Which Life to Lead?

Here it is the middle of the night and as usual I am awake. Is it a thing with bloggers? Is it part of my aging process that sleep will be forever robbed from me? I mean it makes one very very tired. Last night I was so exhausted that I crashed at 8 pm. My goodness. But did that help? Nope! Woke up around 10 pm. Yes 2 hours of sleep. Well I tried again. Woke at midnight. Ever so persistent I tried a third time. Woke at 2 am. Yes 2 hours of sleep seems to be my allowance. Well the last time I tired to sleep I woke at 3 am. Okay this is now dropping to only an hour of sleep. I give up dab nab it. I imagine from it all I managed 6 hours of sleep. But that would be better if it was uninterrupted.  I guess I am ready for the day to begin.

So what does one do in the middle of the night? Well of course we go online. What did we do before the Internet? All night coffee shops have closed down in droves over the years I have noticed. I also do dishes, wash clothes and sweep floors. And I read. A LOT! So what is on my book stack right now? Well let's dig on in and see. I recently finished a young adult book of "It's A Wonderful Life" by Jesse Goossens. This was a great look at life from an outside looking in perspective. Many of the young adult books appeal to me because they renew that youth that still lives deep inside of me soul. I think we are all sorta like that. In this one Anna gets to experience life if a different setting from her home. Across an ocean and from her European life to a rural American town. Never did she guess that in this new setting she would experience more and relate so well with the community as she did. It just goes to show you that when you get involved your heart and soul open up ever more. This is what let's the goodness of life fill you.

Another that I have finished is "The Rancher" by Dawn Nelson.  Now here is a lady I would love to be like.  She has battled adversity and found her voice in her writing.  This is book three in a series where Dawn Nelson shows us how to love through adversity.  I so enjoyed her character Laura for her inner strength to stop the odds of becoming bitter at circumstance.  And reached out (tentatively) to find she had a whole new life waiting on her.  It is rare that we really do change our lives in big swell swoops...instead it is those lil moments of questioning ourselves that these major life changes come into being.  Dawn has managed to share her inner strength of fighting for her own life and placed it on paper.  She shows Laura and Kyle that if it is real love then it is worth fighting for, no matter what is thrown at you.

Oh and you want to meet Jo Lynn Crozier, or at least I do!  I really hope it becomes possible since we are really just down the highway from each other.  Okay 100 miles down but still that is just a couple of hours away and a glass of ice tea would be great to share with her.  Why?  Well she took me on an eye opening experience with "The Road Trip".  Here I hoped on board with her for a road trip driven by God.  With wit and whimsy eye opening experiences were pages away.  Learning that we are to live this life in a realistic way.  That we all fall into the ruts of the road but can step up and find a smoother gait when we choose to live a life that has purpose.  And that there is always a time where we can make a pit stop to listen to what God has to share with us.  I have to say it would be great to take time to take a real road trip while opening up my eyes and heart to all God has to share with me.  Sure does get me out of the dumps when I do that just here in my own living room.

The last on this stack was an epic novel, "Dakota" by Brenda K. Marshall.  Now I have to say do not take this one at ease.  For it is a book packed with history.  This is a sweeping epic that takes a trip...one that you will fulfill as you read.  When I end up in a book that has me transformed to another time and place, I hate to reemerge into my actual life.  No one is not better than the other but instead the feeling of living a whole new life is exciting.  And in Dakota I did just that.  So make sure you have time to dive into this one for it will not let you go easily.  Brenda has a great voice that shares the history of the Dakota Territory in the late nineteenth century.  There she also let's us in on the life of Frances Houghton Bingham who share her transformation as she too explores life in bold strokes.

Wow, no wonder I don't sleep.  I read.  And there is where I go to rest, renew and rejoice in a life.  All while my home is quite in slumber.  Would be great to actually sleep.  But this is a good substitute too.  At least in my books I get to explore new worlds.  Fill myself with wonder of the world.  And all from the safety of my bed, curled up safe and sound.  Not bad at all if you ask me.