It was the day after Ash Wednesday when I stopped by my business mailbox. I had about a million things on my to-do list for the coming
three days, and I knew I wouldn’t get through them even with having Friday off. But along with the usual magazines and solicitations was this lovely book, written by my friends Penny Bailey and Laura Roland, the founders of the Encounter Grace ministry to women.
At first I felt awful; I’d meant to order a copy of the book, fifty-two words, one per week, and two pages to write down thoughts or doodle, but hadn’t gotten around to it. (It was on that to-do list, I swear.) But I smiled when I opened it up and saw the word for Week 1: CLEANSE, and a verse from my favorite psalm, Create in me a clean heart, O God (Psalm 51:10).
And suddenly, before I’d written a single word, the other items on that to-do list seemed a lot less important.
Loved the Ash Wed cross story — so true!
The perennial favorite on my nightstand is not a book, but a magazine called “Gilbert!” which I get by subscribing to the Gilbert K. Chesterton society. It contains writing by and about Chesterton, and other good stuff, too. A few paragraphs of sanity before I lie down helps me sleep better 🙂 https://www.chesterton.org/membership/