Four Books I Read And Loved In January

One of my goals for 2021 is to read way more than I have been lately. 2020 was such a crazy year that I read very little, and my heart and mind could definitely tell the difference. Screens and sounds are no substitute for holding a great book in your hands, and I’ve always been addicted to learning things.

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feeders on foolishness. Proverbs 15:14

That’s my Scripture for the year. I don’t want to just feed on the fluffy stuff when I can be reading books that will give me more knowledge. That’s the good stuff.

I very rarely read fiction that isn’t written by Christian authors, but I found The Geneva Strategy at our local Goodwill and I couldn’t resist. I’m pretty leery of books and series I’ve never read before, but there were just a couple of short scenes that were a little questionable. Otherwise, it was a good, suspenseful story of political intrigue, shadow agents and saving the world from certain doom.

Elizabeth George is the very first Christian author I read after I got saved, and she will forever be my favorite. I’ve decided to go back through and reread her entire collection - yes, I have all of them - and see how they spark me differently this time around. I started with A Woman After God’s Own Heart and highlighted all over the place. This book touches all the facets of a woman’s life, from our relationship with God and with our husband to taking care of the home and having a ministry at church and in the world. One of my faves!

Confession: I spent all of my Christmas money on books. Every last penny of it. Books. Totally worth it. Two of them were Lysa Terkeurst’s Forgiving set of books - Forgiving What You Can’t Forget and The Forgiveness Journal. She tackles some really difficult questions about the past, relationships and moving on when it seems impossible. It has a fascinating study guide that forces you to think and write and confront that pain that keeps you from really and truly forgiving. I’ve read several of Lysa’s books, but this is my favorite right now.

What books have you read this year already? Is it more or less than you’ve read in years past?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit
Read more