MyLeslieNotebook

I'm very picky about the movies I like. I don't like anything at all  in the horror genre. Don't like chick flicks. (Confession: Miss Congeniality is actually growing on me because Sandra Bullock reminds me of a girl I know. Brooke Sims.) I don't like anything with animals because something always dies. Don't like anything historical because it's usually about something terrible and I get emotionally tied to it. Don't like anything with too much foul language, don't like anything with lots of blood or killing, and am not a huge fan of jock humor. So, you may ask, what do I like? Suspense . Mystery. Something that seems to be headed down one track but veers a sharp right and you don't know where you're going until the credits roll. I love all the Ocean's series, the Italian Job, and the Bourne movies. [And also Princess Bride. Suspenseful yet goofy.] And today's post, my last about Christmas, is the most suspenseful tale of the Chr...

Today's post is just too fun :) I began this blog years ago intending to write to high school and college-age girls because they are some of my favorite people in the world. I love being your friend during your young adult life. I love helping you make wise decisions and love Jesus as you become a woman. (Plus, I love all you adult women who have chosen to read and subscribe to this blog, too. You are such a blessing.) But teenage boys are another story. Even when I was a teenager, they confounded me. They couldn't keep from hitting each other. They laughed at things that were not funny. They seemed unable to look a girl in the eye, stay quiet in solemn occasions, or take anything seriously. They drove me crazy. (Most of them still do.)   And though I was friends with many boys during my middle- and high-school years, I could only take them for so long. All women know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like they are aliens or something. Who in the world w...

She may be the most overlooked player in the Christmas Story. I've never seen her in a play, never heard a song that mentions her or gives her perspective.  But for me, at this point in my life, Elizabeth is my favorite character.  Back up for just a second: If you haven't read the posts on Mary  or Zechariah , please do that first. Because Elizabeth is a huge part of both of their stories. We know that Zechariah was told he would have a son in his old age. In the other end of Israel, a young Mary was told she would have a baby through the Holy Spirit.  Gabriel had given her just a mention of God's power and grace and love when he mentioned to teenage, had-to-be-petrified, faithful-yet-probably-a-little-naive Mary:  "Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail," (Luke 1:36-37, NIV). IT'S STUFF LIKE THIS THAT I LOVE ABO...

I've never had this much fun getting ready for Christmas :) Seriously, I am digging so deeply into the Christmas story and asking myself, "What was it like to be him? What did she think? How did this change him? What would she have said to her girlfriend over coffee?" I mean, it's one thing to have your story recorded in Scripture; it's another to really know all the details in someone's life. I have no Bible verse to base this on, but if there is a coffee shop in heaven--which of course there is! --I'm going to find each of these people involved in the Christmas story, buy them the biggest latte there is [which, in heaven, is probably bottomless, amen!] and say, "Now tell me what really went through your mind." I mean, I love Luke for being so dutiful to report the story with accuracy and detail (Luke 1:1-4), but I want the girl version. Better yet, the girlfriend version :) So I've written about Mary and Joseph ; today's subject is ...

So Mary's story sets the stage for obedience to God when He calls us to take a step--or in her case, a long jump--of faith. She was amazing. And Joseph might be even better. That may seem crazy; I mean, after all, Mary was chosen by God. She was the actual mother of Yahweh's Son. She accepted God's plan and chose to believe Him in spite of fear and rejection and doubt. But think about this: Joseph's faith had to be just as strong. I mean, Joseph and Mary were betrothed--similar to being engaged, but much more serious. Betrothal was a legally binding agreement and you didn't just call it off; you had to legally undo the pledge to marry one another. In Matthew 1:19, in fact, Joseph is called "her husband," even though the verse preceding it says Mary was "pledged to be married to Joseph," (Matthew 1:18, NIV).  And Joseph got the news that I'm sure knocked his socks off: Mary was pregnant. Now of course Mary told him the whole story: the...

Oh, Christmas. I just love it. Not for the reasons you think: I'm not that big of a decorator. I don't really get into shopping or gift giving or gift receiving. I don't even particularly like lights or candy canes or snow. BUT I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC. Well, some of it :)  The traditional stuff is great, don't get me wrong. Just today I taught my kids "Grandma got run over by a reindeer." If that doesn't scream Christmas spirit then nothing does. But that's not what lulls me into meditating and dreaming and journaling about each of the characters in the Christmas story. And so today my focus is on Mary. Sweet Mary. One of the first people I'm going to find when I get to heaven.  But let me back up just a little bit, because that first Christmas was really NOT what the nativity scenes portray. (Oh; that's something else I do love! Nativity Scenes!) But they usually show Mary seated calmly, hair fixed, eyes bowed in solemn prayer, Jos...

Isn't it funny that you can always hear your name when it's mentioned in a crowd? There might be dozens of voices in the room, and you're not even really listening to them, but all the sudden your head pops up, looking around, and you ask, "Did someone just say my name?" I'm sure someone who knows more about the brain who could explain this better but, though we don't consciously understand everything we hear at all times, subconsciously  we do. Our brain is processing many things at once, and it can easily hear and understand many people talking that we don't even think we're paying attention to. (Except for me. I cannot multi-task in any way.) So your brain is filtering out 99.9% of what others are saying because it doesn't apply to you. But then your brain recognizes your name, and in a fraction of a second it sends it to your consciousness and you realize what you heard. You know you've experienced this. Then, a few weeks ago, my ...