girl talk

My Eight-Year Reading List

After dinner on a recent date night, my husband and I wandered into a Barnes and Noble—not an uncommon leisure activity for the two of us. I flipped through a book on the new release table and came across a ten-year reading plan at the back of the book. Hmmm…that’s a good idea, I thought. I'm always reading--commentaries, books on women's issues, doctrine and the Christian life, and even the occasional history or classic novel--but I want to have a long-term plan to make sure I'm reading the most valuable spiritual classics.

So on our way out, I asked CJ (whose appetite for devouring books ever inspires me!) to give me a reading plan for what he considered the most important spiritual books to read in my lifetime.

Several days ago he handed me this list:

Knowing God by JI Packer
The Holiness of God by RC Sproul
The Cross of Christ by John Stott
When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper
The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges
The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges
Holiness by JC Ryle
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp

Though I’ve read parts of almost all of these books, I’ve not benefited as I know I will if I read them from cover to cover. So, I’m going to line these books up on my shelf and start reading. Let’s see…..eight books, at one per year; I should be finished by 2016. God willing, I'll finish these books and ask CJ for another reading list. 

DEAR Summertime

My sisters and I were blessed to grow up in a neighborhood with lots of kids. Summer days started out with “free swim” at the local pool from 9-10 and ended some twelve hours later with a big nighttime game of “Capture the Flag.”

Mom was happy for us to enjoy our summer playtime. But she also insisted that every day, from 12-3 pm, we come inside and do something productive. And at least one of those three hours had to be spent reading.

When I think of summer goals for my kids—and especially my eight-year-old Andrew—reading is at the top of my list. So I’ve decided to continue with a plan his second grade teacher has implemented all year: DEAR (or Drop Everything And Read) time. No doubt many of you with kids in school are familiar with this practice. After recess, each kid in the class finds a place and spends time with a good book.

We’re going to have DEAR time at home this summer. I'll let the boys each pick their own special place in the house to read. Even though Liam and Owen can still only do picture books, I don’t think it’s too early to train them in a habit of reading. To further encourage them, I’m going to do my own Book It program with some kind of prize at the end of each month for reading an assigned number of days.

And who knows, I might just grab a book myself and join them in some summer DEAR time.

What We're Reading

While the four of us don’t have as much time for reading as we would like, I think we read faster than we update the “Books We're Reading” list on our sidebar. So, today I checked in with Mom, Kristin, and Janelle, and here are some of the latest titles from our bedside tables.

Mom has begun to read Memorable Women of Puritan Times, Vols 1&2 by James Anderson. "The wives and mothers of the Puritan leaders shaped their lives as much as did their mentors and instructors. Here, in two beautiful volumes, are the stories of 25 women who influenced history and the kingdom of God by their relationships with and to the men God placed in their lives" (from the book description).

In addition, Mom and I are both reading an instructive book Dad gave us called Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark.

Kristin is reading the Crossway Classic Commentary on Luke by J.C. Ryle in her quiet time. Her friend, Jerusha suggested it, and Kristin says it’s living up to her high recommendation. 

Speaking of commentaries, Janelle is half-way through Esther and Ruth by Iain M. Duguid. Kristin recently finished this one and found it both inspiring and applicable.

Janelle’s also beginning Deception by one of our favorite authors, Randy Alcorn. If she doesn’t keep a close eye on this one, I’m going to steal it next time I’m at her house. Can you hurry up and finish already, Janelle?

In my "spare" time, I'm working my way through a biography of Anne Bradstreet by Heidi L. Nichols.

Hopefully it won't be another year before we finish these books or update our sidebar. But I'm not making any promises!

The Girltalk Book Club

We hope you’ve been inspired by our “reading talk.” (Thanks for voting on our polls--you can view the stats from the final poll here.) Writing on this topic has stimulated us too. So we want to put legs on our enthusiasm. And we want to do it together with all of you.

Drumroll please…

I’m excited to announce the inauguration of the Girltalk Book Club.

Its purpose is to promote the pleasurable discipline of reading and more specifically reading about biblical womanhood.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

* We’ll pick a book and post it on our sidebar.
* Each week, we will read one chapter and we hope you’ll read with us.
* Along with the chapter assignment, we’ll ask a question, and invite you to submit your answer.
* Among the answers, we will choose one to post.
* That person will receive an author-signed copy of the Girltalk Book Club selection.
* We will also comment on the chapters as we go along.

Does it sound like fun? Good! Then let me present our first selection:

Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur.

Have you ever wanted to get to know the women of the Bible more personally? Well here’s your chance. In a story-like fashion, John MacArthur introduces us to twelve of the most notable women in Scripture. But this work is far from fiction. It’s a biblically accurate portrait gallery of the life and times of women who were called by God. Not only do you meet these extraordinary women in the pages of this book, you encounter their faithful God. By doing so, you will become freshly encouraged by His steadfast love for you.

And for all our confident-in-your-manhood male readers, you can join in too. Here’s what pastor Rick Holland has to say about this book:

“Is ‘Twelve Extraordinary Women’ just for women? No, certainly not. Just as ‘Twelve Ordinary Men’ was written for every believer, so ‘Twelve Extraordinary Women’ should be read and studied by all. Both men and women will be encouraged by the message of this book, as they see God’s redemptive power exhibited in each of these fascinating women of the Bible.” —Rick Holland, Pastor of Student Ministries, Grace Community Church

So are you ready to go? We’ll give you a week to purchase this book (which you can do by clicking the picture on the sidebar) and then we’ll get started.

Thanks for coming on another girltalk adventure with us!

A Great Gift

From an early age my mom sought to instill in me a love for reading.  This was no easy task, for unlike Nicole, this love did not come naturally. I was even put in the “Slow Readers Group” in 1st grade, which did nothing to enhance my enthusiasm. During the summer months, when school was out, my passions were directed towards playing outside rather than reading.

But Mom was tenaciously committed to the priority of books for her children. She had a providential conversation with a family friend who said his parents made him and his siblings read for an hour a day when they were growing up. Now, he said, they all have an appetite for reading. This clinched it for Mom. Her kids were going to read an hour a day, whether they liked it or not! 

Recently, on the Together for the Gospel blog, Ligon Duncan quoted Thomas Chalmers: “Perhaps the great gift any father can bestow upon his children, apart from the covenant blessings of parish life and a comprehension of the doctrines of grace, is a passion for reading.  It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives a knowledge of the world, and it offers experience of a wide kind. Indeed, it is nothing less than a moral illumination.”

Reading still doesn’t come easy for me.  However, I still spend time each day enjoying “experiences of a wide kind.” I’m so grateful for my mom’s perseverance with me. She gave me a gift of worth I’ll never be able to adequately measure.

Today, I’m teaching my oldest son Andrew to read. If he was in school, he wouldn’t be in the slow reading group! Unlike his mother, he enjoys books and reading comes easy for him. I expect the ability and love to read might come more slowly for Liam. But regardless of their desires or abilities, I want to give all my boys the great gift of a passion for reading.

Reading Together

One day, during our engagement, Steve and I took a walk around a local pond, bordered by shops and park benches. We came across some dear friends of my parents, Robin and Clara. They were sitting close together on a bench, reading a book. Reading aloud to each other—they told us—was something they had enjoyed for over twenty years of marriage.

Inspired by their example, we resolved that reading together would be a part of our marriage. So, we brought a book to read to each other on our honeymoon—Moby Dick (I know it seems like an oddly unromantic choice, but we were staying at Nantucket so it made sense at the time). One of my favorite mental snapshots from our trip is sitting on a chilly beach and relishing language together. On our long drive home I read to Steve from some of my favorite books by P.G. Woodhouse about a man named Wooster and his butler Jeeves.

Reading aloud to each other hasn’t been quite as consistent as we would have liked. Life fills up fast. But recently we started up again. We just finished Ivanhoe (swords for him, romance for me). Some day we hope we’ll fill a shelf—maybe even a couple of shelves with the books we’ve read, me and him.

I’m not suggesting every couple should read together. (Janelle recently told me that when she and Mike tried it out, he fell asleep!) However, it’s great to have some activity or hobby you enjoy doing as a couple. If you don't already have one, why not give reading together a try?

P.S. It’s raining buckets here in Virginia again. The house is quiet and dark. Perfect for curling up with a good book and a cup of red bush tea!

Reading Help

Happy 4th, everyone! It’s nice and hot here in Maryland and the grills are firing up all over the place in celebration of our country’s independence. Check out Nicole’s post from last July 4th for a girly perspective on this American holiday. That was a good one, Nicole.

For some of you this holiday may afford a little extra time for reading. I know for me, I often skip a very important step when I sit down with a good book. I don’t ask for help to read. Don’t worry, I graduated from first grade and I can read on my own. I’m talking about a different kind of help. The help that only the Holy Spirit can provide.

In 2 Timothy 2:7 we are exhorted to “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” Our thinking alone isn’t sufficient. You see, we think but the Lord gives. We must depend upon the Lord in all things; reading is no exception. In order to grow in knowledge and affection for my Savior, I need His divine help as I read--help that He is ready and eager to give to those who ask. So before you open a book, pray that “the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

Books Wanted

Did you know that reading is a way to express our love to God? In Matthew 22:37 we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our minds. As we read books that cause us to think big thoughts about God, to know Him more, and to better understand His purposes, we are doing just that--we are loving God with all our minds.

And what’s more, reading can provoke change and cultivate our affections for God. When I consider two books I am currently perusing, I have been convicted of sinful judging by the one, and have been more deeply affected by my Savior’s death on the cross with the other. Needless to say, that makes reading a worthwhile endeavor.   

But if you are not yet convinced of its importance, listen to Mr. Spurgeon go off about books in response to this verse: “When you [Timothy] come bring the cloak which I [Paul] left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments" (2 Timothy 4:13).

"He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He has had wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up in the third heaven, and had heard things unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He has written a major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every Christian, ‘Give thyself to reading.’ The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own.”

Well, I don’t want to be accused of having no brains of my own, so I’m going to keep reading. Seriously, Mr. Spurgeon was right: If Paul wanted books, we should all want them! So, let’s pull that book our pastors have encouraged us to read off the bookshelf, and let’s start reading--even if it’s only for twenty minutes daily or one page per day.

PS--Here are the results of Friday's poll. Check out the new one on the sidebar.

A Reading Plan

Surely we’d all agree--reading is a good thing. Yet many of us despair that we don’t have time to read. But is that true?

Well, if I may be so bold, I would propose that our problem is not a lack of time for reading, but a lack of planning. And here is my justification for such an assertion. Two separate authors have recommended reading plans that I think even the busiest person would have to say, “I can do that.”

Donald Whitney encourages busy people to “find the time to read one page of a book each day.” He expands:

“It might mean sneaking a page during a visit to the bathroom, sitting in the car an extra two minutes at the end of the morning or evening commute, or standing by the bed to read a moment before crashing into the pillow at night. By reading one page per day you can read 365 pages in a year, or the equivalent of two full-length books. That may not sound like much, but it’s far better than not reading at all.”

John Piper lets us in on his findings:

“One of the most helpful discoveries I have made is how much can be read in disciplined blocks of twenty minutes a day. Suppose that you read slowly, say about 250 words a minute (as I do). This means that in twenty minutes you can read about five thousand words. An average book has about four hundred words to a page. So you could read about twelve-and-a-half pages in twenty minutes. Suppose you discipline yourself to read a certain author or topic twenty minutes a day, six days a week, for a year. That would be 312 times 12.5 pages for a total of 3,900 pages. Assume that an average book is 250 pages long. This means you could read fifteen books like that in one year.”

Reading one page a day or reading 20 minutes a day. Now that’s a plan anyone can do! Wouldn’t you agree?

The Journaling Bible

Mike came home from work the other day with something I just have to tell y’all about.  It looked like a thick journal. It was black and had an elastic strap to hold it closed.  He opened it to show me, and it was a Bible! Crossway, the publisher that brings us the English Standard Version, has created a “Journaling Bible.” This edition actually has lines in the margins where you can write. It is perfect for the 45% of you "underlined with notes" people.   

The Crossway website gives this description, “The Journaling Bible™ is a unique format with wide margins and ruled lines designed for writing prayers, observations, sermon notes, and personal reflections. It also includes a one-year Bible reading plan.”

Mike has come up with a unique plan for his Journaling Bible. He wants to fill the margins with his own reflections and pass it along to Caly someday. I can’t imagine a better gift for my little girl!