This is a quiet week for many of us. I’m one who likes to leave out our tree and decorations a few days after Christmas. I can at last enjoy the beauty and peace of the season, knowing that all our gifts have been wrapped, unwrapped, and given! We’ve been so busy, and now we have a few days to relax at home.

What will you be doing this week? If I were alone, I’d curl up with several new books I received that I can’t wait to read! I’m so appreciative of family members who spent their valuable time browsing new and used bookstores, looking for treasures. And I have several: a new cookbook full of inspiring photographs, poetry and essays on motherhood, a lavish book of watercolor portraits of children and kittens, and a new Bible.

My new Bible is Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” version. I told the person who gave it to me, “You must have read my mind — really!!” I’ve never read the whole of this version before, yet I often pull quotes from it because Eugene Peterson brings me a fresh view of scripture. Last week, Mind & Media sent me Timothy Smith’s new book, Connecting With Your Kids, and the author sprinkled quotes from the Message version throughout his book.

I’ll be reviewing Connecting With Your Kids very shortly because I have to say that I flew through it and could hardly put it down. And because of that book, I’m going to be making a more deliberate effort to spend quality time with my family this coming year — books and computer aside.

How about you? Are you starting to make plans for 2006? We only have three days left — then out with the old, in with the new. If you can find a minute, try to write down in a journal some things you’re thankful for this year — even if it hasn’t been a great year. The process of writing down your thoughts will often turn your views heavenward.

I read Psalm 143 in the New Living Translation on Christmas Eve, and I absolutely couldn’t believe it — David was writing exactly what was on my mind — so I copied the whole chapter into my journal. There are always surprises like that when you read the Bible every day. God has a chance to whisper to your soul.

I’m off to the Carnival at Two Talent Living — today’s topic is “The Beauty of Excellence.” Sallie collected 14 posts sent in by bloggers, who tried to choose one of their favorites. I’m looking forward to being introduced to some new writers that I’ll bookmark and return to in the year ahead.