Virtual vs Actual Travel Experiences

Exotic animals.

Unique foods.

Lush vegetation.

Mysterious antiquities.

Picturesque views.

 Exhilarating adventures.

Fascinating people.

More stamps in your passport.

Foreign travel is exciting.  Exhilarating even.  It's a great bonding experience for friends or family traveling together.  I have only been able to get to a couple of foreign locales so far.  My kids, however, have been to Haiti, Namibia, Ecuador, Rwanda, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Portugal, Austria, Germany... I can't even remember all the places.  Our son and daughter-in-law even have a blog just to chronicle their travels while they are living abroad for a few years. I enjoy living vicariously through them.

Since I don't get the opportunity to personally visit all the places I would eventually like to see, hear, smell, touch and taste, I often enjoy reading books or blogs that take me there.  For us women, the Sisterchicks books are great for fun and inspirational stories involving virtual travel.  After reading Sisterchicks in Gondolas I knew I wanted to gaze upon the canals of Venice myself and taste creamy gelato served at an outdoor cafe there some day.  Recently I devoured, not gelato, but another book that has me yearning to visit Italy:  The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner.

The descriptions of Florence, Italy and many of the unparalleled Renaissance works of art are enchanting and intriguing.

 I really want to stand and gaze at the statues and paintings, sniff the earthy scent of Italian coffee, taste melt-in-your-mouth porcini mushrooms, and stroll down ancient streets.

For now, I will content myself with virtual travel through blogs and books.  Here's a review of  The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner in case you want to indulge in some virtual travel yourself!

This lilting book colors Florence, Italy with a magical ambiance.  Stories of three different women are woven together as an illustration of fatherly neglect, family heartbreak and ultimate healing.  16th century Nora Orsini of the famed Medici family tells her story in the midst of present-day Florence native Sofia's story.  They have parallel experiences and both find solace in art and faith.  Both of those women speak into the life of main character Meg, an American woman who grapples with family issues, men issues and work issues.  As a travel book editor, she meets Lorenzo and Renata, writers from Florence, and ends up traveling to their city and staying with their neighbor and aspiring author, the aforementioned Sofia.  Sofia introduces Meg to both Nora and the art-filled city of Florence where they jointly seek healing for past heartaches.  Meg needs to figure out how to love her promise-breaking father, deal with her feelings toward her mother's boyfriend, and basically learn to make her own decisions about life and love.

The writing is lovely; infusing humor, poignancy and wonder into a story featuring disappointment, confusion and ultimate healing.  "Imagine that you've been empowered to believe Renaissance isn't just a word; it's the essence of rebirth; it's what happens when you dare to believe what is isn't what it has to be; it can be remade."  And this is the essence of The Girl in the Glass:  Nora, Sofia and Meg all learn what it means to say that "Your life is what you make of it, not what happens to you."  An enchanting read.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers in exchange for my honest review.  Even though the book was free, I promise that I woulda told you if I didn't like it!

Window Cleaning... Plus

My windows are really dirty.  I enjoy looking out of clean windows, but unfortunately we haven't discovered the self-cleaning variety!  Now a few of our windows were just installed last winter, but believe it or not they're dirty already.  It doesn't take long, does it?

This morning I decided to begin.  If I do a window or two every day (who am I kidding?  every week or month is more like it...) they will eventually get done.  The window above has been squirted with windex and is ready to have its former sparkle restored.

As I was rubbing away streaks and dirt, it made me think about the condition of my heart.  It gets pretty dirty too- and it's usually gradual and subtle and insidious, just like dirt accumulates on a window.  I could watch a window for an hour at a time and not be able to observe an accumulation of dirt.  Yet it appears over weeks and months!

Before too long, the eyes of my heart are so cloudy I can no longer see events or people clearly or accurately.  The dirty window above lets light in and lets me see the trees and grass, but without the clarity and beauty they should have.  People tick me off.  How dare she pull out in front of me like that!  Why can't they just put those dirty dishes in the dishwasher-- it's right there!  Seriously, that stupid dog cost me how much money at the vet?!  Well, you get the idea.  Pretty soon everything looks dim and sour and stupid.

Isn't that picture weird?  I tried out the "Polaroid" option in my Picasa photo-editing program.  Interesting.  Well, anyway, back to windows.  As they are obviously not self-cleaning, I have to make an effort to get them clean again.  It's not too hard.  Grab a bottle of Windex and some paper towels... and wipe.  That's it.  And God has made it pretty easy to clean up my heart too.  Jesus already did the hard work on the cross.  All I need to do is present myself to the Master Cleaner-Upper (some people would rather call him the Savior and Redeemer and I usually do too).  I can just show him my streaks and smudges and filth, admitting to Him how they got there.  He smiles, and lovingly wipes away every last bit of grime and restores me to renewed purity and clarity.

^{I John 1:8} If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The concept is simple.  Confess then receive forgiveness.  We tend to make it harder than it has to be, when God has provided for us such a loving and absolute solution for our problem of sin.

I hope you'll offer up the windows of your heart for the cleansing power of Jesus today.  It's so worth it to have life's beauty and freshness restored!

Watch this.  I don't know anything about the singer or the artwork in this video, but it is an amazing tribute to our Redeemer (Master Cleaner-Upper).

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

The Simple Closet

I like order.  Simplicity.  Serenity.  However, life tends to hand us chaos, complication and distress.  A lot of that is outside my realm of control.  But there is one place I can reign supreme!  Yes, it's my closet.