Alright, ladies! Gather round the table with your books and drinks, it's time for week 2 of our book club. If you haven't joined in yet, jump in with us! We'd love to have more comments and discussion! Even if you aren't reading the book with us, please feel free to share your thoughts on our discussion questions anyway- most of them are answerable even if you haven't read the chapter.
Many thanks to Image Catholic books for their Reading Guide we'll be using for the chapters.
Chapter 1: Party Girl
In this chapter, Colleen discusses her feelings of emptiness and taking her first steps to “open the door to God.” What was your first step? What could your next step be toward God? In the anecdote featuring her boyfriend, Colleen realizes that their relationship is actually a “placeholder” for something more satisfying. Have you ever had a placeholder in your life where God should have been? Do you have one now that needs to be surrendered to Him? Both Saint Teresa of Ávila and Colleen speak of leading a double life. Neither was living in a conspicuously sinful way, yet they each confessed to the torturous feeling of “living in two worlds.” Do you ever feel as though you’re living in two worlds, caught between cultural norms and your faith?
And our fun, get-to-know-you question this week: Where is your favorite spot to read?
Time for chapter 2! Until next week, ladies! Happy reading!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
9 comments:
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I'm so glad you choose this book. It really is a great read and I am getting a lot of insight from it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear, Elizabeth! What was your favorite part of the first chapter?
DeleteThese are some really thought-provoking questions...
ReplyDeleteI think my first steps toward God certainly stemmed from my relationship with my own parents and the faith they imparted to me. As I got older and took ownership of my Faith as well as a very personal relationship with God, I think one of my biggest steps was learning to trust Him in the unknown. The steps from high school to college and beyond can be so difficult and scary because you feel like these choices are going to impact the rest of your life...so learning to trust God to guide me-- and to work with my messes and mistakes-- were definitely some of my first steps into a faith of my own.
Through the ups and downs of my young adulthood, I keep grasping for comfort and security. Even though I've weathered some significant storms and have become stronger, I still tend towards the safe and routine. I think the steps God may be calling me to now are complete abandonment to Him and greater trust...to commune with Him more often and more deeply in prayer in order to build that trust.
My placeholder right now would probably be the life I've created and the relationship I'm in that I hope to blossom...too often when the status quo of life right now is threatened for me, I see it affect my faith-- even in simple ways like distraction/distance from prayer, decreased joy, etc. I want my joy and peace to flow from Him no matter what life is throwing my way.
And now after some soul-searching answers, onto the fun question! :) Probably my favorite place to read is outside...in a lawn chair or on a blanket in my back yard, with the sun on my face and a gentle breeze rustling the trees and the fields.
Although I haven't yet commented on the questions on the introduction, I'd still very much like to join! I read the whole book in the last couple of weeks and it has been very insightful for me. But for now answers to the questions of the first chapter!
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's insightful to mention that I live in the Netherlands, a quite protestant and very secular country. So my experiences might be a bit different from the American readers!
I did not experience a first opening to God as sudden as Colleen. My relationship with God and with Jesus has been heavily challenged along the years through a protestant high school and the first years in college. But I think the first step to a true Christian life came when I visited a convent of Benedictine nuns some years ago. Their life, dedication, belief and love showed me how God could be loving, caring, subtle and humble, and how beautiful life as a Catholic can be. Since that visit, it has been babysteps and babysteps for me, but the most importent next big step is that on November 1st, I will finally be Confirmed (I am now 29). I look forward to that day so much, to finally be a member of the Church, to come closer to Jesus.
I'm always very afraid that I have too many placeholders for God, although I increasingly realise that my life is incomplete without Him, and that something stupid as fashion or too much focus on working out can help me come closer to Him who is the source of all that I am.
But putting all my trust and faith in Him is also scary, and I most definitely feel torn between worlds from time to time. Luckily, my (non-believing) boyfriend (hopefully soon fiancé!) is very supportive of my choices and my beliefs. He encourages me in my search for truth, for God, as do my protestant parents. I can feel nothing but blessed by God to put me in a challenging world!
And as for the question where I love to read; I very much enjoy reading on the train! I have to travel a lot for my job, and commuting by train is just wonderful. It's really soothing to look out of the window to see the landscape change slightly, to think about what you've just read and to enjoy the quiet train compartment.
Laurentia, I'm so glad you're joining!
DeleteI really loved reading your thoughts and your own personal journey of faith. It's beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing. And welcome to the Church, dear friend!! I have great relationships with my protestant friends and we love talking about Jesus and faith together so I love the way you express the gifts that those with differences in beliefs can be. I still pray that my protestant friends can come to know the fullness of truth and faith in the Catholic church, esp. to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.
Thanks again for your thoughts. I'm glad you're joining the club. :)
HI I'm just now joining in, got the book from the library yesterday. So I have some catching up to do. My favorite place to read is anywhere really. I have a big enough purse that hold a book and my tablet with tons of books on there. Every time I have some down time and I'm alone I grab a book and read. I love to read and sip some tea. When it's nice outside I'll go on my porch and read.
ReplyDeleteNow off to read chapter 1 and start chapter 2 so I can join in next week.
Welcome! I love that you always carry a book with you in your purse!! That's a true book-lover! :D
DeleteWow the first chapter was amazing! Even though I have not yet experienced college or have participated in the party life (nor do I attend to), I still could relate to Colleen's feelings of emptiness. I am a cradle Catholic and was always surrounded with good and holy priests and sisters. But just because I was always Catholic doesn't mean there wasn't a time were I to had to "open the door to God". This happened by me making the faith my own at my Confirmation, instead of it just being my parents faith. It's like if you were dating someone, you wouldn't have your best friend spend all the time with him and getting to know him with you just going along with them, no, by you spending time with him you start to become friends and eventually fall in love. Well, its just the same with Christ, we can't just let our parents have the relationship for us we ourselves have to own it. This will eventually lead us to fall head over heels for Christ and His Church!
ReplyDeleteBeing a teen in this hard is challenging to say the least. We have so many distractions available at our fingertips that sometimes we loose focus of our priorities. I have been guilty of this many times, instead of realizing that true happiness is really in having a relationship with Jesus, I have set Him aside to pursue interests that I thought would surely make me satisfied and of course He would approve. As I am coming closer to completing my high school career and am in the trenches of "life" choices, it is so incredibly important for me to keep Him as the center of all things and surrender my life to the sweetness of His will. I have so many dreams and goals but do they revolve around Him or am I trying to make Him revolve around them? Sometimes it can feel like one is leading a double life because they haven't accomplished that balance that is needed to be a Christian in today's world. Keeping a balance is so vital to embracing the path that has been marked out for you.
To close this time with you ladies I will share my favorite spot to read, which is on my bed all snuggled up with fuzzy socks and music playing in the background.
http://live2bless.blogspot.com/2014/10/cyw-book-club-week-2-chapter-1.html
I'm just loving this book. So, so good. Here's my second blog post! http://missabbeynoelle.blogspot.com/2014/10/cyw-week-two.html
ReplyDelete