Top Eight, Top Ten, Whatever

I have found a fellow book-lover at work, and today we are exchanging a list of our Top Ten Favorite books. My list is actually my top eight...I have tons of books that I "enjoyed" reading, but they're not quite allowed admittance to the very exclusive "favorite" category. So here's my request, I'll share mine if you'll share your's. It doesn't have to be your top ten...it can be your fav five, spectaculor six or exclusive eight (I love alliterations).


Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers
Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Count your many blessings, count them one by one

Over the last few days, weeks and months, our economy has been in a tailspin. As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovers slightly above 9,000. I, also, just finished reading an article about the sacrifices so many are making on a daily basis just to make ends meet (just learned that it's "meet" not "meat"). And then the song "Count your many blessings" popped into my head. So often, during difficult times, we are consumed with our struggles and completely forget to look at all the blessings God has bestowed on our lives. I read a devotional the other day about what an amazing gift every breath is, and we should thank God every morning we're able to get up and take those breaths. The writer encouraged the reader to take time to sit and breathe, and with every breath in to think of something to be thankful for, and breathe that out. So today, amidst topsy-turvy stock markets, unreal unemployment rates and outrageous gas prices, think of all the blessings in your life (and I'll do it too), and then, just breathe.