Eucharisteo

Picture a dazzling spring day in the Pacific Northwest. In a small classroom at a Christian college, five senior English majors sit in a semi-circle, attentively listening to their professor as she elaborates on medieval theology. The course? Chaucer and his contemporaries.

This was my last English class in undergrad, and I remember it well. Not only were Chaucer's Canterbury Tales entertaining, but the history surrounding his tales is remarkable.

Review: From Congress To The Brothel: A Journey Of Hope, Healing, And Restoration

From Congress To The Brothel: A Journey Of Hope, Healing, And Restoration by Linda Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A few weeks ago, Linda Smith came to our church and spoke about her journey from working in the US Congress to founding Shared Hope International--an organization that works to end human trafficking both stateside and overseas and that also works to help rescue trafficking victims and rehabilitate them. (Such sterile words for such vital work!) After service, I had the privilege of taking her out to lunch to talk about her work, and I walked away with a copy of this book.

This is a fast read--only 100 pages--but it tells compelling and tragic stories intermixed with brutal facts about the state of human trafficking around the globe. I read the book through a veil of tears, and this wasn't even my first exposure to the reality of trafficking. (In 2008, I worked with Bombay Teen Challenge [a partner with Shared Hope] and heard these kinds of stories firsthand from survivors.) It is hard to hear what brutalities people commit against others, but it is so important to be aware. These sorts of tragedies happen all around the world--not just in Mumbai, Amsterdam, or Las Vegas.

If you don't know much about human trafficking, I highly recommend this book. It won't take much of your time, but it will change the way you see the world and will give you ways to help stop modern day slavery.



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Review: One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Content wise, this is a wonderful book--life changing even. However, I know that the style that Ann Voskamp uses won't resonate with all readers--could even turn some people off by it--so that's why I dropped a star.

Voskamp writes in a poetic style, and her prose reads with the same cadence a poem would. When I first started reading this book, I was drawn in to the writing, enchanted by her unique view of the world around her as well as by her story. Reading about the beauty of the captured images was like taking a breath of fresh air after being too long underwater. Lovely!

Towards the end of the book, I found myself skimming to get to the "meat" of the chapters. Call it ADD or call it reading too fast to absorb, but I had a hard time with several of the end chapters. And then, when I was done, I wanted more--not because her story is lacking but because I was still processing. My advice? Read only a chapter a day and give yourself time to enjoy the story and to process the content. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had not rushed through it.

The main theme of this book is thanksgiving--or eucharisteo--and Voskamp touches on how gratitude is central to finding joy in the midst of sorrow and how the behavior/attitude of thanksgiving draws us into deeper relationship with God. Voskamp also writes about the "hard eucharisteo," of seeing God's grace in all things--even in the midst of tragedy. It's a difficult concept to consider, but I think it's timely for today's church.

Overall, I highly recommend it! Just make sure to give yourself time to read through and process it. I know I have a lot to think about now that I've finished reading it.



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Committed to Writing? (Don't Do What I Do...)

The jaunty jingle of my cell phone alarm pleasantly drew me from my sleep, and I awoke, refreshed, my heart full of gratitude. Our two cats lifted sleepy heads, blinked slowly, and fell right back to sleep. With ease, I slipped from my bed and changed from night clothes into running gear before hopping onto the treadmill.

A mere forty-five minutes later, I had exercised, showered, read my Bible and accompanying devotional, and was changing into my work clothes. Then, bottle of water and a handful of carrot sticks in hand, I quietly tiptoed into the office and began writing in the quiet hush of pre-dawn. Keys clicking away beneath my deft fingers, I write three brilliant short stories sure to wow my potential agent and--

I am Edmund.

We all know the story. There were four children named Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy who were sent to live in the country in a large manor. The youngest, Lucy, stumbles upon a magic wardrobe that opens into a strange land blanketed with snow that is called Narnia. She returns, tells her siblings, and none of them believe her.

Photo from Tampa Bay Times' archives.
 Image property of Disney, 2005.

Later, Edmund manages to follow her through the wardrobe and discovers the place for himself. Only, instead of meeting the hospitable faun Mr. Tumnus, Edmund encounters the White Witch. She gives him enchanted Turkish delight and a hot drink and uses false promises to lure him into a plot of betrayal: to bring his siblings to her the next time he comes to Narnia.

Review: The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer

The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer by Sandra Scofield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Scofield's approach to fiction writing is very accessible. She includes multiple examples from various texts to illustrate the different principles she discusses in this book, which I enjoyed because there were so many different styles of writing included.

I read the book for a class I'm currently enrolled in called "Fiction Fundamentals." I think the title of my class is actually a good way to describe this book--it is full of the fundamentals of fiction. Scofield covers all the basics of fiction writing in this book, so if you're new to fiction writing or aren't really sure how to tighten up your prose, this is a great starting point.

I would recommend this book to newer writers or to prolific writers who have yet to really focus on their craft. I did learn through the book, but it left me wanting more. Again, a good book for the basics, which I needed help with, but probably not for a more advanced writer? I will most likely continue to refer to it in the future.



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Remembering to Breathe

by Calliopejen1, from Wikimedia Commons

I'm standing on a worn wooden floor, marked with dents and silvery grey streaks. Two walls of this large room are lined with floor to ceiling mirrors, and the outside wall is covered in large picture windows. It's an unusually warm spring day, and I can feel sweat on the small of my back from the warm-up. I snap my heels together à la Dorothy Gale, and the steel taps on the bottoms of my shoes click pleasantly. The sound blends in to the other clicks around the room as the rest of the class fidgets between songs.

Eliza Doolittle Day

By William Bruce Ellis Ranken (1881-1941)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"What am I fit for? What have you left me fit for? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What's to become of me?" 
(Pygmalion Act 4, Line 51)

Eliza Doolittle's words echo regularly in my mind. This is my refrain in young adulthood. No longer a child, still establishing myself as the mythical Adult, I wonder what is to become of me.

Like Eliza facing her triumph at the ball, I look at my own list of accomplishments and wonder what comes next. I am a member of Sigma Tau Delta. I have a BA. I'm earning an MA. I recently joined the NCWA. I'm married. I have two jobs. I have a car in my name. I have student loans. I have a cell phone bill. I pay for insurance. I'm a pet owner. I have houseplants that are still alive.

give thanks

"Eucharist [thanksgiving] is the state of the perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God's creation, redemption, and gift of heaven."
-Alexander Schmemann

I am working through Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts: a Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are which my mentor gave me a few months ago. I'm only a little way into the book, but it is very powerful. (I cried through the entire first chapter.)

If, like me, you've made cynicism into a shield you carry between yourself and the world, perhaps you might consider picking up a copy?

Snowkissed

This is the first time that I want to kiss you.
I look at the snow fluffed around our feet in soft mounds.
My breath escapes my lips in wisps and clouds, mingling with yours.
In a moment, this space will be gone,
And I will have lost you.
A snowflake falls on my glove, brilliant and perfect.
My eyes look up to meet yours, but you look past me.
You're far away, and I tread the waves of what could have been.

Confession: when I first found this poem tucked into a folder on my laptop, I did not recognize it, but I know that I wrote it, probably a couple of years ago. I don't write poetry often, but here ya go.

Kyrie, eleison

In the midst of tragedy's fallout, I feel like my own words are useless. How do I take this language I grew up speaking and use it to describe the horrifying powerlessness victims experience in the face of natural disaster? Nothing I say will raise the flattened buildings, bring the dead back to life.

And I don't understand the devastation. I live nowhere near the path of the tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma, yet I feel a spike of terrified awe as I read about the two-mile wide twister. I cannot bring myself to view footage of the storm, and I cry with each new development I read.

There are parents who still do not know if their children are dead or alive. I cannot fathom their anguish. I cannot imagine having everything taken from me in one day's time, and my heart grieves for those who have lost so much this week.

I am reminded of a friend's response to the bombings at the Boston Marathon--I don't understand. Lacking the words for an original prayer, I offer this: Kyrie, eleison.

Lord, have mercy.


If you are looking for ways to help the victims of Monday's tornado, please go here.

Northwest Christian Writers Renewal 2013 - a personal recap

Have you ever noticed how easily we tune ourselves out? I know that in some cases, it's incredibly beneficial to silence our inner critic, but sometimes, we end up shutting down our deepest desires at the same time because we think, "Such and such isn't practical."

So we take those activities that we enjoy and shove them into a hobbies box, running the risk of forgetting all about them. If writing (or painting, or playing the cello, or tap dancing, or gardening, or--you fill in the blank) is merely a hobby, it is easy to prioritize something else on top of that or to equate it with other hobbies like watching Netflix or surfing the internet for cat .gifs. (Guilty...)

I will post more tomorrow, but...

...here is a photo from the lobby at Overlake Christian Church to hold you over until I can better wrap my head around this weekend.

Spoiler: the weekend was WONDERFUL!

NW Christian Writers Renewal 2013

I have no idea what I have gotten myself into. Tomorrow and Saturday, I'll be attending this conference in hopes that it will help me be a better writer. I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit nervous. (I'm actually fairly nervous right now.)

Being a rather shy introvert, I am trying to figure out how I will process the crowds that will be there. I did some calculations based on the amount of editors/agents available for group critique appointments, how much time is allotted to these appointments, and how many people are supposed to be in each group, so there ought to be ~400 attendees at the conference. I'm not sure if my calculations are correct, so that's just a ballpark figure.

I am really tired and feeling overwhelmed by everything I need to do to finish my preparations. Since this is my first time attending this sort of thing, I've been searching for resources for awhile, trying to determine what I need to bring with me. I'll probably end up being over prepared in some areas and under prepared in other areas, but I have to start somewhere!

Until my next update,
Ellayne

There is Always a Beginning

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who grew up between cultures. (That's me!) Although she learned how to adapt, she still feels a bit like a fish out of water. The dreams she held onto as a young girl went away for awhile, replaced by sensible plans that work in "the real world."

Cynicism kills dreams, folks.

Now, ten years out of high school, my life is finding the balance between vision and pragmatism. I have my BA in English/TESL (that was my sensible plan), and now I am working on an MA in English/Creative Writing/Fiction (which is more of my dream!). I have two jobs (one full-time, one part-time) and am in grad school (part-time). This, however, is not very interesting to the casual observer, so let's move on!

I get to live with my BFFWB (best friend forever with benefits, a.k.a. my husband) and two feline hellions in a teeny tiny basement apartment in Seattle. We drink too much coffee and collect too many books, neither of which is a terrible problem as far as life choices go. I should clarify that the cats don't drink coffee, but they do love sleeping on the stacks of books that won't fit in the shelves.

Beyond all of that, I write. I am working to improve my craft and am an eager student. I have lots of ideas for stories and a trilogy of YA sci fi books that is half written and *mostly* planned out, but there are still a few wily characters that I need to settle down. (They keep doing what they want to do instead of listening to me!)

See you in cyberspace!
Ellayne