reading.

i mentioned before that with grad school, sometimes it's difficult to get "extra" reading in. this semester is a little lighter for me, so i'm challenging myself to pick up a couple of new books and get some things checked off of my never-ending list.

we live in a small apartment right now and have been forced to box up some of our books. we have a lot of books that we've collected throughout the years. to be honest, i inherited several bookshelves-worth when Sam and I got married. i also have some books that i've bought, hoping to crack open the cover sooner than later. a couple of weeks ago, we decided to unpack some of those boxes and see what we wanted to keep and what we needed to part with. i choose several and put them off  to the side by created a section of our shelves of "to read".

the first of that shelf was "Scared Rhythms: Arranging our lives for Spiritual Transformation" by Ruth Haley Barton. this specific book focuses on the spiritual disciplines and the practice of weaving them into your every day life. we have a lot of change happening right now, so i thought that this would be a good place to start. i'm finding that i have this deep longing for something more in my spiritual life. almost as if i'm missing something. i found this quote that really spoke to where i am right now...

"The more authentic our desires, the more they touch upon out identities and also upon the reality of God at the heart of our being. Our most authentic desires spring ultimately from the deep inner wells where the longing for God runs freely." 

that speaks to me in such a strong way right now. i have always pictured my inner self as a deep well and at the bottom of the well, is a place where i'm longing for more of what God has for me. to live a life in freedom, with peace in doing what God wants for me.