Tuesday, June 08, 2010

So Tired, So Tired

I can't even begin to express how tired and fatigued I feel. This chemo causes neuropathy which basically expresses itself with tingling like my hands are trying to wake up after going to sleep. It feels like tiny prickly needles. The bottoms of my feet feel the same way which make it interesting to find comfortable shoes and ways to walk. I finished my third treatment and only have one more to go. I CAN'T wait! I can't wait for the break either. My prayer is I will be able to build up some strength before starting the radiation treatments. God has been good though and I haven't felt the extreme pain I felt with the first Abraxane treatment. I am able to get up and be around I'm just not the most energetic person to be around and am very capable to fall asleep in the middle of your conversation. LOL.

I've been reading this fiction book that has a lot of similarities with Pilgrim's Progress. Obviously it's a modern version and although I don't completely agree with the doctrine, it is a fiction book that has brought to life again what our relationship with God should be. Trusting God, knowing Him and gaining understanding. How appropriately it fit with our family's memory verse for the week: Proverbs 9:10 If you really want to become wise, you must begin with having respect for the Lord. To know the Holy One is to gain understanding. I don't believe in coincidences and this book has really touched me, so if you are looking for a good read and are willing to sift through and glean from what has been written as a fiction novel, try reading "The Shack" by William P. Young.

The novel is set in the American Northwest. The main character is Mackenzie Philips, a father of five, called "Mack" by his family and friends.

Four years prior to the main events of the story, Mack takes his three youngest children on a camping trip to Wallowa Lake near Joseph, Oregon stopping at Multnomah Falls on the way. Two of his children are playing in a canoe when it flips and almost drowns Mack's son. Mack is able to save his son by leaving his youngest daughter Missy alone at their campsite. After Mack returns, he sees that Missy is missing. The police are called, and the family discovers that Missy has been abducted and murdered by a serial killer known as the "Little Ladykiller." The police find an abandoned shack in the woods where Missy was taken, but her body is never found. Mack's life sinks into what he calls "The Great Sadness."

At the beginning of the book, Mack receives a note in his mailbox from "Papa," saying that he would like to meet with Mack on that coming weekend at the shack. Mack is puzzled by the note - he has no relationship with his abusive father after Mack leaves home at age 13. He suspects that the note may be from God, whom his wife Nan refers to as "Papa."

Mack's family leaves to visit relatives and he goes alone to the shack, unsure of what he will see there. He arrives and finds nothing, but as he is leaving, the shack and its surroundings are supernaturally transformed into a lush and inviting scene. He enters the shack and encounters manifestations of the three persons of the Trinity. God the Father takes the form of an African American woman who calls herself Papa, Jesus Christ is a Middle-Eastern carpenter, and the Holy Spirit physically manifests itself as an Asian woman named Sarayu.

The bulk of the book narrates Mack's conversations with Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu as he comes to terms with Missy's death and his relationships with the three of them. Mack also has various experiences with each of them. Mack walks across a lake with Jesus, sees an image of his father in heaven with Sarayu, and has a conversation with Sophia, the personification of God's wisdom. At the end of his visit, Mack goes on a hike with Papa, who shows him where Missy's body was left in a cave.

After spending the weekend at the shack, Mack leaves and is so preoccupied with his thoughts that he is nearly killed in an automobile accident. After his recovery, he realizes that he did not in fact spend the weekend at the shack, but that his accident occurred on the same day that he arrived at the shack. He also leads the police to the cave which Papa revealed, and they find Missy's body still lying there. With the help of forensic evidence discovered at the scene, the Little Ladykiller is arrested and put on trial.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

About the author: Adrienne Conde

It has been a dream of mine to write a book but today that seems so limiting with blogging available. So this is where this little project of mine has lead me to a blog on my favorite book of the Bible: Proverbs. Feel free to leave comments, lessons learned, life experiences that validate, encouragement, etc. Join me on my quest for wisdom and my greatest burden- imparting this wisdom to Emma, my life project.

Followers