Blessed by the Unexpected

A week or so ago, my friend said she needed to make room in her office and did I want some of the old Christian books that she wanted to give away. She asked me this not only because I love to read, but also because I belong to two book swap groups (www.bookmooch.com and www.frugalreader.com) and I can post them there when I'm done with them. My son had to run down to her house for a few minutes and I asked him to get the books for me - thinking there would be a few - at the most, maybe 10. H came in with two big boxes of books: not only spiritual reading but parenting stuff as well! Well - I can just tell you I'm in hog heaven just looking at all those books! Some I've already read and will be passing on, others I've been looking forward to reading and some I think I'll be able to donate to booksamaritan.com. They collect educational resources for homeschool families and just recently sent me some math curriculum, so I'll be glad if I can send them something back! I'll probably spend most of the day tomorrow sorting books, entering the ones I want to keep in Librarything.com; posting the ones I'm ready to pass along on one of the sites above, or packaging it for booksamaritan.com; and coming up with a reading list for the rest! I genuinely love books, and spend lots more time with books than the average person, but out of all the books I've read, I love the Bible the best. It's the ultimate re-read, because it seems like there is something new each time. It's got romance, drama, action/adventure, war, travel, culture, biography & autobiography, poetry, music, fiction, non-fiction and the supernatural. There's a writing style to please any reader in there, and a principle to apply to any situation of your life. It tells the best story of all - the story of how Christ has redeemed us and let's us in on a secret - when it's all said and done, God wins! Lord, I pray that while I read from other inspirational works or from secular writings that You will help me to measure everything I read against the Scriptures You have given us in Your Holy Bible. The stories that others write are reflections of what is already in the Bible, new takes on old themes, but pale in comparison. When my mind chooses to store a memory from a book, Lord, let it be a scriptural principle or example of Your love, so I might never forget that You are the source of all that is good. In Jesus name I pray ~