.On my {Proverbial} Night Stand.

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”  ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”  ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“I cannot live without books.”  ― Thomas Jefferson

These books are currently on my {proverbial} night stand. (I do not have a night stand.) A few of these books, I am rereading. I am currently trying to read the Bible from cover-to-cover in 40 days (for Lent) with some girl friends, but I am behind. I seriously cannot live without books, without reading, without words. I love that the main way God chose to communicate with us is with written words. Aaah, my love language. My husband has offered to purchase a Kindle for me so many times, but I also love the feeling of a book in my hand. So, I am not quite there yet. {grin}

The other day Jim came home with his arms laden with books for me. I felt so, so loved and understood.

It doesn't matter how busy my life gets, I have to make time for reading (and writing). How do I find time?

• I read while I cook.
• I read while giving my children a bath.
• I read in the bathroom {blush}.
• I read on the treadmill.
• I read while in the van waiting for Habi to get out of school.
• I read early in the morning and late at night. (Late at night is when I do most of my reading. I have insomnia anyway, so why not read? Sleep is overrated!)
• I read while rocking or swinging Jamesy.
• I read while Cadi is reading in school.

This quote could describe me, and my obsession with reading.

My mother was very sharing of this feeling of insatiability. Now, I think of her as reading so much of the time while doing something else. In my mind’s eye The Origin of Species is lying on the shelf in the pantry under a light dusting of flour—my mother was a bread maker; she’d pick it up, sit by the kitchen window and find her place, with one eye on the oven. I remember her picking up The Man in Lower Ten while my hair got dry enough to unroll from a load of kid curlers trying to make me like my idol, Mary Pickford. A generation later, when my brother Walter was away in the Navy and his two little girls often spent the day in our house, I remember Mother reading the new issue of Time magazine while taking the part of the Wolf in a game of “Little Red Riding Hood” with the children. She’d just look up at the right time, long enough to answer—in character—“The better to eat you with, my dear,” and go back to her place in the war news.
–Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings

So, what's on your night stand? You know....in case I run out of reading material. {wink}

.There is a Season for Everything.

I look forward to the changing of seasons. Each season holds a new kind of delight and gift for me. I am in awe every time a new season bursts in. And every season I find time for one of my greatest guilty pleasures....



books.

A sweet friend of mine was trying to talk me into splurging on a Kindle or a Nook, but I am not sure if I can really trade in the feel, the smell, of books. I am very tactile when it comes to my books and to reading - it is an experience for me, as silly as that sounds. I know books are so expensive. I do use my library a ton, and when I purchase books, I only purchase books that I know I will pass on and on to other people. Books and reading are my guilty pleasure. No matter what, I always make time to squeeze a little reading into everyday.

Right now I am delving into Orphanology - Awakening to Gospel - centered adoption and orphan care by Tony Merida and Rick Morton.



Russell D. Moore (author of Adopted for Life) had this to say about the book :

The orphan is not a cause. The orphan is not an issue. The orphan has a human face, and that face is Galilean. Jesus tells us that when we see the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, the tossed aside, we see Him there. Tony Merida, one of the most brilliant and passionate preachers in evangelical Christianity today, calls us to remember the orphans as we follow Christ.



I feel as if I am joining the rest of the world and jumping on the band wagon with this book, Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis. But I could not not read it. I have been following this girl's blog for so long, I just knew that I had to also read her book. A blog only tells so much of our story, there is much left unsaid between the lines.

If you are not familiar with Katie's story, watch this little preview here. (You will need to scroll down to the bottom of my blog and pause my playlist in order to hear the video.)




And as always, I am reminding myself to read everything sandwiched between God's Word and filtered through His Word. As much as I love books, I never want to hunger for or follow another book the way I want to God's Word.

What are you reading? Please share. Some of my favorite books have come at your suggestion.

.Summer Luvin'.

I love summer for a myriad of reasons. One being the big pile of books that I read through each summer. The pile is always different, but the love for books remains the same. In the summer I am intentional about reading a lot of books. I have quite a stack this summer, and am continually being stretched by what I read. Some of the books are familar dog-eared ones, and some are new to me. I think even the books that I am reading are being orchestrated by God. He is preparing my heart for something. I can feel it.

One can tell a lot about a person by what books are currently on the night stand.

I think this stack tells quite a bit about me and where I am in my life journey, and where I am striving to be.

What is on your night stand? I may have room to pile on a few more good books.




PS I did not publish a Wedded Wednesday yesterday, as I do not have a new topic. If you have an idea for one email me at amomentcherished(at)gmail(dot)com. Our summer is becoming busy, so I will wait for a topic request before publishing a new W.W.