From Books to Baby

In one week, this glorious respite called maternity leave will be complete, and I will return to work. I am grateful for the luxury of this break, and I'm also grateful to have an enjoyable place to return to upon its completion. For everything, there is a time and a season - and the Lord's lovingkindness overwhelms.

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One thing I didn't anticipate (but am certainly enjoying) about having an infant, is that I've still had a fair amount time to do the things I enjoy. It has made this maternity leave seem even more like a gift than I expected - and I am grateful.

Maybe it was extreme ignorance on my part, or maybe it's what our culture has encouraged me to believe - but I assumed once I had a baby there would be no time to do ANYTHING except change diapers, feed baby, and catch up on sleep every once in a while. I know every baby is different, and every family is different - but that just hasn't been the case for me. On an average day, there has still been time to take a shower, tidy the house, enjoy my quiet time, make some coffee, sit and be still. I'm aware that this could change at any moment, and that not every new mother has this same experience... so all I can say is, I'm grateful to God for His mercies, and I'm aware of the responsibility I have to steward well the time I've been given. It's a balance that requires prayer - and such prayers came along with me into 2016.

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Although the focus of my days has certainly shifted lately, I've still had (and always will have) books and writing on my mind. My goal in 2015 was to read 75 books by the end of the year. Then, I found out I was having a baby... so the priorities obviously got shifted a bit :) Even so, I managed to finish the year having read 59 books - and the process of striving was such a joy that I'm setting a new goal in 2016, to read a minimum of 3 books a month. At times it will be a challenge, but I believe it to be a fitting one.

Having my 75-book goal for 2015 helped me choose "better" books. It helped me stay off my phone and away from the TV, and it improved my mind in innumerable ways. It also gave me excuses to go to coffeeshops and sit quietly, returning home smelling like dark roast. Obviously, the setting and quantity of time will be amended this year to accommodate our new family of three. However. The underlying value for me has not changed, and I'm asking God to help me remain disciplined about this in 2016.

I'm also still writing, and have a few projects already lined up for the year... but that's perhaps another topic for another blog.

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For those readers who might care about such things, my top 10 books in 2015 were (in no particular order):

- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More - Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist by Karen Swallow Prior
- Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper
- Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
- Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul To Rest by Bonnie Gray
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Rending the Curtain by Tammy Priest
- The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart
- They Found the Secret: Twenty Lives That Reveal a Touch of Eternity by V. Raymond Edman
- The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Some fiction, some non-fiction - some written by Christ-followers, some not. I loved them all, and I grew from them all. This is what I personally love about reading... it broadens, deepens, and clarifies so many things for me. I look forward to all the books I'll get to read this year, as I strive to reach my new goal.

Other goals I'm setting for 2016 include...

1. Memorizing a verse or passage from Scripture each week.
2. Losing some of that infamous baby-weight. (I've got a strategy and deadline.)
3. Working through a 365-day devotional/prayer book with my husband and another couple.

I'll need God's help, strength, and heart to complete each goal... in fact, I will fail to meet any of those goals, without Him. I'm excited about this year, and both the challenges and victories our family will experience.

But for today... there is a maternity leave that begs to be finished well. So, for the next six days before returning to work, my prayer is simply that I would be present. Present to my husband and my daughter, present in my Bible study and in my housework. Present in my reading, writing, walking, coloring, eating, cuddling, planning, late-night feedings, and dish-washing. That God would teach me in the small things how to be faithful and consistent, making me ready for the grand year this is certain to be.

For everything there is a time... and once again, for that truth, I am grateful.