Why (and what) I read

The other morning while still on my first cup of coffee, I learned something about myself as I started to cry.  I've always been a reader and I've never pinned down a specific style or genre I gravitate towards.  I really appreciate humor, but at the same time I crave depth.  I read based on my moods most of the time, which is why I'm typically part way through 5 or 6 books at a time.

So last Friday at around 6 am, I was reading a book called Steadfast Love by Lauren Chandler and that's when I emotionally spilled over.  Throughout the book she's built upon this theme of God being our rock, our anchor, our immovable fortress,  His love ever steadfast even when life chains us up or leads us into the dessert.  Or when we are waylaid by our own folly or the folly of someone else.  Incidentally I love the word folly because it sounds like a nice way of saying I had a bad case of Idiot-itis.  My early 20s were marked by "folly" rather than wanton rebellion, stupidity, and sin.  

The book as a whole has been very instructive, full of teaching and calls to reflect on where we are in our own journey.  I like this kind of writing. It has a teaching element to it, which causes self-examination and growth.

So when I was reading and the book shifted from teaching to recounting her own trial, the tears started falling as I got to the part I'd been waiting for, the part titled "Our Story".  Something about hearing about the storms of someone's life, hitting headfirst into the immovable love and grace of God just ripped me up in a good way.  Then I realized, this is where it's at.  This is where it's always been at.

Story.

Memoire.  That's the fancy French literary word to describe a style of story that tells of the writer's own life or experience and I get 100% sucked in when I get to peek into the deep wells of other peoples' experience that let the light of Christ shine into the devastation, trepidation, fear, anger, anxiety, betrayal, heartbreak, joy, and mostly, redemption and deliverance.

 

These stories give me hope. They give me a sense of not being so alone in this world.  They remind me that although mostly we look like all the Shiny Happy People, that's a big preposterous illusion.  

 

God came to step into our shattered lives and unearth what is holding us captive, breaking us down, and causing us to be miserable.

When I get to read how he did that in someone else's life, it brightens my outlook and reminds me that he's not done with any of us that still have the privilege of breath in our lungs.

What about you? Favorite memoire?  Maybe write one yourself someday?  You never know how your seemingly mundane or insignificant story will reach into the depths of someone else's heart and pull them out of despair with the olive branch of hope that your narrative of your life can offer.

That's one of the biggest reasons I write.  I want other women to feel not alone.  Alone is a horrible place to be and feel. It's the trap of isolation that snuffs out hope.  

So I'll keep sharing, and I'll keep reading because these glimpses of hope being brought to light all around us are just too good to pass up, and they always point me back to where I need to be.  Up.  Into the face of the God who knows how this all ends up.

 

Here are a few others I'm reading right now:

Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker.

GET IT.

It's full of reminders about what it really means to follow Jesus. It's not about mega-churches and self-aggrandizing and having some awesome religious experience, rather it's about experiencing and then extending the love of Jesus to people in a tangible way.  Pretty simple, but wow, how much we have managed to complicate it.

Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd

A devastating, eye-opening memoire about one woman's time being trafficked and then her time spent helping those who are currently trapped in that life.  It is blowing my mind the level of brokenness that these girls face.  They are marginalized by people who should protect them, sometimes by virtue of the family they are born into.  It's unacceptable. In a world where we have as much affluence as we do, we have the resources and the connections to get these girls free.  If you need a nudge toward wanting to see justice served, I highly recommend this book. Side note: It's not a Christian book, so if you typically don't like to read Christian books, please don't shy away from this one.  It's one that everyone should read.

Love Skip Jump by Shelene Bryan

I actually haven't started this one yet.  I'm planning to start this one within a week. I heard Shelene on a podcast and she is such a straight shooter.  She's a mom who engaged her faith in a way that sometimes made her kids miss out on some of the comforts that many would think children are entitled to (but last time I checked the inter webs it seems that we are all complaining about kids having entitlement issues), and she is calling us to do the same for the sake of all the people in the world who need a tangible demonstration of our love for them (like actual money, food, school, support, etc.).  I think this is also written in memoire style, so I'm excited to read it!

Finally, I am loving this HILARIOUS book called Women are Scary by Melanie Dale. I'm reading it on my kindle and it's perfect for that end of the day time when my brain is tired and I want to laugh.  It's packed with funny truth about making mom friends amidst an onslaught of naughty kids, exclusionary women, different personalities, dirty cars, and all other types of "momlationship" hurdles.  It's littered with true crazy stories and makes me laugh out loud nearly every page. Find out if you and your friends are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th base friends!

 

What about you? What are you reading?

Comments

[Krista]

I suck at reading lately. I'm always so tired that anything more than fluff is totally unappealing when I have time.
That said, I'm reading Until Then, which is a pre-release. And on my nightstand is Better Together, which is supposed to be about women doing life together. I don't know if I'll find a friend by reading a book, but I've been desperate for a good friend lately and I'm sure this book will just kind of tell me what I already know is true.
I think I have a copy of Interrupted somewhere. I need to find it. ;) I have way to many TBR books.

[Kristi Ahrens]

Krista, so understandable. You have FOUR kids don't forget! At this point my reading pace has slowed way down from what it once was. I have to intentionally leave my house a wreck, or leave laundry unfolded to carve out even 20 minutes. We are both just knee-deep in parenting and home life, right??
Also I know I could read more if I could get my butt off of social media on the regular. I have good days and weeks where I don't do too much scrolling, commenting, etc, and then I have weeks where I'm so sucked in, and I know my book reading minutes go way down during those times.
The book Better Together sounds good, I love books about women friendship. There are lots of tough things in friendship and I think the older I get the more I realize that friendship is hard to sustain with any level of transparency, because we eventually will rub up against each others' very irritating quirks or sin issues, and then we have to choose if we'll have the hard conversations (which I'm HORRIBLE at, hello non-confrontational, avoider Kristi), or just sort of slowly fade out.
And of course the issue of time! It's hard enough to parent well and maintain a marriage right now, so developing deep friendships is just difficult to get on the calendar. I try but I know I probably let people down with my inconsistency and lack of returned phone calls.
hang in there! Someday we will have much more time to pour into friendships:)

But yes, do try to read Interrupted. It's so good!