I love libraries, bookstores, books and reading. I always have, and I believe I always will. Something about books - the words they contain and the places they live - is wordless poetry to my soul and gives me a sense of peace and comfort. When I took Ms. Spontaneity in to register for the summer reading program at our local library, I was delighted to find out they offer a summer challenge for adults as well. The goal is to read twelve books that match a selection of fun requirements in order to be entered for the grand prize drawing. Unfortunately, I know my schedule won't allow me anything close to twelve books over the course of the summer, but I think this is such a fun idea that I plan to work down the list until I've checked every box, grand prize or not. The first book I chose to read as part of this challenge was The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg. The main character is recently widowed Betta Nolan, who is struggling to start a new life as she processes her grief. After making the bold decision to start life anew by moving across the country, Betta begins the hard work of looking to the future. Along the way, she befriends unique and often unlikely individuals who aid in the mending of her broken heart. The book takes a raw look at how we process pain in our most difficult life moments, and touches on the themes of authentic friendship and taking time to savor life's simple pleasures. The idea of really thinking about, anticipating, and truly experiencing the little pleasures of life has really stuck with me since reading this book. I've found myself delighting in the feeling of sinking into bed after a long day, lingering over my morning coffee, and sitting in a cool shade with the caress of a gentle breeze against my skin and the beauty of sunshine dancing across the field beyond me, and in such places I find peace and joy and my heart is so full of gratitude. I share those moments with my heavenly Father as I softly breathe a sigh of contentment and thanksgiving, and I sense His presence with me, making the moment absolutely perfect. I have made it a point to keep my eyes open for such opportunities, instead of simply walking past them with blinders on, and the change in my own attitude since practicing this has been nothing short of miraculous. I will offer a warning that this book contains some strong language and sexuality, however I often find that God speaks to me just as powerfully through these "secular" books. This one was no exception, as I thought back to the most difficult times of my own life and remembered once again His faithfulness and grace to me in those seasons. On an unrelated yet harmonious note, I absolutely love functional checklists and pretty printables (although I'm sure you guessed that already!) and I have always wanted to learn how to make my own. Through my employer, I am blessed to have unlimited access to some very powerful design tools, so I decided to take a free online course through tastytuts.com to learn how to use them. Now, I will be the first to tell you that I wasn't gifted much in the way of artistic ability - I can never grasp very much of design theory and it doesn't seem to matter how many times I'm taught the color wheel I still can't figure out anything beyond primary - but I figure one way to get better is to practice. That's why I created my very own summer reading challenge worksheet and I'm sharing it here! It's by no means perfect, but I'm honestly quite pleased with my very first effort! If you'd like to use this printable too, you can download it through the link at the end of the post. And since I'm eager to learn, please feel free to leave {helpful - not mean!} comments with suggestions or ideas for improvement as well.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
About Me"Planned Spontaneity" is an expression I came up with to describe my unique personality: I love schedules, organization, and all things planning ...yet there are times when I make a conscious decision to just go with the flow and see what happens. This is the documentation of my crazy journey - which may feature a 6-page agenda one minute, and the next I drop everything to give my walls a fresh new coat of paint. Archives
December 2016
Categories |