Good Books

So one benefit of this transition is the chance to read.  I would never have said that I enjoyed reading.  In fact many of the books the girls read at school, I have never read.  I have to wonder what my parents would say about this, but I'm assuming that I just rathered being outside with the animals, playing with cousins/friends, working in the barn, playing sports - who had time to read.

In my adult years I would find some time to pick up a book that my mother-in-law or a friend would recommend Secret Life of Bees or Stones into Schools.  I typically found myself interested in leadership books like Good to Great or Five Dysfunctions of a Team.  I also am drawn to books on gardening/food like Four Season Harvests or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle or Local Choices.  But anymore I'm more brave to pick up a book at the library and give it a try.  Two books recently were The Dirty Life (a woman's choice to move on a farm and the challenges with living sustainably) and On the Right Track (from olympic downfall to finding forgiveness and the strength to overcome and succeed).  Both books were good in their own way, recognizing with our choices come consequences--some positive, some negative.  We can allow the negative to overwhelm us, suck us dry or choose a different lens to look through and appreciate what we have learned through the tough stuff.   

Whether the books are fiction or non-fiction I find myself drawn into the story.  If you ask Jeff, my moods tend to take on what I am reading or that I ask him random questions that stem from something brought up in a book.  I think what has impacted me the most is this desire to have purpose, to make a difference.

So I am inspired again to live with intention.  To care about where my food comes from, to decrease waste, to live with integrity, to appreciate life, etc.  I don't have to do something big like Greg Mortenson and build schools in Afghanastan in the hardest to reach places so that girls can get an education or even like Marion Jones who now plays in the WNBA and speaks to audiences on "Take a Break", to think before telling a lie, to seek out good advice, to act with integrity and take responsibility. 

I am challenged to embrace today and to discover the ways that God wants to use me now.  As I have been floundering with this new stage of life I am reminded again that as I seek first the kingdom of God, as I sit at Jesus' feet, I won't need to figure this out on my own.  God knows the plans he has for me.  I also know that there is a lot of transforming that He wants to do in me.  For today I rest in God's loving arms, wanting to be attentive to His voice and leading.