5 things Friday

This was fun to read...so much that I'm going to play too :)


Top 5 favorite books.


1. Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller - He's got a different take on religion but in the end a pretty classic view of God.  His books make me think less like a "Christian" and more like...someone who has a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  I like it.  


2. To Kill a Mockingbird - I don't know what it is about this book - I've read it probably 20 times since high school and it never gets old.  The weird thing is, I hate the movie.  


3. The Giver - by Lois Lowery - in a strange way it reminds me of the Hunger Games, in that the story is set in a world nothing like ours, controlled by an untouchable government with rules we would never see in the world we live in today.  Its interesting and has this great twist of compassion that is both heart breaking and heart warming.


4. Beautiful Child - by Tori Hayden - Tori is a special ed teacher who writes about her students - the different kids she has connected with and how she has changed their little worlds.  She's an amazing author but I think she was probably an even more amazing teacher.  She saw potential in kids who otherwise didn't have anyone who believed in them.


5. The 21 Laws of Irrefutable Leadership - by John C Maxwell - I know its kind of nerdy but I've read it a couple of times and I go back and read parts of it sometimes when I want to learn something and it always catches my attention...I still learn new things from it every time I pick it up.




Today was frustrating.  Actually, the most frustrating thing about it was that the first half of my day was awesome - it was a slow but productive shift at work and we had a good time being there.  The rest of the day...took an unexpected and uneasy turn downward.  
So, I came home tonight, heated up the pot roast I made last night and started catching up on my google reader.  I love reading the thoughts of other people...It makes me happy :)  Tonight, I was trying to think of my 5 favorite books and after the first 3 I was at a loss - so I decided to see if my Myspace account was still active...it is!  So, I looked at what my favorite books use to be (turns out, they're about the same) then I started reading my old blog posts...its fun and I'm not ready to stop yet.  They're all from before my mom died...in fact, one of them is from on her birthday of the last year she was alive.  They're from when I lived in Sioux City and from when I moved back home.  They're from some of the last times I remember feeling like a whole person. They're sad, but they remind me of who I use to be...they remind me of how far I've come, too...