Great Summer Reads

As the school year finishes and vacations begin, it's time to take a well-deserved break from study and homework...and refresh your mind and soul with some inspiring, timeless books. Here are some of my very favourites to get you started...

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper
Christian biographies are one of my favourite genres to read. I am constantly in awe at the powerful, personal ways God worked through His faithful saints and soldiers in ages past. This book is one I'm sure to read and reread over and over again. It details the faithful lives of four amazing women: Sarah Edwards, Lilias Trotter, Gladys Alward and Esther Ahn Kim. And it's always so encouraging (and sometimes convicting) to remember that the same extraordinary God is my God today!
{If you aren't able to get your hands on a paper copy, this book is available free online here.}

When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy
If you haven't already hear of Eric and Leslie's beautiful love story, I'd highly recommend this book! In this book, Eric and Leslie Ludy share God's design for true, lifelong romance -- a kind of love that far surpasses any worldly pattern for relationships. Even if you are not at an age where you're thinking of love and romance, this book shows how we can prepare for our future husbands before we even meet him. Interwoven through this book are glimpses of Eric and Leslie's own love story, which they share more fully in When Dreams Come True (which is highly recommended also!)

The Torn Veil by Gulshan Esther
This is a powerful testimony of God's wondrous grace to deliver, heal and set free. Gulshan, a crippled Pakistani girl, was born into an orthodox Muslim family, where she was brought up according to the strict Islamic code of the Shias. Having heard about Jesus in her late teen years, she began to pray to Him, and experienced a miraculous healing and deliverance from her life of captivity. This inspiring book tells of how, through God's grace, she endured many hardships and became a bold witness for Christ to many in Pakistan.
Note: This book does contain some accounts of persecution (although nothing too graphic) which may be disturbing to younger girls, so if you are under 13 or 14, you may want to ask your parents to read it first.

The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
This novel is at the top of my to-read list as well. I've heard it contains an amazing blend of honour, heroism, nobility and grand adventure. Sounds right up my alley! It is the story of William Wallace, and though I can't tell you much more about it, I'm sure it's going to be an awesome read!
{This book is available free online here.}

The Bible by the King of kings, Jesus Christ
Of course, the best read of all time is the Love Letter handscripted by our Heavenly King. If you haven't been reading regularly over these past few weeks, I'd encourage you to start digging into the Bible again. (It's never to late in the year to start a reading plan, or you can make your own!) One particular reading plan I really like is Prof. Grant Horner's Bible Reading System. If 10 chapters sounds too much for you, I can say from experience that it only takes around 30-40 minutes to read, however you can feel free to split each day's reading in half and read 5 chapters a day. Pretty soon the Word of God will truly come alive!

Hope you enjoy these books, and enjoy a wonderful summer (or winter, if you, like me, are a Southern-Hemisphere-ian)!

Girl Talk: What great books have you read and would recommend? Share them with us below!

Is 31,000 Verses Too Much?

I heard this on a commercial on the radio today: "The Bible is thousands of pages long, has 66 whole books, and over 31,000 verses! No wonder it's so hard to find the motivation to read it!" They went on to advertise some kind of program that split the Bible into daily readings, I think it was. I was too stuck on being mad at the "hook" message to actually hear what product they were raving about.

"The Bible isn't just a long, boring book!!! It's God's LOVE LETTER to us! It should be EASY for us to read! We should be wanting to read God's Message all of our lives, just taking bathroom and sleep breaks, it's so amazing. We should be wishing His Book was longer, not shorter, so we could have even more of God's voice and heart so accessible. It's the Creator of the universe's LOVE LETTER, you terrible man; how dare you say it's hard to read it because it's so long."

Then, as I was ranting at my radio (well, the guy), I remembered that I was 3 days behind on reading this amazing Book.

I paused. Oops? Hypocrisy, much?

Seriously, though, am I right? Are we totally crazy to say we don't have "enough time" to read God's book for us? ("Ugh, Facebook just takes up my schedule, man.") I mean, I say that we just out with it: we don't read the Bible as much as we could because we are lazy and sinful. We don't have enough of the love of God in our hearts. Once we realize that, we become vulnerable. But God can heal us and place the love of His Spirit, searching out His will, and reading His Word into our hearts. We just need to ask.