I have been sitting at my computer for a few minutes, rearranging my list of books to read in the upcoming months and realized I should go ahead and post my list for May. Since it is June now. I also have some fun pictures of some Friday adventures with my kids to add another post to this rotation. Something besides quilts and books I read!
Spiritual Formation: Coming Clean by Seth Haines. This was a book I had listed in poverty/social justice, because it dealt with addiction. But as I read it, I moved it to spiritual formation. Through his journey toward sobriety, he discusses the soul issues that brought him--bring all of us--to addiction. I will be reading his followup book in July (unless that is one that gets shifted around).
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. Again, wasn't planning to read two books in this section but there was this rabbit trail I followed, from one church's worship service to the Rule of Life series there were leading to the church that developed that series. Our addiction to hurry and doing so much in our culture leaves very little time for the very soul forming practices that help us to be and act more like Jesus. Reading this during the tail end of this round of the pandemic shut down, which has really made my own busy-ness apparent, made this even more powerful.
Poverty/social justice: Souls in the Hands of a Tender God by Craig Rennebohm. Written by a chaplain to the mentally ill on the streets of Seattle. It shares his own experiences with mental illness, as well as that of some of the friends he met, as he walked with them and helped them to find shelter and better health.
Leadership: The Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero. If I remember right, this book, as well as it's author and his other books, were mentioned in both of the Spiritual Formation books I read. It was available in the local digital library so I read it too. It is one of those books that I read that seems like it would be great for the whole staff to read (I seem to find those a lot), at least up to a point. The main point of this book was that our own psychological makeup, learned at least in part from our family interactions and dysfunctions, impacts how we interact with our co-workers and with others we lead, and how we as a congregation interact with each other, especially during conflict.
Fiction: Harry Potter series books 4-6 by J. K. Rowling. Yeah, I don't know. I guess I needed to sit on my deck and read. Probably explains why I didn't finish a quilt in May too.
With my daughter: The War that Saved my Life and The War I Finally Won, both by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Both of these offer an amazing glimpse into the lives of children in London during World War 2, as well as the obstacles so many had to face, from slum life, the evacuation of the children, shortages and rationing, to bombings, and the realizations that there was a difference between being a German and being a German Jew. The two book touch on so many different issues and show the holistic healing process of the lead character through all of that through the love she found in her new guardian.
I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but the links I have included are for informational purposes and to save me from having to type the complete reference for each book. I am not affiliated with Amazon and do not benefit from your purchases of the book. Several of these (thankfully) I have been able to find digitally through my local library when physical books weren't accessible because the library was closed. That is not my preferred reading method but I also do not feel the need to house and spend resources on this many books each month when I can just borrow one.
Spiritual Formation: Coming Clean by Seth Haines. This was a book I had listed in poverty/social justice, because it dealt with addiction. But as I read it, I moved it to spiritual formation. Through his journey toward sobriety, he discusses the soul issues that brought him--bring all of us--to addiction. I will be reading his followup book in July (unless that is one that gets shifted around).
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. Again, wasn't planning to read two books in this section but there was this rabbit trail I followed, from one church's worship service to the Rule of Life series there were leading to the church that developed that series. Our addiction to hurry and doing so much in our culture leaves very little time for the very soul forming practices that help us to be and act more like Jesus. Reading this during the tail end of this round of the pandemic shut down, which has really made my own busy-ness apparent, made this even more powerful.
Poverty/social justice: Souls in the Hands of a Tender God by Craig Rennebohm. Written by a chaplain to the mentally ill on the streets of Seattle. It shares his own experiences with mental illness, as well as that of some of the friends he met, as he walked with them and helped them to find shelter and better health.
Leadership: The Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero. If I remember right, this book, as well as it's author and his other books, were mentioned in both of the Spiritual Formation books I read. It was available in the local digital library so I read it too. It is one of those books that I read that seems like it would be great for the whole staff to read (I seem to find those a lot), at least up to a point. The main point of this book was that our own psychological makeup, learned at least in part from our family interactions and dysfunctions, impacts how we interact with our co-workers and with others we lead, and how we as a congregation interact with each other, especially during conflict.
Fiction: Harry Potter series books 4-6 by J. K. Rowling. Yeah, I don't know. I guess I needed to sit on my deck and read. Probably explains why I didn't finish a quilt in May too.
With my daughter: The War that Saved my Life and The War I Finally Won, both by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Both of these offer an amazing glimpse into the lives of children in London during World War 2, as well as the obstacles so many had to face, from slum life, the evacuation of the children, shortages and rationing, to bombings, and the realizations that there was a difference between being a German and being a German Jew. The two book touch on so many different issues and show the holistic healing process of the lead character through all of that through the love she found in her new guardian.
I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but the links I have included are for informational purposes and to save me from having to type the complete reference for each book. I am not affiliated with Amazon and do not benefit from your purchases of the book. Several of these (thankfully) I have been able to find digitally through my local library when physical books weren't accessible because the library was closed. That is not my preferred reading method but I also do not feel the need to house and spend resources on this many books each month when I can just borrow one.
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