Amy Scott's Thoughts

I’ve become one of those people. Those people who read in bed before turning out the light. I love to read in bed and before Owen, you could find me in bed with a book on any given day, at any given time. Bed and books go together. But now I’ve become a before going to sleep bed reader. I usually have about an hour between putting Owen down and turning off the lights. I read for this hour while my hubby plays Words with Friends on his iPad. He also checks the weather and news. But I read. It’s become my most productive reading time.

I just finished Carry on Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton and I really enjoyed it. I love Glennon’s honesty. The whole book is essays about her life. It’s real and extremely refreshing to see someone put it all out there. The book really addresses that parenting is hard and I love that. She wrote an essay saying that just because parenting is hard doesn’t mean your doing it wrong. Thank you, Glennon, you made my day! She also said that she was going to start telling everyone the whole truth about herself just as her introduction. Her sister discouraged this and told her that she needs to use a filter. By a filter, do you mean lying she asked. In way, yes. I love that she sees using a filter as lying! That’s honestly how I feel! Now I don’t lie on here. I just don’t always include the whole story… which can feel a bit like lying. I know you can’t necessarily trust the whole world with every detail of your life and that filters are necessary, but I love that Glennon has chosen a life where she filters very little. I was relived to see I’m not alone. Her words of truth were freeing to me.

Because it’s a book of essays on parenting, marriage and honesty, I found there was a lot that I could relate to. I also laughed out loud a lot while reading this book. I’ve really needed a good laugh these days and this book provided many. While, I think Glennon and I might differ on a few matters of faith and doctrine (and swearing), I was inspired to see someone living their faith so wide and open, so free. I love that she can’t cook and that she finds hospitality stressful. She meets life’s challenges with a laugh and love. I think that I’m learning a lot about love right now. If I love well, isn’t that enough? If my life isn’t perfect, but I’m investing in and loving others, isn’t that what it’s really supposed to be about? Makes me think about where I spend my energy.

If this wasn’t a library book, there would be highlight marks all over it! I wanted to include a quote from the book in this post, but there are just too many to choose from. I highly recommend this book to any mama, especially those who are doing the hard work right now. Carry on warrior!

The Pioneer Woman jump started my desire to read again, so January must have been a fluke. Yay! Over the last month, I’ve hit the books again. It’s been a mix of using my Kindle app and hard copy books. When Owen was first born, hard copy books just seemed to complicated and eBooks came into my life and saved the day. Nowadays, it doesn’t really matter which format I use. If I’m buying a book for myself, I download it so that way I don’t have to wait for it to come in the mail. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been reading lately and what I hope to read soon.

Recent Reads:

• Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist – This was a reread from my bookshelf. Shauna’s essays about life and food are amazing, plus she includes some of her favorite recipes. I’m not as big of a foodie as Shauna, but it’s still comforting to know that someone else thinks about food as much as I do. I haven’t developed taste buds for fancy food yet. Maybe in my thirties I will… when I’m officially an adult…. maybe. Shauna writes about body image and doing life in community and motherhood. I love her writing style so revisiting her books is like catching up with a good friend.
• The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins – I am one of those Hunger Games fans. I really love the books and have started reading them about twice a year. They are a good story and I love getting lost in a different world for a while. They are also an easy and exciting read so it’s a nice brain break. My goal was to reread the series before Catching Fire (the movie) came out. I was successful in my goal. I finished Mockingjay the day the movie arrived.
• Growing Up Duggar By Jana, Jill, Jessa & Jinger Duggar – My fascination with the Duggar family is no secret. I in no way plan on having 19 kids, but I am very interested in how their large family operates. I love that they share their faith in everything they do. I will admit that I was a little disappointed with this book. I’ve read the two books by their mother, Michelle, and really liked them, but this book seemed to lack the same level of voice that Michelle’s books have. The girls shared their own personal stories but a lot of it came across as “This is what our parents have set-up and we agree with it and accept it.” Whereas, Michelle’s books have more depth because of the process involved with making these decisions for their family. The four oldest Duggar girls are exceptional people with a passion to make a difference in the world. I applaud them for writing a book and sharing their heart.
• Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute – I’m going to be honest and say I’m a little over leadership books these days. Especially ones that take place in a corporate setting. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’ve read so many in the last decade or so. Anyway, this book was handed to me on Tuesday as a staff read at work. The upside of this book is that the leadership principle is conveyed through a story. The story format helped it to be a quick read which I was grateful for. The concepts in this book are best explained by just suggesting you read the book, but let me try to break it down a bit. The whole premises is about if you are “in” or “out” of the box. When you are in the box, you see people as objects. There is a lot of blame and self-justification. You are thinking selfishly about your world and what is best for you. When you are outside of the box, you see others as people. You are selfless for the good of the whole group and you have a better self-perception all around. The concept in this book about seeing people as people and breaking the cycle of self-justification were good, but like I said, I’m having a harder time swallowing the corporate America pill these days. As I was reading this book, I thought to myself, I wonder what Jesus would think of this book. What points would he highlight? Would he recommend it? Hmm. Just wondering what his take on the book would be if we were in a book club together. Random, I know.

Next on the List:

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – I’ve had this novel recommended to me by a couple people over the years so I decided to go for it. This is also the first book that I have borrowed from the library in eBook format. Very exciting! It’s a story about a missionary family in the Congo. I have no clue what I’m getting into, but I am excited to find out.
• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown – This comes at the recommendation of my friend and mentor, Vicki. The title certainly has me intrigued!
• Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton – This book came by the recommendation of my favorite blogger, Sarah Bessey. The book description on Amazon.com has me excited for this one. Sounds freeing!