Happy Saturday everyone…..well that is what I hope you are all having

Today has been a different day……one that i had planned to get SO much done, but only ended up with very little, and I will explain why in a minute.

First off though I have put together that scrap page from my Take a pic Tuesday. Again working with Convention photos. Convention just feels sooooooo long ago now! I am missing my inter-state friends dearly, and am starting to look forward to Stampin’Up’s Incentive trip in 3.5 weeks time when I can see some of them again!

So here is the page I made:

For this page I have worked with the colours from the clothes I was wearing. I have used Basic black for the base, and created a large circle with Whisper white and Real red cardstock. I stamped the red with the big Damask stamp from the Friends 24/7 stamp set from Stampin’Up. I added three small strips of DSP horizontally under my photo, and then added the large flower, which of course resembles the one that I was wearing on my jacket. I topped it with a very large button tied of with some silver cord. The date I have written onto some punched out Curly label punch mounted onto some red as well. Not too shabby for a 10 minute job very late this afternoon, but I feel I could have definitely done better with this photo. But that was all time allowed today

After lunch today I was feeling really light headed, and needed to have a quick lie down. I planned on that being about 30 minutes. I did pick up my book after a little while, and well, what do you know, I didn’t put it down for another few hours till it was finished! It was that good, and I really wanted to tell you about it, because it really touched me!

Now I haven’t really done a book review on my website before, but i just have to share with you this book that I finished today. I do a lot of reading, and have really started getting into Biographies. There is so much to learn from other peoples experiences, and to gleam off them etc…. This book did that exact thing for me today.

Last week when I was in Brisbane, I didn’t go shopping at all, except to Borders book store. A good book store is something I find very hard to resist…. Just like the SU catalog! Anyway I stumbled across this book which was about a lady that grew up in my home town!

The book is called Breaking the Spell and here is a picture of the front cover:

I was mesmerised from the front cover to the back! The author has you spellbound, shocked, anguished, and joyful and sad, through the pages you read. I love a book that evokes emotions out of its readers, and well I have to say that I cried like a baby towards the end of the book * blush*

It is a story of an West Australian woman who was never taught to express her emotions. She had a hard child hood, and early marriage, and was very unhappy. Her visit to a psychologist lead her down the path to study and envelop the Rajneeshee religion in the late seventies, and early eighties. It takes you on her adventure and move to India to live and serve the Indian guru Bhagwan. Over the years in his service, she became brain washed to the point of separating from her husband, severely neglecting her children and being prepared to even murder for her leader.

Through many many hardships, and being in a state of total confusion, the author finally breaks free of the cult, only to have many problems follow her. What continues is a prison sentence, and a fight for freedom. During this time she has to come face to face with her actions, admitting her neglect of her children,her betrayal of her guru, as well as many other challenges.

Jane’s book shares so openly and honestly the anguish, and strength it takes to face your mistakes, and deal with them head on. What I really gleamed from this book is that no matter what the you problems you face, you can’t bury them. Many do with so many things, like alcohol, food, addictions, pride, and striving for success. Ultimately we will never be free from hardships etc, but it is our response to them that weaves the way for more hardship, or for relief. I so admire this author for her unbelievable honesty, and her book has really taught me not to hide from things that are difficult, but to face them head on. I too of course believe that I will be given the strength from God to do so, no matter how difficult. My favourite Scripture of all is  Phillipians 4:13 ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and when I feel disheartened and am struggling, I try to reflect on these word from Scripture.

Whilst I am not aiming for this post to be a means to shove religion at you, it is really an opportunity to share with you something I learned today. I was so encouraged by this book, although sad as it was, it really showed to me that we only have one life, and I want to make sure I live it correctly and not with so many regrets. So if you love a good read, I can not recommend this book enough, and if you do happen to read it, I would love  to hear your thoughts as well!

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and I will see you on Monday for the Make it Monday I have planned!

Have a goodie!

ETA: This book is apparently out of print in the US, or you can track it down at certain places for a whopping $80! If you would like me to get you a copy and ship it to you, I am more than happy to, just email me directly and i will happily arrange it for you

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