Reading Again

I'm not sure if it's because the boys are getting a little older and therefore are a bit lower maintenance than they were, or if it's because we're living in a college town where everyone reads a lot, but I've found myself rediscovering my joy for reading. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy reading about almost anything and everything, but especially about issues concerning women in ministry, post-modernism and the growth of the next generation of the church.

I recently finished reading a book given to me as a Christmas gift-Wanting All the Right Things by Shirin Taber. The overall theme of the book that stood out to me was the comparison the author made between American families and European families. Her view that American women have turned parenting into a competition was refreshing. She points out that at no other time in history have women and families been so ready and willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of our children's interests, and not necessarily for their best interests. Our families are over-committed, over scheduled and over-stressed. We have little time for casual socializing and building genuine relationships with other women. Ultimately our children will suffer from the absence of genuine relationship in our lives. Taber encourages her reader to initiate relationships with the wonderful women around us instead of signing the kids up for more activities. She reaffirmed for me that it is OK to let them watch a movie and eat ice cream while I can have a conversation with a neighbor for an hour. There was lots of other good stuff in there too.

Now I'm reading a book Eric had to buy for a class- The Web of Women's Leadership. It seems like the whole premise of the book will be women in leadership- more specifically church leadership- and how women lead differently from men. They authors of the book use the metaphor of a web style of leadership, contrasting it to the traditional hierarchical style of leadership used by men for generations. It looks promising too. I'll let you know.