Dig a Ditch

Well hello there long lost friends!  I know I have been MIA for quite a while...a month to be exact, but to be honest with you work is kicking my butt.  I have been so exhausted and literally fall asleep every night before 9:00.  I know, old womanlike.  Anyways, I have had a relaxing Sunday and figured I should venture back into the blogging world.  Something that has really spoken to me this weekend is the concept of "digging ditches".  No, not like a construction worker or gravedigger, but in a spiritual sense.  

Pastor Steven Furtick, my pastor, released his new book Greater recently and it has been our series at church these past two weeks.  The book is hitting spiritual spots on my heart, especially this week.  This week we talked about digging ditches.  Elisha was asked to pray to the Lord to bring water to the armies who were dying of thirst in the dessert and God responded "make this valley full of ditches".  He meant that if the armies would make preparations in faith that the Lord would show His faithfulness and bring the rain.  

This really struck me.  So many times I pray to God to make something happen in my life.  I pray for reconciled relationships, I pray for the will to forgive, I pray for people to be saved, I pray for purpose, etc. etc., but rarely do I make the room for God to move.  

God is omnipotent, yes, but we are not helpless.  He expects us to get up and step out in faith.  We cannot expect God to honor our faith if we do not demonstrate it to Him.  All we have is all God needs, but we need to use what we have to prepare the way for the Lord to do greater things in our lives.  I am so guilty of this.  I just expect that God will answer every prayer and I can just sit back and watch.  Not the case.  I need to get up and start digging some ditches because God has a rainfall coming my way that will cause the ditches to overflow with blessings.  So let's get dirty and dig some ditches.   

My Summer Reading List

Let's take ourselves back to grade school when the dreaded summer reading list came out.  The last thing I wanted to do on my summer vacation was read, especially anything related to school.  As I have gotten further into school and eventually made it to graduate school I have found myself missing the opportunity to read books, not text books, but real novels.  For the past few years my summer reading list has consisted of titles like Counseling Theories, Multicultural Counseling, Counseling Adolescents, and Advanced Techniques.  I would spend my summer days, with the heat streaming through the blinds, with my nose buried in textbooks instead of being enthralled by captivating stories.  Well, this summer that is all changing.  I finished my last graduate school assignment yesterday, which means graduation is quickly approaching, which means no more summer classes.  Therefore, instead of dreading the summer reading list I am excited to make one, to fill it with books I've been wanting to read for the past couple of years.  So here are a few that are on my list at the moment.  What are y'all reading lately?  I would love suggestions!