Remember this photo?

Such a lot of books.

These books don’t occupy my mantle (solely for photo purposes) any longer

nor do the ones which were

next to my bed or on side tables.

They have found a temporary home in my basement office.

A fleeting time of books being shelved  until the calendar reveals 2013.

There is no denying I adore books.

I felt a nudge over 2 weeks ago to go cold turkey.

I can’t really explain it adequately.

All I knew was that  good books have  kept me up until

the wee hours of the night.

I wasn’t sure I could say the same about the best book.

There have been occasions but not nearly as often as I would like.

I decided to remain fixed as I end 2012.

Some words from my last post of 2011:

I don’t need to look to the left or right,

I need to remain fixed.

I want my line of sight to be set on Him,

the One that holds the beginning in one hand

and the end in the other.

He calls me  to pitch my tent in the expanse  of those hands.

I counted the days left in this year.

77 days of not looking to the left or right or grabbing

hold of a multitude of others people’s words.

I want to remain fixed to His words.

I want to be found in the expanse of His pages.

Especially as my feet tread towards  the coming season.

Although I haven’t been reading a lot over the past couple

of months, those first few days were a challenge.

It seemed like the blogs I visit decided to write about their favorite

books or what they are currently reading.

How dare they?! 🙂

But last night as I finished reading while Carl watched the last of

the news,  I heaved the sigh of feeling satisfied by Him only.

I felt energy and urgency to keep reading.

I felt a fresh expectancy of  how God might  surprise me tomorrow.

One fun perk is that I am covering a week of readings in a day or two.

But it’s not all about productivity.

Some days I just linger and revel in what He has chosen to  show me

because I have removed competition.

This morning I spent some time journaling about what I read the 

previous day in Luke 9.

A bucket load of things happens in that chapter,.

The disciples are commissioned and

receive power and authority  to heal and cast out demons,

they spread the gospel,

they heal,

Jesus is transfigured before Peter,James and John,

Jesus casts out a demon that the other 9 disciples are stymied by,

Peter even declares that Jesus is  Christ the Messiah,

and 5000 people are fed with a measly little lunch.

There is much  marveling at Jesus

and then guess what?

The disciples start arguing about who among them is the greatest.

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Things that make me wonder about how often I witness God’s power,

marvel and then somehow spin it towards my direction.

Hmmmm.

There are times when it is necessary to lay down good things for

what is best.

It could be piles of books.

Perhaps you can’t make out the date on your calendar because

each box is filled beyond capacity.

Is there a blank day to be found?

Maybe it is too much television.

Too many status updates and time in front of a screen

consuming precious  moments?

What about the noise in your life?

Do you ever experience extended silence so you can simply hear?

What is keeping you from the best?