Porch #74 * For All You Dedicated Book Lovers

 PORCH
a soft place to land
a calm weekend haven
a gentle pause from life's busyness
so we may experience
the tender lovingkindness of Jesus
as we do life together
in community

image creator

Books are the quietest & most constant of friends; they are the most accessible & wisest of counselors, & the most patient of teachers.

Charles Elliot

Dedicated readers usually have plenty of books to be read (TBR).  Some volumes have been hanging around for decades and others may have been waiting their turn for less than a month.  

My random collection contains vintage books that were Mom's as a young girl, surprise treasures from Little Libraries, public library checkouts and giveaways, oldies but goodies off the free books cart at church, and thoughtful gifts received along the way.  

For the first time ever, I've frozen my rather lengthy library request list so I can focus on specific books that I've been wanting to pick up.  Here they are, listed room by room where they've been residing in my house, whispering, 'pick me, pick me!'

✅ = finished!  Feel free to check back through the month and hold me accountable in the comment section, OK?  You'll keep me from getting side-tracked.

Living Room Coffee Table 
The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters  ✅ 
Joanna Gaines (2022)
'I hope for both of us that when fear does come rushing in, we'll be wise enough to question what's behind it.  And whether it's shame, uncertainty, or a sense of unworthiness, we'll remember that, as powerful as those emotions are, we are not powerless to them.  They are ours to hold and to own and to wrestle to the ground.  Even when they look and act and sound like protection, they are what keep us from living life with our whole hearts.'
(43)

Bedroom Desk 
Jayber Crow: A Novel  😕
Wendell Berry (2001)
Ever since I skimmed Michele Morin's superb insights and in-depth discussions of this acclaimed novel, I knew that someday I'd read it for myself.  Half a decade later, here I go.

Guest Bedroom Bookcase 
Pollyanna  ✅ 
Eleanor Porter (1913)
It's kind of awesome, the feel of my Mom's fragile, tattered childhood book is in my hands.  And that finally, all these years later, I will join that little nine year old in gently paging through this faded pink hardcover classic.

The inside cover is inscribed in pencil
Elsie Negris, October 1939

Kids' Room Cabinet 
Wuthering Heights  😕
Emily Bronte (1847)
Could it be that in all my years I've never read through an Emily Bronte work?  Another family heirloom, fragile and stained by time, awaits my long overdue attention.

The Loft Bookcase 
The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society  ✅
Henri Nouwen (1979)
'He is called to be a wounded healer.  The one who must look after his own wounds but at the same time be prepared to heal the wounds of others ...A Christian community is therefore a healing community not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wouns and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision.'
(94)

The Nest Bookcase
Pursuing God's Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups  ✅
Ruth Haley Barton (2012)
'Yes, there will be some new steps to learn, some new things to practice.  Feel free to do something before you do everything: pick the one thing you can do, and do it with all your heart.  God faithfully comes into any bit of space we create for him, and pretty soon the one thing you do before you do everything leads to another thing and another, until you find that leadership is not the burden it once was.  It is a dance in which God leads and you follow.  It is a wave that God sends, and you ride it.  It is the breath of God, and you are the feather that floats upon it.  It is a wind of the Spirit that blows, and you lift your sail to catch it.  It is a powerful current that is already flowing, and you are in that flow.'
(16)

My Kindle
Prayer 101: Experiencing the Heart of God  ✅
Warren Wiersbe (2016)
'In Prayer 101, Dr. Warren Wiersbe addresses our deepest questions about prayer and gives us practical tools for incorporating prayer into our lives.  He explores God’s will, how our relationships with God and others affect our prayers, and what it means to pray for our enemies.  Throughout this deeply spiritual book, Dr. Wiersbe points us away from legalism and toward joy as we practice the daily rhythm of conversation with God.'

+ 49 Kindle samples collected along the way

📚

READING & WRITING & JOURNALING 

20 Assorted Bible Reading Plans

for 2023 (or design your own!)

Ligonier Ministries

Writing Reveals What is Alive in Us

Henri Nouwen

10 Adorable Little Free Libraries

Across the U.S.

Molly O'Brien

15 Creative Small Home Library Ideas

for Book Lovers Short on Space

Livian Yeh

How to Start a Prayer Journal

Richard Foster

What I Learned from a Month

of Writing Letters to Myself

Lindsey Weishar

55 reading journal prompts

that work for ANY book

Michelle Watson

📚

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
KINDLE DEALS

Every Breath
Nicholas Sparks
$2.99

How to Act Right
When Your Spouse Acts Wrong
Leslie Vernick
$5.99

Dear Jesus:
Seeking His Light in Your Life

Sarah Young

$2.99

I want to hear all about your TBR stacks.  Who?  What?  Where?  When?
Linda

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P.S.#3
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