Books That Changed My Life... Forever

The new year is upon us and if you're like me, you'll want a great book to jump start you into 2012. These past few days I have been thinking about what my "word of the year" will be also. Have you ever picked a word for the year? Several years ago our pastor challenged us to grow spiritually by picking a word for the year; something that we need to work on or focus on personally. It has proven to be a great way to focus on areas of my life that need to be acknowledged and improved. In 2009 my word was "Trust", in 2010 my word was "Glorify", and my word for 2011 was "Wait". (gee, can anyone take a guess as to why?" :)

I wanted to share with you some books that have changed my life. The first one is called "A Voice In The Wind", by Francine Rivers. It's the first part of a trilogy. The second part is called, "An Echo In The Darkness" and you need to have it handy so that when you're done with the first one, you can go right into the second one. It's historical fiction about a young Christian woman who becomes a Roman slave. I'll leave it at that. It does have a strand of romance running through it, which keeps you on your toes, but it's really about her growing faith, her complete trust in Christ, and her love for the people she serves... This is a book about what it truly means to love and serve others the way that Jesus did. It will change your life. I've read them 3 times.

The next one is called, "Radical" by David Platt. I won't even try to explain it, but get ready to dig deep down into your soul. It's not a quick read. You'll want to pace yourself so that you can chew on his challenge. It took me a long time to get through it because it goes against the grain that American culture teaches.

The last one is a fiction book called, "Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn, but I believe it is based on a true story. This book brought me to my knees. I stayed up all night long to finish it. It was SO GOOD. And for those of you with a heart for China... It will make your love and respect for the THOUSANDS of underground churches even greater. In a communist country where Christianity is very restricted and where many are martyred because of their Christian faith, thousands are coming to Jesus daily. Their passion and commitment for studying the Word of God is convicting. They will meet for hours after dark, in secret places, to worship Christ and read the Bible. These Bibles are smuggled in and people walk for days and risk their lives to hear the truths that we SO take for granted.

Those are just a few of my favorites. I have many more... but nothing can take the place of the Bible. I love to study my Bible. My weekly Bible study starts back up in January. We will be going through Genesis. I can't wait!

As for my word of the year... I'll tell you in 2012! What will yours be?

Blessings,
Rebecca