30 Days of You and Me: Day Four

Day four of this list is supposed to be My Favorite Book. I'm a writer. I can't possibly narrow it down to one. So what I have for you today is a list of 12 books that have really shaped pieces of my life...plus the Bible. (Because of course, the Bible is on the list!) Here you go!


I'll put the Bible at the top of my list because (this is honestly not the "Christian correct" answer) it has shaped my life the most. I like to change Bibles now and then just to get a fresh perspective on the page. I'm currently using the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. However, when I was in high school and was really beginning to experience a deep hunger to study the Bible and know the Lord, I used the Life Application Bible, and it is still my favorite Bible for good, practical study notes. In fact, I bought this Bible for a friend of mine who was struggling heavily to know how to live as a Christian. So if that's you...try this out!
Okay...now on to the rest of the books. These, by the way, are in no particular order.

I love Stormie Omartian's The Power of a Praying Wife. I've read it many times and have even spent several months praying through a chapter a day in preparation for someday when I meet Mr. Missing. I'm a firm believer that just because I'm not married now doesn't mean I shouldn't be getting ready for when I am.

I mentioned yesterday that Olivia and I are studying Beth Moore's Believing God. You know I love Beth! This was the first study I ever did of her writing...I did the actual curriculum study, and it really deepened and authenticated the way I approached my faith. I did that study probably 3 or 4 years ago and I'm enjoying the opportunity to revisit the topic through the book itself.

Several years ago, the Sunday School class I attended went through Anne Graham Lotz's book Just Give Me Jesus. I loved the way she wrote...and it was because of this book that I learned to dig into the Word the way I do. I loved the way she crawled into every scene of the Bible and imagined what isn't written...I love to do that, too.

I read Debby Jones and Jackie Kendall's Lady in Waiting when I was in college, having no idea at that time that I'd be single over 10 years later. People often comment to me about the approach I've taken to being single...how I've plunged into "real life" even though I've had to do it alone. I have made a home and learned to cook and started traditions and all those things, and the reason I did so...was because this book really encouraged it. Though I would still love to be married and have the chance to share all these things with Mr. Missing, I'm very appreciative of what these ladies taught about living life to the fullest while in the waiting.

I read A Woman After God's Own Heart shortly before I started teaching the Ladies Bible study at my old church, and it was the first book I used as curriculum for that study. Elizabeth George is one of my favorite authors, and I have marked this book up all over the place. I love the ideas she has for practical living as a woman, wife, and mother. (Even though I am only the first one at this point!) Some of the ladies in my group found her ideas to be extreme, but I truly loved them.

Beautiful in God's Eyes is another Elizabeth George book, and it's a study of Proverbs 31. I went through this book with Olivia when she was in college, and we both adored it. I'd always found the Proverbs 31 woman to be daunting, but Elizabeth did a great job explaining a lot of the details behind the chapter and making the character of this woman attainable today.

Several years ago, Steve and Annie Chapman came to the church I attended at that time and did a one day marriage seminar. Because I'm a single nerd, I went, just so I could learn more about how to be a wife when the time comes. Their approach to marriage changed the way I viewed marriage, and I bought several of their books that day. This one, Married Lovers, Married Friends is fantastic, in my opinion. One of their big marriage platforms is that if both partners approach the relationship with the desire to serve the other, they'll both be satisfied because they'll also be served. It has driven the way I've even approached dating...and even though those relationships to this point have not ended in marriage, I feel I did everything I could to be a servant while I had the opportunity and I don't regret that.

I also taught this book, Falling in Love with Jesus, for a season of Ladies Bible Study and loved it. Would teach it again if I had the chance! I also did a weekend retreat for women based on this book. It's written by Dee Brestin and Kathy Troccoli, and it helped me better shape the way God loves me and shows His love to me.

I have two favorite devotional books, and this is one of them. God Calling was a book I received for my college graduation, and I shelved it immediately because I'd been given the mass market edition (pictured below) and the cover looked too cheesy! But one day I pulled it out and discovered the words inside were far from cheesy. They were life changing for me. I know the Bible is the only divinely inspired word of God, but this one was definitely anointed!

And of course, you know that the devotional Streams in the Desert has been a pivotal part of my year this year!

This book, I've talked about before on here. In the Footsteps of Jesus is a book written by Bruce Marchiano, an actor who portrayed Jesus in the film Matthew. He wrote this book to talk about how the Lord changed him while he was in the process of portraying Jesus. I learned about Jesus' compassion, joy, and mercy through Bruce in this book. For most of my teen years and into my twenties, I struggled with fear (and not the reverent kind) of God and after I began to relate to Him through the frame of what I learned in this book, those barriers fell and I began to know joy like I never had before!

Gotta tell you. Normally not one to love biographies. I read this one mostly because it talks about the story of two girls from Taylor University, which is the "other" college in our county. If you don't remember this story, here's a reminder. A van carrying students and staff members from Taylor was traveling down the interstate - actually not far from the college - when a semi crossed the median, hit the van, and many of the passengers died. One student survived, but was severely injured and in a coma for many weeks. When she began to communicate again, her family discovered she was not their daughter, but another student. Their daughter had actually died in the accident. I was nervous that this book would not be well-written because that often happens with these sorts of stories. But I read it all in one day - and thought it was not only well crafted, but beyond inspiring. To read how these two families handled such a bizarre event with such grace and mercy...was humbling.

So...tell me! What books have shaped you? I have these new shelves I need to fill, so give me some ideas!