What Book Would You Add to My Must Read List?

Welcome back!

I’m an avid reader, or at least I used to be, but I admit since having children I haven’t read quite as much.  I want to though and therefore I need some “reading material”, so as usual I am polling others and asking what they’d recommend to read.  This weekend I posed the question on Twitter and got some great answers including:

Crush It!

The 4-Hour Workweek

Feminine Appeal

I asked for books that fit the category of Biblical, spiritual growth or small business.  Those are the topics I am most interested in.  I even created an Amazon Wish List.  So, what would you add to the list?

This is the first in a series of posts on books I have read or want to read. Check back tomorrow for books I’m currently reading.

**The links in this post are affiliated with Amazon.  I will receive a small commission if you purchase something via these links.

Good Friends = Good Life

When I was younger, my momma always told me “enjoy your friends now because when you get older they disappear.” I believed her, for a long time.  My mom and dad weren’t the type of people when we were growing up to have friends over, have get togethers or anything.  Sure, we had family over all the time, but my mom and dad’s friends, not so much.

When I graduated high school, it hit me, I am going to lose all my friends.  That hit hard and it hurt.  I had this fear that it would come true.  Sure, I haven’t seen most of the people I graduated with since graduation or a random run in at the local Walmart, and my best friend from high school and I rarely talk, but when we do it feels just like old times.  Even still, my best friend from elementary and junior high, who moved away, and I still talk regularly.  Though we rarely see each other. I was in her wedding in 2005 and she came to see me after both baby #1 and #2 were born.  #1 the night he was born carrying flowers, because she’s just that type of gal.

When I married the summer after my freshman year of college, I had this tiny hope inside that I’d make new friends in my new town.  That didn’t exactly happen over night.  But slowly, it has happened and now, I’m surrounded with a great big circle of friends.  I call them “my girls” and they are so special.  Each one hand picked by God to be a friend to me.  What makes them even more special is many of them have children my children’s age and they too are friends.  We have get togethers with the kids, we go to church together and our children attend school together.  We do A LOT together and that’s why good friends = my good life.

The photo is from our 2nd Annual Weenie Roast held a couple weekends ago.

This Was Vacation?

We just returned from our first family vacation with 3 children under the age of 6.  I enjoyed their faces as they explored a new place, went swimming in a big pool for the first time, and just enjoyed each other.  However, there were parts of vacationing with three little ones that was can we say “stressful?”

I learned a few things about myself on the trip, maybe I knew them already, but either way I was reminded:

1. I am paranoid when it comes to my children. A big place with a lot of cars, lots of people = a scary place to try to keep up with three little ones.
2. I am a small town girl. I enjoyed visiting the big city, but it escalated my anxiety levels, which are usually high anyway and made me nervous most of the time.
3. I am a homebody. I never really considered myself this before, but after being away for 3.5 days I was dying to be back home.

We had a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong, but it only made me want to protect my children more.  We went to a few attractions in Chattanooga, one of which being a children’ s museum.  I couldn’t believe in this very crowded place how moms could sit back and just chatter away while their kids just ran around.  They had no iota of where their children were or if they were ok or not.  I realize that some of them may live there and had been to the museum a dozen or more times, however there were many tourists around and the whole concept just made me nervous.  I am thankful I live in a small town and when we go out in public it isn’t crowded.

My husband and I even discussed on the way home how different it would be living in a place where everything was at your fingertips, restaurants, stores, etc.  We are thankful we live in a place where we have to venture out a bit, plan a bit and think about when we’re going to go out to eat or to the store.  I believe it makes us thankful and more conscientious of what we buy and what we spend our money on.

I am thankful that this vacation was more than that, it was a lesson in life.  I learned so much about myself.  Thank you Lord for it and for my family.  They are priceless.

Unsettled

Why do I feel unsettled even though I know I am doing all that I can.  I have three children, all under the age of 5.  I work from home, a difficult feat in itself, but especially with 3 children under the age of 5.  There is hardly a day that I’m out in public that goes by that I don’t get the question, “How do you do it all?” or am told the phrase, “You’ve got your hands full.” Still for some reason I expect more out of myself than others do of me.

Blame it on my perfectionist tendencies or being raised by a very authoritative dad who demanded our best.  I’m not sure why, but I often feel unsettled when I am not performing what I consider up to par, when something slacks. And when you have three children and you’re trying to run a ministry and a business from home, stay involved in church, keep up with your friends, be a good spouse, cook a homemade dinner nightly, well obviously, something is GOING to slack.

So, I have to sit here and admit where I am performing, where I am doing the right things.

First,l I do my quiet time daily.  It has become a habit, get up, grab something to drink, sit down, grab Bible, pen, journal and devotional book (if reading one) and go to God.  It is something I cannot live without.

Second, I have already in week three of 2009 accomplished my goal of having 5 blog management clients for my writing biz.  This is something that has helped me tremendously.  Being focused on JUST those clients, nothing more, nothing less, if extra work comes, I take it, but I’m not actively pursuing it. I’m trying to be satisfied with what I have.

Third, This year I am focusing on my ministry.  I stepped out on faith to pursue it 100% in 2007 but have had a hard time being able to focus on it for financial reasons. For months God has been calling me to take a second step of faith, by making it my focus instead of working only for the money and worrying about money constantly.  So doing so this year is an accomplishment.  At least for the first 3 weeks of 2009 I have been focused on ministry.  Let’s hope I can continue it.

So, maybe it isn’t so bad that my house is a mess, that I feel unsettled.  Let’s blame it on the time of the time of the month. Enough said?

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