A New Year | A New Focus | A New Me

Hello blogging friends. It's been a while..and it's time for some confessions. I stopped reading for about 2 months. I just lost my joy in it and I couldn't figure out why. I loved to read. I loved to learn more about an author, a character, a family, and the Lord through the lessons my favorite authors taught their characters. So what happened?

I. GOT. OVERWHELMED. There are SO many books I wanted to read. Every time I got an email from a publisher or author, I felt like I needed to sign up immediately to read that book. It got to the point that I was reading all review books, and none of the books on my bookshelf that I had bought myself, and I just got burnt out. My natural response to being overwhelmed is to shut down. [It's a horrible response, I know. I'm working on it...] I also got a promotion at work. That really cut out a lot of my reading time. I got overwhelmed because I couldn't find enough time in the day to read all the books I had signed on to read.

My reading resolution is simple: I want to get back into reading for simply the love of reading. That doesn't mean I won't request review books anymore. That just means that I will simply not request or accept every opportunity that comes my way to review books. I'll read what I want to read, without the pressure. Of course, I'll still post reviews, even if the book didn't come my way from a publisher or author. It also means I will take my time reading a book. I am not going to speed read anymore. I want to enjoy what I'm reading and I want you to know it!

I also want to try to incorporate more of the things I love into my blog. I mean, the name of my blog is called "Faith * Love * Books" and all I normally end up posting is "books." I feel like there is so much more to my life than that. I recently found a love for card making and Bible Journaling. I am going on a mission trip in March to Belize that I'm really looking forward to and we need prayers and financial support. I would love to share those loves with you! I haven't figured out quite yet what that's going to look like, so stay tuned!

I'm also asking for prayers.  My "theme verse" for the year is about letting go of that anxiety and letting God handle them. It's hard. It's a daily battle. Blogging and reading brought me a lot of comfort last year and I would love to get back to that. Interacting with my blogging and reading friends helped me a lot. Spending time in God's word and writing down my prayers helped a lot too. But when I say I shut down from being overwhelmed, I literally shut down. I didn't do any of the things I loved anymore. I'm ashamed to admit it to you all, and more ashamed that I let it happen to myself. I'm working on getting my joy back. Will you help me?

Thank you for waiting patiently for me, my friends. God Bless! (Oh, and I'm reading a book for the first time in months and I'm so excited about it!)