The Books That Changed My Life (Aside From The Bible)
It started in my early teens and worsened into adulthood. At the very moment my life was supposed to be beginning, it felt in every way as if it were about to end. I wanted an escape from the pain, and often turned to all the wrong things. But because of the Lord’s great grace, He pulled me from the ashes and gave me a heart to run after Him as I never had before.
I remember those years as I look back. I was not the person I wanted to be, and I knew I needed to change. So I dug through the Scripture, I listened to preaching, and I read every book I could get my hands on. These are just a few of the books, aside from Scripture, that helped bring me back and change me into the person I am today.
1. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
I came across this book while working at my first job. I worked at a movie theatre and saw the ad for its upcoming movie. I was so moved by it that I bought and read the book in less than a week. All 567 pages of it…As I read through this true story, I began to see my circumstances differently. What the man in this book went through was so much worse than anything I had yet experienced, and yet he remained true to the Lord and spent the remainder of His days living joyfully in service to Him. To this day, Louie Zamperini is someone I highly look up to.
2. Courage and Calling by Gordon T. Smith
I came across this book during my first class at Colorado Christian University. It completely changed my perspective on work, calling, and how God provides the courage to do both joyfully in accordance to His will.
3. The Marriage Builder by Dr. Larry Crabb
I came across this book while reading Crabb’s book “Understanding who you are” in a communications class in college. My husband had just asked me to marry him, and I knew absolutely nothing about relationships or marriage seeing as it was never on my agenda. I read this book because I was in love and wanted to learn how to be a wife the way God would have me to. The things I learned in this book, I still use every single day and I continually praise God for the insight it offered me during that time of growth.
4. Leading On Empty by Wayne Cordero
This book has been a change for me most recently. From a young age, I have always struggled to find true rest in my life as I grew up an athlete and was also told that it was a sign of weakness. This past summer, between pre-field ministry and secular work combined, I had a major relapse in my anxiety and depression. And in the midst of the worst week of it, I came down physically sick as well. I was completely burnt out at that point, hardly able to get out of bed, and truly not feeling like myself. So I picked up this book, not knowing much about it, and it has since taken me on a journey back to establishing a healthy, balanced life.
5. The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
This book is a tear-jerker….I came across it at the church I attended in 2019. I had just found out I was going back to Australia as a missionary intern and wanted to read all the books I could to fully prepare. This was one that was recommended to me by my youth pastor at the time. To say it changed my life and perspective is an understatement. I remember sitting in the break room at work sobbing because of the beauty I saw through the raw commitment these people had to God despite the often dangerous circumstances they were in. Coupled with Unbroken, which I discussed at the beginning of this blog, this book helped me see my circumstances in a different light and helped me to understand just how much I should be doing with much if these people can do it with little.
6. Understanding Who You Are by Dr. Larry Crabb
I have always struggled with identity because, as a young girl, I spent a lot of time and effort building my identity around a sport and often being encouraged to do so. Naturally, once the Lord took that sport away, I felt lost and completely out of place in a world I felt I knew nothing about. This book was a reading assignment for one of my college classes and it really helped me to understand why I struggled with the things that I did and how I can make those struggles better by realigning my identity in Christ.
While every person relates and finds healing through different avenues, they all lead to the same understanding that Christ is indeed the answer. These books truly helped me understand that and I highly recommend them to anyone who is searching or feeling lost and alone in the circumstances they are currently in. Below are multiple links you can follow to purchase them. Or, if you cannot afford them, let us know and we would love to help!
May the Lord bless and keep you as you seek to grow in Him.
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