When one chapter ends, another soon begins…

I consider myself an avid reader. Books and coffee typically go hand in hand, so with the vast amount of coffee that I consume on a regular basis, it just makes sense that I would also be a book worm as well.  And I have to confess, I really am a book worm.  At one point in my life I was reading approximately one book per week.  I was like a sponge.  Everything I could get my hands on, I read.  My personal goal is still one book per week, but I’ve slacked lately, I’m only completing about two books per month.

I’m an unusual reader though.  When I’m in the middle of a book, and it becomes less interesting, I find myself speed reading to simply finish the book.  But if the book is drawing me in with vivid word pictures, I take my time to devour every single word.  I’m actually one of those that when I find a book I really like, I read it a second time.  And sometimes a third time…and a fourth…and, you get the picture.  I even rate my books.  I have a ‘Top 5 List’.  And I even have a ‘Top Shelf Category’ for my all time favorites.  Currently, I have over 100 new books waiting to be read.  OK, I guess reading really is an obsession with me.

Have you ever thought that our life, is really one big book?  Think about it, we experience many ‘chapters’ over time.  And even at the point of death, the book itself may be completed, but when anyone recalls a memory of us it’s like opening up and re-reading part of our book again.

Now writing our book, well that’s a whole different story.

Like the chapters of our favorite book, sometimes the chapters of our lives begin and end at the most unexpected times.  Like, for example that chapter you wanted to keep writing, but you knew it was time end it.  Or the one that began way too soon and you wasn’t sure you were ready.

I have recently ended a very special chapter in my life.  It was over 8 1/2  years in the writing, and to be perfectly honest, I really wasn’t ready to close it…but there was no doubt I knew it was time.  That still didn’t alleviate the desire to continue.  It seemed like the longer I tried to keep it open and keep adding to it, the more confirmations I received telling me otherwise.  It really sucks sometimes to be told no.

This specific chapter for me, is historic.  It was an opportunity to rewrite a few rules.  This one chapter is filled with more successes than failures…more opportunities than challenges…and more thrills than fears.  This chapter allowed me to redefine ministry.  Scripture came alive to me like never before, and life application was given a brand new meaning.  But this was also a very sacrificial chapter, and now as I look back, it cost a whole lot more than I realized.

How about you?  Where are you in your current life chapter?  Need to bring this one to a close and start a new one?  Feel the need to continue where you are but you’re having writers block?  Maybe you need a different set of characters involved?

There is no doubt that as the days and months pass by, I will long to go back.  Not so much to add to it, but to review and revalue the lessons learned.  As for now, the page has turned.  I’m not even sure what this chapter is going to be called yet.

But one thing’s for sure, there are plenty of blank pages that lie ahead…and I have a brand new pen.