I've been wanting to buy this book since a couple of months ago. I've seen it, took it up and put it back on the shelves 3 times since. Funny how I kept looking at it and wanting to buy it, but never brought it to the counter at all.

On Monday, Chiew Hoon passed me the birthday present she got for me. I tore open the wrappers and I screamed in excitement! hehe.. I didn't get the book, but the book got me! Now I know why the book always end up back in the shelves. God has His amazing ways... Thank You!

I first got attracted to the book because of its cover, and I was excited to read about the Italian part of the story. It'd be great to read about someone's encounters and life in Italy since we're planning a trip there soon.

There's this part where the author explained the beauty of how the Italian language evolved and I'm intrigued by the Italian culture. A German guy in her Italian class said that he's learning Italian because he loves the dolce vita - the sweet life. I can't wait to be there to experience the dolce vita myself. And there's this library in Rome that she went to that has a courtyard garden within it. And within the garden, there's a small fountain that makes a melancholy, lovely sound throughout the whole courtyard. Man... what a picturesque description of the dolce vita that we're about to experience. (^__^)

Synopsis
It's 3am and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor. She's in her thirties, she has a husband, a house and they're trying for a baby - and she doesn't want any of it. A bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises it is time to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing: pleasure, devotion and balance. So she travels to Rome, where she learns Italian from handsome, brown-eyed identical twins and gains twenty-five pounds; to an ashram in India, where she finds that enlightenment entails getting up in the middle of the night to scrub the temple floor and to Bali where a toothless medicine man of indeterminate age offers her a new path to peace: simply sit still and smile. And slowly happiness begins to creep up on her.

WOW.. the titles of these magazines can form a blog title! haha... not that it make much sense though...

These are my current favs. The little perks of my stressful job are all the free magazines that I receive month after month. It's been crazy at work these few weeks and the magazines were piling up. So I decided to take some time to clear that mountain from my side table before they start crumbling down. These are 3 magazines that I'd never fail to bring home and read.

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Smitten
This magazine is all about shopping; from atas desires to budget finds. I love the colours and illustrations in this mag.

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Appetite
Food.Wine.Luxury. My favourite section in the mag: "youareinvited". A home party is featured in every issue with recipes included. Not that I've tried any of them, but one day I will! :p

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Vanilla
Extraordinary women with extraordinary lives. The senior editor, Theresa Tan is an extraordinary woman herself. This mag is one of its kind. It's totally unlike the other female mags. It has substance and it's inspiring.

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Finished reading "Small Acts of Grace" last week. Love the book... it's on loan now to my client. Hope the stories will touch her and show her how great Jesus is. Just started reading this book by Max Lucado: Traveling Light. This is one of the books that sat on my book shelf & collected dust for a long time. It was a gift from my friend, Theresa some 3 Christmases ago.

This book talks about the luggage of life. All of us, in some way or another, have picked up a few bags in the journey of our lives. Max Lucado, using a famous well-loved psalm in the Bible, showed us how we can release the burdens we never intended to bear.

I'm now at Chapter 7... and I like how Max Lucado links each verse in Psalm 23 to a burden in life and how God has planned our paths for us and how we were never intended to bear these burdens.

Here's what I've read so far:

The Lord... | the burden of a lesser God
The Lord is my shepherd. | the burden of self-reliance
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. | the burden of discontent
He makes me to lie down in green pastures. | the burden of weariness
He leads me beside the still waters. | the burden of worry
He restores my soul | the burden of hopelessness

When God made us, He knew there are such burdens that we take upon ourselves. But as you focus on the Lord our shepherd, you realise that you can easily let these burdens down.

Well, I'm cracking my head to summarise what I've read, but I can't do it. There's no way I can simplify what Max Lucado did in the book - analysing each verse above and describing God's love for us. I suggest you give this book a read. It'll make you see things in a different light. Did I tell you my "library" is operational even without the shelves? So, if you'd like to borrow this book, let me know. (^_*)

More beautiful stories from Small Acts of Grace:

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There was a man in a nursing home. He did not remember any of his children or even his wife, though she visited him everyday. The family did everything they could think of to help him. They showed him photo albums and momentos of special vacations and anniversaries. They even took their collie for a visit. The response was always a blank stare.

Then one day his wife sat beside him. She lifted his two hands and held them in hers.

"Who am I, dear?" she asked.

The same blank stare. And then his face brightened as he looked at her hands holding his. For a moment, a familiar smile crossed his face as he said three words, "You love me."

If a loving touch has so much power, then maybe we can all find more ways to hold hands with one another.

- excerpt from Chapter 3, Small Acts of Grace.

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Little Danny keeps following his mother around the house. He stays right at her heels as she cooks, makes the beds, and does the laundry. Time after time his mother encourages him to go to his room and play with his toys, but Danny doesn't want to leave.

Exasperated, his mother finally kneels down, cups Danny's chin in her hands, and asks gently, "Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, Mommy," he answers. Then he adds, eyes shining, "But my Sunday school teacher told us to walk in Jesus' footsteps. And since I can't see Jesus, I'm walking in yours."

- adapted from a story captured on the Internet. Author unknown.

I decided to start packing my stuff at home. I've got tons of things to move when our house is ready... And Calvin is "warning" me to take this chance to throw away things & clothes that I don't use & wear anymore. But but but, I may find some use to those things some day, and and and, I may be able to wear some of those [smaller sized] clothes some day... wahahaha!!!

So. I started packing my books yesterday. I realised that there are quite a few books that I've not read yet, and I've already bought some new books. Anyway, they're all gonna be happy residents of my library. Oh, did I tell you that I want to have a library in our dining room? It's gonna be an open shelf, with a glass-door section for Calvin to display his 12-inch figurines. I've always wanted a library in my home, but I think I'm gonna get really sick & tired of dusting the books on the shelves. It's like a nightmare that I plot for myself... ha!

Anyway, I bought some books for myself during Christmas and I'd like to share some beautiful things I read in the one I'm reading now - Small Acts of Grace by Alice Gray.

This book is about "What can I do to make a difference today?" Alice Gray gives simple ideas to support, encourage, and brighten the lives of those around us. I remember Imoto-san and I once had a conversation about what we want people around us to say about us when we depart from this world. For me, I hope they will say "She made a difference in my life".

I'm already halfway through the book. And as I read it on my way to work everyday, I find so many things that I wanna share with you. Today, before I start my work day proper, let me share a little excerpt from the book. A story in the Bible that tells us how beautiful our Lord Jesus is.

"Touching was an important part of Christ's ministry. He touched the eyes of the blind man, He blessed the children by laying His hands on them, He washed the disciples' feet. But perhaps His most stunning use of touch was when He laid hands on a man who had leprosy. [Matthew 8:3] In Bible times, no one touched lepers. They lived outside the towns and were required to cry out "unclean" when other people came near. Not even spouses or parents or children touched a leper. When the leper asked Jesus if He would heal him, Jesus easily could have just said, "Be healed." But He didn't. Because Jesus knew how much it would mean to the man, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him."
- Chapter 3, Pg 45-46, Small Acts of Grace

I hope to share more beautiful stories and inspiring ideas with you. And we can all do a little part in making a difference in the lives around us.