The Thankful Project: November 19th

The Thankful Project: November 19^th: A Book

I’ve always loved reading. There was one summer when I was in middle school that I read every single Nancy Drew book out there, I believe it was close to almost 150 books at the time (I guess you could’ve considered me a nerd). I unfortunately don’t have time to read 150 books in even a year, but I always try to read at least one book on every trip.

Due to my love of reading, I have a plethora of books that I love. Anything by Jane Austen (Persuasion and Emma are probably my favorites) is always going to hold a special place in my heart. Agatha Christie suspense novels always keep me turning the page. I’m a hopeless romantic so Nicholas Sparks always gets me crying on the plane. I love a series called “Love Finds You”, typical (predictable) Christian romance type stuff.

However if I had to choose a book that I was thankful for, it would be these two:

“A Confident Heart” by Renee Swope and “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers. I was given Redeeming Love by a friend in college and I think I read the whole book in a matter of two-days (in between studying for exams of course). It’s just a wonderful story and representation of God’s redeeming and healing love. Francine Rivers was inspired by the book of Hosea in the Bible, a story of redemption, love, and healing. I’d definitely recommend picking up this book for any woman out there as it speaks to so many themes in our lives as Women of God.

The second book, A Confident Heart, I picked up after finishing a Bible Study with Proverbs 31 Ministries. They send out a daily email devotional and I can’t remember exactly what the devotional was about, but I know it had me crying at my desk (super professional) so I went out to Lifeway and immediately bought the book. I can’t put it better, so here is what I copied from Google Books description:  Often the biggest obstacle to living out our faith is our own doubt--about our worth, our abilities, our relationship with God, and situations in our lives. A Confident Heart gives voice to the questions, doubts, struggles, and hopes so many women have. Author Renee Swope shows women how to identify, overcome, and even use doubt in order to live confidently in God's power, truth, and grace. Perfect for women's small groups or individuals, A Confident Heart is an authentic, insight-filled and encouraging message for any woman who wants to exchange.

I’m thankful that God put these books in my hands and I hope that if you’re searching for something to grasp onto today, that maybe one of these books will speak to you! 

Ordinary to Extraordinary

It has been a while since I've actually finished a post and actually published it- a sad thing considering I used to love writing and blogging. In the past four months my work life went from busy to chaos. I would leave work, hit the gym, come home and be so emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted I couldn't even find the motivation to open my laptop or look at a screen for one second longer. As the days turned into weeks and weeks into months, my life turned into a draining monotony of busyness.

Recently a few things have around me that make me realize how incredibly unpredictable life can be; things can change so drastically that it made me stop and ask myself it what I was doing was worth it? No.

A woman at work had an honest conversation with me, about how short life can be and how we need to forget about the fear of the future and the unknown and find joy in the moments we have with those we love. It's pivotal that we choose joy, find joy and pursue the dreams we dream about only to ourselves.

When I get busy, one of the first things to suffer is my quiet time reading the Word. Ironically, the Word is one of the most important things we can stay in to keep grounded,  rooted in His promises and cling onto the hope that He promises us. Deciding to take 5 to 10 minutes of your day to spend with Him and reading the Word can really set the tone for the rest of it. Life gets messy, busy, chaotic, and plain stressful but by rooting ourselves in those few blissful moments of quiet, peace and joy it can really turn your day around and make an ordinary day into an extraordinary day. So I choose to find the time, to make the commitment and to make completely ordinary days into fantastically extraordinary days.

"A busy life makes prayer harder, but prayer makes a busy life easier"