What I’m Reading – February Recap

February was a great month for me to catch up on my reading!  I’m not sure how I managed to squeeze in all these books, but I did several as audio books, while I packed, unpacked, cooked, etc – so I’m guessing that helped!

I’m still tracking this year’s list here  on Pinterest.  Recently I read somewhere that it’s a good idea to keep a list of what you’ve read in your journal.  Thinking about doing this and wondering how y’all are tracking your books?

February included a pretty wide range of reading, although it kicked off a WWII theme of sorts, which has carried into March.  Not gonna lie – that has been a bit heavy – and maybe not the best theme for my current season.  Seems like some of my fears have been stirred up.  The blessing in that, of course, is that it has caused me to draw closer to the Lord, looking for the peace, comfort and assurance that only He can bring.

---

The Green Ember is a book I bought for my nephew for Christmas.  He has been reading a chapter a night, with his mom, and I’m not sure if they’ve made it all the way through yet!  Once I started, this book was hard to put down.  Highly recommended for your tweens – and there is a second book in the series.

You’ll find there are many “teachable” moments throughout the book – and not just for the kiddos, if you get what I’m saying!

 

---

I’m a fan of Dr. Cloud – especially his books on Boundaries. In my new role in a discipleship ministry – I thought this book might have some useful thoughts.  It did!

Although I purchased this for my Kindle, I found it on Hoopla as an audio – so I listened.  Truthfully, I probably missed a lot.  This is a book you should probably read with highlighter and pen in hand – so you can jot down notes for future reference, at least if you are a visual learner like me!

 

 

---

This book falls into the category of “started before 2017”.  Barb Raveling writes about eating issues from a Christian perspective.  As a person who picked up the habit of “stress eating” over the years, her work was helpful in thinking through all the various reasons one might feel entitled to eat.  There was much good insight to be gained.

Her website is also loaded with helpful information if you struggle to break habits, have eating issues, etc.  Probably most impactful for me has been her focus on how to renew your mind (Romans 12:2 style).

What I’m Reading

As I’ve posted before, I set a reading goal each year.  Here it is, the end of January, and I’m behind for this year’s goal to read 75 books!  I’ve knocked out a couple, but with travel to the states, jet lag and everything else going on, I’m behind with my reading!

Pinterest has been a great place to track the books I’ve read.  You can see this year’s list here.  Pinterest is also a great place to look for book ideas, but that’s not my only go-to place.

This year I’m using two different reading challenges to guide my reading.  The way it works is that the challenge suggests types or genres of books to read, and generally it stretches you out of your normal “go to” reading.  There’s still plenty of room for that though!  Tim Challies has a progressive challenge, that you can look at here.  His challenge is geared toward Christians and Christian growth.

Why I Still Set Annual Goals

Some people say it’s a pointless activity, this annual goal-setting.

The reasoning is that people often set the same goals – and still don’t achieve them from year to year.

But, as a boss told me once early on in my career, it’s better to aim high and miss.

So, full disclosure – there are “returning goals” on my 2017 list.  But you know what – even though I didn’t get the results on all my goals that I wanted last year, I DID work on those goals. And they still matter, so they make the transfer.  And, I did accomplish and even exceed some of my goals.  So that’s exciting!

I mean – it’s kind of like a to-do list, right?  Sometimes there are things on your to-do list that eventually drop off, because they no longer are relevant.  But most of the time, they stay on until we are able to cross them off.  (or digitally check, or whatever method strikes your fancy.)  Russell Moore did a great little podcast talking about resolutions the other day, which you can access here.

My goals are the “big rocks” of my life (for those of you who remember the Stephen Covey analogy… and if you don’t know it – it’s worth a google search).  These are areas that matter to me for my personal growth.

So, I’m still setting goals because I get things done that I wouldn’t without the goals.  For example, in 2015 I set a goal to read 15 books.  That seemed like a big jump from the 6-7 I’d been reading.  Guess what?  I read 32!  So in 2016, I decided to stretch myself and go for a CRAZY goal of reading 40 books.  And… drum roll, please… I read 66!!  Yep.  You read that right.  Some of those were audio books, and some were fiction – but I read a lot of books I wouldn’t have otherwise.  If you want to see what I read, check out my Pinterest boards for 2015 and 2016.  My goal for 2017 is 75 books, which again feels crazy – but we’ll see what happens.  I’ll be tracking my 2017 reads here.

Need Some Tools?

Last year, I invested in a class by Arabah Joy called Grace Goals.  I found it to be a helpful tool in thinking through the goals that I wanted to accomplish. And, as a Christian, it included the spiritual component that I was looking for also.

A few other resources I’ve found helpful in goal setting include Tim Challies’ book, Do More Better, which is on sale on Amazon (Kindle version) right now.  Also, Michael Hyatt has a wealth of information on his website, his podcasts and his books.

So this year… my goals include people, health, spiritual life, reading and a few more.  How about you?