha and I was worried about 11pm! It didn't slow me down and I had a pretty successful work week. The best part was the wonderful weather! However, there is one thing that caught me off guard about being AZ....my total bitterness to return back to snow and ice. Preparing for winter in MN is best described as a horse with blinders on. You have it set in your mind that it is going to be very cold for a very long time and you can't entertain the thought of spring or summer for months. AZ tore the blinders off! I realized that in the middle of January there are people grilling out and cutting their grass. It's a completely different world...and I loved it! I wouldn't truly want to live there because I like seasons and AZ goes from hot to unbearable, but their "winters" rock! I'm not happy about the cold, but I am happy to be home.

Friday & Saturday were pretty uneventful, but relaxing. Sunday we joined some friends to celebrate Chris' birthday!! The boys loved playing a new game on the wii and us girls enjoyed chatting. We did play a little though. Later that night I joined Andi and Carol for dinner! Carol and Dan were in our small group when we first moved to Rochester, but Dan finished up residency(or fellowship) and they now live in CO. You can see pics. of their adorable kids on a previous blog. We had a great time talking about everything you can imagine & catching up.

Erica, Shelby, Kristen & me (pics. courtesy for Erica's blog) :)

John, Mark & Chris

Andi, Carol and Lisa!

The other Turner news is that we recently purchased a new member of our family....Stanley the snow blower! I'm not as thrilled about Stanley as John is, but then again, I've not been the one shoveling snow. John is very proud of his new purchase and the first day we got it he kindly helped out the entire street....ok not really, but in reality at least 3 neighbors. I suggested he strap on a tip jar and head through the neighborhood! Sorry there isn't a pic. yet...my camera is dead. I'm sure you'll see action shots soon enough.

I'm about to be over commiteed, but I just can't help myself. We currently host a small group for the high school students on Monday nights & have our own small group on Th. nights. I've decided to join a woman's bible study that will meet on Wed. nights. yikes! It's a Beth Moore study on the book of Esther. I've never done one of her studies, but hear they are fabulous. I hope I can handle it all! I feel like I'm going through a spiritual growing phase right now & I'm hoping this study will keep it up. I know what you are all thinking & the answer is YES, I wish it was a physical growing phase, but this is the best I can do. :) I hope I don't get burnt out!

That about wraps it up. I could continue to ramble, but I figure you deserve a cookie for reading this far! Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon and won't wait so long to post.

tick tock...

I'm sitting in my hotel room in AZ watching the clock waiting for my suit case that the airlines lost. They "hope" it will be delivered to me sometime before 11:00pm, but there are no promises. For those of you that know me, I like to be in bed before that hour hits the clock. :)

Today was an all day travel day. I left Rochester around 1pm and arrived at my hotel around 6pm, loaded my boxes & got some dinner around 7:30. However, I can't complain...I left snowy cold MN for 70 degree weather here in AZ. Too bad I forgot my flip-flops and bathing suit. I just don't have those two items at the top of my work packing list & it's pretty hard to think about warm clothes when it's snowing outside. It's been nice remembering there are places in the world where you don't walk outside and immediately have icicle at the end of your eyelashes!

I'm trying to keep my attitude on the right track for this week & take advantage of not being behind a desk 8 hours a day, but it's much easier to think of all the things I'm missing at home. Hopefully this week will be great & fast!

Have a great week!

Weather Alert!

I know all of you are aware that the whole country (except the west coast) is really cold right now! Although I'm used to preparing for very cold temperatures (hat, gloves, scarves, winter boots, huge coat--just to go to work), it still amazes me how cold it actually gets here!

Today the the air temperature is at -24 with a windchill of -51! That means that frost bite will set in within 10 minutes & you pretty much have to cover all parts of your skin.

John and I decided to test a theory we had heard about negative temperatures. We were told it gets so cold in MN that you can throw boiling water into the air and it will evaporate before it hits the ground. We decided this morning was a great time to test the theory....and it worked! The picture up top is the water evaporating in the air. It looks like fog doesn't it? I'm sure we wouldn't get the same results if it wasn't boiling water b/c hot water freezes faster then cold water, but it's still fun!!

Did you know that soap bubbles blown into air that is below a temp. of −15 °C (5 °F) will freeze when they touch a surface. The air inside will gradually diffuse out, causing the bubble to crumple under its own weight. At temperatures below about −25 °C (−13 °F), bubbles will freeze in the air and may shatter when hitting the ground! That will be our next science experiment :)

Where ever you are I hope you bundle up and stay warm today & remember it's always worse in MN!!!