Due to requests for recommendations on books of certain topics I thought I'd just stack up a small pile of my favorites here for you to thumb through. I hope you enjoy this peek at my bookshelves!
I gratefully admit, Ann Voskamp is one of the main reasons I began blogging. I love how she communicates deep truths about God through everyday experiences. She reminds me I can connect with the Holy One through the ordinary, the mundane, the difficult. Being grateful... finding joy... remaining on the straight and narrow path of joy through all the twists and turns of life is a great challenge to me. One Thousand Gifts
beautifully encourages me into the arms of Him who gives me the strength to try again this day, this hour, this moment. She has heard from God and shares their whispered conversations in a generously raw and wonderful way. She asks the hard questions and lets Him faithfully answer. Highly recommended. I will definitely re-read this one many times.
Do you find yourself saying "I've just been so busy lately..." more often than not? May I recommend When I Relax I Feel Guilty? The name says it all. The Spirit (through Tim Hansel) must have been writing this book just. for. me. Part of the description on the back cover reads "Joy is supposed to be a spiritual fruit-so why are so many Christians convinced that they aren't serving God unless they're exhausted, running here and there, and miserable?" I wouldn't have said all those things about myself in that way... but I live them sometimes. When to say no? What things to say no to? Equally important... what things to say yes to? Learning how to rest in Christ is critical for the endurance needed to run this one life-race well. Read it slowly. Live it wholly. Be holy.
I could confidently recommend every Beth Moore book without the slightest hesitation. Even the ones I haven't read yet. Yet. Having the privilege to live close enough to Houston to hear her speak in person at her Tuesday night Bible studies has been a tremendous blessing. She is in love with, lives for, and writes for the LORD Most High. The two most perspective changing books I have read of hers are Jesus the One and Only and Believing God. The main thing I remember from reading Jesus the One and Only is that I understood for the first time that Jesus really, deeply, passionately, vulnerably, generously loves me. Me. It walks you through the book of Luke in a such a way that God's heart, thoughts, and intentions for you through the scriptures and her words are just so bare and beautiful that if you are like me... you won't get through many chapters without grateful tears. And I'm not a "crier". But feeling the love of Jesus melts me.
And Believing God
? Read it over and over. And over. It is so packed full of truth and helpful perspectives for identifying what we really believe... and then lining up our minds, emotions, and actions with the Truth of God. Believing Him instead of merely believing in Him has made me a new woman. It was also the book that cultivated an idea that eventually grew into My Jesus Story Box.
I came across Intimate Issues at just the right time. What a beautiful thing to have hard, complicated, unspoken questions about what God has to say about sex laid out in the comfortable format of a book? It's nice to not have to ask some things out loud. Scripture based... that is what did it for me. Opinions are great but I want to know what The Word has to say about it. And He has a lot to say. After all, the God-given and designed intimacy in marriage is supposed to reflect the glorious mystery of Christ and the church. I believe it has helped me to be a better wife. It was definitely an answer to some specifics of that prayer.
What a blessing this book is to me! Through the Bible with My Childis a four year journey through the Word that is broken down in to bite size pieces for little-people quiet times. Selah loves that this book is especially for her quiet times. She has her very own built-in journal in the book where she can record "Discoveries about God", "Discoveries about Man", and "God's Commands". There are also pages for lists(like the creation days), and plenty of room for Words/Phrases that we look up together to better understand their meaning. There are memory verse recommendations and daily review questions, maps to enhance geographical knowledge and tests to help this knowledge become long-term memory and to help evaluate teaching. I am learning a lot!... And my six year loves it too. : )
I had an abortion when I was 18. I was a single mom by the time I was 20. I counseled at a Crisis Pregnancy Center from 21-23. I was married at 23 and became pregnant only a few short weeks later. My husband and I are now expecting our third daughter in November. The combination of these events in my life have lead to countless questions from friends and loved ones over the last 6 years about my thoughts on many related topics to abortion and birth control etc. May I humbly suggest this read? Thoroughly researched and easy to read, Randy Alcorn has scientifically and scripturally answered the question that all who consider themselves pro-life and/or Christian should ask: Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?. Alcorn's vested interest in finding the answer to these questions was two-fold. First, he and his wife had used it in their early years of their marriage, and he had been recommending the pill(as a pre-marital pastor of fourteen years) as the form of contraception that newlyweds should use versus IUDs because he had read that they caused abortions. A must read. Five star.Coming Soon:
Children's books
Poetry
Cook Books
**any other requests? Just drop me a line and I'll be happy to add those topics too!**
