I am currently reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. I haven't finished the book yet, although I don't think it will be too much longer, but there is a part in the book that I have already read that really put words into the reality that I have already lived. The author talks about a time in his life that he was a Fundamentalist Christian for a summer. He was away with some friends and they all decided to make this list of things that they were going to do and not do. They did pretty well with this list for the summer, but when they left, the author really struggled with what they agreed upon. This led to feeling guilty most of the time and eventually not speaking with those friends for fear that they would be disappointed in them. I remember living like this. The good feelings (of course including feeling better than everyone else) that came from doing the things that I was supposed to do and, more importantly, not doing the things I wasn't supposed to do. But there were a lot of feelings of guilt and shame because no one could live up to what I expected (of others and myself). I am so thankful that we don't have to live that way. There is so much more peace and freedom just loving Christ and loving other people. Everything else seems to fall into place.

On a side note, in the same book I learned that female penguins lay an egg and then the male penguin comes and sits on the egg while the female goes away. She always comes back just in time for the egg to hatch...very interesting!!!