Confessions and Realizations of a Read-a-holic

Hey, I'm Joy and I'm a read-a-holic. I admit it. I love nothing more than picking up an amazing book and not wanting to put it down to eat, sleep, work or do anything else! Just in the first 6 months of this year I've read 8 books by the dynamic duo of Lincoln & Childs, the 7 awe-inspiring Harry Potter's, the latest John Grisham, many tales of vampires, the new Rob Bell, a few great book club finds, Ted Dekker, and most recently, 2 (and counting) from the engaging mind of Michael Connelly. Whew! I don't hang on to a lot of books though. Ever since I moved back from New Zealand and Georgia, I've been attempting to live in simplicity. And that mindset has come in handy with as many times as I've moved this year! So I don't buy/keep many books. One that I have managed to hold onto for 3 years now (and yet to read) is a nonfiction narrative by Luci Swindoll called I Married Adventure. I bought it years ago for the title. It just jumped out to me. As a woman in her then early twenties, marriage was seemed like the next logical landmark for me. But I saw that title and thought, you know, she's got something there. But I never read it. Until today.

Today I'm in my mid-to-late twenties. College grad and working a job that I believe in. Car payment, rent, and insurance just begin to list my financial responsibilities. And yet, not married. I can't say I'm too surprised, because I have always had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I may never marry. Not that I don't want to, or have anything against it, but just that it might not be for me. Scary statement even in today's world. Well, turns out Luci Swindoll had the same nagging feeling. And she creatively tells her story of an adventure that ravished her soul. The adventure of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Together they traveled the globe, and saw wondrous things.

I'm excited to read more of her heart and story. I was struck with the verse that she launched her life story with: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. “ [John 10:10, MSG]

As I look to Cambodia in 8 short weeks, I wonder if I will meet my lover there. Not some handsome man that will sweep me off my feet, but a country, a cause, a people, and a love that I've never known. So if I come back engaged, you'll know why.