Reading Is My Super Power

This Blogging Is a Writing Adventure

Yesterday I had all kinds of brilliant revelations and insightful thoughts and recommendations to post. That was yesterday, and somehow between our electricity going out and my techno-unsavvy "WHOOPS! Where'd it go?" this brilliant post flew off to into some sort of black hole of Blogdom. I'm sorry, because you would've loved it. You would've cleared up your acne, felt 10 years younger and probably lost 20 pounds, not to mention, been able to win the lottery. Well, easy come, easy go.

I've done this standing in my shower, too. You know, you're standing in the shower, singing the most brilliant cantata, composing the Great American Novel, redesigning your home on a dime, and solving your child's geometry homework, and whoops! You drop the soap, the phone rings, your kids' are outside the bathroom door screaming,"Mom! What are you doing in there? I need..." and it's gone. Gone like the car I wrecked.

So, I am used to this. "I coulda been a contender." (I quote this everyday.)

Anyway, I did remember one thing from the brilliant post. I got a box in the mail yesterday full of books. (I apologized to my mailman who was honking his horn for me to come retrieve it, as he sat in his truck in my driveway. I told him I was trying to cut down on that stuff. He rolled his eyes and flipped the box at me. He really doesn't like me, I think.)It is so exciting to get a box of books, though. Having been a book reviewer with my own column for years, I still have that thrill of "What's in the box! What's in the box?" It's like Christmas, my birthday, Easter, the Academy Awards all crammed into one little box (or big--depends.) I am thrilled as I carry my box from some publisher into my house. (My husband is usually complaining at this point, "What Book of the Day was sent to you today?" He's so cynical.)

This time it was from AMG Publishers-- I love those guys. (Wait, I could say that about every Christian publishing house I know who has sent me books...) Anyway, they sent me a series of Bible studies aimed at women by Sandra Glahn. They're called Coffee Cup Bible Studies. I've already read through Espresso with Esther first because I fell in love with a fiction book when I was reviewing called Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther
by Ginger Garrett. I find the entire book of Esther in the Bible fascinating. Ginger is a brilliant novelist and brought Esther to life. I liked her interpretation of Queen Esther's life.

But back to Sandra's Bible study on Esther (there are four books: Java with Judges, Solomon Latte, Mocha on the Mount and Espresso with Esther. What's better than coffee and a book?) Sandra Glahn is well-equipped to teach us about the books in the Bible, as she is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. She is also one of the handful of women there teaching. Her conversational style in conveying important information about Esther, her life in Persia and the times,and the lessons learned there makes it easy for even me to understand.

I've been in many Bible studies, am one of the resident reviewers of Bible studies for a magazine for church librarians, and have led Bible studies. What more can anyone say to someone like me about a book in the Bible? Apparently a lot. I sure learn something new everyday! I think what grabs me more than issues or topics in the Bible these days are the people. I think this is why I'm so curious about Esther. I happen to know a woman who not only came from Persia, but she was of Persian/Jewish descent and her family is ancient there. She and I talked about her life there back in Persia, and what the Bible said about Esther several times. And watching her, listening to her speak, I could see Esther breathe, because she looked like what I imagined Esther looking like!

So, I hope to go through all of these Coffee Cup Bible Studies very soon, and I'd love to go through them with friends.

Now, don't you feel thinner just reading this blog? At least I did give you a piece of good advice--Read Good Books. Start with Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther by Ginger Garrett (fiction)NavPress and Coffee Cup Bible Study Series: Espresso with Esther by Sandra Glahn (nonfiction) AMG Publishers.

(Might even clear up your adult acne.)