30 Days of Reading Intentionally
For the month of March the writing team of Stand Unshaken decided to incorporate new habits into our daily routines. My word for the year 2020 is intentional, this meant I wanted to take time to meditate on certain areas and choose something that was going to reflect intention for me and my life personally.
As I was thinking and praying about the new habit I wanted to start incorporating into my life, I felt really convicted around the topic of social media, more specifically Instagram. Don’t get me wrong, I think social media is a great tool and Instagram is an amazing platform. I’ve met so many beautiful souls through this app and I’ve made connections with people all over the world. But, if I am being 100% honest with you, I am one of those people that fall into the tendency to get sucked into the social media vortex. I found myself mindlessly scrolling and being consumed by others posts. It led me down the road of comparison and at the end of the day, that’s not a healthy place to be in at all. I knew in my heart God was calling me to make some changes and break my unhealthy habit of scrolling social media.
As I wrote above, my word for the year 2020 is intentional, and one of the ways I believe I can be more intentional is with my time. I wanted to fill my mind with new truths from Jesus and expand my knowledge on topics that truly interest me. This is something I have wanted to make room for over the last few years but I just never really got serious about it. I knew this was the perfect time to implement reading into my daily routine.
Ultimately my goal is to spend less time on social media and spend more time reading.
Over that month I finished two books! The first one was: In defense of food by Michael Pollen. The second one was: Anxious for nothing by Max Lucado.
Link: In defense of food -HERE
Link: Anxious for nothing - EBOOK HERE and HARD COPY HERE
In Defense of Food:
If you’ve read any of my blog posts you would know that health + wellness is a huge passion of mine and a big part of my life, specifically the nutrition side of things. I love,love, love learning everything there is to know about different foods, food science, how certain foods benefit our bodies, playing around with different ingredients, creating new recipes and everything in between. In defense of food is written so beautifully by Michael Pollen. He is someone I really trust and look up to when it comes to gaining knowledge and information in the health + wellness world. He calls this book an eaters manifesto. Pollen takes you through the history of the diet world in the United States, how particular studies came about and busts certain myths regarding what foods benefit your body and which ones don’t. He gets pretty scientific which can be hard to understand but it’s something I have loved challenging myself in over the past year. A lot of people think science and Christianity don’t mix but I personally believe science is from God and there is so much to learn when we expand our knowledge and broadening our horizons on topics that challenge us.
Anxious For Nothing:
The second book Anxious for nothing by Max Lucado couldn't have come at a more perfect time. It was around the middle of March when I started to read this book, right as the pandemic started to hit. It’s like God knew exactly what I needed and provided me the tools + resources for me to stop, be still and actually listen to Him through it all. If you have suffered from anxiety or continue to suffer from anxiety, this book is for you. Max Lucado is truly an incredible author and backs all of his writing in this particular book with biblical truth, which in today’s world is something I really admire. I feel like a few authors I have come across write feel good books that don’t have any biblical backing so it’s refreshing to find authors that have spent time in the word and have clearly prayed hard over what + how to write.
Lucado paints so many beautiful pictures of who God is and what He wants us to do with our anxious thoughts + feelings. I personally found this book extremely humbling and challenging at some points because it gave me perspective of what I actually do when I am anxious, oppose to what I should be doing. It’s an easy read and it will leave you feeling so much more at peace after reading it.
I didn’t set myself up with any particular routine of exactly when I wanted to read, my goal was to just read each day. Some days that looked like a few pages, other days I spent hours and honestly, somedays I didn’t get around to it at all. I learned that’s okay too. So often we get caught up in the idea of it’s either make or break when setting healthy habits. It’s okay if you miss a day or you have a little bump in the road. It doesn’t mean you've failed, it’s all part of the journey + learning experience. We are human for goodness sake and far from perfect. This exercise was set up to start making room for new routines and even though that didn’t look perfect for me every single day, I definitely feel I achieved the goal I set.
I feel like I have made more intentional room for God and for the truths He wanted to speak over me, I feel like I have gained more knowledge on a topic I am really passionate about and can then in turn provide more insight for others, I feel like spending less time mindlessly scrolling instagram has helped immensely with my mental + emotional health and I have even been able to spend more time with Hubs because we read together sometimes too.
I highly encourage you to reflect on and evaluate habits in your own life you might want to change. For me that looked like taking a habit away by adding a new one in it’s place. My habit was small but it has made such a huge impact on every aspect of my life. I’d love to know some habits you want to start incorporating into your daily routine — small or big!
With love,
Bethany
