My earliest memories involve books. I spent many an hour lost in the pages of a book. In fact, my mother used to joke the only way she could get my nose out of a book was to mention the word, "Pepsi," and my head would pop up and say, "Are we having some?"
Over the years, I have written extensively about some of my favorite books. For previous posts about favorite books, see Books I Read Again and Again, You Should Read These, and if you are interested in childhood books, this post: A Few of My Favorite Things.
At this season of my life, I have so much going that I really do not get to read for pleasure anymore and that makes me very sad.
However, I am currently in a couple of book launch teams and would like to discuss those with you.
First up is "All the Pretty Things, My Broken Hallelujah" by Edie Rudder Wadsworth. I first came across Edie's blog, lifeingrace, and I was immediately mesmerized. I had to go back and read every post. This was no small feat as I was going back years, but I had to read. Every. Single. Word.
Although our stories are not the same, there were a lot of amazing similarities; and so when I heard Edie's book was coming out and there would be a launch team, I signed up immediately.
Y'all!
I could not put the book down. My poor husband got frozen pizza for dinner that night. (So glad it wasn't a day when the girls and the grands were coming for dinner!)
Maybe alcoholism never touched your family, but if anyone has ever burned their own life down, you can relate to Edie.
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| Photo credit Tina Rhea |
Some favorite quotes from the book:
“There ain’t nothin’ I wouldn’t do for that girl o’ mine, and I aim to show her what kind of daddy she’s got.”
"No matter what the circumstances, the time Daddy and I spent together felt like time that stood still."
"My mama might have been alone in the world, but she was a spitfire of epic proportions when she needed to be."
"I found healing in the truth--not by hiding my story but by finally finding the courage to share it."
I'm sure you will hear more about Edie's book from me in days to come!
The next book I'd like to share with you is Shelly Miller's Rhythm of Rest, Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World.
She had my interest when she asked the question, "Secretly dream about a sick day to lay at home and read all day?" Ummm... yes!
I thought it so interesting that her book would come out in 2016 since my One Word for 2016 is rest. I'm needing a lot of help with the topic. God must have arranged this!
One of the concepts I've been struggling with is the idea of Sabbath because those of us in church leadership do not get much rest, if any, on Sundays. Shelly is all about Sabbath and shares much about the idea of Sabbath being a date with your beloved:
"Sabbath is a weekly dinner date with Jesus, a time set apart when we give him our undivided attention."
I'm still in the middle of reading her book but you can be sure to hear much more on the Journey about Rhythms of Rest.
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I'm sharing this post at The Loft because the topic is books!
I'm also linking up with the Grace and Truth community at Arabah Joy.
Miller's book is on my to-read list! As you know, my One Word 2016 is also REST, so the title of her book captivated me the minute I read it. I'm looking forward to getting it and diving in. So glad you are at The Loft!
ReplyDeleteBoth books sound interesting. I too love books and unfortunately have too many to read, otherwise I'd be looking into both of these (but sometime soon if I get caught up)
ReplyDeletebetty
Those books sound like wonderful reads! Thanks for sharing! I read a book/Bible study years ago called Simplicity by Mindy Caliguire. In it, she discusses a rolling Sabbath, meaning it may not happen the same day every week, but we need to prioritize time to rest and spend with Jesus even if it's not Sunday. I think for most of us, Sunday is more work than rest. Just getting one's family to church, then serving, then getting home and feeding everyone, just to turn around and do it again at night doesn't leave much time for rest, even if it is full of worship. I've learned the hard way to carve out time for rest and silence, and everyone around me is better for it!
ReplyDeleteOh I am DEFINITELY going to look for A Rhythm of Rest...in fact I may just down and out buy it!! I am often posting on my own blog about "being still", finding rest for our souls, etc. etc. Jerralea I am like you as is my hubby and 2 daughters. We are total bookworms and although my life is busy too with working full time, ministry duties, etc I make time to read for pleasure EVERY SINGLE DAY! I'm not even kidding...i love to come home from work, have a little quiet time in the Word and also read maybe a half a chapter or more until time to cook dinner....sometimes in the winter I've been known to pedal on my stationary book while reading a book :)
ReplyDeleteHappy reading to you!!
Both sound like really great books Jerralea. THank you for sharing the titles and your thoughts on them!
ReplyDelete