October 8th: Fresh-Brewed Life

It will probably come as no surprise, given the name of my blog, that this book has made the list of #31Days of Writing About My Favorite Books.

Fresh-Brewed Life has been very important to me throughout the years. Even though the book has since been updated, I still keep my hardbound autographed and marked-up version. (To show the cover and the autograph in the photo, I moved the dust cover.)

I first read this book after seeing Nicole Johnson perform her dramatic sketches at a Women of Faith conference in 2000 in Des Moines, Iowa. I returned to journaling then, and I felt like I was coming into myself. This book resonated within my soul. I felt like I was indeed waking up--learning to be alive inside my skin--realizing I was more than the sum of my parts: pastor's wife and mother. I was Pattie, chosen, created, and loved.

I had no idea that less than a year after reading this book that I would experience a series of painful events over the course of the following 12 months that would threaten to completely unravel me: first the betrayal at the hands and keyboard of someone I had once considered a very close friend and confidante, the unexpected death of my beloved dog, the events of 9/11/01, and the shattering of my parents' marriage.

The lessons I learned from Fresh-Brewed Life have truly helped me over the course of the past thirteen years.

Three years ago, I wrote this: 

[Fresh-Brewed Life] was one of those books that I devoured the first time I read it, and then I went back through it with my journal in hand and savored it. It is a book I've read over and over, referred to, recommended, led book clubs through, and given as a gift. I even got the mug and coffee set one year for myself for my birthday (that's the photo you see). I volunteered at Nicole's book table two years running at Women of Faith in Kansas City back in the early 2000s, and I had an absolute ball with her mom and stepdad behind the table. . . .

Because I'm such a coffee fanatic, the coffee metaphor in the book spoke to me strongly and continues to do so, even now. I must choose to submit to being roasted and finely ground by God, living each day to its fullest, savoring life and relationships and friendships as much as I can. I think it's even more meaningful to me now that I am thousands of miles from the home I've always known, from my family and close friends.

I hope that my writing will encourage and inspire, but more than that, I pray that I communicate God's love through my words. 

To read more of this #31DaysofBooks series, visit the introduction post.