I am happy to be writing again, I haven't had access to my blog for awhile because my computer has decided to exhibit a few small (yet irritatingly redundant) technical issues. In any case, I had the time and the computer and lately there has been a lot on my mind...
Recently I have had a lot of free time and I decided to fill it with one of my loves in life: reading. I have read almost all the books on my bookshelf at least twice and I wanted something fresh. I settled on a series of books that I've read once or twice before but haven't read in probably about 2 years. It's called "The Glenbrook Series." It's made up of 8 books that are what I consider easy reads. They are Christian Romance books that follow the lives of residents in a small town (Glenbrook) in the Willamette Valley. (maybe I love the books because they are set in my Oregon home haha) Though I will be the first to admit that I am a sucker for a good love story, I often grow tired of the Christian Romance genre as a whole. Usually it is very cheesy, predictable, and you know the entire plot just from the summary on the back. What I love about this series is that (unless you've read them) you don't know who will end up with who right away, you don't know how they will get to where they are going, and the author (Robin Jones Gunn) throws in a few turns in the plot to keep the reader interested. The thing I love most about these books, though, is that the characters go through huge (not to mention applicable) spiritual journeys throughout each book. God is very prevalent in each book.
I am now on the third book in the series and as I read it last night I started thinking about how easy it is to get caught up in the "wishing for a happily ever after" mind set. I am not the kind of person to get all starry-eyed and dreamy just from reading a "chick flick book" or daydreaming about some future life. They say that the more you read something (whether it be the Bible, a novel, or whatever) the more you are able to get out of it. Like I said earlier I'm on my third time around reading these books and I found myself relating to the main character of the third book in ways I didn't think of the first 2 times I read it. The main point of her journey was that she was feeling abandoned by those in her life that were supposed to love her most (i.e. her fiance, her father, etc). Now I am not saying that was the part I related well with, because I don't. The part I found so intriguing and so applicable was a point brought up by one of the other characters in the book.
She said, "It seems that the thing we resent happening to us becomes the thing we end up doing to someone else unless we face the pain head on and stop the cycle of hurt." To which the main character replied "or until the hurt runs you over." The character who said the original statement goes on to talk about how the hurt doesn't have to run you over and then tells how she keeps this reminder. She keeps cards with verses on them around the house to keep her from being "run over." The verses speak of God's faithfulness to his children:
- Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
- Isaiah 43:1 "I have called you by your name, you are mine."
- Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
- Psalm 115:12 "The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us."
- Psalm 27:10 "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me."
This concept really stuck with me... If every time I started feeling overwhelmed by life (which, to be honest, has been quite often in recent weeks) I found a piece of God's word to cling to, how much better would I be able to get through it? Not by my own strength but by His. God loves me. He desires me. He wants me to lean on Him and love Him with everything I have. I can't do that if I am distracted by whatever is stressing me out at any given time.
I want my first instinct in a stressful situation to be to revert back to God and His promises to me.
