Cheers for Tears!

I am sitting on the couch in a crumpled puddle of tears. 

Admittedly, I have never been a big fan of Christian fiction. I have only read two such books before,* Joshua by Joseph Girzone and Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. Both of which where brilliant and life changing. And now, today, I have finished my third one. The Shack by William Young. 

Now listen, if you are not a big reader and you have not listened to a single book selection I have given you yet...THIS IS THE ONE! I have laughed, cried, reread pages of rich and deep theology over and over again, and I have found myself at the end of this short read feeling renewed, humbled, in love with God, and amazed once again by grace. This is true storytelling at its best. It is a tragic story of a father trapped in his own grief and anger who is invited by God, to come meet Him/Her/Jesus/ and the Holy Spirit face to face at the shack, the very place where he lost his desire to live. If I tell you anymore I will give away the wit, beauty, theology, and mystery of this book. So all I can say is: Read this. Read this. Read this.  

So by the last few chapters of the book this morning I was on the couch just bawling. Good tears. And then I went straight from that to Steven Curtis Chapman and his family giving their first interview on Good Morning America and the crying continued. And then, all I could think about in my pathetic state of existence was that today is my dad's 50th birthday and he has such a short time left to live now. I mean, 50 years top. 

And then I decided, you know, it's been a while since I have had a good cry so I might as well get it out. For the next five minutes I literally just let tears come out. They were tied to nothing. They were just tears. And jeez, I feel great now. 

Awe. The beauty of being a girl. Guys, you should try it sometime. 

All this has prompted me to finally put together a very important post. My funeral. I know it is going to sound morbid, but I have been planning it out for years, the guys in the band know exactly what to do, and just in case, I have written it out too. It is going to be the BEST PARTY EVER THROWN. So check back tomorrow if you want to know how my funeral is going down, I have been waiting a long time to share it with you. 

NOW, go buy the book! 

*I wanted to note that I do not include any works by CS Lewis to be Christian Fiction as we know it today. Such as The Left Behind series. I feel this would diminish his work into something that it is not.