this year i'm trying to read 50 books. this is my list so far!

1.The Story of Ruth by Joan Chittister
2.The Younger Evangelicals by Robert Webber
3.More Ready Than You Realize by Brian McLaren
4.Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
5.A Glimpse of Jesus by Brennan Manning
6.Sabbath by Wayne Muller
7.The Boy Who Cried Abba by Brennan Manning
8.Journey of the Prodigal by Brennan Manning
9.Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
10.The Summons by John Grisham
11.Runaway Jury by John Grisham
12.A Painted House by John Grisham
13.A Glancing Light (can't remember the author!)
14.Soul Shaper:Exploring Spirituality and Contemplative Practices in Youth Ministry by Tony Jones
15.Sold into Egypt by Madeleine L'Engle
16.The London Scene by Virginia Woolf
17.The Godbearing Life by Kenda Dean and Ron Foster
18.The Book of God by Walter Wangerin
19.Life of the Beloved by Henri J.M. Nouwen
20.read, think, pray, live by Tony Jones
21.pray by Tony Jones
22.The Air I Breathe by Louie Giglio
23.Jesus On Leadership by Gene Wilkes
24.Dakota by Kathleen Norris
25.Adam's Peace by Henri Nouwen

i went to kickboxing last night. it was really, really hard and it is all my fault because this is only the second time i've been since june. i'm a little disappointed in myself because of that, but it is good to start getting back into it.

one of my favorite things to do is listen to music. when i get a new cd, i spend what i like to call "quality time" with the cd. this means i give the cd my undivided attention and listen to it all the way through. usually i listen while i check out the liner notes and follow the words. i like to think through what the songs are about and listen for the melodies and tunes that engage me. i also like to find out what other artists or producers are on the cds. i love finding little connections between bands or artists. i know that this confession officially makes me a nerd, but i really don't care because i love it!!

so with that said and with this obsession of mine revealed, i am having a great day because i've been spending time with the new Oneday 03 cd and the new Charlie Hall cd. at first listen, they are listen. the oneday cd especially is exciting because i was blessed to be there and it brings back great memories and reminds me of the ways i saw God worshipped and honored and revealed there. you should definitely check out both of these cds. next month will be a big month for me musically - dave crowder band, dave matthews band, and john mayer all have new projects coming out. i'm going to be one busy girl!

some other cds i've been listening to lately are lauryn hill's mtv unplugged cd, busted stuff by dave matthews band, where angels fear to tread by matt redman, joshua tree, jill phillips' new one, derek webb, and pierce pettis. peace.

this is always kind of a strange time for me. summer is over and it is time to switch modes to the school year. it doesn't really slow down, it is just different. i like it, but it always takes me a few weeks to get into the swing of the schedule and the differences.

so, to ease the pain of letting summer go, i'll try to recap some of my summer adventures... one of my favorite times this summer was funyaking with some of my girls at whitewater ranch. last fall a few of us went to a clinic to try out kayaking and ever since then we've been waiting for a chance to do it again. so when i found out we would be funyaking (inflatable kayaks), i was pumped. even though it wasn't the real deal, it was close enough. so, monday morning we set out on the might hiwassee river in our funyaks. for those of you who don't know, the hiwassee is basically just a floating river, with a few tiny rapids here and there. this did not keep me from falling out of my kayak twice, however. once i was attacked by an overhanging tree branch and the second time i just got dumped out. it wasn't a big deal that i fell out, the problem was i couldn't get back in. fortunately, whitney, mandii, lindsey, and april were there to try to help me get back in. even with their help it took me a while. i couldn't seem to find a foothold and i kept slipping back in. it was pretty hilarious - until i started hitting all the rock that were just under the surface. i left with a few bruises, but a lot of laughs, so it was worth it.

last week and this week i've been working on rewriting my job description and thinking through what i really want to be about. it has been harder than i expected to lasso all of my thoughts and feelings and try to express them and work them out. i was reading sandra mccracken's journal today. she was writing about the difficulty of working through her latest project and she says, "I'm discovering (again) how important it is to lean into the hard things. I'm remembering how it feels when the things we work for bring sweat and tears. And I have a sense that it's making me more alive, more courageous, and more free. Free to fail, free to break, free to fly. Whatever the case may be, it doesn't matter as much how it turns out, as much as it matters who we are becoming in the process." i'm encouraged and blessed by that. as tired as i am of working on this, i'm trying to "lean in" and work it out. peace.