Do you enjoy reading? If so, do you make reading goals each year? I’ve been making reading goals for at least 5 years now and it’s something I really enjoy. I’d like to clarify and say that my reading goals are for books that will either teach me something or educate me. My reading goals do not include very much fiction, though I do occasionally read fiction. My 2016 reading goal was to read 20 books. I know that isn’t a huge number but that’s what I’m able to do at this point in my life and I’m good with that. Though my reading goal was 20 books, I read just 18 books last year and that was due to the fact that I took about 3 months off of reading anything but the Bible towards the end of the year.
My Top 7 Reads of 2017
1) Lioness Arising by Lisa Bevere
In this book, Lisa talks about the importance of women knowing who they are in Christ and that they are called to be daughters of the most High God, who have the potential to reach the world for Christ. She takes the time to touch on the abuse of women throughout history as well as today and how Satan has been out to steal, kill, and destroy women since the start of history. Women, you have worth in the eyes of God, just like men, and you were born for such a time as this!
2) Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald
In this book, Gordon spends a lot of time teaching us how important it is to live a disciplined life. Our lives shouldn’t be lived to impress others on the outside but to have depth on the inside. After all, we all know that what’s on the inside will eventually come out. I think this is a book that I will re-read soon.
3) True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond by Tommy Welchel
This book was so inspiring and a great reminder that God still works today. I love how Tommy highlights the stories of these young people who were a part of this revival around the turn of the century in the early 1900’s. The realization that God works through willing vessels, regardless of age, reminds me that we must never place our children and youth on the shelf until they get older. This story really encouraged me and challenged to get into a deeper relationship with Father God.
4) Present over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
This is a book that I truly believe was a God thing. Over the summer, I had gone for a walk on a Saturday afternoon. I decided to make a stop at our little library, with the intention of asking the librarian to order me a particular book. Before heading to the counter, I decided to stop over at the inspirational book section first. Well, I found this book and decided to bring it home. If you knew me in real life, you might know that I’ve struggled with perfectionism much of my life. I am glad to tell you that God has been removing that bit by bit over many years and I’m not at the same place I was 5 years ago by any means. Because of perfectionism, I’ve struggled to receive the grace of God and to give that same grace to my children. This book was an eye-opener to help me to recognize that instead of looking to Perfect, why not be Present in all of my imperfection.
5) Scared Mundane: How to Find Freedom, Purpose & Joy by Kari Paterson
I had the awesome opportunity to be a part of the launch team for this book! It was truly life-changing for me in many ways. I’ve often struggled to find my purpose in the midst of my sometimes mundane life of being a wife, mother, and homemaker. It’s easy for me to feel less than and like not enough. My biggest takeaway from this book, by far, is the fact that God is in everything! I used to feel like there was the everyday, mundane things and the spiritual things. The mundane things were the everyday things I had to do and had no spiritual component and the Spiritual things were going to church, reading the Bible, and ministry. In this book, Kari tells us how God is in every day when we make him the Lord of our lives. Through this book, God showed me exactly why I picked the name of this blog-Extraordinary Everyday Mom. It’s because he is in our every day and what seems ordinary and that he wants to make it extraordinary for him.
6) Give Your Child the World by Jaime Martin
I’ve been reading Jaime’s Homeschool blog since before I started homeschooling, so when she came out with her very first book, I had to have it. This book is a very easy read but so, so worth buying, not borrowing. It has been a wonderful resource for me to find books to read to my children and for them to read to themselves. If you believe in the value of good literature and have children in your life, this book would be an amazing resource for you, whether you homeschool or not. In this book, Jaime shares book ideas to take your child on a tour around the world. They are separated out by multi-cultural books and then by continents and countries. After that, they are also separated out by ages. We’ve been having so much fun using the library as our resource to find these books!
7) Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge
I’d literally wanted to read this book for years, so when I saw it at our local thrift store for $1.50, there was no way I was going to leave it there. This book proved to be a treasure for me, that had a similar theme as “Lioness Arising” but different as well. It was an excellent reminder of who God made the woman to be and that he has a purpose of each and every one of us on the face of this earth.
How about you? What are some of the books that impacted you in 2017? I’d love if you’d share them with me in the comment section below. I’m always looking for more ideas.
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*All Photos are my own*
