My 3 Favorite Books This Year...

I love learning!

BUT, I am not a fast reader. And reading at night has never really worked for me - I just turn the light out and go to sleep! I always have many more books that I WANT to read than I can possibly get through. Yet I value reading because I value learning new insights, stories, voices that are different from my own. So I have learned that I need to carve out time and prioritize reading.

Listening to books on an audio app on my phone has been a game changer for me! I spend a lot of time in the car, so listening to audio books is great! I can even listen while I am getting ready in the morning, walking outside, working out at the gym, cooking, cleaning. I have discovered it is a great substitute to just listening to music or leaving the TV on.

So as the weather turns colder and you cozy up with your favorite cup of coffee, tea or hot cider and a book, here are a few of my favorite books I read this year that I highly recommend!

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, by Tony Reinke

Our phones are changing us, it is true! And ironically, I LISTENED to this entire book ON MY PHONE! But I also bought the actual book because I thought it was that good. I knew my phone was changing me, but this book was a challenging reminder of how and why. This book doesn't just address WHAT I do on my phone, but also WHY. It gets at the heart of why I look at my phone frequently, why I can't wait to text someone back, why I post something on social media, and then keep checking for 'likes' or 'comments'. And if you are raising kids or teenagers in this digital world, this is a must read! Our phones are a great tool, an excellent resource to connecting with others and accessing information. But it's just a tool, and sometimes I allow that tool in my hands to steal from me the people and life and moments right before me. Even as I write this, I am thinking, it's time to read this book again!

The Church In Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness

by Erwin Lutzer

I was encouraged, challenged...encouraged and challenged again! Erwin Lutzer compares the Church in America today to God's people living in Babylon, asking the question, "How do we live faithfully in a country becoming more and more hostile to our faith in Christ?" He points to examples of faithful God-fearing men and women in the time of Babylon like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He states in the first chapter, "Like Israel in Babylon, our challenge is to impact the culture without being spiritually destroyed by it." This book is a timely reminder to us as individual followers of Christ as well as for the church as a whole regarding our call to be sent into the world, to engage and impact the culture and world around us while standing firm in our faith.

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, by W. Phillip Keller

Growing up on a farm, I love a book with plenty of farming or agricultural stories and analogies. This entire book is written from the perspective of a sheep farmer, looking at Psalm 23. As September approached I decided to read through the first 40 Psalms. When I came to the 23rd Psalm I began reading this book, which had been sitting in my book 'wish list' for years. The writer brings so much context to each line of this Psalm, pointing out that David was a shepherd and was likely thinking through much of this perspective as a shepherd himself when he wrote this Psalm. This is a short book, but each chapter had me meditating on my relationship with my Good Shepherd, grateful for how He leads me beside still waters, how He restores my soul, how He guides me through paths of righteousness, how He comforts me, how He prepares a table before me, and so much more!




And if I were to tack on a favorite Bible study this year...

Included in Christ: Living a New Story from Ephesians

by Heather Holleman

I already love the book of Ephesians, but I especially love how Heather Holleman brings Paul's writings to the church in Ephesus to life. She challenges us to see and write both our Shadow Narratives (who we used to be) and our Redemption Stories (who we are now)! This is a great study for individual or group Bible study use!

So what are your favorite books you read (or listened to!) this year? I would love to hear!

Linger and Listen...

Over two years ago I sensed the Lord calling me to be 'Full of Faith & Free from Fear', especially as I entered into the year of celebrating my 40th birthday. I had returned from a year overseas, a year that challenged me to deeper steps of faith, free from fear. 2017 unfolded to be a difficult year in many respects, facing changes, transitions and losses that were unexpected as I returned to the States.  I spent more time in the barn doing daily chores on our family's dairy farm that year than I ever have, which allowed for plenty of 'think' time. But as the year wore on, it was as if I kept hearing this soft and subtle whisper, "Listen" from the Lord, "Linger, and Listen".

My view on the farm where I spent many days reading
and listening to the Lord during my Sabbatical Fall 2017.

September 2017 I welcomed my first Sabbatical after 16 years in full-time ministry, and I was convicted by how busy and loud I tend to keep my life, whether working, talking to others, or on my computer or phone. Solitude is hard for me. Silence is not comfortable. But why?? I grew up the youngest of five on a dairy farm. Our house was always busy and often loud. I think I learned at a young age that 'she who speaks loudest, longest and most persistently wins!' Did I mention that I have 3 older sisters?! ;)

I have come to learn that I thrive in crazy and in chaos. It's 'normal' and 'comfortable' to me. Yet, every Sunday afternoon everyone in our house rested. I strongly disliked Sunday afternoons as a kid - I often remember my mom telling me I didn't have to take a nap, but I did have to find something quiet to do for the afternoon and not bother anyone. How I couldn't wait to hear the stirring of my mom or dad or someone in the house when they would get up from their Sunday nap!

Don't get me wrong, as an adult I LOVE a good nap! And I love some solid alone time (but not TOO much!). Yet even in solitude, I often stay 'busy'. It's hard for me to 'cease working'. There's a reason it took me 16 years in ministry before taking my first Sabbatical.

Even in conversations, my natural (usually unaware) tendency is that I am generally more likely to talk than to listen. The past several years I have asked the Lord to grow me in the area of being more 'verbally self-aware' because I have so often been told how I'm a 'talker' or not a great listener. Hearing how that affects others saddens me. But I struggled with how to change something that is second-nature and that I am often blind to until hindsight. I'm verbal, I'm a communicator (both written and verbal), I'm a relational extrovert. I  know these things about me and they are part of the way God in His Sovereignty and Goodness created me as His child!

But how do I maintain these things about me and use them for His glory without failing to provide a space to listen - to God and to others?  It's not that I intentionally talk as much as possible. But it is a lack of intentionality to listen. So as I came out of my Sabbatical that fall and entered into 2018, I asked the Lord to show me what it looks like to intentionally LINGER - rest, cease from work, maybe sit in His presence without words, and even take a Sunday nap without guilt. :)

I asked Him to teach me how to LISTEN, truly Listen, from the heart, to God and to others; not just listen from my head or my ears, but from my heart. I asked Him to quiet my mind so that I can make space to hear His voice, His words. And I asked Him to help me hear others, to know when to listen, when to share, when to ask questions and what questions to ask. I desire to learn how to listen, not just for my benefit of hearing and knowing information, but for others to have a safe place to share their story.

As a result, I wrote and posted a little less, and tried to read or listen a little more. It's amazing what you hear, from God, from His Word and from others, when you linger long enough to listen, really listen. I'm not saying I have arrived! I still battle the stirring drive to busyness, and frequent talking. Some days I'm a better listener than others. But I'm learning. I'm learning to linger in Jesus' presence. I'm learning to listen from my heart, to God and to others.