Lessons From a Book

This is no secret...I love books! I especially love the evidence they leave behind that they once existed in our world, even if just for a moment.

Like many of you, I have bookcases in my little nook of our home, and it’s crammed full of books on—I’d bet—every topic under the sun. The other day I was sitting at my desk, daydreaming. Actually, I was probably stalling…when my gaze wandered around the room and landed on a title that made me smile.

And that gave me an idea. Brace yourselves. :)

Here are five highly valuable life lessons I learned through the years from random books on my shelves.

Lesson 1: 
Look before you leap. 
Book: Small-Scale Livestock Farming. 

I don’t believe I ever read this book from cover to cover, but I sure do remember the summer I was determined to convince my husband that selling our home and buying some acreage so I could play farm girl was the way to go. I was going to need the perfect Green Gables farm house, of course…I operate much of the time on impulse and very little follow through. Thankfully, my husband is the exact opposite and keeps me quite grounded.

Lesson 2: 
Nobody’s perfect. 
Book: Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook. 

I vividly remember asking my sister to get me this book for Christmas after I got married in 2004. She obliged and I happily opened the crisp pages of Ms. Martha’s 10 pound tome. Oddly, as I look at it now, those pages are just as crisp almost 10 years later. Hmm. I’m pretty sure it’s okay if you stack your woodpile in a manner not recommended by Ms. Martha.

Lesson 3: 
Fight it out, but stick together. 
Book: FamilyLife, Weekend to Remember Guide. 

Marriage stinks sometimes. (I've said this many times before.) It’s a fact of life. In an effort to invest in our relationship a few years ago, Chris and I went to one of these Weekends-to-Remember. And boy do I remember it! We fought the entire weekend...instead of learning, growing and building with one another. But as my homework guide stares at me all these years later, it also reminds me that we laughed our heads off on the drive home from that conference. Not that it wasn't a helpful or well-planned event, but the cheese-factor was through the roof. And if I’m honest, Chris and I just don’t respond well to homework involving love poems. We're just not classy like that. 

Lesson 4: 
This too shall pass. 
Book: My high school “Adventure Bible”. 

I can’t really put my finger on whether or not I liked high school. It was fine I guess. I learned stuff. I met some people. But really I was just counting down the days for it to be over so I could find Prince Charming and have lots of babies. (Before you think I’m crazy, read this post.) Needless to say, my Bible offered a safe place and Truth like no other book can.

Lesson 5: 
God has plans for me, and they may differ from my own. 
Book: Field Guide for North American Birds.

Okay, don’t laugh. I really do own this book and not because I’m a bird lover by any means. Way back when my eldest child was in utero, I had big homeschooling dreams. Contrary to my ever social husband. But I was convinced that God gave me my mom-passion for a reason and it must be to have my kids around constantly. So I slowly began to accumulate schooling items and books. We have more puzzles of African countries then I know what to do with. Almost eight years and three kids in school later, I’m still not homeschooling, and while that feels at times disappointing to my mom-heart, I know He has something else out there for me.

Share with me: What random books do you have on your shelves? And what life lessons have those books or those phases of your life taught you?