RunSingTeach

 There have been many books over the years that have helped guide and shape my faith. It was very hard to find 10 and if you can count in the picture below you’ll see that there are more than 10. However, three are versions of the Bible and two are a series, so technically, I’ve hit the mark. I read a lot of books about Christianity when I first started exploring my personal faith in a deeper way in college. I credit many friends for suggestions and Family Christian Stores in Missouri and Kansas for my 10% off card. So here we go…

1. The Bible. My preferred translation is the New Revised Standard Version. Mumay gave me this bible when I went to college. I also like Eugene Peterson’s The Message for its modern language and Rob Lacey’s Word on the Street to delve into a little hip-hop with Jesus.
2. Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. I completed this year long study from January 1, 2001 (just after I finished college) and completed it on December 31, 2001. Talk about a year of change! Whew! This had me explore and reflect in a very methodical way.
3. Young Children and Worship and Following Jesus by Jerome Berryman and Sonja Stewart. These books were my “scripts” as a teacher of Godly Play in San Diego. I love the way that the stories allow young children to experience the stories of God in a way that meets them where they are. I use the phrases, “I Wonder” and “We Have All the Time We Need” almost every day as a teacher.
4. The Five Love Languages (for Singles) by Gary Chapman. I have read the singles version and the regular version and I find these books to be invaluable tools for learning to communicate with a partner or loved one. In case you are wondering, I receive best with Acts of Service and I give best in Words of Affirmation. 🙂
5. Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs. Ok, the book was just a catalyst. I read this as a part of the women’s bible study group at my church at the time and the fellowship that I had with those women stays with me years later. The stories of the book were good and introduced me to women I didn’t know well, especially in the OT, but it was the present, living women in the group that nourished my soul.
6. Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris. Pretty much a must-read for all those gals out there looking for a Mr. Right when they should be developing THEMSELVES! (This is the “sequel” to I Kissed Dating Goodbye”)
7. The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra. Such a wise book. I have never finished it because reading each page takes so much intellectual effort. It is wonderful.
8. The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho. Technically a fiction novel but the way that Coelho weaves the story of Elijah through his prose is so very profound. If you loved The Alchemist (as I did) you MUST read The Fifth Mountain.
9. The Episcopal Handbook. As a cradle Episcopalian this book is an absolute HOOT. You get your doctrine and prayers from the BCP but you get your laughs and secrets from the handbook.
10. In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado. In the spring of 1999, two nice college girls had a homestay on choir tour at a “famous Christian author’s” house. Feeling sheepish, we snuck into a bookstore because we didn’t know who he was. Well, he was Max and his family provided a lovely shelter for us in San Antonio while we were on our spring tour. Motivated by saying I “knew” him, I read this book first. It completely changed my mindset about the role of faith and its lessons about the grace of God are with me every day. It was not the last of Max’s books I would read but it is always the first one I recommend.

Well there you go, ten in all. Tomorrow….nerdy teacher books!