On Finishing What You Start

I'm not very good at finishing things. My list of "unfinished business"is fairly long and, to my husband's dismay, my attic (and our closets, and bedroom, and bonus room...) show that fact very clearly. I start a project with gusto and fizzle out faster than the soda I was drinking.


I'm the same way with books. Well, mainly self-help books. I can't ever read one without a highlighter, two different colored pens, and a new journal for all my notes. I can't wait to dive in and be changed! By chapter two I'm usually telling everyone I know they have to read this book.


Then life happens.


To my credit, I have walked away more changed and more convicted by reading half of a book than I would have been had I not started it in the first place. So it's never a waste of time. I just realize how much I'm missing out on! Most books build up to something and though the first half may seem like more than I ever hoped for, I realize the second half is probably even better and I'm missing it because I let life get in the way.


Case in point: Several months ago a friend suggested Crazy Love by Frances Chan. (www.crazylovebook.com) I ran out to get it, got TWO colors of highlighters, my pens and a journal and dug right in. I was more convicted by the end of the foreword and preface than any book before it. As usual, the first chapter alone was worth my $14.99 (less my educator discount.) I read (with gusto) and took the book with me everywhere. My way of thinking was completely turned upside down by the third paragraph of Chapter 1!


Then....you guessed it....life happened. At chapter two.


But this time, I'm glad.


And I think God had a hand in it.


This morning, kids still asleep, birds chirping in the crisp morning air, puppy soaking up the sun on the back deck, I sat down with my coffee and bible and highlighters and...what else...Crazy Love. I haven't picked it up since I started this blog. I started over from the very beginning, first by reviewing everything I had highlighted or made a note of, then re-reading the foreword, preface, and chapter 1. And you know what I found? I missed a whole lot the first time around!


Well, maybe not missed it. I'm just taking away a different message this time around. And it's all because of this blog.


Perhaps it's because my paradigm has changed...or, rather, been refined....since the last time I read it. This time, with fresh eyes and a fresh interpretation, I realize that much of what he writes about in the first 5% of the book can be directly related to what I want this blog to be about.


But had I finished what I started three months ago, I may never have realized it.


I am committed to finishing this book! It is so good, and so life-changing, I am GOING to get to the end this time! And, through this blog, I'm going to bring you all along.


So thank you, God, for allowing life to get in the way. This time, I think it's the best thing that could have happened.