Choosing to SEE
Mom turned me on to this book (Choosing to SEE by MaryBeth Chapman) and I started it last weekend when David was at the Yankee game. I got about a fourth of the way through. I'm a terribly SLOW reader, so even though it's a quick easy read for most, it is taking me a while to get through it. It's a compliment to the author, really. The more I enjoy a book, the longer it takes me to read it. I read each word carefully and form pictures in my head. That's what I was doing last night from 1:30am - 3:30am so I'm a little tired this morning.
I looked at the clock about 1:20am last night and I was WIDE awake. I laid there for a few minutes and couldn't stop thinking about the book. So, about 1:30am or so I snuck downstairs and grabbed it and my glasses and headed back up to the spare bedroom to read in quiet. (I say quiet - all you could hear was my sniffling.) It's a tear-jerker that's for sure. Under the flowered quilt, I sniffed and snorted and wiped tear after tear until about 3:30am. A normal person could have read the whole book in that time, but with 50 more pages or so to go, I went back to sleep. I knew I would be DEAD in the morning. I've been thinking about it all day. Can't wait to finish it.
I was in high school when Steven Curtis Chapman made it big on the scene. I remember "The Great Adventure". Saw him in concert years later. I knew he had a family, of course, but never thought a thing about them. I remembered hearing the story that his son had accidentally ran over his 5-year-old sister in the driveway of their home. Tragic. But again, a passing story. When Mom mentioned this book, I was curious. I didn't know much about the story and knew nothing about MaryBeth. I picked it up more out of wanting to read something Mom was reading than anything else. It's a really good book! I'm so glad I read it! So honest. So real. Heartbreaking and, at times, really funny. She's a character. A self-described Eeyore who married a Tigger. A control-freak starting out a marriage at 19 looking for organization, calm and order in her life and finding that her illusion of control was just that. The loss of her 5-year old and the heartbreak of her other children. But her family's faith in God and God's plan is amazing. It's inspiring in a real sort of way. Not a "buck up Christian" sort of way. She states over again that this was not her plan, but it is her story.
That being said, I will finish it tonight (Whether at a decent hour or early in the morning hours) so if you have any interest in reading it, let me know. I'll mail it to you. I'd be happy to pass this one on. But warning....you will need a box of kleenex!
I looked at the clock about 1:20am last night and I was WIDE awake. I laid there for a few minutes and couldn't stop thinking about the book. So, about 1:30am or so I snuck downstairs and grabbed it and my glasses and headed back up to the spare bedroom to read in quiet. (I say quiet - all you could hear was my sniffling.) It's a tear-jerker that's for sure. Under the flowered quilt, I sniffed and snorted and wiped tear after tear until about 3:30am. A normal person could have read the whole book in that time, but with 50 more pages or so to go, I went back to sleep. I knew I would be DEAD in the morning. I've been thinking about it all day. Can't wait to finish it.
I was in high school when Steven Curtis Chapman made it big on the scene. I remember "The Great Adventure". Saw him in concert years later. I knew he had a family, of course, but never thought a thing about them. I remembered hearing the story that his son had accidentally ran over his 5-year-old sister in the driveway of their home. Tragic. But again, a passing story. When Mom mentioned this book, I was curious. I didn't know much about the story and knew nothing about MaryBeth. I picked it up more out of wanting to read something Mom was reading than anything else. It's a really good book! I'm so glad I read it! So honest. So real. Heartbreaking and, at times, really funny. She's a character. A self-described Eeyore who married a Tigger. A control-freak starting out a marriage at 19 looking for organization, calm and order in her life and finding that her illusion of control was just that. The loss of her 5-year old and the heartbreak of her other children. But her family's faith in God and God's plan is amazing. It's inspiring in a real sort of way. Not a "buck up Christian" sort of way. She states over again that this was not her plan, but it is her story.
That being said, I will finish it tonight (Whether at a decent hour or early in the morning hours) so if you have any interest in reading it, let me know. I'll mail it to you. I'd be happy to pass this one on. But warning....you will need a box of kleenex!
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