Faith to Faith

Today it's pix of Doogie from camp. He bought himself a bicycle camp shortly before we left, and he's decided that it's now his official look, and I have to admit, he looks pretty cute in it. Getting his driver's license has brought about some major changes. He's a lot more comfortable behind the wheel now, and he's been such a big help! I ran out of my pain pills on Sunday, and when I tried to pick up the new prescription, I discovered that the doctor had written it out for the wrong dosage. He fixed it, but then insurance wouldn't cover the new dosage, so it had to be adjusted again. And once that was all figured out, the pharmacy didn't keep that dosage in stock, so it was Wednesday afternoon before I was able to take them. Doogie had planned on going to my dad's on Tuesday to work on getting his car ready for the school year. But when after getting out there, he felt guilty for leaving me home alone with Mia, so he came back to take care of me. He's growing up so much!

It's hard for me to think about him being a senior and that at this time next year, he'll be gone. He asked me to make a mix CD for him with some of his favorite songs, so last night I put it together for us to listen to on the way to Green Bay. We were singing along to the music and laughing until The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You came on. Doogie and I danced to that song at Jesse and my wedding. Chrissie Hynde didn't even get to start singing before my throat was completely clogged and tears were running down my cheeks. Doogie said, "Mom, why did you put that song on if it's going to make you cry?" I squeaked a little and shook my head. So my ever-so-wise son said, "Let's just skip this one, huh?" and shook his head at me. We were nearly half way through My Chemical Romance's Teenagers before I was back under control. I don't know what I'll do without him.

The first pic is him in his hat relaxing on Molly's cot in our tent. The second picture was taken by Krissy and is him in the water with Mia. I love the look of love on both of their faces.

Faith to Faith by Dan Scott: I've read a lot of books that describe the belief systems of the major religions of the world, but this is the most instructive and creative I've encountered. Most books are written by Christians in their own words and much of the conversation is about deconstructing those religions. Scott was invited to attend a symposium about religion in order to present Christianity as a faith to the attendees. Representatives from all of the other major religions were also invited, so Scott recorded their speeches in order to give the reader a view of those faiths from actual believers' mouths. It was fascinating hearing from actual believers of Hindu and New Age as opposed to just reading a Christian's interpretation of them. After each speech, Scott discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the religion, and he does so respectfully. He emphasized why we can take lessons from each faith without diluting our own, but also explains why in the end, only Christianity works.

I am so excited. Yesterday, I finally became a Top 1000 reviewer for Amazon! 539 reviews and almost 4000 positive votes on those reviews, plus 2-1/2 years to get to this place. All of my reviews have a nifty little icon that says Top 1000 reviewer. While it doesn't mean much in the greater scheme of things, it was a personal goal I'm very proud to have attained. :)