Here it is again, Friday and I've spent the entire day pondering some of my favorite things and decided to share my favorite books. The dilemma is I have confined myself to five favorite things, this was not a task I was sure I could handle. But eventually I came up with five of my favorite books.
1. The Bible.... I sorta feel cheesy including this, because I feel like it is a given, I am a follower of Christ and thus I should love His book. I had to include it because this book is like air to me. The more I read it the more it changes me. And so it is my first and foremost favorite book.
2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy... This favorite has a story behind it. It is my utmost favorite novel because it started me on a literary journey. It was this book that stirred a hunger for classic literature in me, as well as a love for Tolstoy. I first read this book as an 8th grader. I was in an honors English class and we were given a list of classics to choose and this is the book I chose. I spent my entire Christmas break reading this book, but the book was clearly over my head. I was lost in the Russian names and nicknames and wasn't always sure what was going on. Instead of asking my teacher for help, I wrote my book report with the knowledge I had acquired and turned it in. He returned it to me with a big fat red zero on it and told me I missed the whole point, but I could rewrite it and turn it in in a week. So, once again I poured over the book and checked out other books on the book and I rewrote the paper and got an "A". I had missed the point, but the extra time studying it cleared it up for me and gave me a love for the story. I have since read it a couple more times. It is now a book that I can just pick up and read certain sections because they speak to me.
3. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand by Paul David Tripp... This is one of the best books on life I've read. I have read this book over and over and I keep gaining wisdom. It is the best book I've read on counseling, marriage, parenting, and everyday relationships. It is actually better than the books I paid $60,000 to read for my masters.
4. Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge.... Sometimes you read a book and it hits you at just the right time, that was this book for me. A mentor had suggested this author to me, I checked out this book and one other of her books. I kept trying to read this book but I couldn't get past the first couple of chapter. I had the book the entire time I could check it out but I just couldn't get into it. I read the other book I checked out and loved it, I read it in one weekend. I loved Goudge's language and her story of hope and growth in relationships. That summer I picked up Green Dolphin Street and it spoke to my heart. Its about two sisters who couldn't be more different and they fall in love with the same boy. It was in this book that I saw my need to control, my tendency to nag and my tendency to lack joy in my relationships. I knew that I didn't want to be the controlling sister, I wanted to be the joyful, peaceful sister.
5. The Sense of the Call by Marva Dawn.... This is another book that started a journey for me, a journey of rest and joy. There is not much to say about a book such as this, it speaks to mind, it speaks to my heart and it strengthens my soul.
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