Reading Recommendations

I've read a bunch of books lately, and thought I'd make a few recommendations for those who might be interested.

Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. Easy read that goes quickly, very interesting and challenging and inspiring. Asks us to make time to listen for God's leading, step out in faith and courage, and not limit what God can do.

The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller. I'll be honest, I wasn't a big fan of Reason for God. It was really technical and I got a little bored with all the arguments in favor of belief. Perhaps that's because I do believe so I don't need to be convinced. Anyway...I really really liked The Meaning of Marriage. It was a great reminder of God's purpose for marriage.

Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. Fantastic book about how God uses parenting to change US. I've read a lot of books about how we can influence our children spiritually...but this was the first one that tackled how parenting changes our spiritual path.

Love and War by John Edlredge. I absolutely love everything I have ever read written by John or Stasi Eldredge. The title is a bit offputting...but the content is fantastic. Eye-opening and encouraging.

Seven by Jen Hatmaker. Fantastic wonderful splendid honest hilarious convicting book. Jen went on 7 fasts over the period of one year. In the categories of clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media and stress she systematically went down to bare basics and chroincled her struggles and joys as she did so. After I read this one, I wanted to try my own Seven!

Barefoot Church by Brandon Hatmaker. If you like reading nonfiction about churches and servant-hearted people this is the book for you. What happens when the church really practices what it preaches - well, life gets messy. And beautiful. Great book.

It's Your Kid, Not a Gerbil by Dr. Kevin Leman. If you would like to receive odd looks from people when you describe to them what you have been reading, well, as the title suggests, this would be your best choice. Basically, this book is about getting your kids off the activity wheel of life and plugged into your family. I was personally convicted by so many of the points of this book and made some specific choices about not over-involving my kids as they get older in every little activity that comes their way. I loved this book. There are those who would totally disagree with it.

As you can see, lots of parenting, marriage, church, simplifying topics in there. That's just the stuff that interests me. I read fiction now and then, too, but not nearly so often as nonfiction. Hope you enjoy any one of those titles!