books: Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Spend any amount of time around me and you will no doubt discover that I am Christian to the bone. I'm proud of that and I don't have any problems with admitting my faith to anyone who cares to listen. I also love to read. I have lately been combining these two passions and I have been reading a few Christian-based books that I have really enjoyed. No doubt, my favorite book so far that I have read that is Christian-related is called Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

I am not sure where I found out about this book, but I am so happy that I did. The book is basically written by a pastor whose son visited heaven during a near-death battle with extreme acute appendicitis and abdominal abscesses. Pastor Burpo didn't realize this until his son started talking about meeting Jesus and family members that died long before he was born. His son was only four when this happened. The book pretty much tells about how Todd and his son, Colton talked about how Colton saw heaven.

This book is so moving to me because it reinforces the part of my faith that is about the afterlife and Heaven. It also really made me realize that the best kind of faith to have is the raw faith of a child. I realized that children have the kind of faith that is so pure and raw and simple that it really makes you feel closer to God and everything spiritual in your life. Lately I have been trying to make my faith more pure, like a child's by praying simply and not trying to be a "fancy" or "show off" Christian in front of people, but rather a simple disciple of Jesus Christ.

I also remembered a situation in Sunday School earlier this year while reading this book. It was probably March or April and we were talking about God (obviously) in my Kindergarten Sunday School class and one of the little girls who pretty regularly comes to church and Sunday School raised her hand and said "I can't wait until I get to see God". This really touched me and I found connections with Colton's story. Both of these children have the kind of faith that I want. They are just excited about life and super excited about seeing and being with God for eternity in Heaven

I would highly recommend reading Heaven is For Real because it made me view my life so much differently. I realized that I don't want to be a "showy" Christian, all I want is to pure and true in my faith and simple, because you don't need to put on a show and use big abnormal words every time you pray. I hope that if you do read this book, you take something away from it that you can use to really improve your life.

Aidez Progress!

I finally finished the left front of the Aidez sweater I've been working on for ages!  I guess I'm about halfway finished with the sweater, and I still have a little bit of my first skein of Ecological Wool left, so I think I will be able to make the sleeves a size bigger, because they have a reputation of being a little too big.

Now I'm on to the right front of the sweater, which is described in the pattern as identical to the left front with all the shaping reversed, so I typed up a quick sheet that properly shows these decreases and stuff, so I can make sure that I shape correctly. I made it a pdf document, and I think it could be helpful to anyone who is making this sweater and isn't sure how to go about shaping the right side. See the right side pdf here: [click]

So now I am off to do my right front to the sweater, and I really fee like I need to work on my sister's gloves for her clarinet because she will need them this winter! I think I should focus on finishing her left glove instead of the right front of the Aidez. I want the Aidez to be finished by winter/fall, but the gloves will work quick and then they will be finished, which would be fantastic so I don't have to worry about it anymore!