Joy
Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst
I love food. I love to eat food, create food, and serve food. Good meals offer comfort, fun, and entertainment. While it’s okay to delight in food, I’m learning that Jesus is the only One who can satisfy my cravings. Made to Crave is teaching me how to satisfy my cravings with God’s love. I recommend it to anyone who’s a foodie with a desire to grow in Jesus!
To Read: Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock
Chloe
On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor
In On Trails, Robert Moor explores trails as old those fossilized in ancient rock, as new as those we leave browsing the internet, as small as the journeys of ants, as large as the Appalachian trail spanning from Georgia to Maine. He considers how various trails are formed, why and how they are maintained, and what that says about us and the world. What could be a potentially mundane topic is fascinating due to Moor’s ability to weave story in with scientific research. I am finding that his observations lead me to deeper lines of thought: Where have I come from and whose trails do I follow? When and how do I forge my own? What does it mean to follow? To lead? Though not written from a Christian worldview, I think the insight from this book is easily translated to our spiritual journey and have enjoyed being challenged to think about “trails” in the abstract as well as the concrete. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys exploration, thinking about “how stuff works,” and a call to see the world in a new way.
To Read: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver; Restless by Jennie Allen
Adam
Fire Road by Kim Phuc Phan Thi
After watching parts of the recent Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War, I became interested in digging deeper into some of the personal stories of people who experienced the war firsthand. Fire Road by Kim Phuc Phan Thi, tells the story of one little girl whose life that was forever altered during the bombing of her village. The photograph that made Kim famous only shows one brief moment in a life of struggle, pain, and resilience. Fire Road gives a voice to the girl in the picture, and shares the story of a life of hope given by God’s mercy and love.
To Read: I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me by John Ortberg
