Book update

"Sweet girl"- another one of Rachel Hollis' fiction books. A fun, light read. Love to mix up my reading selections with one like that.

"Smart Girl"- the last Rachel Hollis book in the trilogy. This one mimics her actual early relationship with her husband, so that was fun to get some insight there, since I'm basically obsessed with her.

"Brazen" by Leeanna Tankersley - I was recommended this book by a podcast listener. The subtitle is "The courage to find the you that's been hiding." I feel like this was a really great book to read for me at this time in my life. As a mom of small children, your day is not your own. Your schedule is not your own. And while there's no three people I'd rather have my world revolve around than my boys, it's tiring and draining... and sometimes I long to just take care of me and do what I want to do (wah, wah, wah... pity party over). This podcast has been something that has really brought me to life again, as Jessica... it's been wonderful to pursue this work in whatever pockets of time I can find and seeing the fruits of my labor has been extremely edifying.
      In the book, she talks about how life can get busy and hard, and we don't make room to come up for air. She says, "Sometimes for a season, all we can expect from ourselves is to sit on the floor and breathe... But then after a week or a month or a year or three, after we have caught our breath, we must do the work of remembering that our issues are not the same thing as our identity. We must emerge." Motherhood is about surviving in the hear and now, and there's not much room to dream. But I like how she points out that the dreaming won't just happen and the self-care time won't just appear, but we must do the work to surface. Sometimes that's going to look like making time to read for 5 min a day, sometimes that will be simply putting on makeup, or maybe it's about outlining a new business idea... whatever it is, it's important to be courageous and intentional with living a life of intention. She also says that "It's kind of crazy what happens when we stop striving and just surrender." She means this in terms of letting God truly be in charge of our life and making time to hear from Him about what he wants for us and reminding ourselves that He is for us. "Our burden will life incrementally, as I continue coming home. " When we take the time to connect with God, which should be our #1 priority, our "effort will be met with ease." We have a God that is offering to bear our burdens and help us long, to compensate for our weaknesses and strengthen us. Why would I not take Him up on that?
     I need to do a whole post on this book. So many good quotes.

"When Breath Becomes Air"- A neurosurgery resident is diagnosed with cancer in his final year of residency. After years of trying to save the lives of his patients, he enters into his own battle. In addition, he had previously earned a MA English, so he's a beautiful writer. Wow... this book is a must read. It only took me two days and I couldn't put it down. It really gets you thinking about living for today and making the most of your life. When he was diagnosed and didn't know how long he had to live, he said that if he had a short time he'd write, but if he had a longer time he'd continue as a surgeon. He really had to confront his priorities, and honor those in whatever days he had left. Definitely recommend this book.

"Carry on Warrior" by Glennon Melton- My sister in law sent me this book, by the woman behind the blog Momastery. I had seen some of her work around the web and was excited to read more about her story. It's a very honest memoir and collection of essays about her life, including her battles with eating disorders, addiction, and getting pregnant before she was married. The book starts with her telling a story about how someone at church commented how she looked like she had it all and was so put together... this was comical to Glennon, as she was well aware of the crazy in her life. haha. Just goes to show that appearances can be deceiving. It's a great book overall, and while I didn't agree with everything she said, I appreciated her sincerity and her willingness to be herself. She said she's had plenty of people comment over the years that they don't agree with her but they love her. haha. That's what you get when you put it all out there.

20/20

I met my book goal for the year and it's only May. Whoop whoop! I am loving having a book going all the time. No matter how much or how little I read on any given day, it at least feels good to know that I have a book to turn to in my down time.