Just a few things I've read while laying in bed

I know that I've told myself before that I'm not allowed to post when I'm feverish but it seems the thing to do right now. I just have a few things I've been underlining as I was reading this week. I'm not doing any analyzing, just laying it out there.

We all desire to lead safe, comfortable lives. We may deeply desire to follow Jesus but what about when He leads you to a place that requires risk and sacrifice? - Not a Fan by Kyle Idelman

In another book I'm reading "Paddling the Pacific" by Paul Theroux, he spends time in many remote villages of thatched huts. But he comments on the fact that it make him worried so he doesn't stop in villages that have "tin roofs and cinder blocks, sheds with padlocks that aid agencies built in the innocent belief that they were doing them a favor."  He says he has seen for himself that "..such dwellings and such violated villages are unpredictable, full of nuisances. Villagers living under tin roofs stenciled  A gift from the people of United States of America, and eating food aid, regarded people like me as a soft touch. I was all for foreign aid, but there was a certain type of aid that undermined people and made them dangerous."

Here is another one I've spent some time pondering after reading because it is a different perspective than what I currently have. When I think I'm too tired, frustrated, or can't bear up anymore....

If God asks me to suffer something for a period of time, could I say with conviction,'We know that in all thing God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose'- or would I grumble and wonder why God let it happen to me?  Could I thank God for trusting me with the experience, even of loss or severe hardship or illness, and seek His grace to learn more of Him through it, so that I in turn could help and encourage another- or would I demand release or healing or escape, thinking of such as my 'right' because I am a christian? This attitude of heart and mind, that can joyfully trust God in all circumstances, can only take possession of me as I allow the Holy Spirit to fill me with love for my Lord.   - Living Holiness by Dr. Helen Roseveare

The last book I'll mention this post is Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper. It is five brief biography of women who impacted the kingdom in amazing ways through their faith and obedience. I highly recommend it even though it is making me feel extremely inadequate.