Waymaker

Today I worked on setting up my teacher desk and making the room more my own, so most of my stuff is pretty much put away. I am amazed at how little I brought after 19 years of teaching, but I guess that's why I sold it, purged it, or gave it away. I really and truly only brought the essentials or the things that I just couldn't think of teaching again without.

I spent the rest of the day working on my computer researching curriculums and leadership programs, while also figuring out how to wire funds from one bank to another. Moving sure is confusing and complicated! I suppose I'd rather deal with all the complexities of managing different accounts than with the zero funds I moved to Texas with 19 years ago. God has been good to us.

Before I forget, I wanted to take some time to leave my thoughts on this amazing book that I finished reading a few days ago.

To be honest, I'm not really sure the subtitle really matches or captures the heart of the book. It reverts the focus back on self and our own dreams, when that's not what the book really says. When I read it, I could feel the author's raw honesty and vulnerability, starting from her first date with her husband as a young teen, to her wedding night, to the birth of her six biological children, to the moment she so awkwardly and surprisingly felt God tug on her heart to adopt a very specific child she didn't even know, to the physical, emotional, and mental demands that that call took on her life, to the intense spiritual warfare she and her family faced for following God's call in obedience, no matter the cost, to her absolute humility and transparency about finding her way back. No matter the mountain in front of them and the impossibility of the task ahead, God continued to make a way, though it wasn't without a sacrificial cost to the entire family. 

I so appreciate Ann's transparency. Through other books and studies, she inspired me to count my gifts daily, to a thousand and beyond, to live a life of gratitude even in the face of extreme difficulty and heartache. But now I get her urgency to do so and to lead others to do the same. Her life's been hard and excruciatingly painful. Gratitude is a conscious choice she makes every day. And her gratitude has ushered in so many miraculous blessings over the years, things she can't explain other than to give all the credit to the Waymaker. 

I had no idea how much I would relate to her stories in this book. I am so thankful God led me to buy it on my last full day in Texas (also because I ran in to one of my closest friends in the bookstore that day that I didn't think I was going to be able to see that one last time before leaving). See? There he was, making a way for that meeting when my own schedule couldn't fit it in. 

If you haven't read the book, go get it now. Read it slowly and chew on every chapter. It might just change your life and remind you of how God works together every tiny detail of our lives in an incredibly intimate way. 

Shalom awaits you.