Tuesday December 22 2015  MY FAVORITE KIND OF SHOPPING SPREE

Well, things went a little differently today than I had expected.  Dave and I accomplished some shopping for someone else but I didn’t have the time to finish my last Christmas project as I had expected (and planned) to do.  But, tomorrow is another day!  It will be first on my agenda.  I can’t say what it is because it too is a surprise.

So, I am home now.  But oh, was my afternoon wonderful.  A couple of days ago I was going through my purse and found a gift card for $50 that my husband had given me about four years ago as a Christmas gift for the Barnes and Noble Store.  I purposely looked for my gift card after he told me that Barnes and Noble is struggling in the market place due to all the E-Books.  I started wondering if the local store would be closing and then I wouldn’t have a chance to use my gift.  AND I CERTAINLY DIDN’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN!  I asked Dave if he would go shopping with me after we finished the shopping venture for the mysterious person mentioned above.  He said yes.

Normally, my husband is about the most patient husband in the world.  He waits at church until after I am through talking and ministering to others.  He is so patient with me getting ready to go places for which there is no mandatory arrival time.  He normally doesn’t rush me at all EXCEPT for two circumstances.  One, he does not like to be late anywhere (but especially to church), and two, HE DOES NOT LIKE TO SHOP (or at least shop with me).  Well, today he gave me the greatest gift ever.  We went to Barnes and Nobles, he told me to go and have a good time shopping, and he would just be doing his own thing.  So that is what we did.  We only met once when he told me he found the books I was looking for and pointed me to the shelf where they were housed.  He went on his way and never once suggested it was time to leave or asked if I was finished, or…just fill in the blanks.  Nope.  He sat at a table overlooking the store and just watched what was going on.  Finally I spotted him, brought all my titles up so he could see them, showed him the art supplies I wanted and discussed what I would buy with my gift certificate.  Well, the art supplies were $40 so I decided I wouldn’t get them because I wanted the books more.  I ended up with five used books, all non-fiction and two new books also non-fiction.  I did find some fiction I liked so I looked them up on my iPhone to see if the library had them.  I ordered them from the library rather than purchasing them.  Very rarely do I ever buy fiction books, especially if I can check them out for free from the library.  I suppose that also cuts into the bottom line dollar of the store.

After I picked out my selection of books Dave included the art supplies and said they were a Christmas present from him.  I have lived 42 years with this wonderful man and I believe I am the most fortunate wife in the world.  Not because he gives me “THINGS”, but because he has truly given his heart to me.  I have never known anyone as sweet and gentle as the man that God picked out for me.

The highlight of my findings today was a book by A.W. Tozer published originally in 1981 and re-released in 2015.  Tozer died in 1963.  He was such a prolific writer that most of his books were published after his death and are still being compiled with new titles being released.  The one I purchased today is “EVENINGS WITH TOZER, DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS”, compiled by Gerald B. Smith.  Just think, one new page every day from one of my favorite authors who has been dead for over 50 years.  His books are still just as pertinent today as they would have been 50 years ago or even 50 years into the future.  What he wrote about is timeless.  I consider this book like a desert.  A little bit of something rich for every single day of next year which will satisfy my body, soul, and intellect.  I am looking forward to it with such anticipation.  But I shan’t read ahead!  I relish the fact that I will enjoy a bit of it each day!  Just in case you don’t know it, or understand why I speak of books the way I do, to me they are like delectable treats to be savored slowly and with great pleasure, like a fine piece of chocolate.  Oh how sad that I can no longer partake of chocolate, but oh what joy that books are still on my diet, and I can devour all that I desire.  They are food for thought.  And I do enjoy thinking!

Before we left the store I asked Dave if he wanted to buy a book.  Dave just never spends any money on himself (he sounds like a saint doesn’t he ladies) and after thinking about if for amount 3 seconds he said yes, he wanted to buy the book I put back.  I looked at him suspiciously and questioned whether or not he was buying it for me because he knew I had wanted it.  No, he told me, he really did want to read it himself.  He went back in line and purchased the book for himself.  The first thing he did when we arrived home was to quickly take it out of the bag and squirrel it away in his safe zone.  He knew if he left it in the bag he would probably never see it again.  The title he chose was, “VOICE OF A PROPHET, WHO SPEAKS FOR GOD?” by A.W. Tozer, compiled and edited by James L. Snyder, published in 2014.  Hmmm…do you think I might read that one too?  Can’t wait!

THE PERFECT BOOK

By Kathleen Martens

December 22, 2015

Words, words, and more words

Written in the pages of books.

How do you pick the right one?

By its thickness or how it looks?

Or is it by how it feels

When you hold it in your hand?

Or is it the title

That gives the command?

How do I choose

A book that delights,

That will give great pleasure

Night after night?

How do I know

That the words are true

And will penetrate my heart

With thoughts that are new?

Do I search forever,

Or is it easy to find

The perfect book,

Just the right kind?

For me there is something

That just grabs my heart

And tells me quietly

Here is the book to start!

And I also confess

I don’t want a dozer.

And I know it won’t be…

If the author is Tozer.

I guess you can tell I enjoy reading Tozer.

The howling wind outside the blackness of my windows is making such sounds as I have never heard.  We have huge leafless trees surrounding our house and I think they must be praising God very loudly right now.  The racket is unbelievable and it comes in through the thick walls of our brick home.  I actually thought I heard a crowd of people making noise outside and then I realized it was all the branches knocking their limbs together.  Sometimes it is a bit scary.  Those trees could do a lot of damage if one came crashing down on the roof.   I pray to God for protection!

And I wish you a Merry Christmas.  Tomorrow is the eve of Christmas Eve!  Enjoy this year, there may never be another one like it!