New Favorite Book

I read In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson last week. (It took all of 2 or 3 days on Mommy Time-it was so good!) Quite a title-enough to make you at least pick it up and read the notes on the back. There are two things I love about this book:

1. It is written in conversational English (easy to read and understand).

2. It is jam-packed with "Uppercase T" Truth.

I've grown up hearing and reading the Bible, but I never remember the story of Benaiah from 2 Samuel 23:20-21 from which this book is centered. He was a warrior in the time of King David and actually chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day...not a lie. I've never been that close to a lion, but I can tell you, if I ever encountered one like Benaiah did, my first choice would not be to chase it into a dark enclosed space...I think claustrophobia just kicked in...

This book is all about looking at circumstances as opportunities, especially the really scary circumstances that make me so insecure like being a good wife, a good mother, a good friend, a church planter and a business owner.

One area of my life that I am in the process of overcoming is fear. Mark Batterson wrote a whole chapter on our outlook on fear. Here's a great quote from a section entitled "The Fun of Fear":

"If you take a second to reflect on your life, you'll discover that the greatest experiences are often the scariest, and the scariest experiences are often the greatest."

BAM! I love that one because it's true.

Overall, my message to myself and to others is to not miss out on God-ordained opportunities because they look scary or seem overwhelming. Be like Benaiah, a real-life lion chaser...he survived and thrived when "opportunity roared."