Being that today was my daughter’s birthday, we traveled to a nearby city that she dearly loves in order to have dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. After the delicious meal, we decided to check out a “new and used” type of bookstore which was conveniently located right next door. We were not that enthused at first because of the thought of used items, but we were pleasantly surprised when we walked inside! There were rows and rows of bookcases packed to the rim with any and every kind of book you could possibly imagine. They were in good shape, too! Some you could not even tell that they were used at all. When we first entered with reservations about the place thinking we’d just take a quick look and be on our way, we ended up staying for an hour and a half! Yes, I have an entire family of bookworms. ~proud smile~

I am always drawn to the self-help and faith/devotional type of books. It should come as no surprise that one of the firsts that I picked up was none other than Joyce Meyer! If I was getting paid for every time I mentioned her or her books, I would be a rich woman. But, alas, I am not. I share because I truly do enjoy reading what Joyce has to offer. I am always entertained by her humor and my soul filled with the words she shares. She mixes the bible verses in with stories of her life and adds in a little bit of her dry sense of humor that just tickles me! What makes it funny is that some of the things she jokingly “complains” about in her sermons are things that we know we all do in our own lives but don’t want any one else to know that we do it! She has it down pat, though, and it’s just funny how she relays this to us that she’s “been there, done that” too!

You’ll be surprised, now, to read that I put her books back on the shelves. I had seen some of those titles before and had even read through a few of those books a while back. My attention, then, refocused on the wall straight in the back of the store where audiobooks were found. Much to my delight, there were about seven audiobooks by Joyce Meyer on that bookshelf! Score!! ~giggle~ I did not buy them all tonight as I did not want to break the bank! Even though they were at a reduced price, they were still asking a pretty penny for some of those audiobooks because they are in excellent condition.

As a side note, I always select a bunch of items that I “want” when I am browsing in a store. Then I will carry those items around so I can feel them in my hands and in my arms. As I glance around at the other items in the store, I am thinking to myself about the items I already have in my possession. When I am nearing the end of my shopping trip, I look through all of my “want” items and then decide if I truly do need to take those home with me. Surely I can’t buy every little thing I “want” right when I want it all of the time, so I narrow down my selection and put back those that I truly can live without. The others will go home with me! I take those items to the register, still glancing through one last time before the cashier rings them up. My husband used to laugh at me when he first saw me doing this when we were dating, but now he appreciates the fact that I do have a process of elimination before check out!

The huge stack of Joyce Meyer audiobooks I had in my arms dwindled down to two. Those lucky two came home with me! I could hardly wait to get out to the vehicle to plop that CD into the player to enjoy on the ride home. Realizing that I had my entire family with me and that they might not enjoy listening to the four CDs in the case all at one sitting, I decided to just listen to one as we drove along. I wanted to take in the message any way, allowing it to soak in, before I jump to the next one.

The audiobook that I began listening to tonight is in regards to simplifying your life. How many of us, myself included, could benefit from this as 2014 gets underway?! ~hands raised~

Tomorrow I will begin sharing the notes I took while my husband drove and I typed it all out on my phone. My thumbs got a lot of exercise tonight! ~laughing~ You’ll be amazed at the notes I was able to take that way, thus the reason I will not share tonight as it is LONG, ladies and gentlemen!

So, stay tuned ‘til tomorrow! I will begin sharing CD One with you as Joyce Meyer teaches us how to simplify our lives, and we learn how to rest in part one!

Blessings to you and yours!
~Shirley
Light, Love, Hope