Ambition

Some people know that I have said "I am not the strongest reader". That has been okay by me and up until I married Adam it never even really phased me. I didn't mind that I never actually finished books that I did reports on, as long as I passed English I was happy! I do remember actually reading to the end Cowboys Don't Cry in school and then a book I did a report on in grade 11 called The Undying Fire by HG Wells. Other than that I never really read and when I would, I would get through the first few pages, put the book down and never really pick it back up. I have always loved to buy books though. Not the best hobby for someone who doesn't read. A lot of books pointlessly taking up space and needing to be dusted. All this has probably contributed to the fact that I have read bits and pieces of the Bible but never really sat down and read the whole thing over any amount of time. I do read it and love it when I do but it is just not often and not much. This always made me a little angry but not angry enough to do something about it.

My mom is a reader, so is my sister. I always thought that that would be nice but then I realized how much time I would have to devote to it and all of a sudden it didn't seem so great. Then I married Adam who is a reader. He loves it and would read 12 hours a day if he could, with a cup of coffee in hand and then sleep the rest! So, I started to think, maybe there is something with this whole reading thing. People seem to like it, they don't even seem to mind wasting their lives on it. Maybe it is time I give this another shot. And then I started to make new years resolutions of a sort. I did this every year for the last 3. I would read a book every month. Just one a month, how hard could that be. But, after 2 years went by and I never got through even one book I had all but given up. This year I did the same resolution and pretty well resolved I would fail again so I didn't tell anyone of it. January passed, no book read and I saw the failure pretty clear!

February rolled around and a good friend recommended I read a book called The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.

So I walked myself into the library and picked it up. I thought, I better start right away or I will forget that I need to read this thing. I set a time limit, by the end of February and much to my amazement I actually started reading and got through a good portion of it in one sitting. I started feeling a little encouraged and continued on. Within 4 days I had finished the book! I couldn't believe it. It was not a small feat for me. This was the first book I had finished in over 10 years! And I enjoyed the story. You can't imagine how I felt like I was invincible in the way of reading, no one could stop me now!

Next thing I chose to read The Epic by John Eldredge
which was actually my choice as my January read and I had picked it because it was short and I would be able to finish it without an issue but I didn't till February. I got through it in a few more days... now I was caught up with my goal! Wowzers! I was so excited. Then I took a break from reading, scary thought!

The other day Adam and I sorted and purged our books in our ever growing collection in the basement and low and behold I was excited to read again. Looking at all the book I had bought over the years and never even picked up but always wanted to, I grabbed one I knew I would enjoy... SeinLanguage by none other than Jerry Seinfeld himself!
I happen to be a huge fan of Seinfeld's humour. Well, I have been reading it for the past 4 days and finished tonight. Some of it I was in tears laughing so hard. So, I have finished my March read! Yay!

My friend Gwen and her hubby are going to be adopting children from Ethiopia! It just happens that my bro in law, Andrew spent time in Ethiopia on missions and had sent us books from the places he had travelled. I came across this one, Hidden Triumph in Ethiopia by Kay Bascom.
Because of the interest in Ethiopia as of late I thought, I am going to read this thing! Started it tonight and it is great so far.

I must say, I am starting to see the "point" now in reading. It is starting to make a lot more sense. And I think I am more relaxed these days, just taking that time for myself to sit with a good book.

Next on the list... I would like to read the whole bible in the next year. We will see how it goes. I have always wanted to but it is only now that I see, I was not a poor reader, I just wasn't a reader and that makes all the difference in the world. If you never read, it is very difficult to get through books.

I am proud to say, I didn't give up and my goal for 2008 just may happen yet! Happy reading and God bless!