If you don’t already know, I LOVE to read and am always looking for some great books to add to my collection. At the end of the year last year, I did a recap on the books I had read over the year & it was great to see what I had read, and what suggestions other people had of what to dive into next! I’m pretty excited to see what y’all have to share for this question 🙂 I’m also attempting to go through the 100 must read books list which you should indeed join me in doing! I adore a good book in my hand and venturing though an old bookstore {the best so far has been in downtown Mobile or at the Flea Market} or especially good ol’ B&N is always a delight.
I have also come to learn that when reading books for pure pleasure, my kindle is where it’s at. However, when reading a book for spiritual growth, I so much prefer to have a physical copy to write in, fold down pages, highlight, and stick notes in. This tangible necessity is so important to me for some reason. Perhaps because scripture was intended to be held. To be viewed as the breath of God in a form we could touch and see. To share and to view and be still and free from distractions. I also like the simplicity of the pages. Of how I can see without clicking just what I was thinking and feeling that day. How worn it has become with use. Stained with tears, lined with furious jottings, or pointed questions. The difference in my handwriting showing the different seasons of my life. How true this is in regards to the books I grow in faith with. So, back to the question at hand…
Recently, I have been reading A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans, and it has truly caused me to reevaluate and begin to grow in a few areas that I wouldn’t have focused on previously. I touched on how I am grappling with cultivating a gentle and quiet spirit. Her style of writing has really captivated me. I tend to become all too often overwhelmed when reading Christian authors these days as many seem to come across with overly technical jargon that pushes me well past feeling an imperfect believer, to full on moronic sinner. Ones that condemn and scream at me to “repent!” lest my ways point someone else towards an improper view of the cross. I dare say I am more fond of the practical and pragmatic approach to growing in one’s faith. I highly encourage each of you ladies to read this book of hers. And you guys as well! There’s a good deal that I’ve shared with my husband that he has thoroughly enjoyed learning about as well.
Also, I spoke briefly about this in a previous post, but one of the most challenging books I have read in regards to my faith remains Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. I read this my freshman year at Auburn in my small group at the Wesley Foundation, and have read it multiple times since then. I have lead multiple bible studies using it as a guide. After lending it to a friend, I went back through it briefly, noting how worn the pages were and how much it had fallen apart over the years. And yet each and every time I read through it, I find something new. I am challenged in a different way. The notes of my 18 year old self vastly differ from what I would inquire today, however it is such a blessing to see the growth just from pouring into the spiritual disciplines. And if that isn’t enough, the subtitle states: The Path to Spiritual Growth. I mean, how can you go wrong?
So I totally went running with this new guy that I'm talking to yesterday..and I was like "how adorable is the name Lauren Elliott?!?!" So cute!