Reading for the fun of it!

At our new members class, I encourage openness by inviting the new members to ask questions, not just about our church, but about anything else, including the staff and the community around Emilie. One of them wanted to know how did I spend my day off. I told her that I like to goof-off, watch all the TV shows I missed during the week because I had to go to meetings, and, o yes, do nothing, but most of all, I read.

I've always loved to read. There's something about a page filled with words that defies definition. When I was a kid, my parents used to argue a lot... and loud, so I would find a book and read, read, read- until I couldn't hear their voices any longer.

Books are to me, what sports are to Joe, my husband. I learned long time ago NEVER to ask, discuss, inquire, for ANYTHING before, during or after any sports game, especially when the Phillies or the Eagles are playing. Like many others, Joe gets transported to the other dimension when it comes to games- so I sit and watch the game with him for a while, and then I go and find a book and sit back in the recliner... but enter my own dimension through the images that my mind forms through the pages of the book.

The Apostle Paul tells us to: "Examine everything: hold fast to that which is good". So that's what I do. I read just about everything that picks my curiosity: biblical scholarship and devotional life (Buechner, Nowen);fiction: Harry Potter (yes, all of them), non-fiction (biographies), magazines, e-magazines. But my favorite is Christian Fiction. There are so many books to choose from: romance; (Lori Wick); historical (Francine Rivers, T. Davis Bunn); sci-fi (Ted Dekker); mystery (Myers, Terri Blackstock, Dee Henderson, Frank Peretti); comedy (Mark Lowry, Chonda Pierce), and even the home-grown stories of the Amish country as told by Beverly Lewis, to name but a few.

I have tried (unsuccessfully) to kick-start a Reading Club at our church. I will keep trying to do this, but for now, I will continue to read, to goof-off, and to catch up with housework on my 'day off '. I have some books saved on my mp3 (I can hear them while I try to snooze), but it's so not the same!

My next project in the works is a Bible Study based on Eli Stone, Ugly Betty, and Life on Mars. I just need to get my hands on those DVDs as soon as they come out. I'll keep y'all posted, all you have to do is ask!