name='p:domain_verify'/> Always A New Day : 2020


12.18.2020

The Ultimate Reading List of 2020

Back from a super long blogging break - hey there, 2020! So much to say, but let's just get to the point of the post - ALL THE BOOKS.

Thanks to a pandemic, I found a great escape from the current state of the world and dove into some fantastic books. 


Here is the ULTIMATE reading list of 2020. 

Disclaimer: I read mostly light-hearted romance and coming of age stories sprinkled in with some thrillers and mysteries. Just to give you an idea of what this list entails.


CLICK HERE to see what I read in 2020 (I beat my 60 book goal by ONE book!)


My 5-STAR recommendations are:

Love and Other Words

The Girl He Used to Know

The Simple Wild

Happy Ever After Playlist

Beach Read

Oona Out of Order

Idea of You

Ugly Love

Hating Game

Where the Forest Meets the Stars

This is Not How It Ends

Swear on This Life

Before We Were Strangers

Breathless

How to Fail at Flirting

Not What I Expected.


When you click on my reading list from Goodreads, you can then click on the books I mentioned to get more info. 

Now to make my reading goals for 2021 - how high should I go? :)

Happy reading!

1.29.2020

Just Be Held - A New Year's Resolution


Four years ago, I was driving through Chick Fil A for some comfort food and kindness, when a song came on the radio. "Just Be Held" by Casting Crowns. Soon after getting my meal, I began driving to my hometown. Crying between each waffle fry and listening to the words.

So when you're on your knees and answers seem so far away
You're not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world's not falling apart, it's falling into place
I'm on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
Just be held, just be held

At first, I felt them as a cry - why couldn't he feel held? When his world started falling apart, couldn't he feel it falling into place as well? That maybe change and heartache would, in the end, teach him more than hurt him. The more I listened, I felt the words for me. My family. His friends. Or just ANYONE who felt alone or hurt. "You're not alone, start holding on, and just be held."



I put the song on repeat on my drive. You see, I wasn't heading home to visit family, I was going home to say goodbye. I was on my way to my brother's memorial service, and this song came booming in at a time where I felt every single note. Every single word.

Lift your hands, lift your eyes
In the storm is where you'll find Me
And where you are, I'll hold your heart
I'll hold your heart
Come to Me, find your rest
In the arms of the God who won't let go

We are at the beginning of a new decade, and I am thinking of him because we lost him four years ago this month. His story, my story, the stories of my friends who hurt, who are anxious, who seek the good with every physical step they take. I can talk of mental health and the need to make the care better. I can talk about it because saying words out loud take the weight off for a bit.

And when your mental health is at stake, you will do anything to eliminate that heaviness. As the song says, "hold it all together, everybody needs you strong." That belief, that feeling, that you are failing because you should be the strong one always, is a myth we can't hold onto - as a mom, as a wife, as a friend, as a human being. 

So when you're on your knees and answers seem so far away
You're not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world's not falling apart, it's falling into place
I'm on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
(Stop holding on and just be held)
Just be held, just be held
Just be held, just be held

In the wake of recent news, these words have meaning yet again. I can't do more than pray they all feel held. That, you, in trying to make sense of this news - or YOUR news - feel held, too. 

In the arms of a God who won't let go. 


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