What have I been reading lately?

Warning: this post comes to you from a vulnerable place. My filter is off. My eyes are tired. My concept of time is fragile and damaged.

Still, I need to process, and what better way to do that than to write?

Life happens to us in seasons sometimes. Ecclesiastes Chapter Three (NIV) and the Byrds (that fabulous band from the mid- 1960s) said it best.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance.

For me and my family, 2023 so far has definitely been a year of weeping. A year of driving, packing suitcases, loading, unloading, relocating, sleeping in hospital chairs, take-out food, filling up, gas station coffee, answered prayers and surrender.

This week Janet Morris Grimes shares all about her reading life. Share on X

In February, our little two-year-old special needs grandson had corrective spinal cord surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which required a 5 day stay in ICU and three full days of heavy sedation while his spine healed. (He’s doing quite well, but not one second of that ordeal was easy.)

Then, after extended illnesses, we lost my mother-in-law in March and my mother in April. Both were in Nashville; a good three-hour drive in the opposite direction down I65 from where we live in Ky.

And to top it off, I was the victim of a hit-and-run accident while I was hurrying to my mother during her final week.

My car is still out of commission, and in many ways, so am I. Mentally, spiritually, creatively.

Out of commission until further notice.

Now suddenly, it’s May.

And I haven’t read a single book this year.

When I saw this deadline looming on the calendar, I had to ask myself what I had read?

Well, to be honest, nursing home contracts. Hospital bills. Power of Attorney forms. Living Wills. Care plans. Car insurance claims. Repair quotes. Grocery lists. Emergency room procedures. After-hours entrance policies. Hospital chapel guest books. Elevator panels. Exit signs. Hospice welcome packets. And even death certificates.

It’s all kind of a blur.

But God was present through every minute, and I know we’re going to be all right.

How do I know?

Because to everything, there is a season.

I can feel those pages turning now, so to speak. In recent days, I’ve also read the following:

Texted prayers. Shared memories. Scriptures of comfort. Sympathy cards. Encouragement notes. Checks with donations for our little guy and his hospital bills.

I’ve read eulogies, life stories and text check-ins. I’ve read travel plans and booked a trip that had been put on hold. I’ve read birthday cards and end-of-the-year school party plans.

I’ve read Red Fish, Blue Fish to our grandkids and an announcement that the local water park will open soon.

I’ve even read a list of new releases in Christian Fiction to plan my summer reading list.

And finally, I read through my registration packet as I confirmed plans to attend the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. My first opportunity to do so. I put this on hold last year due to my mother’s poor health.

My reading life tells me that soon, my personal life and my writing life will begin to bounce back as well.

To everything, there is a season. And every season affects our reading life.

Turn. Turn. Turn.

 

 

Janet Morris Grimes may not have realized she was a writer at the time, but her earliest childhood memories were spent creating fairy-tale stories of the father she never knew. That desire to connect with the mysterious man in a treasured photograph gave her a deep love for the endless possibilities of a healing and everlasting story.

Janet is now a writer/music reviewer for Nashville Arts & Entertainment and Crossroad Magazines. She is also a devotional contributor to Christian Woman, Power for Today, Inspire a Fire, and The Christian Pulse. Janet has featured stories in several anthologies, including The Spirit of Christmas and Sweet Tea for the Soul: Real-Life Stories for Grieving Hearts. 

A wife of one, mother of three, and Tootsie to four, Janet currently writes from her quiet two-acre corner of the world near Elizabethtown, KY. She has spent the last few years preparing to introduce her novels and children’s stories to the world.

Stories that stretch your heartstrings.

An unforgettable combination.