February Update

There are a few topics swirling around in this head of mine, but none have had time to gel.  So I thought I'd give a monthly update because it has already been almost a month since the last one.

What I'm Pondering: 
I'm reading through the Gospel of Luke right now, and I was struck by the transition in Chapter 4.  The chapter begins with Jesus being tempted in the desert. After the devil departs in verse 13, the heading before verse 14 says, "Jesus Begins His Ministry."  I think I've glossed over the fact that Jesus began His ministry after a time of testing and temptation.  It encourages me to take my struggles and find a way to minister to others so that my struggles can be used for His glory.

What I'm Listening To:
I'm still listening to Chris Tomlin's Burning Lights quite a bit, but I also downloaded All Sons & Daughters' new EP called The Longing.  I saw a recommendation for this album on Twitter, and I'm so glad that I checked them out.  The harmonies of this worship duo are absolutely beautiful.

I also downloaded the audio of Romans to help with memorizing Chapter 1.  I need all the help I can get as I'm struggling with this much more than I did when I memorized Psalm 91.

What I'm Reading:
I've been reading in every spare moment lately, and I've finished most of the books that I had started last year.  From those I've finished, I gleaned a lot about truth, love, and grace and the interplay between those concepts from Tim & Kathy Keller's The Real Meaning of Marriage; I learned more about being the hands and feet of Jesus from Brandon Hatmaker's book Barefoot Church; I whipped through the pages of Christine Caine's book Undaunted as she told of her upbringing and her heart's desire to rescue women from sex-trafficking; and I laughed uncontrollably through the bulk of Melanie Shankle's debut memoir Sparkly Green Earrings.

Currently, I'm slowly going through Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life by Elyse Fitzpatrick.  It's quite possible that I've never underlined this much before in a book.  Fitzpatrick writes about the Gospel for Believers, and I'm trying to soak up every word.  Everything she writes keeps pointing me back to my one-word resolution of "grace."

I told my mother earlier today that I wish I could just eat books.  I'm such a slow reader and there are so many books that I want to read that I'd love to digest one each meal!  That's probably a weird visual, but it fits.