Monthly Archives: February 2021

Books I’m Currently Reading Or TBR

My Love of Books

As an author myself, books are one of my favorite things in the world. So I love reading and sharing book recommendations.

I woke up this morning dragging. Ever have one of those days? You get up early because you know you have a lot to accomplish, but you just can’t seem to get yourself moving. I felt that way this morning.

After making a cup of coffee, I sat down at the table, lit my candle, and started my morning time routine. As a part of my morning time routine each day, I read a chapter or a few pages of whatever book I am currently reading. Right now, it’s Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen. I read more than I usually do because I am trying to finish the book before March starts. By the time I finished reading, I had a smile on my face and encouragement in my heart. Why? Because reading puts us in somebody else’s shoes for a little bit. We get to sit back and hear somebody else’s story or struggles and witness their victory and then feel encouraged in our own lives without having to do anything.

I am a huge advocate of getting up each morning and spending time reading God’s Word and praying. I write often about developing a morning time routine because I believe it is so important. Right behind that is the importance of reading uplifting Christian books. There have been so many times in my life that God has used a book from a woman I have never met and will probably never meet to encourage my heart and help keep me from giving up.

The Encouragement Books Bring

So many women have encouraged my heart, strengthened my faith, made me laugh, made me cry, caused me to see life differently, challenged me to take the next step, and more. I wrote in my book, The Hidden Pain, that some of the authors I was reading became mentors for me. They were the reason I started blogging and writing my own books.

I believe God can use books in a powerful way in our lives. I believe that because I’ve seen it happen. When Matt and I get discouraged, we will often go to Barnes and Noble and buy a book or two. In fact, we just went there last night for our date night, and we each bought a book. Books have played a huge role in who we are, what we believe about God and life around us, the work we do, and our overall spiritual health and encouragement.

So what are some good books to read? I have a list of some of my favorite books on my site. You can find that list here. Below are seven books I have recently read, am reading, or planning on reading soon.

7 Book Recommendations

Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want

This book is by Maria Goff, wife of popular author Bob Goff. Side note— if you haven’t read any of his books, you should. They are some of my favorite books, especially Love Does. This book tells a little more behind the scenes into their family life. It was an encouraging, uplifting book that reminded me that in the end, it’s family that you come back to time and time again.

2. Have More Fun: How to Be Remarkable, Stop Feeling Stuck, and Start Enjoying Life

Mandy Arioto is the President and CEO of Mops International. I really enjoyed this book. It’s lighthearted and fun, just as you would expect it to be from the cover. It’s a quick read and one that just makes you smile or even laugh out loud, like I did several times.

3. Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts

This book was not what I expected at all, having read some of Jennie’s other books. She did a lot of research for this book, and you can tell. The first few chapters pulled me in quickly. I am really loving this book. So much so, I am considering doing it for a ladies online book study for our church. I feel like the truths she is uncovering are so prevalent for women today. Each woman needs to read this book and learn that we can find victory in our thoughts and don’t have to live a life of spiraling defeat.

4. You Are the Girl for the Job: Daring to Believe the God Who Calls You

This book is such an encouragement for any woman who feels like God is calling her to step out and do something. I loved this book. As a person with an entrepreneurial heart, this book was inspiring and just what I needed.

5. When Women Pray: 10 Women of the Bible Who Changed the World Through Prayer

I just picked this book up last night at Barnes and Noble and can’t wait to start it next week. I love T. D. Jakes. His book, Soar: Build Your Vision from the Ground Up is one of my favorites. When I saw that he just released this book last year and it’s for women, I snatched it off the shelf. I am so excited to read it.

6. No More Holding Back: Emboldening Women to Move Past Barriers, See Their Worth, and Serve God Everywhere

Matt got me this book for Christmas. I’ve heard of Kat Armstrong but haven’t read any of her books yet, so I’m excited to try this one. From the back of the book… Kat debunks five common myths about women and invites us to discover the joy and freedom in being all in for Jesus.

7. All My Friends Have Issues: Building Remarkable Relationships with Imperfect People (Like Me)

Matt also got me this book for Christmas. I haven’t ever read anything by this author before, but I love trying new authors. I also like the topic of this book. As someone who struggles to build good friendships, I know this book will be good for me.

If you feel discouraged right now or just need some new life breathed into you, I encourage you to try one or more of these books.

My Reminder This Week to Hold My Loved Ones Close

Gaining Perspective

Sometimes it takes losses like these to remember how blessed I truly am. When we lose someone far too soon, it causes each of us to sit back and reflect on life. It gives us perspective. Perspective is an amazing thing. It helps bring clarity into our lives and shows us what’s really important.

Perspective reminds us that this life is temporary. For some, it’s over way too fast. That’s a sobering reality. We can live our lives in fear of the unknown or we can celebrate each and every day as a gift.

That’s what I’m trying to do this week. I can’t take away the heartbreak from this young mama and her precious children, nor for the rest of Gordon’s dear family- his parents, his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews

Hold Your Loved Ones Close

What I can do is hold my loved ones close today. I can choose to be present with the people I do life with. I can spend each day that I have soaking in life and being so grateful for all that God has given me.

We don’t know how long we have in this life. Each day is a gift. So, choose to celebrate it. Thank God for it. This is my challenge: I want to choose to live every day as if it were my last, to love my family today as if it were the last day I had with them.

A book to read along this same vein is The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard by Kara Tippetts. I’m not going to lie, it’s a hard book to read. But I can’t recommend it enough. Just keep the tissues handy.

Understanding the Process God Takes Us Through

Teaching Reading

When I first started homeschooling, my oldest was in kindergarten. I thought it would be a breeze. After all, it’s kindergarten. How hard can it be? Well, in two words. Very hard. I didn’t realize how crazy I would become trying to teach him to read. I was so discouraged with it. No matter how many things I tried, he just didn’t get it.

The only thing that kept me from switching curriculums a hundred times was the constant advice I heard from Sarah Mackenzie from Read-Aloud Revival. She kept saying, just let the process work. Give your kids a love for books, and the reading will come in time.

So, I did that. Fast forward a few years. Now Malachi is in fifth grade, and we can hardly keep him stocked with books. Now, I’m working with our third daughter who is learning to read and is still struggling. But I’m not worried, because I know that if I just let the process work, she will be fine. It may not be this year or next year, but at some point, everything will come together for her and she will be able to read fluently.

God’s Process to Develop Us

God is a God of systems and structure and order, so it shouldn’t surprise us that He has a process He takes each of us through. That process is found in Romans 5.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Romans 4:3-5 KJV

The New Living Bible puts it this way…

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Romans 5:3-5 TLB

Let’s look at the process in greater detail.

1. Tribulation

First, the problem or trial comes. It may be the loss of a job, a sickness, the loss of a loved one, financial stress, the betrayal of a friend. We all have problems and trials come into our lives. It shouldn’t surprise us. This is the first step of God’s plan to get us to a point where we are completely confident in Him. Certainly, enduring hardships helps us to develop patience.

2. Patience

Without the trial, we wouldn’t mature and grow; we wouldn’t develop the patience required to get to the next step. Learning to endure the trial, to not give up and quit, to not lose faith in the midst of life’s hardest moments develops grit in us and gives us experience.

3. Experience

Learning to endure helps us to grow in our experience. It’s been often said, “A faith not tested is a faith not trusted.” All of us want to be mature, experienced Christians. We want to help others endure their trials and give others encouragement, yet most of us don’t want to have to go through the process of gaining that experience. However, gaining that experience is what gives us hope.

4. Hope

Gaining hope means we’ve been tested, we developed patience and stuck it out, gained experience along the way, and that fills us with the hope that we can do that with the next trial God sends our way. Moreover, we can also be a light of hope to others still in this process. This hope that we have deep inside of us helps us to not be ashamed.

5. Not Ashamed

Once we’ve made it through this process, we can hold our head high in confidence in God’s absolute goodness and working in our lives. We revel in His love for us, that He has worked on our behalf. We begin to understand just how much He loves us. That confidence we take with us into the next problem or trial God sends into our life, and subsequently, the process starts all over once again.

Where are You at in the Process?

We have the “cheat sheet” to understanding how God works in our lives. Instead of just being in the dark, confused, and hurt by God’s allowing something to happen in our lives, we can see exactly where we are at in the process and see what it is God is trying to work in us right now.

Where are you at in the process right now? Has a huge problem come crashing into your life? Did something happen that you just didn’t see coming? Or are you just trying to endure right now? Are you in the developing patience part of the process? Have you entered the experience stage? Are you learning what God wants you to learn and growing in your faith? Have you reached the stage where hope begins to finally bloom? Do you finally see God at work and feel His love? Have you just come out of a trial and better understand God’s goodness and love towards you?

Wherever you are at in the process, take hope in the fact that it’s all part of God’s plan. Know there is an end in sight. Above all, don’t give up. Stick with the process. As a result, you will gain patience, experience, and hope. Subsequently, that hope will make you step confidently into what God has for you because you better understand His incredible love for you.

Lastly, for more encouragement on this topic, read Developing a Faith That’s Strong Enough to Stand On.

3 Lies I Buy Into that Show What I Believe About God

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(This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure HERE.)

girl looking at sunset — photo credit: Anatol Lem

Lies that We Believe about Ourselves

I’m reading Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen right now in my morning time and loving it. In her book, Jennie writes that her friend, a licensed therapist, told her that every lie we tell ourselves is rooted in one of these three lies.

I’m helpless.

I’m worthless.

I’m unlovable.

Jennie goes on to say, “Every lie we buy into about ourselves is rooted in what we believe about God.” That caught my attention. I went back and read it again. Those three lies are at the heart of every lie I believe about myself, and every time I give into believing one of those lies, I’m showing what I truly think and believe about God.

Let’s look at these lies in more detail.

Lie #1: I’m helpless.

This may not feel like something we tell ourselves very often. But before we check this off our list and move on, let’s expand on the thought. These may hit a little closer to home.

I can’t change.

I am dependent on _________________.

I’m tapped out.

I’m unable to…

I can’t do this anymore.

I am weak.

I’m ready to give up.

Do those hit a little closer to home? I know they do for me. In fact, those have been some of the thoughts I’ve had the last few weeks. January and February are notoriously months that I struggle with feeling depressed and discouraged. A lot of people do; it’s called seasonal affective disorder. In short, it’s winter depression. I find myself ready to give up every January and February. I feel like everything I am doing is a waste of time. Nobody cares. I usually want to just crawl back into bed, throw the covers over my head and binge read. Some people binge on Netflix; I binge on books.

So how do we refute the thought and lie that I’m helpless, ready to give up, tapped out, weak, unable to change?

We have to choose to believe what God says.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13 KJV

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit.We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.
II Corinthians 4:8,9 TLB

We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.
II Corinthians 10:5 MSG

We have to come back to God. It’s God who will give me the strength to be who and what I need to be. We may fall, but God helps us to stand back up and keep going. Matt and I say this to each other, “We may be knocked down, but we’re not out.” We have to tear down the thoughts that say I’m helpless and not give them power.

Lie #2: I’m Worthless

Why do women struggle so much with feeling worthless? We work hard at our jobs, care for our families, run our homes, constantly help others, yet we feel like none of this is enough. We feel we have no worth in who we are.

Yet, God has the exact opposite to say about us.

For you know that you were not redeemed from your vain way of life inherited from your fathers with perishable things, like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
I Peter 1:18,19 MEV

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6, 7 MEV

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.
Psalm 139:13, 14 TLB

Do those verses sound like we have no value? Just the opposite, actually. God saw enough value in you that He gave his Son to redeem you. He created every part of you and knows you better than you know yourself. He knows how many hairs are on your head. That sounds like you are incredibly valuable to Him.

Lie # 3: I’m unlovable

If you didn’t relate to the first two lies, you can probably related to this one. Most women, including myself, struggle with feeling lovable. We are so incredibly hard on ourselves. Then because we’re hard on ourselves, we in turn are hard on those closest to us which makes us feel badly about ourselves… and that circles back to making us feel unlovable. It’s a vicious circle.

This is something I constantly struggle with. I am so hard on myself, never feeling like I’m doing enough, trying hard enough. Then I turn that attitude on my kids and push them to do more, work harder, do better. Then when I lie in bed in the dark of night, I feel guilty because I was too hard on my kids once again. That in turn makes me feel unlovable…and the cycle continues.

What does God have to say about it?

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Romans 8:38,39 MSG

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Ephesians 3:18,19 NLT

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.
I John 3:1 MSG

You may have to take a moment to go back and read those verses to truly let them sink in. This lie, I am unloveable, is rooted in what I believe about God. If I believe this lie, I believe that God doesn’t really love me. And that, my friend is the furthest thing from the truth. That is a straight-up lie from the enemy. He wants you to feel that way, but that is so not true. The truth is that God loves you absolutely and completely and far more than your human mind could comprehend.

There is nothing in this world that can separate you from his love. It’s too vast for us to even begin to understand. We are his children. If you have kids, take a moment to think about how much you love them. You would do anything to protect your children, to make sure they know they’re loved, that they’re valuable, that they matter. Why would it be any different with God? Only, his love is so much greater than our human love.

The Truth

We, as Christian women as a whole, have believed these lies for far too long. It’s time to start believing the truth. Here’s the truth.

You are strong because you are a child of God.

You have incredible value and worth.

God loves you so much.

Write those truths down someplace where you can see them every day because it’s not enough to hear them one time. We need to hear these truths every day. Then, when we’ve begun to internalize these truths, we need to speak them into the lives of the women around us—our sisters, our daughters, our friends, our co-workers. Then, just for the fun of it, speak them to the men in your life too. They need to hear them as well.

How much could our lives change for the better if we stopped believing these lies about ourselves and started believing the truth instead? If we truly started believing that we are powerful through Christ, that we have incredible worth, and that we are so loved by God, we could begin to change our corner of the world. After all, we don’t have to change the entire world, just our corner of it.

Faithfully Stepping

Encouragement for Women on their Journey of Faith