What I’m Reading

Happy end of the Easter long weekend to you all!

Over the past few years, since I became a wife and mom, I have found myself hungry for resources to use to help me learn about my new vocation. Any new employee needs to be taught and trained, and the same goes for being a wife and mother. I think it’s easy to assume that once you get married or have a baby things will just come naturally. But there’s really a lot we don’t know that we need to become knowledgable about! If foundationally we begin with the knowledge that God has a high calling for women, and places specific responsibilities on all of us, single, married, mothers, widows, then we must want to firstly go to his word to find guidance, and then to good resources that can help us grow and learn more about what God has called us to do in our specific role.

I thought I’d share a few links to relevant books, sites, and videos that have been a tremendous source of encouragement, challenge, and help to me over the past few years. This week I’ll begin with my library.

Devotionally:

The Valley of Vision: A collection of puritan prayers. This is a MUST for any believer, not just women. The language that these writers employ is so powerful, so biblical, and so encouraging. I use this to help me direct my thoughts in my prayers.

Morning & Evening by Charles Spurgeon: This daily devotional has a short passage for morning and evening, and if you’ve never read Spurgeon, again, this is a must. He is called the Prince of Preachers for a reason. His ability to show the way God’s word shines from so many angles is unbelievable and I find that reading these short pieces is such a blessing to my day.

On Marriage:

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace: This was huge for me this past few months. There is a ton of helpful guidance and relevant scripture that Mrs. Peace uses to help wives understand God’s role for them. The chapters on the heart, submission, and the home were particularly helpful for me, but this is one book I would read and re-read. It’s written in a very accessible way and she uses helpful charts and images to convey ideas.

On the Home:

The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edit Schaeffer:

Georgie bought this as a gift for me last year and it’s fantastic! If you start to read and feel like she’s suggesting things like making your own furniture, building a rocking horse for your child, or baking homemade rolls every week, and you start to feel a bit ill because it just seems so, I don’t know, archaic? Don’t quit! This book was the eye-opener that enabled me to start thinking grander thoughts about what the home could be, if you opened your mind and heart to all the possibilities. The suggestions and ideas are very practical and very creative. Maybe I’ll never get to accomplish all of them (don’t think I can manage the rocking horse), but even if I take some grains out of this one, it’ll have been worth it. There’s a call to all women in this book that calls us to revisit an art that really has been neglected.

Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper:

This little book is a quick read but one that will help inform the “why” behind celebrating and tradition. If the Gospel must inform every area of life, then we must think through why we celebrate things like Christmas and Easter and birthdays, and how those special occasions are to be used to point us to the Savior.

On Motherhood:

Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic:

I think this was my favourite read of the year! If you haven’t read anything from the Femina girls, you need to. Rachel blogs along with her mother, sister, and sister-in-law, and I have been hugely blessed and taught from their writing. This little booklet is a collection of short pieces that are so insightful. Her giftedness at using metaphors and images to help her own children understand God’s truth, are so helpful to me as well. I found myself laughing out loud at her stories, and just being plain encouraged by all the ways which it is evident that God’s grace flows through the hands of struggling mothers and parents, who are not the wisest, or most organized, or most creative. He has a plan and purpose for mothers and embracing it wholeheartedly will bring God glory, will bring you joy, and will bless others.

Building Her House by Nancy Wilson: Nancy Wilson’s short collection of essays is excellent. Again, this is a book I’ll read and read again. I so appreciated all of the commonsensical wisdom. Chapters like “Mac & Cheese”, “The Postpartum Mother”, and “Mother-in-law” are examples of topics that she approaches from a fresh and very helpful perspective.

That’s enough reading material for now! Next week I’ll follow up with sermons I’ve been listening to that have also helped me in these areas. Have a great week and go on and buy some of those books and get reading! Any other suggestions of good reads? I’d love to hear what’s in your library.