Book Suggestions

• Here's a cute kids book:
  
  
  
• Anything by Max Lucado - a great Christian author who has a writing style that is as easy and fun to read as good fiction. He's a great teacher on the basics of Christianity. He also wrote one of my all-time favorite children's books, with good lessons about not letting what others think matter so much to us:



• "Surprised by Truth" book series by Patrick Madrid - great information to dispel common myths about what Catholics do and do not believe. Also helps you learn about how the sacraments draw us closer to Him.
  Book 1, Book 2, Book 3
• Just this title is motivating! This book has helped me a lot in the past. It teaches how to shut off the "chatterbox" in your brain that keeps you from doing what you should, something I think many people struggle with. The only problem with the book is that since it isn't Christian based, it stops short of the full Truth and doesn't explain how Jesus can give us the courage, strength & healing we need in our lives.

"Good News About Sex & Marriage" by Christopher West is another book that explains very well what the Catholic Church really teaches on often misunderstood topics:

"Hidden Keys of a Loving Lasting Marriage" by Gary Smalley was a great help when Kent and I went through a tough time in our marriage years ago. (A very painful time and we surely would have divorced if not for Jesus showing us the way back - feel free to e-mail if you'd like to know more or if I can help you somehow.)

"Love Must Be Tough" by Dr. James Dobson is great for helping to heal marriages, especially when one spouse wants to stick with it and the other is ready to give up or has already left, either emotionally or physically.

Praying the Bible for Your Children - This book has been part of my morning "quiet time" since 2003. It helped me get past the same prayers for my children that I always prayed("Lord, please keep them safe, healthy & close to You"), and instead helped me pray more deeply for them using verses from the Bible. There are 122 prayers in all, and each day I also note the date on the bottom of the page, so someday my children will see how often they were "lifted up" in prayer by their Mom! I use it not only to help me pray for our children, but also to pray for all the children in our lives. Whether it's relatives, our friend's kids, or other children who we know are hurting.

The best for last: the BIBLE - I wish everyone would read through the whole Bible at least once - getting the "big picture" has helped me understand so much more. There are great sites to help you do this in one year, here is one. If you prefer to have it broken down for you right in your Bible, you can find that here:


After all this, find a good daily devotional (a fancy name for a prayer book) to help you digest more day-to-day. If you don't think you would read the whole bible, at least try to read the book of John - you'll learn some basics: how much Jesus loves you and how to be more like Him. Here's the devotional I use. Here's one more good one, and there you can also order, "Magnifikid" - we look this over with the kids each Sunday.