12 Books from 2024

Although we’re still two months out from the close of 2024, I take a break from blogging at the beginning of November until the New Year. Since that leaves only one more blog post before 2025, I’m sharing some of what I’ve read this year, and maybe it will make your list for next year.

From books covering theology to methodology, my goal is to grow by considering perspectives that challenge, adjust, or reinforce what I think and believe.

I also try to learn at least one lesson from those whose lifestyles might feel foreign to me. I learned from a Quaker steadily boycotting slavery long before the American Revolution and from a legendary rock star shouting injustice in the spotlight that I have a role to play in my generation, but its effect may not fully be realized in my lifetime.

Reading equips me a little more for that role. I’d love to know if you’ve read any of these!

A Non-anxious Presence, Mark Sayers

All My Knotted Up Life, Beth Moore

Developing Female Leaders, Kadi Cole

The Journal of John Woolman, John Woolman

The Paradise King, Blaine Eldridge

The 6 Types of Working Genius, Patrick Lencioni

Practicing the Power, Sam Storms

Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer

Streams of Living Water, Richard J. Foster

Surrender, Bono

Timothy Keller, Collin Hansen

Write Useful Books, Rob Fitzpatrick

For Life & Home

I came across the interior designer, Jean Stoffer, a few years ago, and I loved her attentive, thoughtful restoration of historic houses. It was intriguing to me that she seemed to have “suddenly” appeared in the popular design world, yet she was in her 60’s. From her demeanor, it was clear that there was something deeper about her.

When her book Establishing Home arrived on Target’s shelves, I wanted to know more. 

You’ll be inspired by her story if you’re holding loosely to a dream that hasn’t had much momentum because of your stage of life; if you’re chipping away at a project that hardly looks different from one day to the next; or if you’re feeling like slow might just mean never.

Jean consistently kept her values of God and family at the forefront of her business decisions, although it was agonizing to do so at times. After turning down a large-scale design opportunity, because it would have interfered with her family life, she writes this, “I was saying yes to growing my business slowly, one project at a time. Would I ever see an opportunity like that again? I had no idea.” 

She believed that God would bring the next right opportunity within her priorities, but that didn’t make the choices obvious or easy along the way. Building her business at a pace that fit her family’s rhythm required faith, and in a culture where going viral is the goal, she models what it means to go step by step. 

Check out Establishing Home

A resource for devastation

I just returned from speaking at a weekend retreat at Lake Ann Camp in Michigan. A highlight for me was to hear women’s stories of what God is doing in their lives, but, most often, woven within the threads of God’s activity, is deep pain.

One of the ladies crocheted while she waited for the session to begin, and it made me think about the colors God weaves in as he knits His plan for our lives together.

The dark and the light.

The dark that makes the light pop.

The dark that recedes when it’s next to the light.

Color stands out when its opposite force is present. While seemingly working against it, the opposing color actually makes the other even more visible, purposeful, and - eventually - beautiful.

But what if God doesn’t seem to be at the light part yet in the crocheting of my life? Someone I admire for her reaction to the dark pain that came into her life, is Carol Kent. Her book When I Lay My Isaac Down, tells the story of redemption through tragedy, even though the tragedy lingers and is life-long. If you’re walking through loss, grief, and ongoing trials, When I Lay My Isaac Down might be your guide like a flashlight in the dark.

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

Playlists & Podcasts

Whether I’m working out or washing dishes, I’m motivated by music and by insightful conversations. Maybe you are too, so I thought I’d share a few songs that have been filling my heart with worship lately:

 Love of God, Brandon Lake and Phil Whickham (how can I pick just one of theirs?!)

Holy Forever, Jenn Johnson

Lead Me On, Chandler Moore

Daily Bread, Pat Barrett and Kari Jobe

Prince of Peace, Josh Baldwin

Thank you Jesus for the Blood, Charity Gayle

…and some of my favorite podcasts:

Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast for anyone leading people in some way.

The Graham Cochrane Show for anyone who owns a business or wants to start one.

Don’t miss this three-part interview! Jennie Allen and Jamie Winship:

Part 1: Conflict Zones, the CIA, and Listening to God

Part 2: Why are you Afraid?

Part 3: Finding Freedom from Fear

I hope one of these resources moves you to worship more fully with all that you are today!

A Backstage Pass

Reflecting on All My Knotted Up Life, by Beth Moore

After learning Portuguese to church-plant in Brazil, one of the unexpected privileges that came my way was facilitating English-speaking women’s Bible studies. Our group was a diverse convergence of women from nations such as Germany, Israel, Mexico, and the US, but we were united by the English language and by our identity as foreigners, trying to adjust and humoring ourselves with stories of how far we had to go in that process. We were all at different places in our faith: some of us were committed to Jesus, and others, just curious about Him. 

Since English Bible study content was unavailable in our context, anyone from our circle who would be traveling to the US and back, volunteered to sacrifice a hefty portion of their baggage weight allowance to return with study materials. Alongside books by a favorite author, Beth Moore, came DVD’s of pre-recorded teaching sessions that transported us to a women’s conference in another hemisphere, and, even more importantly, transported us into the pages of the Bible. If you participated in her studies, you loved her like a sister, or a friend, or a mentor. 

I probably considered her to be all of those in my life.  You never knew if her insights would draw out laughter or tears, but what you could count on was conviction in your heart to love Jesus more, consume His Word more passionately, and respond to His Spirit more fully. Studying the Bible under her leadership anchored me to Christ during those years of feeling tossed in unfamiliar waters, far from home. 

Her memoir, All My Knotted Up Life, pulls back the curtain to her world off-stage. In the self-deprecating but profound style we’d expect from her, Beth addresses the chaotic childhood she endured, the call to ministry she followed against all odds, the marriage she was committed to, the devastating misuse of power behind the scenes, and the life she’s pursued more recently. Where praise is deserved, she honors individuals by name, and where critique is given, she writes in generalities. 

If your family life or your church life is turning out to be more like a tangled knot and less like a perfect bow tie, you’ll find camaraderie in Beth’s memoir.