reason to read

A quote by John Piper caught my eye today. It so wonderfully communicates the anticipation I feel every time I turn the first page of a new book.

"What I have learned from about twenty years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don't begrudge the 99%."

This reality, the way God can use ONE sentence of truth to change a life, is what drives me to pick up book after book.

I haven't had much to write about on our blog lately - not a lot is happening between Brian's residency and my job. But in our hearts, it's a different story. Brian and I are changing. God is doing a transformational work in us. And I believe that this work has taken root through written words, both of His inspired Scripture and of others grounded in it.

If you're at all curious, the following books are on my reading list this summer. I hope to be finished with all of them by the end of August. The only thing I love more than reading is talking through a book with a friend, so please let me know if we have any of these books in common! I'd enjoy so much hearing from you.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty without Hurting the Poor... and Ourselves, by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, by Francis Chan

One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children to Change the World, by Julie Ferwerda