Life on the Vine

     Tom is out today with the boys and I'm home.  Completely alone.  He's not only out with two-legged boys but also our four-legged boys.  I forget how quiet the house is when Colt and Henry are not here.  I've cleaned up the kitchen and made banana bread.  And I had my 'Favorite Singles' playlist on shuffle in the background.        Earlier I scrolled through the 384 songs looking for a specific one:  Everything and Nothing Less by Chris McClarney.  Listening to it made me think of two others I wanted to play:  Hillsong's I Surrender and Tim Hughes's Everything .  I have cried out to God through some of these songs for more than a decade.  They have been prayers for me.  These are songs I raise my hands to.  That I dance too.  Songs that have made me cry.  Songs that I sing at the top of my lungs and blast out loud.  Songs that have lyrics that give voice to my deepest desire.  And what is that desire?  To live a life surrendered to God's plan for m

In 2020 I set a personal reading record: reading 70 books.  38 of which were from my personal library.  I'm sure the first year of COVID-19 and multiple lock downs contributed to my increased book volume.  My reading life in 2021 slowed down a bit, coming in at 57 books.  Fifteen of which were from my personal library.   I continued with two reading challenges.  Doing the Read Harder Challenge for the fourth consecutive year and the Unread Shelf Challenge for the second.  I also did a personal challenge, reading some of Elizabeth Gilbert's Onward Book Club recommendations.  Admittedly, there were times when it felt like a whole lot of assigned reading.  I did it to myself though so there was really no pressure to finish the challenges but I still felt the drive and desire to complete them.  Nearly two-thirds of all my reading in 2021 was for the three challenges.   The majority of the books I read continue to be by women: 79 percent this year.  And nonfiction remains central