Bookish Thoughts

On the weekend I went to both the library and the one remaining local Christian bookstore.  With several titles from each place, I can now confidently assure you that we must be near the end of the semester.  It's near the end that my thoughts begin to wander from dedicated text book reading to thoughts of novels, and books that touch the deep places of my soul.  I'm excited to dive in (even before the semester officially ends, and especially over the break and on the airplanes to and from Florida) to some of the titles I bought, and I thought I'd share a few that I'm excited about with you, and ask for your recommendations for good reads.

Some of the titles I'm excited about:

• Jesus Calling - I like how short the readings for each day are, and I've heard nothing but good things about this little book.  Can't wait to incorporate it into my bedtime routine.
• Love Does - again, I've heard nothing but good things about this book by Bob Goff, and I can't wait to read through all his stories and mine the truth and beauty they contain.
• The Jesus Storybook Bible - So I'm not a kid, but I thought a really beautiful, highly recommended kids Bible would be an awesome way to mix up some of my nighttime reading, and maybe even some of the teaching and studying we're doing at house church.
• The Lost Girls - because what could be better than a travel memoir written by three girl-friends, with the subtitle: "three friends, four continents. one unconventional detour around the world."

Okay, those are a few of the titles on my list for my time off.  What have you been reading lately that has inspired you, made you laugh, caused you to think, or just that you genuinely enjoyed as an awesome escapist beach novel?  Leave your suggestions in the comments!

Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 335

Today's Daily 5:

1. sleeping in
2. Chinese dumplings
3. a ride home from mom and dad's
4. finishing up a paper that's been hanging over my head
5. an invitation out for Chinese food
6. freshly painted toenails
7. wearing really cute shoes
8. skinny jeans
9. a gift of hand carved pencil crayons from Florence
10. curling up in bed to sleep nice and early

Daily 5 - Year 3, Days 331 - 334

So, this week has been just a bit challenging and in the interests of going to bed early so that I can get up early and not fall asleep in every class at school, I haven't exactly made it to writing daily 5 posts.  Instead, let me leave you with one longer list covering days 331-334.

Daily 5 - Days 331-334:

1. quiet evening at home
2. getting through the longest day of the week, and finishing just a bit early
3. spotting the big dipper on my way home from work
4. catching up on emails that I was way behind on
5. a trip to the library
6. another trip to the local Christian bookstore
7. shopping with a friend and her two boys
8. "My do it!" my favorite little guy's current favorite phrase
9. the fun of anticipating the reading of some new books
10. counting down towards the end of the semester
11. really smooth work shifts
12. little boy cuddles
13. quiet time sitting in the sunshine
14. watching "How I Met Your Mother" on Netflix
15. comfy pajamas, perfect for summer
16. coconut oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
17. fruit salad
18. the feeling of a shower after a very sweaty work shift
19. word games on my iphone
20. weekends at mom and dad's, and letting mom feed me

Friday Reflections, July 20, 2012

This week's reflection is once again from Henri Nouwen, and greatly moved me, speaking of experiences that I've had over the past several months and years.


Words That Create Community

The word is always a word for others.  Words need to be heard.  When we give words to what we are living, these words need to be received and responded to.  A speaker needs a listener.  A writer needs a reader.

When the flesh - the lived human experience - becomes word, community can develop.  When we say,  "Let me tell you what we saw.  Come and listen to what we did.  Sit down and let me explain to you what happened to us.  Wait until you hear whom we met,"  we call people together and make our lives into lives for others.   The word brings us together and calls us into community.  When the flesh becomes word, our bodies become part of a body of people. 

Wits End

It's been a while since I've talked about my journey with my body, and that's mostly because I've found myself at wits end.

Life got busy and my motivation to work at caring for my body dropped off.

I gained back all the weight I'd lost at the beginning of the year, and the beginning of this journey, and then I added a bit of extra weight.

I'm at a place where I look in the mirror and feel unhappy with what I see, but also recognize that what I see is largely a result of choices I've made.

And can I be honest? I'm not that motivated to change my habits.  I like eating sweet things and having the occasional glass of wine or cocktail.  I like not worrying about what I eat.  I don't like exercise - never have.  Yoga classes are the only thing I've ever really enjoyed, and I just don't have time to fit classes into my schedule at the moment.

I have some thoughts on how to change that, but for the moment, I'm at an all time low in motivation and an all time high in frustration.

In fact, even as I try to write this post, I find I've run out of things to say.  I'm stuck, a bit at wits end, and not totally motivated to change any of that.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to find myself in this place, and I'm wondering how those of you who have been here have navigated this space?