Today I am thankful for various resources that have helped me as a Christian, wife and parent. There are so many "self-help" and marital advice and parenting plan books out there but I have found certain ones to be far superior to others. Below is a list of resources I am most thankful for that have really aided my roles as wife and mom over the last 24 years.
- Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas. This book!! If you aren't familiar with it, I highly recommend you find your self a copy. It's about how we all relate to God differently....how we best worship Him...how we relate to Him. There are 9 spiritual temperaments defined in the book and questions to help you discover yours!! I discovered that mine is "Naturalist" which really helped to explain why I feel so at home in the woods and in the mountains or on a lake. It really helped to free my soul to realize it IS ok to have my praise and worship time in the woods...out in the beauty that God created. My pastor's wife first introduced me to the book and I've been so thankful for this tool and have used it in small group and recommended it to many friends.
- The Soul Care Bible. This Bible was first given to me when I was teaching parenting classes to inner city women and men in crisis. I did that ministry for 5 years twice a week and this Bible came in handy as it has devotionals and anecdotes based on Scripture relating to many issues these clients were facing like abuse, marital conflicts, adultery, abortion, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, among others. The version I have is the NKJV and I love it. It's a great tool for counseling or for leading a small group.
- The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. My husband and I loved this book from the start. We own the ones for children and for marriage. The one for children has been most helpful to us in discovering both daughters' primary and secondary love languages. I refer to it often to help other moms discover what their child's love language is....how we all feel loved emotionally by those closest to us.
- Jesus Calling. I have turned to this mini devotional again and again. This little book is chock full of the words of Jesus.....a great resource when I'm in a hurry and don't have the time to read whole chapters of the Bible some mornings.
- Women of Faith Devotional Bible. I love mine!! In the last 20 years I've owned the paperback version which got so torn and used that my husband replaced it for me a couple of Christmas' ago with the hardcover version. The Bible is in the NKJV which is a fave of mine and has a devotional section arranged by topic such as the sovereignty of God, healing, joy, love, forgiveness among others. It's also a "topical" Bible with short anecdotes based on specific Scriptures and written by the various women on the Women of Faith team. This is my absolute fave Bible and the one I use most days.
There are many other resources I have enjoyed and been thankful for over the years but those are probably 5 of my favorites.
What are you thankful for today??
5 comments:
Let me tell you...I once had someone say to me (she was having a hard time raising her children), "I wish there was a book about parenting!" I said, "There is, the Bible." She looked at me like I was foreign. ANYWAYS---great post...always love your prases.
Great to have Christian women who share great resources! Thank you!
I have my favorites too. One of my favorites is an unusual one - it's "In the Footsteps of Jesus" - by Bruce Marchiano as he told of his experience portraying Jesus in The Gospel According to Matthew. It is full of the love of God and I read it over and over. Have a blessed day.
Faith, thank you so much for sharing about these books. I just finished The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman last month. I LOVE Gary Thomas' writings. I've read Sacred Marriage (which is awesome!) but I've not read Sacred Pathways. It is going on my wish list. ;)
Thanks for sharing, Faith. Sacred Pathways is definitely going on my list to check out.
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