Reading

So, last week our internet was out, and while that threw a kink in a few things it also provided me with...or rather forced me...to do a few things to relax in my personal/free time that I haven't done in a long time. Those included cross-stitching and reading! Since my trip to Virginia in June, I've been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series....one of my all-time favorites. I just started book 3 (Anne of the Island), which is one of my favorites of the 8. I also pulled out C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters to re-read; last time I read it was freshman year in college!

I also pulled out a book called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. This is what the description on the back of the book says:

The life of a woman today isn't really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord's feet...but the daily demands of a busy world just won't leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him...yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy.

Then comes Jesus, right into the midst of your busy Mary/Martha life -- and he extends the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters of Bethany. Tenderly he invites you to choose "the better part" -- a joyful life of "living-room" intimacy with him that flows naturally into "kitchen service" for him.

How can you make that choice? With her fresh approach to the familiar Bible story and its creative, practical strategies, Janna shows how all of us -- Marys and Marthas alike -- can draw closer to our Lord, deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy.

I bought this book several years ago but never got around to reading it. My goals right now in my reading is to re-read some of my favorites that I haven't enjoyed in quite a long time, to read more of the "classics" that I never got around to reading growing up and in my Literature B.A. program, and to read the books that I've bought over the years but never got around to reading....such as this book. It's what I'll begin reading as soon as I finish Spiritual Mothering.

I'm also reading through the Psalms, and I'm taking my time in Psalm 119 right now. It's exactly what I need. It's challenging me in many ways, calling me back to places where I've detoured or left discipline behind. It's motivating deep meditation and increased prayer throughout my day. It's comforting places that need it and pushing me to go deeper and be better..etc. It's a great passage of Scripture. I knew a family in the church where I grew up who had every one of their 9-10 kids memorize that entire chapter when they were like 8 years old. I always thought that was crazy growing up. Now I get it, and I am starting to think it would behoove me to do the same. I want to finish reading through it first, though I am memorizing a verse here and there as I go. God is good!