Links! Beth Vogt giveaway, cancer, guns, and more

Today's list of interesting links from around the web is a little more hodge-podge than usual, so forgive me the cognitive dissonance as you hop from one to another! It's all good stuff, though, so take a look:

-I really liked Beth Vogt's last book, "Wish You Were Here", so I was excited to see that she has a new one coming out, and that she's giving away four advanced copies of it! This is one giveaway I'm signing up for.

"A New Journey with the Lord":

Ever since I was diagnosed with breast cancer last December, amongst the wonderful wishes of encouragement and love I’ve received, I’ve noticed that some of my loved ones have struggled to come to grips with why God would allow such a thing to happen to me. I empathize with their question (and pray that God will lead them through it). But I don’t currently share in their struggle myself. I think it’s because I wrestled with God about a similar question just over a decade ago.

"On Ash Wednesday":

I didn’t grow up observing Ash Wednesday or Lent, but I have to say, at this age it helps to be reminded that I am dust and returning to dust. It’s not just a help, but a comfort. This world is forever demanding that we take it as seriously as it takes itself, and it tempts us to take ourselves too seriously too. Ash Wednesday says, “No, no, no, dear sinner. You’re just dust, living in a world that’s just dust, and you and the world both are returning to dust. And you are dear to God nevertheless.”

-And, in a total departure from the other links, here's "How Do You Win a Gunfight?"  Those of you who aren't in SoCal might not have been following the terrifying, fascinating, horribly sad Christopher Dorner case, but this article goes in depth on one aspect of the events of the last few days: how pitched gun battles actually go down in the real world.