It’s summer and the time to pull out some books! I’m going to share what it on my Summer Reading list in hopes of inspiring some of you to join me and push me to read them all. 

Ten Words to Live By by Jen Wilkin

I’m reading this in preparation for our Tuesday Bible study on Exodus that begins in September, but I think I would read it even if that was not the case. After studying the Sermon on the Mount this past year, and the book of James before that, I am finally seeing that obedience in the Scriptures is really about God changing our hearts to love obedience, rather than my behavior changing to be more obedient on my own (which isn’t going to work…..).

Gay Girl Good God by Jackie Hill Perry

This is our Summer Book Club book and I am about a third of the way through it. I confess it is a challenging read but Jackie is eloquent about her choices and she doesn’t make any excuses. So while it is perhaps an unusual summer read, I think it is an important book for us to read in order to begin to deal with issues that make us uncomfortable. (If you would like to join in on the Summer Book Club or have questions about it, contact me at colleeng@eccfellowship.org)

I’m Praying For You by Nancy Guthrie

I am reading this each morning as part of my quiet time. This book consists of short chapters beginning with a Scripture to pray for friends who are suffering. I have found it so incredibly helpful in not only teaching me to pray but in comforting my own heart as I share the sadness of my sisters in Christ. It is the best book on prayer I have read in a long time and will stay on my ‘active reading’ shelf as a year-round help.

Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tina Harrison Warren

This is another book I read off and on during my quiet times. I am always charmed and motivated to see my everyday life, tasks and relationships through her eyes as she takes them from the mundane to the sacred.

Aging with Grace by Susan Hunt and Sharon W. Betters

All right - I am showing my age. But this book is encouraging me in my walk with the Lord, to continue to push ahead in growing, studying the Word, and flourishing as one of those older women in the church, though my pace may be slower. There is no age limit on discipleship and I need others to continue to poke and prod me where I am blind to my weakness and sin. I don’t want to grow complacent in my walk with Christ, depending on the past to supply what I need for obedience. I am thankful for the examples of women in this book to reveal the power of the gospel to me in fresh ways.

The Holy Bible

OK, you may think I am cheating on this one! We should ALL be reading our Bibles. But a friend said to me recently that the best thing she has done in the last few years is sit down and read large chunks of Scripture every day. And this was a busy homeschooling mom who carves out time to read through the Bible in 9 months – so I felt like I have no excuse! I am happy to say that I have been reading through the Bible this year and it is indeed one of the best things I am doing for my own spiritual growth. Seeing the grand, big story of the Bible is invaluable to understanding the smaller stories contained in it. I have been using a specialized version of the Bible, The Story of Redemption Bible, which is simply a very readable version of the Bible (minimal footnotes and no notes in the side margins, so that pages are ‘clean’ and the Scripture takes main stage) with notes inserted in the text every once in a while to tell how this section fits in the grand story of the Bible. It also has notes and a plan to read through the Bible chronologically and I am doing this – to read the prophets in the context of 1 and 2 Kings has been eye-opening! Those minor prophets make SO much more sense when read right after the events they were addressing!

That’s it for my recommendations.  Let me know what you are reading and if your reading overlaps with mine, or even if it doesn’t, share what you are learning and thinking about with me. And check out the Summer Women’s Book Club for some extra motivation!