This summer I’ve taken to reading

four books, all that are stretching

and growing me in whole new ways.

Here’s what I’m learning...

Crazy Love by Francis Chan
I just finished chapters 4&5 and have

been challenged to ask myself,

“Am I lukewarm?”  I hope that the

scales from my eyes will fall, and I will be exposed to moments when I’m most apt to live with lukewarm faith.  Am I comfortable in my little condo in the city, with an amazing job and dreamboat husband? Yes, I am. They are all incredible blessings that I am not deserving of! My personal challenge is to step outside of living comfortably, and into relationships where restoration, healing, reconciliation and justice are desperately needed. I want to go where Jesus would go, love our world as He does.

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist

After a long weekend I sat down with a blanket on the couch and read the first four chapters of my friend’s new book. As Shauna eloquently pens, “bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a sliver of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich when it contains a splinter of sadness.”

I so desire to see the sweet in bitter moments; to see how God makes all things new, and believe He will do so even in the most trying of times.  As I read Bittersweet my heart is opening, my pace is slowing, and I am choosing to be present in all moments.

Living Like You Belong to God by Kay Arthur, David & BJ Lawson

This is a tiny six week, no-homework Bible study that Nathan and I are leading our small group through. Each week we’re learning more and more about what it means to live a life of joy, obedience, and trust. God calls us to be holy, but what does that even mean? If your group is looking for an in depth Bible study, it would be worth checking out Precept Ministries International.

Fasting by Scot McKnight

Professor and theologian Scot McKnight dives into the subject of fasting, asking the question: what does the body have to do with spirituality? Also, “clarifying the role of fasting as a response to events rather than a seeking of results...” as stated in the book’s cover.  This is a spiritual discipline I am wanting to learn more about and be able to implement as a part of my prayer life.