Room in My Brain

I am truly enjoying this time where I have room in my brain to read some of the books that have been gathering dust on my shelves for a very long time.  I will admit to a bit of a book fetish and an incredible "need" for books.  I have been trying not to purchase books and to use the library.  And to some degree I have succeeded.  But I still have shelves full of books waiting for me to read.  (And yet, I have been going to the library on a ridiculously regular basis recently.)  Enough rambling.  Time to get to the point.

This morning I began a book that has already completely grabbed me.  I've only read the first little bit (and 15 of those were the introduction), and already there are 4 green post-it notes (on 15 pages) telling me to keep these thoughts and go back to them.  The book is by Carolyn Arends and is called Wrestling with Angels - Adventures in Faith and Doubt.  I know that I am a bit of an addict to her music.  And I like her blog.  And now, I might become a bit of an addict to her writing.  Hmm.  Wonder if she's written any other books?

Here is some of what I loved this morning.

"I was coming up with a mass of contradictions.  Life is short - don't waste a minute of it.  Life is long - don't rush it.  Life is cruel - watch your back.  Life is beautiful - open your heart.  I kept looking for the cohesive overview, a way to organize each of my observations into a neat outline.  But if one exists, I didn't find it.  Life is messy.  Life is a mystery."    p. 36

"...Life is worth living because of the God who made it.  A God who - if we look for Him at all - will keep surprising us with His presence in the midst of the craziness we've made of this world."  p. 37

"...My life has so far consisted mostly of a serious of seemingly routine moments, completely unremarkable except for the fact that the God of the Universe chooses to encode Himself in even the most mundane aspects of our lives."  p. 40

And, now I think I need to go listen to some of her music.  And be inspired to see God at work in my life.

P.S.  The fourth post-it note reference is being saved for another day.