Hot 100: All the Books I Read in 2015

This time one year ago I made a New Year's Resolution to read more.  I've always loved to read but college, grad school, and work distracted me...a ten year black hole in which I hardly read for pleasure at all.

I set what I thought at the time was an unrealistic goal of reading 52 books in 2015 -- averaging one per week.  If you'd told me then that I'd hit my goal the first week of July I wouldn't have believed it, but here we are on December 31 and I have read 100 books.  100 books!

Below is a list of all the books I've read this year, categorized as best I can.  I've also listed my top 5 fiction and non-fiction, although I must say it was hard to choose.  I didn't enjoy all the books I read this year, but there were certainly more than 10 great ones.

(Also, I apologize for not including links/pictures on this list....I thought about it but it would take so much time.)

**I'd also like to point out that this list does not include books read to babies, textbooks, Bible study workbooks, and cookbooks.

Christianity/Religion

1. Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty

2. Breaking Free by Beth Moore

3. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

4. The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger

5. Recapture the Wonder by Ravi Zacharias

6. Depression: Looking Up From the Stubborn Darkness by Edward T. Welch

7. Jesus the King by Timothy Keller

8. He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado

9. Sabbath by Wayne Muller

10. Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren Winner

11. United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity by Trillia Newbell

12. For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker

13. Grace For the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman

14. Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman

15. Out of Sorts: Making Peace With an Evolving Faith by Sarah Bessey

16. Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach

17. My Name is Hope by John Mark Comer

18. Lord Willing? by Jessica Kelley (to be released in 2016)

19. Jesus in the Present Tense by Warren Wiersbe

20. The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp

21. Ms. Understood by Jen Hatmaker

Memoir:

22. Shakespeare Saved my Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard by Laura Bates

23. A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet by Sophie Hudson

24. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

25. Yes, Please by Amy Poehler

26. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

27. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

28.Nobody’s Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle

29. Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker

30. 7 by Jen Hatmaker

31. Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth

32. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates

33. Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life by Shauna Niequist

34. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

35. Bossypants by Tina Fey

36. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Other Non-fiction:

37. Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

38. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

39. Something Must be Done About Prince Edward County by Kristen Green

Self-Improvement:

40. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

41. The Fringe Hours by Jessica Turner

42. The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful by Myquillyn Smith

43. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

44. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown

45. A Million Little Ways: Uncovering the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P. Freeman

46. The Heart Led Leader by Tommy Spaulding

Historical Fiction:

47. The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd)

48. Year of Wonders (Geraldine Brooks)

49. Orphan Train (Christina Baker Kline)

50. The Outer Banks House by Diann Ducharme

51. Return to the Outer Banks House by Diann Ducharme

52. The Lost Wife (Alyson Richman)

53. The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)

54. March (Geraldine Brooks)

55. The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)

56. Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese)

57. Life After Life (Kate Atkinson)

58. The Dressmaker (Kate Alcott)

59. The Boston Girl (Anita Diamant)

60. Toward the Sea of Freedom (Sarah Lark) *to be released in 2016

61. Go Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)

For the Young at Heart:

62. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Alan Bradley)

63. The Magician’s Nephew (C.S. Lewis)

64. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)

65. The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag (Alan Bradley)

66. A Red Herring Without Mustard (Alan Bradley)

67. If I Stay (Gayle Forman)

68. I am Half-Sick of Shadows (Alan Bradley)

69. Speaking From Among the Bones (Alan Bradley)

70. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Alan Bradley)

71. The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse (Alan Bradley)

Christian Fiction:

72. Angels Walking (Karen Kingsbury)

73. Chasing Sunsets (Karen Kingsbury)

74. Bridge to Haven (Francine Rivers)

75. Covenant Child (Terri Blackstock)

76. One More Wish (Robin Jones Gunn)

All the Rest:

77. Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty)

78. The Good Girl (Mary Kubica)

79. Three Wishes (Liane Moriarty)

80. The Things We Do For Love (Kristin Hannah)

81. The Next Always (Nora Roberts)

82. The Rosie Project (Graeme Simsion)

83. The Rosie Effect (Graeme Simsion)

84. Summer Island (Kristin Hannah)

85. Attachments (Rainbow Rowell)

86. Speak (Lauren Halse Anderson)

87. The Last Anniversary (Liane Moriarty)

88. The Girl of the Train (Paula Hawkins)

89. Her Husband’s Secret (Liane Moriarty)

90. Eyes on You (Kate White)

91. Still Alice (Lisa Genova)

92. What Alice Forgot (Liane Moriarty)

93. The Royal We (Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan)

94. Afterwards (Rosamund Lupton)

95. Salvage the Bones (Jesmyn Ward)

96. The Language of Flowers (Vanessa Diffenbaugh)

97. Luckiest Girl Alive (Jessica Knoll)

98. The One and Only (Emily Giffin)

99. The Giver (Lois Lowry)

100. The BIBLE (NIV) -- I'm pretty proud of this one. I know I've read the whole Bible before but I don't remember ever sticking to a one-year plan.

Top 5 Fiction (in no particular order):

The Royal We

The Rosie Project

The Invention of Wings

The Nightingale

Go Set a Watchman

Top 5 Nonfiction (in no particular order):

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis

Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith

Just Mercy (it's going to be a movie--so pumped!)

Nobody's Cuter Than You

Jesus the King

So what's ahead for 2016? I haven't decided. I will certainly continue reading and posting about it, but I have no goals for a total. This was fun though. :)

I Forgot How Much I Like Dorothy Sayers

"Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man -- there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them as "The women, God help us!" or "The ladies, God bless them!"; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no ax to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything "funny" about woman's nature."

Dorothy L. Sayers in Are Women Human? (1971), p. 47.

Sunday Song: Advent #3

Today, on this third Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of Joy.  His arrival is close -- the light is growing brighter.

Joy:: our time of rejoicing is almost here.  Jesus came that we might have JOY.  In all things, in spite of all things.

Sarah Bessey wrote about it beautifully, so please take the time to read her words here.



Today's song is from Meredith Andrews. It's a modern take on "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" that I first heard the Sunday after the Newtown shootings three years ago.

He came to redeem it all.  To bring us joy in all things, in spite of all things.  He brings light to the darkness.

The hope for all mankind.  Born to give us life.

Sunday Song: Advent #2

Today we light the second candle.  The candle of peace.

The past two weeks have yet again revealed that peace is surely missing in the world.  Yet we know that He came...He will come again...to bring peace on earth.

Isaiah 9:7 says this peace will not have an end.

So we light the candle...a glimmer a hope in this dark December,....and breathe in the promise that brings us peace.  Emmanuel.  He is with us.

He was. He is. And He will always be.

When Grace gets Messy

There's been a lot of talk in Christian circles lately about how to address issues like same-sex marriage.  For those of us who realize protests and posters of Bible verses is only creating more problems, we must walk a fine line of holding true to what we believe and loving others with the love of Christ.

Enter Caleb Kaltenbach.  Now a pastor in California, Caleb was raised by gay parents and participated in gay pride parade.  He experienced his own "coming out" when he shared with his parents that he'd become a Christian.  In his book, Messy Grace, he offers a unique perspective about how Christians should engage the LGBT community.

If you're looking for a black and white how-to, you'll be disappointed.  However, Caleb does give the reader a lot of issues to consider and pray about and always, always, returns to Scripture.

**I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

What I Read in November

November seemed like a slow reading month, but as I look at the list I realize my perception was wrong.  I actually did quite well.  The list below brings my total for the year to 87.  One more month to go.  Can I make it to 100?



The One and Only by Emily Giffin - it's a book about football so I liked that part....but whoa.  I don't want to give it away but the plot made me crazy and the ending made me uncomfortable.


One More Wish by Robin Jones Gunn - way too young for me but I simply must read anything that continues the story of Christy and Todd.


The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant - This is a fictional memoir of a Jewish immigrant living in Boston in the first half the twentieth century. I listened to it on audio and loved it.


I am Half-sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley - definitely my least favorite in the Flavia de Luce series but I'm determined to keep pressing through.  The first three were awesome.  This one seemed to be missing something.  I've already gotten book 5 in the series from the library so on we go.


Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman - surprisingly, this wasn't my favorite of her books (I was surprised anyway). I think it would be a great book for a SAHM.


Out of Sorts: Making Peace With an Evolving Faith by Sarah Bessey - one of my favorites for the year.  I love Sarah's heart.


Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach -- I will be posting a separate review of this one in the next couple days..

Sunday Song: Advent #1

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent: a time of preparation of the arrival of a notable person, in our case, the King of the world.

It seems the world and most Christians forget this step. I guess in some ways, I do too.  My tree is set up and decorated in red and gold, not purple, which is the advent tradition.  I started listening to Christmas music last week.

But this year I am also going to focus on preparation for His arrival.  I bought my first advent wreath and I'm going to devote time to prayer and fasting.  I created an "advent playlist" that consists solely of songs of waiting.

"Let every heart prepare Him room...."

With that in mind, the next four Sunday songs will follow this theme of Advent.  Songs of meditation, of preparation, of joyful expectation.

Today's song came to mind while reading Psalm 136 this morning.  I've always known it as the "His love endures forever" one, but today I focused on the other half of the words.

"He remembered us in our low estate and freed us from our enemies."

He remembered us in our lowliness.  No, He did so much more than that.  He joined us there.

 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was
in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

He joined us in our low estate.  He took on our lowliness.

Today's song reminds us of how low He stooped to join us.  May my lowly heart be ready to receive him.

Cate the Great

Some beauty for your Monday. 

Sunday Song: Thanksgiving #4

Today's song is perhaps my favorite about Thankfulness...even at the worst of times, on a really bad day (like the one I am currently having), I have so much to thank the Lord for.

He forgives all my sins.
He heals all my diseases.
He redeems my life from the pit.
He crowns me with love and compassion.

He sees me. He knows me. He loves me.

My heart is filled.

Sunday Song: For Paris

My heart breaks for the pain running rampant all over the world today. I grieve over lives lost due to evil, evil hate.

It's a cruel place. 

But as a child of God, I trust and I know that evil had a beginning and one day it will certainly meet its end...on that day when He makes all things right.

So this Sunday's song is one for Paris.  For everyone crushed by this broken world.  Here's some truth that's worth being thankful for.

As Sure as the Sun (Ellie Holcomb)

There is good news, there is good truth

That you could never change,

No matter what you do

You are loved more than you know

More than you could hope for

After everything you've done

As sure as the sun will rise

And takes away the night

His mercy will not end

His mercy will not end

There is good news, there's a promise

That no matter where you go

You will never be alone

In the dark, in the doubting

When you can't feel anything

Oh, His love remains the same

As sure as the sun will rise

And takes away the night

His mercy will not end

His mercy will not end

Even through the night

Silver stars will shine

Hope of glory's light

That will wake us once again

As sure as the sun will rise

And takes away the night

As sure as the sun will rise

His mercy will not end

His mercy will not end

Sunday Song: Thanksgiving #2

Today's song doesn't necessarily use words like thankfulness and gratitude, but it is a song of praise.

It beautifully recounts all the reasons we have to sing praise and thank Him.

"All the blessing he deserves poured on my unworthy soul"

(Please ignore the typos in the video).

Have a blessed Sunday.

Sunday Song: Thanksgiving #1

Here I am....November 1.

It's the first day in a month that I don't "have to" blog, but it's almost become habit and I want to keep going.

I won't write about truth every day anymore, but I don't want to forsake it completely, either.  I enjoyed the Sunday Song posts because music has always been one of the biggest influences in my life.

I plan to continue the Sunday Song series at least through the end of 2015. The months of November and December lend themselves easily to this.  In the weeks leading about to Thanksgiving, I will share songs that cultivate thankfulness.  In December my focus will turn to Advent in preparation for Christmas.  Please join me.

Today's song is one I've known my whole life.  It must be over thirty years old.  I clearly remember sitting on the floor of our house group while my dad led the group in worship.  I couldn't have been more than four years old.  I had recently recovered from pneumonia and while the adults around me sang this song, I realized for the first time that I had something to thank God for.  He'd healed me.  I remember feeling elated and finally part of the "club" although I still didn't know what it meant.

Let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich"
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Give thanks...

18 Inches

18 inches.

That is the length of the journey from our heads to our hearts.  In Tommy Spaulding's latest release, The Heart-Led Leader.

Now that I am in this educational leadership program, the topic of leadership is one I see everywhere. I picked this up because I was intrigued by the tag "How Living and Leading from the Heart Will Change Your Organization and Your Life".  I want to be a great leader and hoped to find some immediately applicable tips.

In the book, Spaulding uses stories of great leaders he's met to describe 18 qualities of a heart-led leader (one for each inch).

All in all, I found the book to be inspiring but a little bit fluffy.  It's certainly good reading for someone who hopes to be a better leader, or for already great leaders looking for some renewed motivation.

***I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.***

What I Learned in October & a Long-Overdue Reading Update

Another month has come and gone!

Today I am linking up with Emily P. Freeman's "What We Learned" series.

Here's some of what I've learned in October.

1. I can do anything for a month.

I just finished my first successful "Write 31 Days" challenge. I didn't write the most beautiful posts, but I set a goal and accomplished it.  I'm hoping this means I can translate it to the next 30 day challenge I've set for myself -- No SPEND November starts tomorrow!

2. My mom knows me well.

She introduced me to my new favorite game app -- Word Bubbles.  She told me I would love it....and I do :)

3. Fitbits can be great accountability tools.

In my September post I mentioned I need accountability in order to be successful, especially when it comes to healthy eating and fitness.  I got a Fitbit about 5 weeks ago and it's really helped me step it up in terms of exercise (pun totally intended).  My favorite feature are the friend challenges - I don't need to win them, but it helps to have encouragement and a little competition.  We're all in this together.

And for what I've read in the past two months:

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
A Million Little Ways: Uncovering the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily Freeman
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
The Heart Led Leader by Tommy Spaulding

Clearly my reading has slowed a bit now that I am in this principal training program, but this still makes 80 books for the year.  

 

 

To Love the Truth Day 31: Truth For All the World

Today is the final day of this series - I can't believe I made it! October has flown by...though at times it seemed to drag on, especially the past week after I ran out of outlined posts.  I'm proud of myself for sticking with this.

For my last post I want to share an element of Truth I've experienced this month.  It's something I've known on an intellectual level and believed for years, but I've now come to understand it in new ways.

The Gospel is for everyone.  Truth is not just universal, it's personal for everyone in the world.  Truth transcends distance and culture and life circumstances.  It has power and the ability to transform all of us.

During this series visits to my blog have increased.  I hoped this would happen -- I mean, I did link up to several other blogs.  What I didn't expect, however, is that the vast majority of my new readers are some other countries.  To those of you who have joined me, thank you.  I hope my rambling has pointed you toward Him.

To Love the Truth Day 30: Sharing the Truth

I'm a witness, not the judge.

A motivational speaker recently visited the school division in which I work, and he repeated this line many times.  It wasn't in reference to the gospel of Truth, but it stuck with me because it fits so well.

For the last thirty days, I've been sharing the Truth not as the judge, but as a witness.  I've presented my experience.  I've told you what I've seen, what I've heard, and how it's changing me.  This is my testimony.

It's a story, not a sermon.
It's an example, not a manual.

This is my story of how the Truth has transformed my life, how I've learned to walk in Truth.

That is how we are to share the Truth with outsiders. Honestly, openly, not apologetically but not judgmentally either.  We are witnesses.  We are to speak as those with personal experience.  It's not head knowledge and an intellectual exercise anymore.  It's a deeply personal story of what's happened to me, and I will tell it softly but with confidence.

I'm His witness....

Thanks for reading my testimony.

To Love the Truth Day 29: Truth in Community

Today's strategy is one I know is important, but I must be honest and say this is a hard one for me to live out.  As I've mentioned a few times on this blog, I have a lot of anxiety surrounding church involvement.  It's hard for me to feel as if I fit in and I tend to keep my relationships with church friends at a surface level.

In order to learn to love the truth and walk in truth, we must surround ourselves with a community that will tell us the truth --a community that will challenge us to live out truth and remind us of truth as a means of comfort.

Daily Bible reading and a personal quiet time are helpful but not sufficient.  In fact, as my pastor pointed out on Sunday, the quiet time phenomenon is a new one.  For most of church history, Bible study has been a communal experience.  We need each other.

It's so important that the New Testament alone uses the word "together" about 100 times.

Do not give up meeting together...

Raise your voices together...

Strive together...

Work together for the truth...

And this, the example of the early church:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This is why we are to do this thing together: so that others will see and hear the truth and be saved.

It's not just beneficial to unbelievers, however.  There is great value for those who are already saved.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 

It's in community that we are able to speak the truth to each other.  When we heed those words and learn from them we will grow to become mature in Christ. We will not become deceived but will be confident that we know the truth....together.

To Love the Truth Day 28: Truthtellers

If you've read my blog for any length of time you probably know I'm a reader.  I love to read...so much that my mom once grounded me from reading for a week.  She even took away the cereal box!

In addition to reading the Bible, I've found many authors who speak the Truth into my life.  It's helpful to hear the way the Truth has changed others' lives.

Here are some of my favorite truthtellers and a few recommended works.

Beth Moore - Breaking Free, So Long Insecurity

Jen Hatmaker - Interrupted, For the Love

Angie Smith - Chasing God

Tim Keller - The Reason for God, Jesus the King, The Prodigal God

Lauren Winner - Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crises

Ravi Zacharias - Recapture the Wonder, Jesus Among Other Gods



All of these books can be found on Amazon and other sellers.  Find them. Read them. Hear and respond to Truth.

To Love the Truth Day 27: Adoration

The very first book I read in 2015 set a great tone for my year, as I learn to love the Truth.  Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty is beautiful and challenging -- she speaks of Truth in the midst of hardship -- tasting the goodness of God in all things.  I highly recommend the book, but it's not what I want to share today.

On Sara's blog and Instagram pages she shares what she calls "Adorations" every day.  These adorations are a result of years of her daily Bible study method.  Simply put, she reads the Truth and then translates it back to praise.  She describes it as "inhaling His word and exhaling praise."  She publishes these meditations a month in advance.

I've started practicing these adorations in my own Bible reading.  This year I'm trying to read the whole Bible in a year, and I find that some books are harder to connect with than others (minor prophets, I'm looking at you).  Now I try to find a characteristic of God within the passage and praise Him for who He is.  Reasons to adore Him are everywhere.

Take today's reading for example.  I read Jeremiah 31 and found four adorations that I recorded in my journal.

God is my Husband.
God is my father.
God is my Shepherd.
God is my Comforter.

Four Truths that are worthy of praise.

To Love the Truth Day 26: Walking in Truth

Day 26 of 31 and I'm still going strong! I really can't believe it.

For the last week of this series I want to start looking at practical ways of walking in Truth.  How do we fill our lives with Truth? How do we learn to love it? How do we keep Truth at the forefront of our minds?

Here's one that I've found recently for those of you on Instagram.  It's an account called 100 Days with Jesus - each day she shares a Name or attribute of Jesus with a short devotional about what the name or the attribute means.  The words come in alphabetical order and we are counting down to Christmas day.

While this doesn't replace my daily Bible reading, it is a nice way to have a reminder of Truth right there on my Instagram feed in the midst of browsing.  The posts give me pause to reflect on who He is for a while.

Here are a few that have spoken to me recently:
Guardian of My Soul
Healer
Hope of Glory
Intercessor

The more I surround myself with Truth, the more the opportunity I have see, hear, and live it.

To Love the Truth Day 25: Sunday Song

Dennis Jernigan may not be a familiar name to most, but he was the most-played artist in my house growing up.  He is arguably one of the greatest Truthtellers I've found, and his songs of ministry do just that: he sings the Truth over us.

This song is my all-time favorite.  Hear the words of the Father today.

To Love the Truth Day 24: I Belong

Today I'm sharing some truth that I struggle to believe.  I accept that it is true, but often feel like it's not proving true for me.  And I often wonder how different my life would be if I fully embraced this truth and walked in it daily.  That's the goal...to love the truth....to be found walking in the truth.

I'm turning 30 in a matter of months. My mom had four kids by the time she was 30, and while I never had a specific goal of matching her on that front, I always expected that I would be married with children by now.  The reality is that I don't even have any friendships with single men right now.  I am quite lonely and while I do not mourn my singleness, I do want to be a wife and mother more than anything and I worry that it's never going to happen.

The hardest part of all this is that during the week I'm not bothered.  I may be single but it makes no difference at work. I am a leader in my workplace.  I am successful and respected.  I am on my way to being a school principal.

But then we get to Sunday and suddenly there's no hiding. I'm alone. I'm a single woman in the church....and so there must be something wrong with me.  Suddenly I feel like I'm no longer a legitimate adult....that I'm demoted to the bench or the JV squad....that's there's nothing that I can help with.

The lies come hard and fast on Sundays.  They say I'm a second-class citizen.  They tell me I still need to sit at the kids' table.  They tell me I have no place in the body...that I will never belong until I have a husband and family.

Why do I feel this way in the one place I should never question my worth?

And so on Sundays I have to tell myself the truth: I am a daughter of the King. I am loved. I am his workmanship -- his masterpiece -- his handiwork -- created to do good works that God prepared and dreamed up before I was born.  Not only do I have a place and a seat at this table, I have a purpose.  There is a role for me that no one else can fill.  Maybe I haven't discovered it yet but that doens't mean that it doesn't exist.

I belong.  I belong to Him.  I am a treasured part of this family.  And one day I will believe and live it.

To Love the Truth Day 23: Psalm 103

Today I just want to share a psalm that brings me to tears whenever I read it.  This truth is so beautiful I don't even need to comment.  Truth speaks for itself today.

Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits --

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord works righteousness 

and justice for the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse, 

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed, 

he remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord's love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children's children --

with those who keep his covenant 

and remembers to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding, 

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.