The Bloggity Book Club

Thanks to Robin and BooMama for hosting this! Their first pick was Get Out of That Pit, by Beth Moore.

I was excited to read this book because I love Beth Moore.

Not because I thought I was in a pit or needed help.

I mean, I tend to be a pretty laid back, casual kind of person (bet that doesn't surprise you if you look around my blog a bit!) and I'm fairly optimistic, too. I don't struggle with depression, although I have bad days and weeks.

So I didn't go in to the book expecting it to really speak to where I am now.

Beth described the three different ways you can get into a pit- being thrown in, sliding in or jumping in. She said that people in pits often make themselves right at home, decorate their pit, and invite others to join them there in their pit.

And when she said that people in pits lose their vision, I finally came to the realization that I did slide into a pit- more than one, really- years ago, and I've only recently begun getting out.

One of those pits is my weight. It just crept up on me slowly until one day I realized that I actually needed to lose 30 pounds, not the 5 or 10 I had been thinking. And then I got pregnant, and well, I just dug my pit a little deeper. And for a long time I believed the lie that I could never change. I do know now that I can lose weight, yet it seems that I just can't help shoveling my pit just a little deeper for that one snack. And that one. And, well, that one, too.

But the even darker pit I slid into was one of separation from God. Becoming a mom combined with living in Japan was a slip n slide right into a pit for me. I think all moms have walked right up and looked into this pit. We're tired. I mean, really tired. And we're busy. And we have so many people depending on us. And the crumbs. My goodness kids are crumby, so the floors need to be vacuumed and the hands washed, and then there's laundry to do and baths to give. And it's just so easy to skip that Quiet Time in favor of a little more sleep or another chore.

Or a shower.

Or to forget about it completely.

I told myself that God understood. And the truth is that He does. He knows how tired I am. But that truth has too often become an excuse for me, and I tell myself that I'll get to my time with God later. And somewhere along the way I lost a lot of my vision. I stopped reaching out to people the way I used to, and expected them to come to me. And while I started the process of getting out of my pit before I read the book, realizing that I was in a pit really helped me to understand a lot of what I have felt emotionally in the past few years.

This book really made me take a look at where I am and where I want to be, and it's written in Beth Moore's totally sistah-like style, making me feel like we were just sharing a cup of Starbucks and having a chat. I would recommend it even if you don't feel like you are in a pit!

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” - Pslam 40:1-3