My Reads

Since I am home having to do a lot of resting, I decided to get back into reading.  And it's been so good for my soul.  So so good.

So I decided to share with you some of my favorite reads so far because these are stories I believe in being passed on.  These are stories I believe can make a difference in your soul, which will put a huge shift into the ways of our world.  In a joyful way.  

*Click on the book image to go to their amazon purchase links.

I decided to purchase the kindle version of this book after I started following the author, Christine Caine, on instagram.  She had posted a picture of shipping containers on a ship and tagged it, "If you've read introduction in Undaunted you will know why this is so impacting in me in Instanbul."

Well, i hadn't read it but I was intrigued.  I knew Christine Caine was on the forefront of combating Sex Trafficking through her organization, A21 Campaign.  Were there people in those shipping containers?  Why does this impact her?  I wanted to know so bad, I immediately logged onto Amazon and purchased the book and started reading right away, only to finish the book the next day because I just couldn't put it down!  

I'm not an amazing book critic.  But I can say, that Undaunted isn't full of stories that leave your stomach sick and your heart burdened.  Instead, Undaunted encourages you and challenges the way we view our ability in Christ to live.  Undaunted left me craving more for my life in Christ so that others trapped in darkness might know the Light.  And I believe, for you, it could do the same!

*****

Kimberly Smith is my Angelina Jolie (and the same woman I wrote this post about).  I had always had a fascination with the Tomb Raider series.  I imagined myself fearless and capable to beat the bad guy.  I imagined myself tough, adventurous, and well, yes, attractive.  Which then led me to put Laura Croft with Angelina Jolie, the refugee rescuer as the media portrays her.  This would be the perfect mix.  Only, this mix isn't real.  Until I first heard Kimberly Smith speak.

My husband and I were attending The Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit last spring when I saw a topic on the Unadoptables.  I wanted to know more.  So I said goodbye to Jon as he chose another topic to sit in on and made my way into a room all alone.  

She was fierce, yet gentle.  She spoke passionately against the American Cowboy out to Save the World view that rested in the idea that we go out, rescue, then bring them to us.  She passionately begged the room of listeners to consider the many around the world that couldn't get passports or weren't even registered where the traditional form of adoption would never be an option.  And then she shared her story.

I was lost in her adventures and was in awe that before me was a real life version of a character I had dreamed up for so long.  I had to know more!  So later that day, after sitting in on another class of hers, I stopped at her booth to grab a book.  I had to read it over again.  Like I would watch Tomb Raider over and over.  It's a story of adventure.  It's a story of obedience.  It's a story of God's heart for those we can't simple save through adoption.  It's a story of those who respond to the orphaned by going to them and living there with them.  It's a story of great loss and a story of Great Triumph.  And it is a story that isn't over... 

It kept me up late weeping for the little cries that go unheard.  But it was worth every tear and every heartache, because the story is continued to be written.  There is hope!

*****

"Our apathy toward the mission of God is not because of lack of knowing what to do. It is our blindness to his glory and grace that keeps us satisfied with nominal Christianity. If you want to light a fire under your church for the mission, don't simply trot out your goals; lift up Jesus." Brad House, from the book, COMMUNITY.

Jon grabbed this book from a conference he attended last fall without paying attention to the title.  He just loved the free resources they were handing out.  

But the title intrigued me.  Community was something Jon and I craved.  It was something we were desiring to commit our lives to with others.

Although this book is specifically geared towards Community within Small Groups at Church, it is so very applicable to learning to live in community in any way.  It's about giving up of yourself.  Denying your selfish desires to live within your own walls and not letting others in.  It's about living in a way where others know your deepest sins ans secrets and LOVE YOU ANYWAY.  Its about learning to LOVE OTHERS ANYWAY.  It's about seeing others as Jesus sees them, because it makes it that much more pleasant to live alongside imperfect people.  

It's an excellent read.  Absolutely excellent!  

So there you have it friends!  These are my nightstand books at the moment.  I went a little haywire purchasing books for new reads, so I'll share those as I finish.