Two moms learning to delight in each day they have been given.

April is gone-zo. I can hardly believe it!

May means the last month of school. {Whoa.} And that summer is just around the corner! {Yippee!} It means the days are turning hot, hot, hot. The sun is shining bright. And we have afternoon thunderstorms. May means that we are almost to the halfway mark in this “new year.”

As I do at the end of each month, here’s a recap of what I’ve been reading.

I read two of the BEST books. Two books that I think just about everyone should read.

First MUST READ book. Dare I say, life changing, eye-opening, “wow God.” Yeah, it was that good.

The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected by Nik Ripken

In my {very humble opinion}, I think this book was mis-titled. I told Nolan about it and he said he wouldn’t read it purely based on the title. Calling God “insane” flies in the face of everything we believe. I read it on the recommendation of our Worship Pastor, and I’m SO GLAD I could look past the title and dig in. It was excellent!

“Nik” {which is an alias} is a current day missionary. This is the story of he and his family’s journey as they learn about how God uses persecution to forward His work. God never promises us life will be easy, but He promises He will be with us. I have it SO easy in my Christian walk here in America. There are people around the world whose faith is probably a million times deeper than mine because of the hard persecution they have walked through. I know that God has me here for a purpose. But I pray I never loose sight of the bigger picture.

I want to do this book justice, so I’ll be quiet now and riddle you with quotes…

Does God, in fact, promise His children safety?

Do things always work out for those who are obedient?

Does God really ask us to sacrifice – and to sacrifice everything?

What happens when our best intentions and most creative ideas are not enough?

Is God at work in the hard places? And does He expect us to join Him in those hard places?

Isn’t it possible to love God and to pretty much keep living the life I already have?

What does it really mean for God to tell us that His ways are not our ways?

Would He really allow people who love Him dearly to fail? And, if so, is this a God who can use even holy failure for His purposes?

Those are deep, hard questions. Those are questions we ask from the depths of our hearts when our faith is shaken. I think we need to know the answer to these questions. Nik explores his own life journey in the face of these questions. It was so challenging to my faith and encouraging to my soul!

Through a great personal loss, and not knowing how to reach the people  of Somalia with Jesus – where Christians were put to death routinely and the goal was for them to be extinct in their country. Nik set out to learn about how God uses persecution in the Church. You have to read the story to learn more! But I love this quote and thing it’s a good summary:

I had always assumed that persecution was abnormal, exceptional, unusual, out of the ordinary. In my mind, persecution was something to avoid. It was a problem, a setback, a barrier. I was captivated by the thought: what if persecution is the normal, expected situation for a believer? And what if the persecution is, in fact, soil in which faith can grow? What if persecution can be, in fact, good soil?

Wow…Getting God’s perspective of persecution. Not seeking it out. But allowing the persecutions and difficulties we face to grow our faith. Not to run away from the hard things, but to embrace them by trusting God!

One huge element that I took away – not that I didn’t know it, but I needed to be reminded – was to put Truth in my heart NOW. To actively memorize Scripture and songs of worship. To not become passive in my faith, but continue to grow and be active. And to do the same for my children. To be active in teaching them Scripture. They will need it!

He said that He was sending them “as sheep among wolves.” Still, He expected them to prevail. In the history of the world, no sheep has ever won a fight with a wolve. The very idea is insane.

God’s way is so contrary to our own selfish thinking and the current of the world. From the outside looking in, God may seem “insane.” But we know that His ways are indeed higher than our ways! And they are the best ways!

Ok…….Go read the book!

The Shape of Mercy: A Novel by Susan Meissner

I loved this historical fiction book. A current day college student is hired to transcribe a journal from the Salem witch trials hundreds of years ago. Such a well-written book, and a beautiful read.

Speaking from Among the Bones: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley

You know I love Flavia de Luce. She never fails to intrigue me.

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sarah Mae & Sally Clarkson

I could write a whole entire post on this book, and I just might do that sometime soon. But, please, please – if you are a mom, especially a mom of young children you NEED TO READ THIS!!

Full of grace, insight, encouragement, realness…ahh…I read it quickly because it was like taking a huge drink of cool water on a hot day. I can’t wait to go back and underline and highlight and do some more chewing on what was written.

I walked away encouraged to live a life of grace. Giving grace to myself knowing that God loves me. Giving grace to my children knowing that they are imperfect and need my love and grace. Encouraged to be more intentional with them. And also encouraged that life is hard, motherhood is hard, but God is greater! Encouraged to take time away for myself with the Lord and to recharge – there’s no guilt in that! I could go on an on.

So, mamas, please read it. I don’t think you will be disappointed!

That’s what I’ve been reading this month! How about you?

{I am an Amazon Affiliate, which means I make a small percentage if you should choose to click on one of those links and make a purchase.}