A Long Entry

This past weekend was nice. We were pretty busy but it was fun. Saturday we went out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant, then we went to the mall so Sujeet could buy clothes for work. Jenny and Rachel met up with us at the mall. At his old job he could just wear shorts, tshirts, flip flops, etc and now he has to wear dress shirts and nice pants. So he needed some new clothes! :) We found some very good deals. Bargain shopping is the way to go. He got a really nice pair of pants from GAP on sale for $9.99! Then after the mall we went to Books-a-Million. I hadn't been there in a long time. I missed it!

Sujeet is liking his new job so far. It seems to be going very well. His manager is also from India (different area than Sujeet is from) and they get along well. Also there are 3 other co-workers in Sujeet's room and he said they are all nice.

I'm almost done reading Mountains of Spices, which is a sequel to the more familiar Hinds' Feet on High Places. Mountains of Spices is a very spiritually encouraging book. I'd suggest anyone interested, to read both books. I haven't read Hinds' Feet... in a long long time, but I had never read the sequel. I think I will read Hinds' Feet... again soon.

I need more books to read. I am more interested in books that have symbolism in them, than just a novel, so it's hard for me to know what I will enjoy reading. I want to borrow Under the Overpass from my mom soon. It's a personal experience book, not a novel or fiction. It's about two young men who decided to live homeless for 5 months in various cities in the U.S. One thing that prompted them, was that they had everything they needed in life and they wondered, would they still love God and serve him, even if everything was taken away from them? Was their happiness and devotion to God so easy because their lives were so easy? So they put it to the test.

On Sunday after church Stan Crookall came to our house, along with my parents. Stan is 84 years old, or young I should say! He is so full of energy still and his mind is very fresh and sharp. We have known him for awhile, I am not sure how long, but at least 15 years. Since my grandfather passed away in 1999, Stan has become kind of a surrogate dad for my father. He is one of my father's mentors and he feels like he is a relative. His life's story is so amazing, and so diverse. He is writing a story about it. He never wanted to write a book about his life, but his wife Gwen, who passed away a few years ago, always told him he needed to write down these stories he had. So he is doing it in her honor. He is now remarried to a wonderful lady named Mary. Mary and her husband were very good friends with Stan and Gwen. Gwen and Mary's husband passed away within the same year, leaving Stan and Mary lonely but they remained strong friends. A little while later, they decided to marry to keep each other company and Stan wanted to take care of her. It's really amazing how it's all happened for them. They are really in love too.

I am very honored that on Sunday Stan asked if I would read some of the book he is writing, to offer any suggestions or to say how I felt about it. I read about 30 pages of it, stopping every few pages for discussion of what I had read so far, and me telling him what I liked. I know that when the book is published, I definitely want a copy of it and will do my best to promote it. It's very good so far! He tells his life story along with his spiritual journey. He also is an artist and has made many paintings and drawings over the years. This is him during one of his art presentations: