Last weekend, I attended the Half Price Books sale in Overland Park. This was a huge event with tables stacked with books – all for less than $2.00.

For an author and a reader, it was a yahoo morning.GW Library

Although none of the books were in any sort of alphabetical order, they were designated by areas so I headed for the Reference area – hoping to find a writing book I’ve been looking for. “The Memoir Project” is a book that an editor suggested to me, but alas – I could not find this particular book.

Then I moved toward the Religion section, hoping to find some great nonfiction titles or maybe a novelist I had not read before. Lots of Amish fiction was available – not for me, but I did find a new journal with a funky cover that I can save for my next gratitude journal. As fast as I fill up my journals, it won’t be long until I begin this new one.

As I picked through the selections, I talked with other readers and found a wonderful camaraderie in our joint desires to find that perfect next book to read. With a couple of novels plopped into my tote bag, I moved toward the next table.

One title caught my eye, so I leafed through a workbook about Divorce Recovery. This book had innumerable ideas and worksheets that I can use when I facilitate the next SOS group at GateWay. Our Starting Over Single group helps women who have experienced divorce to move forward in life with determination and joy. Grateful for this find, I carefully placed the workbook in my bag.

Then another treat. One of the areas that I coach at GateWay is to help women become their authentic selves – to stop wearing those masks we all tend to put on because we compare ourselves with other women or because we’re afraid to truly be ourselves.

A book by Sarah Ban Breathnach, titled “Something More” follows her “Simple Abundance” book and provides a wealth of material about authenticity. I browsed through the book, eager to read chapters on “Excavating Your Authentic Self,” “Keeping Your Body and Soul Together” and “Sacramental Possibilities.” This book will be a wonderful resource to help women live intentionally as God created them to live.

When I find books such as these and I leave an event with a tote bag filled for only eight dollars, I feel immeasurably blessed – almost as if God Himself gave me these surprise gifts and said, “Enjoy these books, my daughter. I love you.”

Don’t you love it when you see God’s gifts apparent in your life? What are some recent gifts you have experienced?

©2014 Rebecca Thesman, Life Coach and Program Director
GateWay of Hope – The Helping Place for Hurting Women