Sometimes there is so much to say, it’s difficult to know what to say, without taking up too many words…

These past several months have been that for me.

Particularly in comparison to the long season I seem to finally have emerged out of — my mom-of-babies/young-children-phase where adult conversation and responsibilities and pursuits outside of that role were benched and put on hold — it has often seemed like it would take a novel to encapsulate each month…sometimes even each week, and sometimes even a single day!

I have been making it through each day though, happily enough, and somehow healthily enough (even though there was a stretch of sickness over a few weeks, including losing my voice for about a week of it) — my God has been faithful as always in never asking me to do any more at any given time than He has also provided the energy and ability to accomplish =)

While I have found myself to always have “just enough,” there really hasn’t been too much leftover time and energy to attend to certain things in my life that, while I could make do without, I’m realizing I would much rather figure out how to order my life such that they’re included systematically, regularly, somehow knit into a routine that works for this new stage of life: reading, writing and exercise.

This “just enough” season has often left my brain too depleted or weary to write, as well as my body often too weary to exercise (although I’m well-aware that it is when I’m exercising regularly that I’ll likely be stronger and therefore have more energy to go around.

In terms of writing (and communicating? as that seems to be what I utilize writing as a tool for), I’ve been writing many more emails, formulating lesson plans and training materials, and in general teaching and speaking with various people in various settings, that there often just isn’t anything more I have to say, or at least the mental energy/steam/drive to say something more in writing.

In terms of exercise, I have been physically more on-the-go than I have been in years, albeit for reasons that I love and that fill me up.  It hasn’t unfortunately been movement that would count as physical exercise, so I understand a change-up is definitely necessary soon (and I am working on figuring out a plan of attack), but nevertheless too many days, when there happens to be “time” to exercise, I just haven’t had the physical energy to do so.

Interestingly, however, my appetite to read (which left me somewhere back before my baby days) has seemed to become re-actived, and so it became my new “past-time” activity for my me-time and any stolen moments to unwind.

I think the best way I can think of to get back into sharing my life here again, therefore, would be to share a simple, brief overview of my reading journey.

Since August, after finishing Cindy Jacobs’ “Women of Destiny,” I have read the following:

1. “Keep Your Love On” by Danny Silk.  Here is a link to his website: Loving on Purpose.

Picked up my book (and the accompanying DVD curriculum series) at the 1-day Workshop when Danny Silk came to Vancouver to speak — I got my copy autographed and snapped a photo with my current favorite “helping people” expert =)

2. “How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth” by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. I read the first 2 delightfully clear, succinct and easy-to-read chapters on (a) Interpretation – Exegesis & Hermeneutics, and (b) Explaining the array of Bible Translations we have to choose from.

3. “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. I ordered this book based on my Pastor/Mentor/Now-Boss’s recommendation, to help me identify and understand some important next steps in my personal leadership development =)

4. “The Emotionally Healthy Church” by Peter Scazerro. Recommended by one of my best friends after she utilized the included “Inventory of Spiritual/Emotional Maturity” with some younger women she is discipling. Upon looking up the book to possibly borrow or purchase it, the cover looked so familiar I realized I actually already owned it on my bookshelf from my student days — one of those, I-love-the-title-and-want-to-read-it-one-day, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. SO glad I finally did!

5. “Glittering Images” by Susan Howatch. Now this is a book that was recommended to me by another one of my best friends back in the summertime. (For the past few years, I’d say any fiction/novels I have read have been recommended to me by her, as I generally don’t know too much about the world of fiction/novels out there.) I had intended to look it up in the local library to borrow once I had free-time to read, but she beat me to it and had a copy sent to me within a week after mentioning it.  Interestingly, Peter Scazerro in “The Emotionally Healthy Church” refers several times to this novel as a key to understanding his own journey toward greater emotional and spiritual health.  So, upon finishing that book, it just made sense to read this one immediately afterwards.  It was like reading a vivid example of a trigger for, the process of, and the “wholeness” end-product of powerfully transforming inner healing type counseling/mentoring…in story form.

Besides these books, I’ve been reading and re-reading the book of James, and in anticipation of Christmas, I have been reading and meditating on the original accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2.  I also started out this week reading through the book of John, looking out for the significance of the things Jesus claimed to be (i.e. “I am the Bread of Life”…”I am the Light of the World”…”I am the Gate…and the Good Shepherd”), which therefore also points to the significance of God’s gift to us in sending Baby Jesus to us as His ultimate gift to the world on that first Christmas Eve.

Finally, based on a conversation earlier today, I am looking into possibly studying the book of Revelation for 2016 — so I spent today reviewing its background information and outline from my NIV Study Bible.

And so there you have it, a glimpse into my life in the way of my reading history…

I anticipate a little (or a lot?) less reading in the season to come, which hopefully means a bit more writing (here!), and ideally a great deal more exercise to stay physically fit, flexible and strong for all that the rest of this year and the year ahead may bring!