Books to Grow By

In recent years, I have come to believe even more strongly that we have the power to either linger in our present state of knowledge and grow no further, or we can choose to educate ourselves to grow beyond even our greatest dreams. For me books provide powerful material for growth once you can sort through which ones are worthwhile/right for you. Combine that with great conversation via a girlfriend or support group and you get all kinds of perspectives flowing that help you discern your personal beliefs and who you really are inside. There are three books I'm putting out for consideration today that I think are fabulous for growth. And when I talk growth I'm not talking about something you skim through and hope for a miracle wonder cream in a book. I'm talking digging in yourself, being honest and getting at the sometimes ugly truth.

The first two books are for all women who want to explore who they are and grow from it, regardless of if you are married or single:

Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul, by John And Staci Eldredge
Wow...I love this book and urge you to get the study guide that goes with it. The thing to remember with this book is that regardless of whether or not you agree with how the authors might phrase certain things, you ask yourself, "how does that concept apply in me." Admittedly, they do use some flowery language that the non-girly-girls in our circles may not relate to but concentrate on the concepts and you'll get some insights into why we women think the way we do and that some of our sometimes seemingly neurotic tendencies are not so strange after all...great to do in a group of girlfriends! Amazon has a Kindle version of this as well for you techies :-)

Having a Mary Spirit: Allowing God to Change Us From the Inside Out, by Joanna Weaver
This book really has you evaluate yourself on a deep level and if you are being honest with yourself, may not be the book you want to start with if you have a hard time with self-examination...do it with some girlfriends you really trust and discuss to get some interactive feedback. Amazon even has a Kindle version of this too!

The last book is specific to Divorce and it is Growing Through Divorce (with working guide), by Jim Smoke. Some sections are a hard read if your situation is still brand new but I urge you to get through it with an open mind. There is lots of good information and warnings for us new single parents so my advice on this one is purposely go through it slowly. Concentrate only on a section at a time and really work through it or it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Use it to figure out what kind of divorce' you want to be and if you have children, what do you want them to learn so that they have a positive (not the same as sheltered) understanding of the realities of divorce.

So I pray that you consider some of my favorite books and try them if you haven't already...if you already have read some of these (or once you do), I would love to see some conversation about them!