I mentioned recently that I just finished reading an advanced copy of Melanie Shankle's new book and today is the day I get to share about it!
I found Melanie's Big Mama Blog several years ago and have enjoyed following her on various forms of social media as she shares about her life. And I've enjoyed the books she's written before about motherhood, marriage, and friendship. So when I heard that she was putting together a launch team for her new book I decided to apply. I was able to get an advanced digital copy of the book and I soaked it all up!
At first I was curious what her new book would be about since she seemed to have covered the major parts of her life in her previous books. The new book is about the small things in life and how they come together to form who we are. So it touches on pieces of parenting, marriage, and friendship and also extends to relationships with her extended family, her life growing up, her pets, hair, home decor, and so much more.
With humor and heart, Melanie weaves together these stories and shares the lessons she has learned throughout her life from the people she encounters. And she shows how it truly is the small moments that seem to have the biggest impact on our lives. She talks about how we tend to focus on the big achievements and always look to the next big thing only to get there and realize that we want whatever is next. It is not the big moments that truly satisfy or even remain in our minds, but it is the day in and day out faithfulness that shapes who we become.
Like I said in the beginning, I've loved all of Melanie's books, but this one seemed to come at just the right time for me. As I've transitioned into life at home with Cooper, things look a lot different than I expected 5 months in. I got over a lot of the shock of going from working full time to being home when we had the foster kids--and that was a hard adjustment (to put it extremely mildly). So when we were preparing for Cooper, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how I would feel being home with him all day long. But I am loving it.
Honestly, I'm loving it even more than I expected. So I'm not doing a whole lot else right now. I totally thought that by this Fall I would be ready to get involved in some activities--Bible Study, Volunteering with ESL, Play dates, Moms groups, etc. But I've found that I just don't want to be as involved in things as I once was. And I've felt really guilty about that. I've felt that I need to be doing more. That I have time, so I should be involved in so many things. And while I do need to examine my motivations and make sure that I'm not shying away from activities out of fear ot laziness; I also need to remember that God has given me this precious boy to pour love into.
It's easy to look at my life right now and think that it doesn't really count for much because I'm not doing the big things. Or even the small things that seem to have more significance than "just" being home with my baby. So I was grateful for the reminder that "We are in God's will when we wake up with a willingness to go wherever he leads that day, to seek him in the ordinary, and to love and influence the people around us." This book has a lot of take aways, but one of the biggest ones for me is that I don't want to miss the holiness of each moment because I am looking for something more significant. God has me right here as Cooper's mom and David's wife and he is using this season for my good and (hopefully) his glory. So I continue to submit all things--big and small-- to him and allow him to work in me through it all. I don't want to look back on this season and realize I wished it away longing for the day that I could do something more significant. I want to see the significance in the moments I have with my family and those around me.
One final quote from the book that I really liked:
"We miss the holiness of this moment we're living right now. There will never be another one like it. And even if that makes you think 'THANK GOD, BECAUSE MY LIFE CURRENTLY STINKS,' there are still lessons to be learned, character to be built, and stories that will be told about where you are right now. God takes all of it--the mundane and the ugly, the clean couch and the wine spills, the ordinary and the occasional extraordinary--and when we allow him to add his grace, his mercy, and his outrageous love, he adds a brushstroke there and some color here and so paints it all into one glorious work of art, one that only he can achieve through us where we are right in that moment-- in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our classrooms, in our communities and world. No one else can live our story. So maybe it's time to embrace all that is uniquely ours and realize that is exactly what makes it special."
I found Melanie's Big Mama Blog several years ago and have enjoyed following her on various forms of social media as she shares about her life. And I've enjoyed the books she's written before about motherhood, marriage, and friendship. So when I heard that she was putting together a launch team for her new book I decided to apply. I was able to get an advanced digital copy of the book and I soaked it all up!
At first I was curious what her new book would be about since she seemed to have covered the major parts of her life in her previous books. The new book is about the small things in life and how they come together to form who we are. So it touches on pieces of parenting, marriage, and friendship and also extends to relationships with her extended family, her life growing up, her pets, hair, home decor, and so much more.
With humor and heart, Melanie weaves together these stories and shares the lessons she has learned throughout her life from the people she encounters. And she shows how it truly is the small moments that seem to have the biggest impact on our lives. She talks about how we tend to focus on the big achievements and always look to the next big thing only to get there and realize that we want whatever is next. It is not the big moments that truly satisfy or even remain in our minds, but it is the day in and day out faithfulness that shapes who we become.
Like I said in the beginning, I've loved all of Melanie's books, but this one seemed to come at just the right time for me. As I've transitioned into life at home with Cooper, things look a lot different than I expected 5 months in. I got over a lot of the shock of going from working full time to being home when we had the foster kids--and that was a hard adjustment (to put it extremely mildly). So when we were preparing for Cooper, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how I would feel being home with him all day long. But I am loving it.
Honestly, I'm loving it even more than I expected. So I'm not doing a whole lot else right now. I totally thought that by this Fall I would be ready to get involved in some activities--Bible Study, Volunteering with ESL, Play dates, Moms groups, etc. But I've found that I just don't want to be as involved in things as I once was. And I've felt really guilty about that. I've felt that I need to be doing more. That I have time, so I should be involved in so many things. And while I do need to examine my motivations and make sure that I'm not shying away from activities out of fear ot laziness; I also need to remember that God has given me this precious boy to pour love into.
It's easy to look at my life right now and think that it doesn't really count for much because I'm not doing the big things. Or even the small things that seem to have more significance than "just" being home with my baby. So I was grateful for the reminder that "We are in God's will when we wake up with a willingness to go wherever he leads that day, to seek him in the ordinary, and to love and influence the people around us." This book has a lot of take aways, but one of the biggest ones for me is that I don't want to miss the holiness of each moment because I am looking for something more significant. God has me right here as Cooper's mom and David's wife and he is using this season for my good and (hopefully) his glory. So I continue to submit all things--big and small-- to him and allow him to work in me through it all. I don't want to look back on this season and realize I wished it away longing for the day that I could do something more significant. I want to see the significance in the moments I have with my family and those around me.
One final quote from the book that I really liked:
"We miss the holiness of this moment we're living right now. There will never be another one like it. And even if that makes you think 'THANK GOD, BECAUSE MY LIFE CURRENTLY STINKS,' there are still lessons to be learned, character to be built, and stories that will be told about where you are right now. God takes all of it--the mundane and the ugly, the clean couch and the wine spills, the ordinary and the occasional extraordinary--and when we allow him to add his grace, his mercy, and his outrageous love, he adds a brushstroke there and some color here and so paints it all into one glorious work of art, one that only he can achieve through us where we are right in that moment-- in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our classrooms, in our communities and world. No one else can live our story. So maybe it's time to embrace all that is uniquely ours and realize that is exactly what makes it special."
I am so grateful for this book and all the ways it made me laugh and reminded me of God's love. It comes out on October 3 and I've already pre-ordered my copy. If you want to check it out, you can get more information at www.churchofthesmallthings.com There are some preorder bonuses if you pre-order a copy. I definitely enjoyed reading it and I know it is a book I will come back to and reread.
No comments:
Post a Comment