A Little Bit of This and That

what I am reading in this New Year

Sitting in bleak mid-January, stretched thin and busy from the holidays, multiple family birthdays, travel out of the country, excess wintry weather, decluttering and rearranging (both externally in the home and internally in my personhood), and finishing my continuing education hours, I am at last ready to write a little again. Truthfully, I wrote some last week, but that’s not yet ready for public consumption, so it sits fermenting like a good sourdough, hopefully multiplying to bring others sustenance in distant days.

To ease my way back into this space in my life, I wanted to share a few favorite authors with you who have been refreshing my soul. I hope their words may also bring life to any January blahs you have. With sub zero temps coming, now is the perfect time to find a cozy spot to read and refill!

What I am reading for refreshment:

Sacred Refuge: Finding Unexpected Shelter in Your Crisis by Lynne Rienstra

A friend gave me this shortly before Christmas and I have been slowly reading so it soak in deeply. In a way few books have, this book has touched the weariness of the past years. You know when certain books just hit you right where you are? That’s been this book for me. I love the fresh perspective this book has brought to familiar Scriptures, and subsequently, my circumstances.

* I do not receive any profit for any of the links found here, they are simply for your benefit.

My main form of literary consumption these days comes from audiobooks. My entire life I have been a slow reader, but mostly busy mom life led me to audiobooks. Granted, it is a learned behavior, but one I have come to fully embrace. I especially love it when authors read their own works, as is the case with The Gift of Limitations: Finding Beauty in Your Boundaries, that I started this week. The gifted storytelling, adoptive mom Sara Hagerty is one of those authors I have read through the years her journey often resonating with my own. The Gift of Limitations is no exception.

What a God-send this week as I have found myself in tears multiple times agreeing with all she is saying, the Spirit at work to continue to bring acceptance to this season of life. The prayers of adoration at the end of each audiobook chapter are vulnerable, rich, meaningful, and life-giving. And while I hope to some day own this in hard copy, for now the audiobook offers beautifully honest reminders that we have a gift in the limits of our challenging days.

What I am reading for help and growth

Reclaim Compassion: The Adoptive Parent’s Guide to Overcoming Blocked Care with Neuroscience and Faith by Lisa C. Qualls and Melissa Corkum

I am not very far into this fantastic book, but it has already given voice to some of the challenges we face parenting kids from hard places. I love the beauty of neuroscience blended with faith. This book offers both explanations and very practical solutions. I look forward to expanding my understanding of parenting when compassion wanes and fatigue settles.

What I can’t wait to read!

My friend, Alyson Punzi, is one of those people who continually inspires me. She has written a book, He Always Hears: A Story of Loss and the Hope of Things Made New, our family needed two years ago as we went through a season of deep loss and lament. She actually gave us one of the early drafts of the story she had written that I read to our daughter because there are so few resources for teaching children to lament in loss. I have watched her faithfully walk her young daughter through the devastating loss of her husband two years ago. She is the real deal and I know her book will be a solid addition to Christian literature as we learn to lament as families.

The book will be released in September of this year. Pre-order your copy of He Always Hears!

What are you reading for refreshment, encouragement, help, or healing? I am always looking to add to my list of books to read, so drop me a message or reply below.