My Trip to The Rock

I got to go to The Rock yesterday. What's that? Well, its the new Christian bookstore that opened about 5 - 10 minutes from my house. Its a short drive but its out of the way and too far for me to walk to, unfortunately for me (and quite fortunately for my purse!) I had a lot of fun and got quite a few new books that I am starting to spend some time with now. So, what did I get? Take a look below:

My first instant grab was Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ. I own another copy of this; I think it is out at camp along with The Case for Faith but just incase those have animal droppings or anything on them over the winter, I figured "Why not?". I only paid $6.50 for it. Its not as large as my old copy (the larger version was $16.50 and I bought a lot) but it will do. I did not get to get any more Lee Strobel since the only other book by him that the store had in stock was "Unequally Yoked", which is about being with someone who does not share your faith. I already realize the problems with that issue and do not need them repeated, thanks! (Especially when Jay's

not the problem to begin with.)

Next on my list was to see what the store had in stock by Liz Curtis Higgs. They had Bad Girls of the Bible and Really Bad Girls of the Bible. I own both of those and like them. They also (yay!) had a copy of Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible which is a set of in-depth character portraits of Sarai (later Sarah), Hagar, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel. I am already a good hundred pages into this book and am enjoying it thoroughly. Then again, I was pretty confident on this one since I have purchased stuff by this author before and tend to love

her work.

Next on my wanted list was The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartin. Prayer has always been the out of tune string for me with regard to Christianity and I figured that if I am going to be trying to connect with God that is something I need to work on. So while I was at it I grabbed her Power of a Praying Woman Bible. Love the book, LOATHE the bible. I have nothing against the NIV translation -- and in all actuality it will be GREAT when I go to do my comparison with The Bible Experience (when I *eventually* (SIGH) get that.) What is wrong with it then? First off... NEVER again will I get a bible that is hardcover. It is already having issues that my leatherbound CEV one I have owned nearly 10 years does not have. Also, I am kinda meh about the normal print in the book, and I *HATE* the way that the purple on white / violet background with white text works. It seems to fade in and out and makes reading the passages by the author -- the REASON for the new Bible(!?!?!?!) -- practically illegable. ARGH. I will NEVER understand why so many Bibles are in bubble wrap. I felt hideous making the lady open it and did not notice the purple on its pages until it was too late. Ew.

Next up was an easy choice for me: The Love Dare. I had kicked myself for nearly two months that I did not grab this on my trip to Florida since it was in practically every WalMart. But I did not grab the novel it ties to (FireProof, which is excellent, btw.) until the ride home. Returning to Canada, guess how many copies of The Love Dare I found in the last week? Zip, up until yesterday. But I have it now so I guess that is alright. I know Jay and I are not quite at THAT point yet but I am still enjoying it and you know... it is pointing out something to me. Being a good person does not make me weak or a pushover or mean that I am asking for trouble. It paid for itself with that revelation. Now I need to learn to live that like I mean it.

Next on my list of purchases was The Greatest Life of All: Jesus by Charles Swindoll. This seemed like a good idea since I am doing a study of the gospels right now and the books in his series of character portraits (forgive me if that sounds horrifically crass! I am speaking strictly as a writer here!) received excellent reviews from Amazon.com. I figured that studying his book on Jesus might add some more flesh to the study that I am currently doing. (And hopefully I will succeed in getting The Bible Experience, which will add even more layers for me.) Have not gotten to really start this yet but I am quite excited about it.

The last two books that I bought were recommended to me by the shopkeeper. One is "God's Trophy Women" by Jacilene Jakes and the other is My Utmost for His Highest which is a daily devotional. I wish that I had done more homework on these areas before going to the store (and that Shawn had not been whimpering about being stuck there for twenty minutes -- although I guess it is sort of cruel to drag an athiest to a Christian bookstore. At any rate, I am not sure whether I will end up warming up to these two or not.

Why? The book by Jakes does not really seem to be focusing on any form of active teaching. She seems more interested in retelling stories from the lives of other women. I did not need a book on how other Christian women have done it -- I need things that are going to enable *me* to do this. I went through quite a complicated mess in high school thanks to a grade 12 english teacher's (very uncouth, for the record!) subliminal pagain propaganda and I am trying to fix a lot of brainwashing.

As for the devotional... I just don't *feel* it. The lady got it in her head that I needed a large print devotional since I explained to her that I needed a large print Bible (why couldn't she get it right? *sigh* Obviously I did not communicate well enough -- I am sure she meant well.) At any rate, I do not really feel that I am getting anything out of this book that I have. I do not feel like it is really tackling anything that I care about or that I am concerned about. Maybe its a problem with me? I don't really know, to be completely honest.

Overall I am relatively pleased with my visit to The Rock and I look forward to going there again. Next time I will be more prepared and know what I am looking for before I step through those doors though. Ah well... I still have a "shopping trip" on Amazon to do and am still over my budget so I can do some damage control if I really want to.