I guess I was on a reading break . . . like in college when they give you have coupe of days off so you can 'catch up on homework' (OR see how many people can fit in a car and travel 100s of miles in a few days). Well, I really have been reading. A LOT. I thoroughly enjoy reading of many kinds and have stacks of books around my house. I thought I'd share a few favorites in case you were wondering what I've been up to OR are looking for some good reads.
**LIES Young Women Believe by Nancy Liegh DeMoss and Danah Gresh. These ladies had surveys completed by 100s or young women and focused on the most popular lies that young women believe about God, sin, themselves, relationships, etc. They counter these lies with the truths that scripture teaches and end each chapter with reflection questions. I would highly recommend this book to young ladies.
**The Look is small booklet by DeMoss about modesty and appearance and seeking what God teaches us in these areas. A very short read, would be wonderful for a girls group or mom and daughter to read/ discuss together.
**Set Apart Feminity:God's Sacred Intent for Every Young Woman by Leslie Ludy addresses modesty, but also talks about how the daily life of young women (their thoughts, interests, friendships) should all be set apart for God. I really enjoyed this one as well and think that it would be a great blessing to young women as well as a challenge to strive for a holy life lived before our holy God.
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Woman’s Wisdom—How the Proverbs speak to everything by Lydia
Brownback is another excellent read for women of all ages. She takes several themes of the Proverbs and sets out what these principals should look like in our lives, encouraging women to live out the teachings of the Proverbs. She is the author of Fine China is for Single Women Too a wonderful, sincere, biblical view the life God calls to those who are currently single. Her devotionals : Joy, Trust, Contentment, and Purity are awesome books with brief biblical devotionals that I would highly recommend.
**Morning Will Come by Sandy Day and Little One Lost by Glenda Mathes both address issues of infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, and early infant death. They share many stories of couples who have walked these difficult paths and share the confidence and hope we have in a loving God that carries us through the sad and confusing situations of life.
**Love to Eat, Hate to Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick is another book I would highly recommend to anyone who has food/eating issues . . . if you have been on diets and tried to lose weight or if you struggle with anorexia or bulimia. She clearly teaches what the Bible says about food, eating, and all related issues. She includes a checklist of questions to ask about eating, a list of several issues/temptations that lead us into sinful eating habits and scriptures to help encourage us along the right path.
**Disciplines of a Godly Family is written by Kent and Barbara Hughes. We are using this in our church parenting group and everyone is enjoying it. They are practical, biblical, encouraging, and realistic. The back of the book includes various tools and appendices that are full on helpful information. Kent wrote Disciplines of a Godly Man and Barbara wrote Disciplines of a Godly Woman that would also be great reads (I've read the woman one, but the the man one ;).
If you read more than a few blogs, you might see little buttons on the side or weekly linky parties where a blogger picks a category (usually beginning with the first letter of the day she posts) and then anyone can post something similar and link to the original post and they all check each others ideas or pictures or meal plans or tips . . . it is interesting. Actually it is a little humorous because I first saw lots of "Wordless Wednesday" posts and it is a fun, easy way to post a picture. Then I ran into "Works for me Wednesday" where there are tons of household tips and I thought I wonder if anyone does both WW's, how weird would that be?!?! Then I saw Gratituesday, Thankful Thursday, Meal Plan Monday, Friday Funnies, Sunday Sweets (actually they aren't all linky parties, but 'series' of posts).
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So, I was going to share a few ideas and I always pause to think of a catchy title and giggle at the same letter titles because sometimes silly things make me laugh. So I might have some Friday Funnies tomorrow, but I probably won't get to them . . . but I am writing my thoughts here on Thursday--I just had to check my calendar, it is Thursday so it is a good day to be thoughtful ;)
I've been reading tons of books for our church library recently and it has been such a blessing. Last week I finished Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World about spending quiet time in the Word and setting aside our Martha desires to do it all. It was so refreshing, especially at the start of a new year when we are tempted to set all sorts of goals of things we want/need to achieve in the new year. I was reminded over and over again that although taking care of my family is important, sitting at Jesus' feet in quiet devotions is what I am called to do as well. Tonight I am starting Weaver's sequel Having a Mary Spirit, so I'll have to get back to you on that one.
Another awesome book I recently finished is Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. The subtitle is "What if God created marriage more to make us holy than to make us happy?" Every time I read that I would pause and just think how profoundly challenging that is to me. I was single for many years and thought that marriage was the key to happiness, now I nod with Gary and see that God is teaching me to be holy as He works in my heart through my marriage. He quotes someone at the beginning of a chapter and I need to paraphrase because I no longer have the book here, getting married is like buying a full length mirror (you see all you faults more clearly)--how true!!
Tonight I finished Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp. (He wrote Shepherding a Child's Heart which is an excellent book.) The Tripp's write about the importance of not only reading the Bible daily with our children, but talking about the stories and truths of God's Word as we interact with our children, that our example is teaching them just as much as our words, and that having conversations about discipline issues are much more meaningful when they understand the truths of the gospel because they are such an integral part of our lives and our speech. They focus more on the importance of teaching our children the centrality of Christ in our lives than on discipline, but there are a lot of practical examples that are helpful in discipline as well. Great read, very useful tool for parents!
I hope your Monday is meaningful, your Tuesday terrific, have a wonderful Wednesday, thoughtful Thursday, Funny Friday, Successful Saturday, and Sweet Sunday . . .
