Five books that have impacted my life the most

Once my friend Ashley sent me a message and asked me if I intentionally gave the Bible a 3 out of 5 star rating on GoodReads.

and prior to that, I once made the mistake of putting Jesus as my #1 Top Friend on MySpace meaning I basically could only ever put 7 people in my top friends because I’m not about to demote Jesus.

That said.

The Bible has impacted my life the most.
It is the written word of Life; it teaches, instructs, guides, uplifts, convicts, and encourages like no other collection of words.

That’s the given, okay?

Like when someone asks your favorite person from the Bible and you go “OH. MOSES. NO CONTEST.”

and they give you a sly look and say “so is Jesus #2?”

Come on, people.

Moving on.

5 books that have impacted my life… aaaaannd… go.

#1. Walking on Water
by Madeleine L’Engle

Probably one of the best books on faith + art that is in existence. This book actually changed my life; I’d approached it thinking I’d discover more about myself as a musician and I walked away from it thinking “oh my gosh, I don’t know why I ever stopped writing.” Madeleine is absolutely brilliant and this book is full of conviction and truth about how we as a Christian community view art.

 

#2. A Circle of Quiet
by Madeleine L’Engle

Two L’Engle, and you just have to deal. This is, in my opinion, one of Madeleine’s most welcoming books. When someone is asking me what L’Engle book they should read, I always refer to this one. I have given away more copies of this book than I can count (I even sent my friend an autographed copy I’d purchased because it was addressed to her name), but all I know is this book introduced me to the freedom of BEing time. It taught me that it’s more than okay to carve out time in your life to just BE.

#3. A Million Miles in A Thousand Years
by Donald Miller

Gretchen sent this book to me while I was busy sleeping on people’s couches in Southern California. I read this book while I spent insane amounts of my day in Starbucks getting free iced coffee refills while my friends were at work. and somehow, this book was the driving factor behind my decision to pack up and move to California just for funsies. It’s an encouraging and inspiring book that talks about living our lives as a story.

 

#4. The Liturgical Year
by Sister Joan Chittister

I received this book for a review awhile back. I’ve always been really sensitive to certain aspects of the liturgical calendar, primarily around Easter. This book took me by surprise; it wasn’t a really heavy book full of fancy words and feasts and stuff, it was a book that gently walked you through the beauty and mystery of structuring your days around observing important moments in our faith. It helped me have a deeper appreciation for the things that God already was using to reveal himself to me.

 

#5. Messy Spirituality
by Mike Yaconelli

Mark referred this book to me awhile ago. The first few pages felt scandalous; a pastor admitting that he doesn’t really pray as much as he thinks he should and basically admitting he doesn’t have it all together. But the book showed to me that my idea of “spirituality” was always rooted in an idea of what a Christian should look like. My favorite part of this book is a story about a dog with a gimp leg and a little boy who attempts to buy him. It’s a story about how what disqualified the puppy from all the other kids in the world is what qualified him for that little boy. Okay spoiler… the boy had a gimp leg too! We’re like that with Jesus. The things that would normally disqualify us to be used by Christ are the very things that qualify us to be used by Christ.

 

Have you read or heard of any of these books? What are some books that have impacted your life?

I’m linking up with Bailey for the Blogtember challenge again! I’m mostly linking up when I LOOOVE the challenge prompts 🙂