July Reads

Disciplines of a Godly Woman | Hughes: Highly recommend!  Solidly Scriptural, practical, and free from the "fluffiness" that seems to characterize many for-women titles these days.  This is the book I'll be using for my small group this year.  It covers a wide variety of topics related to Christian living - prayer, worship, serving, giving, singleness, marriage, church life, contentment, and more.

De Vez en Cuando: From Time to Time | Johnson: Reflections from a missionary who served in Mexico and South America.  I have to confess: the format/writing style felt a little disorganized and unpolished.  However, I can't help but respect the raw honesty with which he told his stories - years of his own learning and faltering and serving the Lord in difficult, un-glamorous circumstances.  It's a side of missions that we rarely get to hear about.  (Side note: if you get queasy easily, this might not be the best book for you...)

The Urban Homestead | Coyne & Knutzen: A for-fun read I grabbed from the library.  Farming/homesteading/self-sufficiency has always been a topic of interest for me, although I didn't read the book with any serious intentions of turning my little apartment into a homestead of sorts.  Still, there were a lot of fascinating, creative, and practical ideas.  I feel compelled to mention one often-repeated theme that bothered me: "This might be against the rules [city code, landlords' expectations, etc.], but do it quietly and you can probably get away with it."  I can understand where they're coming from to some degree, but I still believe in respecting the law instead of looking for ways to get around it.

Slow Church | Smith & Pattison: A thought-provoking look at Twenty First Century church in the U.S.  The authors examine ways popular culture has negatively influenced the church and offer a different approach emphasizing patience, intentionality, community, and hospitality.  Did I agree with everything?  No, but it was good to have my thinking challenged and stretched, and I believe they made a lot of important points.

Savor | Niequist: A daily devotional.  I didn't read it that way - it was a library book, so I couldn't very well go at the pace of a page per day! - and probably wouldn't have anyways.  It felt more like a collection of reflections than a true devotional, but I still enjoyed it.