First Book for 2013

After much debate, I decided on a book that I have started and not been able to finish, but really feel is valuable to me. I would love for you to join me! The book is available many places, here is a link for Amazon.

"The Right to Write" by Julia Cameron

Please don't be intimidated by the number of chapters or the suggested writing. My reason for working through this book is to encourage myself to put my thoughts and feelings and ideas on paper. I don't have to be a good writer to write. I don't have to have something globally important to say to write. I just need to make time to do it.

I have divided the book into eleven sections, starting January 15th and completing it March 26th. I will be reading four "chapters" each week and choosing at least one of the writing assignments. If I have time, I will do all four assignments. Just read and write what you can!

Week One:  Introduction, Begin, Let Yourself Write, Let Yourself Listen

For those of you who have completed Phase I of the Ultimate Journey through Christ-Life, think of this as ally letter practice!

For those of  you who are unable to purchase the book, I will be posting one of the writing assignments each week, as well. Feel free to follow along and just do the assignments I post.

Part Three

Final week of "The Four Seasons of Marriage" by Gary Chapman.

We did it! A second book read this year. What did you think of it? Favorite thought? Anything you disagreed with? Have you tried one of the strategies? Shared any of this with your spouse?

With the holiday, I tried to keep the reading light for this week, so we just had a couple pages summing up the book. I also read through the question/answer section. I appreciated the clarification that the strategies work together, not in sequence (pg 179-180). I can focus on one at a time, but all seven work together to strengthen a relationship. It also caught my attention, when he shared the reality that if both spouses see the relationship in different seasons, one of them is not seeing the truth (pg 176-177). I can see the relationship as all sunshine and roses, but if my spouse is feeling a frost, then I need to face the reality that things may not be as good as I think they are.

This book as ignited some discussions with my husband and has brought understanding to a relationship I have been powerless to help. How 'bout you?

Strategies Six & Seven

Hello! We are on week five reading Gary Chapman's "The Four Seasons of Marriage."

We are almost done with this book, but I feel I could re-read it again! I love the tools, suggestions and concepts that I can apply, not just to my marriage, but also to other important relationships. I have found empathetic listening to be especially helpful with my kiddos and minimizing differences to cast a different light on interactions with my mother-in-law.

I also appreciate the strategy dedicated to the relationships or at least times in a relationship when the other person isn't interested in improving the relationship. We are both unique individuals who are always changing and moving and feeling, but we are definitely not always on the same page. Knowing that I can do something to improve my outlook and the atmosphere of our home is power I didn't always recognize.

How about you? How has this information impacted you? Have you implemented any of the strategies?

Next weeks post will also be on Wednesday, due to Christmas. I will be wrapping up this book with Phase III.

Posting about the next book for the new year later this week!

Strategies Four & Five

Good afternoon! This is week four reading "The Four Seasons of Marriage" by Gary Chapman.

I have personally experienced the power of empathetic listening. It can take a very tense interaction and bring two parties to a point of respect. I also find this strategy to be one of the hardest for me. The keys listed in this chapter are a simple reminder of this technique. So are you a "Dead Sea" or a "Babbling Brook"? I am most definitely a "Babbling Brook" and my husband would probably agree, if I let him get a word in. :)

Strategy five, however, is my personal favorite. "You can't help a man uphill without getting closer to the top yourself." (pg 119) Gary Chapman talked about the concept of a "love tank" (pg 96) and I think it carries over here. When I am feeling loved, accepted and encouraged, I am more creative, resilient and therefore more successful. When I speak my husband's love language, take time to listen and encourage him, I help him to succeed, too!

I am very interested in your take on this material. What do you think of Dr Chapman's work? Have you tried any of these strategies? Can you identify one that you want to work on?

Strategy Two & Three

Good afternoon! This is week three reading "The Four Seasons of Marriage" by Gary Chapman.

The strategies this week focus on nurturing thoughts and attitudes that lead to stronger relationships. It brought to mind a favorite quote from another book I have read recently, "What you think about all day long, and the way you think about it, determines who you will eventually become."* My brain only listens to me, so if I am telling myself that my husband is the problem, that he can't do anything right, that he is letting me down, failing me, not loving towards me, too busy for me, (fill in the blank with your own thoughts)...and I think this way all day, I have set him up to fail me. I am now looking for and expecting him to do these things (or not do them, as the case may be). I will take even the most loving gesture from him as a let down and as I put him down, I am encouraging him to stop trying.

Wow, what a quick, downward spiral from just a few negative thoughts. I would love to say that I never do this...but that is simply untrue. I do allow negative thoughts to take me down to a place where nothing my husband does is good enough. Now I'm not saying he is perfect, but he deserves my love and affection whether I am feeling love and affection from him today or not. I can tell you that when I seek to affirm him and fill his love tank by speaking his love language, I see more of his actions as loving. What I think about all day long really does effect how I see things and receive love.

There was so much packed into these few pages, I think I need to re-read them. But what stuck out to you? Do you see hope in these ideas for your relationship? Do you know you love language? Or your spouse's?

If you have not read "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman, I highly recommend it. I have also read his children's version, which contains the same basics but focused more for little ones who may not have a primary love language yet or are unable to express what they need.

* The Ultimate Journey, Phase III - Embracing Self-Surrender by Christ-Life Ministries

Stratagy One

Hello! Week two reading The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman. You are not behind...just jump in when you can! If you are not sure where your relationship currently is, please take a few moments to complete Marital Seasons Profile. I feel the material is much more helpful if you understand where your relationship is currently.

"We have to deal with the past before we can put it behind us. Otherwise, it keeps popping back up. But once we have resolved our past failures, we can spend our energy focusing on the present and create better seasons in the future." (pg 69)

Oh, how I don't like this one! I really identify with Brent, just push all the yuck from my past aside and keep moving forward. Ugh, but I know from experience that Mr Chapman is right. Sweeping dirt, crumbs, toys, laundry, etc. under the rug doesn't really clean up anything, it just masks the mess temporarily. When it resurfaces again, and it always does, it is more dirty, more damaged, more messed up than before.

So am I willing to take time to recognize my mistakes, my baggage? Am I willing to be brutally honest with myself, God and my spouse? Am I ready to forgive myself and seek forgiveness from my husband? What about him...am I open to hearing his confessions and offering forgiveness?

The promise of forgiveness from God is guaranteed. Forgiving myself is critical to not only the success of my marriage, but my own personal success. I think it's time to let go!

Book Two: Part One

And so it begins...week one of Gary Chapman's "The Four Season's of Marriage." If you are engaged or in a relationship with someone, I still recommend reading this book. If I could have started my marriage with this information, my how things would have been so different.

I have an aggressive reading planned for this first week, not to overwhelm you (I know this is a holiday week) but to give you an overview and get into the meat of the material more quickly. Please note: the page numbers may be different if you have a different edition. Jump in when you can, I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

November 20   Read Part I (pg 3-60)
November 27   Read Part II Strategy 1 (finish the Profile too, pg 61-82)
December 4    Read Part II Strategy 2 & 3 (pg 83-106)
December 11   Read Part II Strategy 4 & 5 (pg 107-133)
December 18   Read Part II Strategy 6 & 7 (pg 135-164)
December 26   Read Part III plus any of the questions (pg 165-181)

"Emotions moderated by Reason

guided by Truth = Constructive Action"

(pg 8)

I think this quote surprised me, not because I don't think it's true, but because it so clearly states the 'unstableness' of my emotions alone. They fluctuate, change, sometimes at a moments notice. I can be happy and contented one moment and the next moment I am discouraged and stressed. If I measured my marriage based solely on my emotions, it would be the most confusing mess, I'm not even sure one could make sense of it. I need to acknowledge my feelings, they are meant to be felt, but it would not be fair to judge my spouse by them or the state of our marriage. I need to sort through that feeling first, determine reason, seek the truth, before I can take action that would help, not hurt, our relationship.

I sometimes forget that I can get the sniffles in spring and a cold in summer. Just as I can experience a warm fall or a mild winter. I need to look at the whole of our marriage, not just the emotion of this moment, to identify where we are.

Mr. Chapman dives right in to the descriptions of each season. Were you able to pick your relationship's season out? Did this season surprise you? If you were not able to identify it easily, please take a moment to do the season's profile and if you are ready, ask your spouse to do it too.

afterword

Well, we did it! We have read, clear to the end, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. How does it feel?

What is sticking with you?
What impacted you most?
Would you recommend this book to a friend?
Do you see yourself reading it again?

I was personally touched by her raw emotion and gentle reminders. I especially enjoyed chapters 7 & 8. "Worry is the facade of taking action when prayer really is." (pg 143) When I feel like I must do something, take action, am I covering up true action with a facade of worry, fear, distrust? Do I trust Him enough to act through prayer? I think I'm going to put this on my fridge for a while...I need to be reminded often of this truth.

"Count one thousand gifts, bless the Holy One one hundred times a day, commune with His presence filling the laundry room, the kitchen, the hospital, the graveyard, the highways and byways and workways and all the blazing starways, His presence filling me." (pg 226)

the joy of intimacy

Welcome! Week eleven, chapter eleven of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

Our last week in this book! I will be posting an afterword tomorrow to wrap up this book. See the book announcement post from yesterday if you would like to continue reading with us!

 

"I can't simply ignore His serenade because I'm unsure, uncomfortable, uninterested, thinking I've claimed Christ as my Savior already anyways. God is relationship and He woos us to relationship and there is nothing with God if there is no relationship." (pg 212)

Oh, how I would love a trip to Paris, to see the ocean from above, to see the history and the art and the intrigue of a foreign land. To see such paintings of Christ and hear choirs sing in historic cathedrals, I imagine, would be inspiring.

I would like to spend some time journaling this week about communing with God, cohabiting with Christ, my relationship with Him, what He really thinks of me. What about you?

What does God think about you?
What does communing with God look like?
What about "Christ-in-me"...what does that look like?

"Years of Christian discipleship, Bible study, churchgoing had been about me thinking about God; practicing eucharisteo was the very first I had really considered at length what God thought of me--this ridiculous and relentlessly pursuing love, so bold. Everywhere, everything, Love!" (205)

~ NEW Book Announcement ~

Hello Fellow Readers! After much contemplation, I feel this book is the best one for the timing, business of the season and most requested.

The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman

It was available at the local Christian bookstores last time I looked. Amazon also has it available. Other local bookstores may have it as well. There are many cover designs, so don't be concerned if the one you get doesn't look like this photo. If you are unable to get the book in time to start reading this next week, just jump in when you can!

November 20   Read Part I (pg 3-60)
November 27   Read Part II Strategy 1 (finish the Profile too, pg 61-82)
December 4    Read Part II Strategy 2 & 3 (pg 83-106)
December 11   Read Part II Strategy 4 & 5 (pg 107-133)
December 18   Read Part II Strategy 6 & 7 (pg 135-164)
December 26   Read Part III plus any of the questions (pg 165-181)

I also plan to read the corresponding study guide each week (Part IV, pg 183-218). If you have time to read it, I feel it will add to the material.

empty to fill

Welcome! Week ten, chapter ten of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

"...it's true, I think I'm due some appreciation. So comes a storm of trouble and lightning strikes joy. But when Christ is at the center, when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains." (pg 194)

I am facilitating a class at the House of Hope in Cedar Rapids this fall, and so much of this book carries over into that study. It (whatever "it" is in this moment) is not about me. Every situation I face, Christ faces with me and has covered. All I have to do is allow Him to bless...and He always has enough! It is not dependent on my strength or my grace, He is sufficient.

But the "Deceiver" (Satan, the Devil) seeks to destroy grace and joy. He reminds me of just how weak and helpless, flawed and defective I am. He attempts to blind me with half truths so that I miss out on true joy and service. You see, I am all those things...I am horribly weak, impossibly helpless, hopelessly flawed, and severely defective. He is right about who I am and that often keeps me from seeing the lies. The other half of the truth, is that I am created in God's image, I am His daughter, He has forgiven my sins, and covers my weakness, helplessness, flaws and defects. He stands ready to love me and use me...if I'll let Him.

How 'bout today? I am tired and it is raining, I would love to go back to bed. But I have a house to keep clean, little ones to keep up with, and phone calls to make. Will I choose to thank Him today? Will I choose to receive His grace and joy and blessings? Will I choose to allow them to flow through me and bless others?

"It is by the very function of our being, not our doing, that we are the beloved of God. And so we become the love of God, blessing those He loves." (pg 199)

What do you believe about yourself? Do you listen to the lies of the Deceiver?
How has blessing cost you?
Will you read Romans 7 with me this week?

Two Weeks and Counting...

Only two chapters left in our current book! So hard to believe that we're almost through Ann's book. I have so enjoyed reading it together, thank you for joining me!

I am looking for the next book to read and would LOVE input! I would like to read a simple book for the last six weeks of the year and them start something new in January. Some I am considering are:


Grounds for Belief by Ed Dickerson - A book about conversations regarding believes about God that take place in a coffee shop. Fairly short, but thought provoking.

The Right to Write by Julia Cameron - This author was suggested to me by a friend. While the topic is writing, the underlying theme is about telling my story. Short chapters with writing ideas to try, but we'd need to do 3 or 4 a week to be done in a timely fashion.

The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick - A forty-day journey expressing love to a spouse. Simple reading and assignment each day, we'd be done in six weeks. I don't know each of you very well, if we have single people reading with us, maybe we could do this later in the year as a side project?


The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman -A cute little book about the stages of marriage and how few marriages stay in the spring time of the "love high." What are the stages? How do I identify where my marriage is? What is the importance of that stage and how do we move past it? Here again...I don't know where you all are, so please let me know!


Any of these intrigue any of you? Any suggestions of books you would like to read with us?

go lower

Good morning! Welcome to week nine, chapter nine of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

"Humbly let go. Let go of trying to do, let go of trying to control...

let go of my own way, let go of my own fears.

Let God blow His wind, His trials, oxygen for joy's fire.

Leave the hand open and be." (pg 178)

It is intriguing to me how Ann uses these moments in her life to share these concepts, truths. I am pondering her distinction between lament and complaint and how my prayers are effected by both.

I enjoyed the reminder that thanksgiving and rejoicing are not passive emotions, they are actions, a choice. I also appreciated the mental image of theories and theology as needing to be birthed into "skin, breathe in the polluted air of this world, and make it happen." All the best theology won't do my any good if I don't put it to work, act on it, test it.

giggles over cookie baking
safety for loved ones
healing 

"He must increase and I must decrease--not because that is burden

but so that my joy might increase with more of Him!" (pg 178)

How was this chapter for you? What stuck out to you?

What do you think of lament vs. complaint?

How about decreasing so He can increase?

Or letting His light in and exposing our scars?

"I pray. I let go. Lay the hand open. The sun slides across old hairline scars.

My palm holds light." (pg 181)

how will he not also?

Week eight, chapter eight of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

 "This is the trust I lack:  

to know that if disaster strikes, He carries me even there." (pg 148)

"Fear thinks God is finite and fear believes that there is not going to be enough and hasn't counting one thousand gifts, endlessly counting gifts, exposed the lie at the heart of all fear?" 

(pg 161)

This chapter seemed long to me, but I love the point...trauma's storm masking Christ, feelings that lie, perspective that isn't mine...yet, I'm a wanderer crossing bridges, wanderer eating manna...eating mystery. God (the all-powerful, creator of the universe) has proven Himself worthy of my trust, of my complete faith. I can believe in Him because time and time and time again, He has been there, has been the answer, His bridges have held.

When my wounds are bleeding and I see no grace, no blessing, no reason for thanks, God is still worthy of my trust. Only eternal, infinite eyes can see all and understand how the ugly and hurt and bleeding fit into His plan for ultimate good.

So I will count His blessings and give thanks for what I don't understand, because I want to trust that it all fits into His eternal good.

provision to meet my needs
strength to care for ill little ones
a house that is becoming a home


What did you think of the chapter? Is God trustworthy?

Do you dare cross His bridges? What holds you back or pushes you forward?

What are you thankful for today that you can't see the blessing in yet?

"When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock

and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back." (Exodus 33:22-23) 

- Lord may I too get a glimpse of You in my today.

seeing through the glass

Week seven, chapter seven of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

This chapter reminds me of another book, which talks about the glasses we wear. Am I wearing glasses of love? grace? selfishness? anger? glasses of self? or God? Am I choosing to see things as "raw material" for God's work or as ugly, dark, out of control?

Speaking of control...do I really prefer the drama? Would I give up God's blessings and graces and joy to grasp after a false sense of control? As much as I love control, I'm apparently not very good at it as often as I mess things up. I am learning to let go and let God. But it's not easy!

"Ah, I see. The Lord has to break us down at the strongest part of our self-life before He can have His own way of blessing with us."*

Something else that stuck out to me, is this quote on parenting: "The parent must always self-parent first, self-preach before child-teach, because who can bring peace unless they've held their own peace?" (pg 124) I have been learning to care for myself so that there is something of me to give to them. But remembering that I cannot expect from them what I have yet to learn is hard some days.

I have been searching for the moments to see the grace when all my human eyes can see is the mess. Longing to release the drama and say my thanks whether it makes sense or not.

the gentle rain on the roof on a lazy Saturday morning
the taste of yummy chicken that hubby bbqed for me
a shower that drains properly
good paying job for hubby, even if the demands aren't always what I'd like


So how about you? What did you take away from this chapter?

What do you see the world/life through?

Is control a challenge for you? How would it feel/does it feel to let go?

Is there something God is breaking down to free you up for Him?

"Learning slowly to not be so reactionary while inserting verbal gratitude into stressful situations is almost like being healed of mental blindness. I have begun to 'see' again." (pg 133)

* (pg 138) - James H. McConkey

what do you want? the place of seeing God

Week six, chapter six of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

Congratulations! If you are still reading with me, you are now half way through this book! I am enjoying this journey with you and anticipate more great conversations.

I really appreciated her struggle with seeing, feeling, experiencing God in all His glory while changing diapers, doing laundry, and taking out the trash. I love those moments when God is so real I am sure I can feel Him, convinced that His glory is passing before me. But then I go back to the dishes and the floors and the errands and the bills and...and I feel alone and disappointed with life and God. As Ann says "how do you open the eyes to see how to take the daily, domestic, workday vortex and invert it into the dome of an everyday cathedral?" (pg 121)

snuggles with little ones
moments alone to write
revelation that comes from quiet listening
joy in a finished project

I am excited to 'see' her explore the concept of Jesus being the eye within that allows me to see God's glory everywhere, in all things, at all times. I was a little concerned that she was headed the way of the hammer. As the saying goes:  when you have a hammer, all the worlds a nail. If I am an eye, all of God's glory is visual. I believe I was created with five senses because simply seeing isn't enough to behold all of God. But, if Jesus is the eye within me then His perfection would lead my senses to 'see' God and all His Glory.

So, what do you want? Well, let me rephrase that...what do you want from God? from life?

Do you struggle to remember the captivity He has freed you from? How do you remember what God has done in your life?

What about the 'eye'? Do you want to be the eye?

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek...all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple."

Psalm 27:4

what in the world, in all the world, is grace?

Week five, chapter five of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

"...I know all our days are struggle and warfare

and that the spirit-to-spirit combat I endlessly wage with Satan

is this ferocious thrash for joy.

He sneers at all the things that seem to have gone hideously mad

in this sin-drunk world,

and I gasp to say God is good.

The liar defiantly scrawls his graffiti across God's glory,

and I heave to enjoy God...

and Satan strangles, 

and I whiten knuckles to grasp real Truth

and fix that beast to the floor." (pg 90)

This chapter brought me to tears. Her mother's heart is so precious. Her struggle to understand pain and suffering in light of a loving, good God is recognizable. Learning to see life through God's lens, not my human, worldly view, but through the vision of heaven and the lens of a deity, my God. I am still learning to see beyond the pain and hurt and suffering to the potential grace and beauty.

warm rays of sun after a chilly morning
shared tomatoes from a neighbors bounty
unexpected memories of fun with my oldest son

What glasses or lens are you looking through? Do you have more than one?

How do you process the bad of this world? Where does a "good God" fit in your mind?

How is your list of gifts coming along this week?

"...where God wounds Himself through with nails on a cross

and we wear the symbol as beauty." (pg 99)

* Image from The Hunting of the Snark blog.

a sanctuary of time

Week four, chapter four of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

"I have lived the runner, panting ahead in worry, pounding back in regrets, terrified to live in the present, because here - time asks me to do the hardest of all:  just open wide and receive." (pg 69)

I found myself slowing while reading this chapter, breathing deep and yearning to start my own list. I have lots of lists and have even listed blessings and things to be thankful for. But specifically looking for gift, blessings, thanksgiving daily...that sounds like a list worth my time. Will you join me? Just one a day. Maybe we can share a couple here each week. Slowing time by fully living in it is my goal for this week.

So what did you think? Are you or have you ever been an "amateur", hurrying through life impatiently?

Does God live in the moments with us? I mean, do we not see Him, find Him, because we are too hurried?

Have you ever embraced your "not enoughness" and thank God anyway? What happened?

How would you "live slow"? How could you do that to meet the urgent need of life?

How long does it take for your soul to realize you life is full? What has been your experience with "over-filling" life or starving it?

"Life is a dessert--too brief to hurry." (pg 77)

first flight

Week three, chapter three of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

I find myself stumbling over the flowery writing style, but feel like she is moving past the "appetizer" and into the "main course" of this book and concept. I have always loved naming things, my art, my projects, especially my children, but it never occurred to me that there was a link to God in the process of naming something. The idea that naming the blessings, gifts, moments to be thankful for during my day would also be a link to God is a neat concept that I will need to ponder a bit more.

"Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn't rescue the suffering. ...(those) who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy..." (pg 58) Do I wallow in the suffering and reject the joy that is possible? Do I believe joy is really possible at all? I think I need to come back and ponder this chapter some more....

What about you? How did this chapter sit with you?

What do you think about naming?

What about joy...do you reject joy for the sake of suffering?

How do you practice thanksgiving?


"...that life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change." (pg 61)

a word to live...and die by

Week two, chapter two of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

This chapter really resonated with me. I desire to really live life, but also to be ready to die, to "inhale eternity" as Ann put it (pg 30). Living without regret, with joy. I am really pondering her thought that the depth of thanks is linked to height of joy (pg 33) and that thanksgiving always precedes the miracle (pg 35).

What are your thoughts? Do you ever feel these things? Dreading another day, anxiety of failing, afraid, weary, ruptured hopes?

Do you see ungratefulness as the sin in the garden of Eden? Is thanksgiving linked to salvation?

Are there things that must be done or seen to have fully lived? How would you describe a life fully lived?

I am excited to hear your thoughts! Post your comments, thoughts, insights, questions, etc... Please be thoughtful when responding to someone's post. Enjoy the journey!

an emptier, fuller life

Good morning! Welcome to week one, chapter one of Journey Reading:  Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

Ann dives right in, to what has shaped her and brought her to this place with God, to this search for grace and fullness in life. What stuck out at you? Any quotes for your facebook page or refrigerator?
 

Do you get where she is coming from?

Do you identify with the "holes" she describes in the canvas of your own life?

What do you think of the story of your life? Would you write it differently? Why or why not?


What about our sight? Our ability to see the goodness of God?

Would you choose, or do you choose the manna? Do you accept the mystery of God and eat it, so it can fill and fulfill you?

Let the discussion begin! Post your comments, thoughts, insights, questions, etc... Please be thoughtful when responding to someone's post. Enjoy the journey!

Reminders

“The more you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

- Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

As I pulled my copy of "One Thousand Gifts" off the bookshelf yesterday, I realized just how excited I am do be reading this with you and how much I am looking forward to our discussions and conversations. I know some of you quite well, but some of you I have never met. I look forward to learning together.

I want to reiterate that this format and pace can be altered and changed. I welcome the feedback and want to make this as enjoyable for everyone as possible.

If you can't get the book by next week or don't get chapters read as quickly, please join me anyway! You can jump in at anytime or just "listen" in. All levels of participation are welcome!

Reading for Mental Health

Depression can be quite debilitating. It can ruin a relationship, jeopardize employment and steal joy. It can keep a fulfilling life at bay. I would like to keep depression at bay. The bible says I have been given a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) and I claim that verse whenever I feel depression creeping in. But sometimes it gets a foothold anyway and then it takes a real battle to evict this unwanted guest.

During a recent battle, I came across information on Dr. Neil Nedley and his research and work on depression. The most helpful was this video where Dr Nedley talks about some of the causes of depression. Most interesting to me was his suggested link between depression and the frontal lobe of the brain. He suggested reading (especially the biblical narratives) as a way to help stimulate the frontal lobe and counter the effects of the depression (starting at 13:30).

I decided to make reading a part of my health regimen, like eating veggies and using my elliptical. Reading for my mental health.

Book Announcement!

Book 1:  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

This delightful little book, only 212 pages in eleven chapters, walks us through moments in the author's life where she learned to see blessings. She shares a way of looking at life, and living life, with grace and gratitude. I have personally started this book twice and am excited to read it in it's entirety. It is available at most Christian book stores, Barns and Nobel and online through Amazon, as well as ebay.

I will start reading chapter one on September 4th, posting reminders and such so the conversation can begin immediately! Tentatively. we will start a new chapter every Tuesday after that, completing the book by November 20th. The pace can speed up or slow down as needed, so just keep communicating where you are at and what you need. The more we all communicate, the more we can all get out it!

Wecome!

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. It is wholesome and bracing for the mind to have its faculties kept on the stretch."

This quote by Sir Richard Steele (1672-1779) has captured my attention. With all the focus I place on my physical health (as well I should), I fear I focus far too little on my 'mental health' if you will. It is easier to just know what I already know and continue on in life, than to challenge my mind, to learn something new, to ponder and reflect on another's thoughts. With this in mind, I set goals for myself to read, both fiction and non-fiction, religious and not. Books that challenge and encourage my journey through life. However, I have found it as hard to hold myself accountable on this as it is with diet and exercise.

Recently a friend shared about a book on the top of my list which she had been trying to read, but had not been able to get past the first few chapters. Thus began my search for a way to keep myself accountable and encourage others to join me! I pondered a typical book club, but location was an issue. I looked into a facebook group, but excluded some who showed an interest in joining me. I researched online book clubs, but they require memberships, while free, would still be one more thing to sign up for. This is how I arrived at forming this group through a blog.

I will be the "facilitator" getting each post going and encouraging discussion. Anyone, whether or not they are registered, may reply with comments, thoughts, questions, ponderings, insights, other books for consideration, etc... I will post information on the first book, reading for your journey, soon and plan on starting September 4th (after the holiday). I plan on keeping the pace simple and adjusting it as needed depending on the material we uncover and the discussions it brings. I am excited to get started and look forward to stretching my mind. Will you join me?