Hello, Friends!
Today is going to be all about…. You Should Read This Book. I hope you are well and enjoying this beautiful fall weather. Personally, I can’t get enough of being outdoors. Has nature ever been such a joy?
You Should Read This Book…
If you know me in real life, you may be aware that I taught Language Arts to junior highers for the majority of my second career. Spelling tests didn’t really do it for me, and diagramming sentences seemed like a waste of time, but discussing books and writing to inform and reflect and share stories—-that lit me up!
I still believe in the power of really good books to change our lives and make us think so I want to share three books that have impacted me recently.
You Should Read This Book… One
His Word in My Heart by Janet Pope
Don’t you love realizing God has his hand in the smallest details of your life?
A few days ago, I just happened to be listening and actually paying attention to just the right podcast at just the right time to hear a random reference to this book title.
I just happened to write it down and not procrastinate and actually order it.
Then, I actually read it.
And it is a game changer! Thank you, Dad!! So thankful this book popped on my radar.
This is the story of one woman’s journey of learning how to walk with the Lord by memorizing scripture. And how it changed her life and now is changing the lives of people everywhere.
As a child, I had wonderful Sunday School teachers who encouraged us to memorize the Bible. Because of the two “Lela’s”, I learned the Lord’s prayer, Psalm 23 and lots of random verses. What a blessing those women and those verses were in my life!
Janet Pope encourages memorizing entire chapters and even books of the Bible. Her desire is to learn the Word in context which really resonated with me because we miss the meaning of a passage when we only focus on random verses that we like, pulled willy nilly from the Bible.
That is a recipe for wrong theology.
The book is full of tips and tricks and encouragement and I loved it. Her personal testimony of how this practice has impacted her relationship with her Father is very inspiring. As believers our delight is to meditate on God’s words as He transforms our thoughts to His. And this book tells us how.
One passage at the end of the book really challenged me….”How would you hope to describe your walk with God in twenty years? Do you want to be a godly, wise person who knows the heart of God and lives by the light of His word? You will not become this person by default. You will only become what you are in the process of becoming.”
Intentional formation is required.
My resistance rose right up as I began reading this book and my first response was, “I cannot memorize long passages anymore.”
But, I’m letting go of those negative, self-defeating thoughts. I’m diving in. And I’m already reaping the benefits. I don’t believe in coincidences. So since God brought this book to my attention, I better not ignore it. I hope you read this book and join me.
You Should Read This Book…Two
When Making Others Happy is Making You Miserable by Karen Ehman
The need to stop people pleasing continues to show up in my life in lots of ways. Sermons, articles, books, jokes-there it is again. Sacred echoes are a red flag for me to pay attention.
When I read this quote, I laughed out loud! I could have said those words.
Did you know there is such a thing as the idolatry of the approval of man? When your first thought is more about how others will think of you than what God will think…Houston, we have a problem.
Ironically, I didn’t want to share about this book, because I didn’t want anyone to think less of me for suffering with this issue. But, here we are. That would be hilarious proof of my issue. Blech.
Karen offered 7 “Stop It!” Statements for People Pleasers
1. Every need is not necessarily your call.
2. Don’t take on more than you can pray for.
3. Their happiness is not your assignment.
4. You don’t need their permission to do God’s will.
5. Stop making their feelings your responsibility.
6. You don’t owe them an excuse for why you said no, but you will owe God an explanation for why you said yes.
7. You can say yes to the friendship while saying no to a friend.
Do any of those resonate with you?
I found her challenge at the end of the book to be very encouraging.
She writes:
Will you dare to stop putting people in the place of God? He alone is the one we should strive to please.
He will give you confidence.
He will allow you to conquer your can’t.
He will allow you to live a life that pleases him and is in harmony with others, teaching both you and them important lessons along the way.
I’m thankful Karen shared her struggle and the ways she broke free. If this is a problem for you, check out this book!
What do you think? How is this a struggle for you?
You Should Read This Book…Three
Atomic Habits by James Clear
We are literally building our lives with our habits, so I am trying to eliminate bad ones and implement lots of good ones.
Life is full of opportunities to get out of our ruts. Here are things I want to remember from reading this book the first time……
Tiny changes over time lead to big differences.Productivity, knowledge and relationships compound. My outcomes are lagging measures of my habits.All big things come from small beginnings. Change my systems and don’t give up before results happen.Become aware of the habits I have now. Does this habit help me become the type of person I wish to be?Decide ahead of time.Stack a new habit with an old habit.There’s a bunch more, but trying to not fall into my old habit of overwhelm which leads to inaction.
What new habits are you trying to form? I have several I’m implementing. I’d love you to tell us in the comments so I can cheer you on!
That will do it for today, friends. Look for another edition of You Should Read This Book coming soon.
Want to start a new habit with your kids? Check out this post…A Gospel Christmas
Always a blessing to read your words. Thank you my friend. Also, I continue to hold all of you in prayer as your grieve dear Andy.
Thank you so much, Cori. For all the things.