The Saturday Six

One.

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For those of you who love to read, the Christy awards were this past week, and this list shows the winners and finalists. This particular award is for Christian fiction, and a few on the list were books I've read and featured on previous editions of the Saturday Six. But there are many more I haven't read, so if you're looking for good reads, this might help you! And also - a special shout-out to my real-life friend and fiction author/winner Jody Hedlund for her win in the historical romance category!

Two.

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I really enjoyed this article written by a Christian photographer about how she lives out her faith in her small business ownership. It's a great story {even if you don't own your own business}, but it also holds solid truths about how to blend the two and not feel the need to keep them separate!

Three.

I love this brief article written by a woman who happened upon a 100 year old grave in a cemetery: a baby's grave. She paused to recognize the life of a baby we know nothing about, and it made my soul warm to read about it. I remember when Ryan and I were driving through Cade's Cove in the Smoky Mountains, and we wandered through an old cemetery. I took pictures of several stones on infants' graves, because I didn't want to forget that their lives mattered, even though we know nothing of them. {The photo above is one I took, not the one from the article.}

Four.

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Did you see this? Beth Moore has a new study coming out soon! It's called Entrusted, and I think it looks delightfully challenging. You can check out the details and a trailer here!

Five.

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Hey! Monday is the fourth of July, you know! I found this cute little recipe that I plan on twisting just a bit and serving with our breakfast! Cute and...you know...FRUIT!!

Six.

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Last week I told you I read the first of three books written by Jennifer Sands. {A reminder in case you forgot or are new here...Jennifer was the keynote speaker at the women's conference I spoke at earlier this year. Her husband worked in the World Trade Center and was killed in the 9/11 attacks.} I heard her say when she spoke that it's important to read all three books in her faith trilogy, and after reading book two, I absolutely see why.

The second book, which I read this week, is called A Teachable Faith. While I really enjoyed reading the first book, and even mentioned in my review last Saturday that the last chapter {which contained a smattering of her journal entries from that first year after 9/11} that it was inspiring to watch her faith grow through each entry, there was still something that settled funny with me at the end of that book. I hadn't found the moment when her faith became genuine and her heart truly born again. It nagged at me a bit.

And this is why it's important to read book two! Jennifer addresses immediately that her first book was published just a couple of years after 9/11 and her faith was incredibly immature. Growing, but quite immature. She had not, even at the time of publishing a book on faith, truly committed her life to Christ. But shortly after the book was published, Jennifer began receiving invitations to speak about her story. She'd never been a public speaker and found it intimidating. Her sister invited her to come to church with her to hear their pastor because he was an accomplished speaker. So she went...and she never paid one bit of attention to his style, because she became completely enamored by his message. The message of Christ.

So this second book chronicles her faith journey after she fully devoted her heart and soul to Jesus. After she let Him transform her from the inside out. Each chapter chronicles the lessons she learns along the path and it is quite obvious with each turn of the page, that she truly found Jesus as her Savior and her teachable faith matured.

It's a beautiful story of growth without being academic and preachy. It's a great refresher for those of us who have been believers for a long time and a great teaching tool for those new to the faith.

In the last chapter, Jennifer once again lets her readers peek into her journal, and this time it's to travel alongside her to the Holy Land. She had the opportunity to be part of a group with her church, and she writes candidly about standing in the very places where Christ stood. It's quite soul-stirring to read.

I have one more book to read in this trilogy, and I'm looking forward to visiting Jennifer's life again and learning more from her about growing in vibrant faith!