Reading

I love to read...I know I'm a nerd and have been since I was little. Joel and I got each other a Kindle for our 4 year anniversary. Can you believe it 4 years! It has gone by so fast. We were talking the other night how in 4 more years Jed will be in pre-school. Crazy.. trying to enjoy each precious moment with my lil family. Anyways...back to the reading. Right now I am reading a few books:

1. Running Scared by Ed Welch

• I love the subtitle of this book. Fear, worry and the God of rest. If I could pick one word that I would want to describe 2011 it would be REST. Not only physical rest, cause we all know with a baby there is not much of that going on, but spiritual rest. Resting in the one who created me, redeemed me, sustains me and preserves me. Ed Welch works for CCEF a Christian Counseling foundation. That is what I love about this book. The first half of the book discusses the psychology of worry and anxiety. He talks about how we are born knowing that the world is a scary place. No one teaches little kids to be afraid of the dark, monsters under the bed, etc. He also talks about how when kids are scared they don't want an object or a how-to-not-be-scared book, they want a person. They want their mom or their dad, they want someone they can trust, who they know will take care of them. That doesn't change as we get older. We need a person to turn to when we are anxious or worried. That person is Christ. That is what the last half of the book is about, its about what God has to say about fear and anxiety. Welch expounds on the manna story from Exodus and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. It has been great for me so far and I look forward to finishing it soon. 

2. Lotus Buds by Amy Carmicheal

• I love to read this book at night. It's relaxing to escape to India with the sweet children that Amy Carmichael gave her life for. It reminds me that "soon this life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last" and the importance of sharing the gospel with the little ones around me.

3.   No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley

• I started reading this book when Jed starting waking up every 45 minutes to an hour at night. I was going crazy and was reading everything I could to try and solve his sleep problem. This book is the alternative to cry-it-out, but still trying to teach baby to fall asleep on their own. We tried it for 2 weeks. Needless to say, it didn't work at all. This book was a pointless read and we ended up letting Jed cry-it-out anyways. He never had to cry long, at most 15 minutes. Within a week, he was sleeping all night in his own bed and only waking up a few times and going 8-9 hours between feedings. Guess that Ferber guy knew what he was talking about. It was really hard for me to let sweet boy cry and to sleep in a room away from me. Meditating on Psalm 23 helped a ton. I realized even though I may be the mama sheep, we have a Shepherd who is ultimately caring for us. His rod and staff comfort us. He always watches over us and does what is best for us. I can entrust Jed to him because He is faithful. This helps me to rest at night when anxious thoughts multiply within me. His consolations delight my soul.

Here's a few other books I have on my list for the year:

1. War on Words by Paul Tripp
2. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
3. Adopted for Life by Russell Moore
4. Crazy Love by Frances Chan
5. Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers ('cause I love some Christian fiction)
6. Any other suggestions or must reads??