My Own Little World - Me Part 1 of 3

Do you know what it feels like to be searching for something? It's a little easier when you know for what you are searching. I have been on a search for discussion on transformation (in relationships mostly)  in the past six - seven months. And, of course, searching for me means reading! My book choices were limited to Christian authors because I wanted the advice I received to be Christ centered. A friend actually just posted a quote by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick on FB that fits well here: "...If we don't consciously live in the light of his love, the gospel will be secondary, virtually meaningless, and Jesus Christ will fade into insignificance. Our faith will become all about us, our performance, and how we think we're doing, and our transformation will be hindered." What I especially love here is that I had already written this post using the word transformation and speaking of Christ centeredness and then I saw this quote posted...what confirmation! I don't believe in coincidence! Today's post and the next two are a series of the books I've read on this journey to learn about relationships. (I say learn because that's what I started out to do...you don't usually start a journey knowing it's even a journey, let alone where it will take you. I still don't!)

The first book I picked up is Kingdom Journeys by Seth Barnes. The title caught me and it was a couple dollars on Kindle, so I went for it. This book speaks of the literal, physical journeys many people have made on their path to follow Christ. There's something about seeing the world outside of your own that gives you a sense of the bigger picture. Since I have a husband, full time teaching job, and three busy children, it soon became apparent that an actual journey would be impossible right now. But as I read I began to think of close to home "journeys," such as volunteer work. The stories and ideas ruminated in my mind for a couple months and I knew that the right situation would come up if I waited for it.

Another book I read, along the same lines, is Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life, by Jeff Goins. The title screams "Ouch!" And as it turns out, Mr. Goins has a website/blog and talks about writing and publishing quite often. I've been following him since October 2012 at goinswriter.com . Anyway, the book forces you to take a step back and think about your life in regards to the world around you. Quite honestly, Amazon's summary does it justice, so why reinvent the wheel: "Wrecked is about the life we are afraid to live. It's about radical sacrifice and selfless service--how we find purpose in the midst of pain. It's a look at how we discover fulfillment in the least likely of places. It's about living like we mean it. It's a guide to growing up and giving your life away, helping you live in the tension between the next adventure and the daily mundane."

These were the first two books I read (the rest of my posts are grouped by topic too, but not necessarily in the order I read them). These were a starting point for reiterating that relationship with other people is important and they're worth the effort. Reminds me of the song "My Own Little World" by Matthew West.