He leadeth me to water
I've been an avid reader since I was young, shocker. Not really, haha. It wasn't that I'd read for pleasure; it was that reading was my pleasure. My go-tos were any book in the Goosebumps series and an occasional Baby-sitters Club book, but I'd read anything I could get my hands on really: my mom's Martha Stewart's Everyday Living Magazines, elementary study guides, and any novel my little brain could wrap around.
Nowadays, I love to read Christain literature, something with a juicy plot, poetry, or books that really help me examine my inner healing and discovery journey. This new joy of reading Biblically sound books came when I fervently asked and prayed for the good Lord to show me my blindspots regarding relationships, parenting, acceptance of people, and my personal comeback from significant life losses. Please believe me when I say these areas of literature were of no interest to me before I truly gave my life and my mind to the Lord.
I know this: the more you focus on God and His ways, not your own, the more He will reveal to you. But sometimes not in the way you expect.
For instance, let's say you ask God for a table because you desperately need a table. Sometimes, He'll send a tree, the tools, and... a book telling you how to do. It will be messy, you might not get it exactly right, and it might end up not looking like the table you had in mind, but no doubt the Lord will provide a table in front of your enemies, as a matter of fact.
So, ever since I let God in my "getting over" of things like my divorce, loss of my mother, choosing the same destructive path with people, and parenting issues, life began to make more sense. A sister in faith and I just had a conversation the other day about how everything seems to fall in place when your spiritual eyes are open to your past (and all the time, really). When you have that prayer to be shown things, expect the Lord to be abundant. He opened my eyes to so much truth. Some things I needed to repent of, there were areas in life I needed to speak over, some things I needed to stand up against, and other problems from my past that I just couldn't understand why I couldn't get over them.
Maybe you have the same need to know, "Why does this keep happening to me?", "Why can't I get over this transition period?", "Why is it that I take two steps forward and three steps back?" then I encourage you to pray that prayer also. Ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes to what He needs to get more involved in your life, and I promise He will provide.
And God will speak your language. He will talk to you in a particular way that is so you. Hence, God set my heart on fire for more of His knowledge through books and literature. God revealed to me that I have to break the cycle of being attracted to narcissism in my life which went along with my need to perform for people, my need to please people, and my co-dependent nature that has, up until now, pretty much dictated my life.
God has been preparing me my entire life to seek Him through books and His Word, even though I wasn't even aware. So, I wanted to share the books that I completed and started when I was on my lake vacation:
1) Trapped in the Mirror by Elan Golomb: Wow! What a fantastic read. This is only the 2nd book I've read about the complexities of narcissism and how your childhood paved the way for co-dependents to constantly seek something and/or someone that won't fulfill that parental acceptance that everyone wants. I've struggled with this issue for an incredibly long time but giving it a face and name and understanding the birthplace of that is helping me sort through and become a better person. Praise Jesus for showing me knowledge. Now it's more about preventative actions instead of reactive ones. Sunscreen > Aloe idea.
2) Burning Bright: I was so excited about this collection of short stories by Ron Nash. One of my favorite genres is Southern Literature, which was also one of my favorite courses I experienced at East Carolina University. Ron has a way of honestly injecting the South into every page. I could practically hear the cicadas, feel the sweltering heat, and hear the accents of my neighbors in the text. Plus, it's an easy read to open next to a body of water. I finished this in a day.
3)The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People: This is an excellent translation of the Bible for those wanting to understand chronological events. I just started this, and it's so eye-opening, refreshing, and a fresh perspective for someone who is always hungry for more of God's Word. I thank Jesus I stumbled upon this find.
So I'm trying to say it is nothing short of God that these books and resources have crossed my path at this particular time in my life. Beside the lake, I imagine God's Spirit hovering over the water. How glorious it must have been. Summer is always the perfect time for diving deep into a book, so please let me know some of your favorite summer reads and recommendations.
K Bye
Megan
Doing life… the best I know how.