Books that have helped me...

I didn't start getting into reading until I was in late high school, but at that time, I wasn't really reading Christian self-help books... more like high school drama and romance novels lol. I was also in my One Tree Hill phase (which is a TV show about high school drama) at the time so it made sense that I wanted to read about high school drama all the time.

Before the summer of my junior year in college, I was getting ready to be a camp counselor at a church camp. And I was thinking to myself I have no idea what I'm going to say to these kids when they ask me about God or when they want advice on something.

I wanted to help them as much as I could, but I was just so nervous that they were gonna ask me so many things that I couldn't answer. (Obviously, I wouldn't be able to answer everything they were going to ask me, but I wanted to be prepared).

And don't get me wrong - I did have a decent idea of what to say to a good bit of the things I could imagine them telling me about, but I desired to be able to tell them more. I didn't want to answer their questions with a cliche or a typical response that I had heard all my life. I wanted to speak life-giving words that were not surface-level and had a heavy weight attached to them.

And I knew that the only way I would be able to speak these kind of words was by:

1. Reading the Bible and seeing what God has to say about these potential topics

2. Reading books by Christian authors about these potential topics

So, I ended up buying a few books and I read them, and I studied them, and I took notes, and I learned a ton of wonderful things about God while I was preparing myself for the summer.

Here is a list of the books I read to prepare for camp and I included other books I've read that I absolutely love and recommend. Note - I've also included the links on Amazon in case you want to buy them!

1. How Do We Know the Bible is True? by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge

• If you ever think you might head into a situation where people might ask you how you know God is real (and you don't want to give them the typical answer of "I know God is real by faith," read this book. It proves the entire existence of God and it breaks it down so well. The entire first chapter talks about how creation, history, and logic prove the existence of God. My hand hurt so much after taking the notes on just the first chapter so I definitely recommend this book!

• https://amzn.to/3UHWCeH

2. 30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders

• This book guides you through the very basics of the Bible. Each day, you will have a new task to work on and memorize. For example, the first few days deal with understanding the structure of the Bible, the geography of where a lot of events take place in the Bible, the timeline of the books in the Bible, etc. You learn A LOT and it is definitely worth it.

• https://amzn.to/3QHupU3

3. The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning

• This book is just wonderful. It's a short read - you could probably read it within an entire weekend. My friend gave this book to me a couple of years ago and it just goes into great detail about how much God loves you. Oftentimes we don't really process how much God loves us, but this book explains it SO WELL. You will think of things you have never thought before when it comes to the love of God.

• https://amzn.to/3WGNiKE
  

4. Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels

• Do you ever just look at the world and think to yourself What is wrong with this place? Because I have thought this before so many times unfortunately. This book takes that longing of wanting to make the world a better place and identifies it as holy discontent. Your holy discontent is what moves you to want to make the world a better place. He uses examples like MLK Jr. and Mother Teresa throughout the book. They saw what was wrong with the world and their holy discontent moved them to help make a change! Read this book! He will teach you how to take those feelings and desires and utilize them!

• https://amzn.to/3wLuXRT

5. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

• Brother Lawrence was a 17th-century monk and hermit who was living in Paris during a terrible war. He was a soldier during the war, which left him disabled, so he took a job as a waiter. He developed this super personal relationship with God through intimate prayer and he made it his goal to understand how every single thing that he did was a holy act to God. He lived consistently in the presence of God. His story makes me want to cry. This is also a weekend read and I highly recommend it.

• https://amzn.to/3QHuirB

6. Fearless in 21 Days by Sarah E. Ball

• If you struggle with anxiety and fear, I cannot recommend this book enough to you. The author goes into great detail about her struggle with anxiety and fear and then she talks about how she overcame it. She also makes it a point to understand that the body, mind, and spirit are all connected when dealing with anxiety and fear, which is something that will forever be embedded into my brain. Read this book if you struggle with this stuff!!! And take good notes because you will refer to them A LOT!

• https://amzn.to/3UzI6oY

These are the books that have helped me the most and I genuinely am begging you to read these - they will turn your world upside down. Let me know if you end up reading them or have already read them. I would LOVE to talk about them with you!