20 Authors Who Have Radically Impacted My Life {Part 2}

Yesterday I began a two-part post on authors who have radically impacted my life.  If you missed the first ten, you can catch up here.  Here's the rest of the list:

11. John G. Paton. Another oddish addition to this list, John G. Paton wasn't really an author, but a missionary. However, several years ago when our friend Andy spoke on Paton at church camp, I was hit right between the eyes with several things he shared about Paton, and I immediately downloaded his autobiography on my Kindle. This is another one that I need to devote a whole post to, but let me just say that what he writes about his parents convicted me strongly in my parenting.

12. Elyse Fitzpatrick. I haven't read nearly as much of her writing as I want to, but I have a whole slew of her books on my "to read" list. I first encountered her through a great deal of "buzz" online about her book Give Them Grace. It's one of the few Kindle books I've ever actually just paid full price for, and it was well worth it. Another paradigm-changer for me.

13. Mary Pride. I don't know how many in the current generation of homeschoolers are even familiar with this name, but in the days before the internet and the explosion of homeschooling materials over the past couple of decades, Mary Pride was a major voice in the "homeschool movement" (which thankfully has progressed past being a "movement", such as it was, to just being a lifestyle.) 

Although I don't agree with everything she writes (which would probably be true to some degree for almost everyone on this list), her books were dramatic eye-openers for me as a high school and college student. Her book The Child Abuse Industry caused me to look at the child protection field with a deeply thoughtful eye, which would be of tremendous help years later when I found myself working in that very field, and again even later when our family found ourselves dealing in a much more personal and unexpected way with that field when we were touched by a traumatic crime.

Even more than her writing on child abuse, her writing on the family, and particularly on women's roles (The Way Home, and All the Way Home), was worldview changing for me. Although I don't agree with everything she has to say on the subject, her writing was courageous and challenging in a time when few (even in Christian circles) were encouraging women Biblically in their roles as wives and mothers.

14. Elizabeth George. Elizabeth George is a prolific writer, and to be honest, I haven't read nearly enough of her books. I own several, and have a number on my "to read" list, but just haven't made it to many of them. However, her book Loving God with All Your Mind  was one that God used in a mighty way in a difficult time in my life. Her challenge to replace the false thoughts that so often fill our minds with the truth of Scripture was simple but life-altering.

15. Corrie ten Boom.  I'm not totally sure when my intense interest in all things World War II and the Holocaust began, but I suspect it was probably about the time our church did a massive and amazing stage performance of The Sound of Music when I was in grade school.  I devoured every book I could find on that time period.  Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place was one of those early reads.  I later read everything else I could get my hands on that she had written.  One of my favorites, however, wasn't written by Corrie, but about her: Corrie ~ The Lives She's Touched, by Joan Winmill Brown.  Reading about the experiences of Corrie and her family ~ suffering on a level most of us cannot even dream of ~ impacted my young life in a huge way.  God's grace and glory in sustaining their faith through such horror was and still is totally amazing. 

16. Randy Alcorn. His blog and social media posts are a regular source of encouragement to me these days, but his physically weighty book, If God is Good, tackles a spiritually and emotionally weighty topic with Biblical truth and grace. For anyone struggling with the subject of suffering...this is a must-read.

17. Bruce Ware. I first encountered Bruce Ware's books when I found myself struggling to write a book review of a book with which I had major theological differences. In researching further, I discovered Bruce Ware's book,Their God is Too Small. If you ever need a good theological answer to open theism, grab it. It's short but powerful. Around that same time, I discovered that Ware had also written (among other things) a book on doctrine for children, Big Truths for Young Hearts. We have worked our way through it as our Bible curriculum for school, finishing it just last week. Let me just say that this should be required reading not only for children and youth, but also for adults. I'm planning to review it fully soon, but for now I'll just say it is the best, most complete, most understandable book on theology in volume I've ever seen.

18. Reb Bradley. I debated adding Reb Bradley to this list. I heard him speak many years ago, listened to some of his (and his wife Beverly's) audio materials, and read some of their writings over the years. However, none of that was cause for his inclusion on this list. His inclusion on this list comes solely from an article he wrote a few years ago titled "Homeschool Blindspots". I read it when he first wrote it, and read it again just recently when it began making its way through the social media circuit again. Having been involved in the world of homeschooling for over 28 years now (how is that possible???), I think this may well be one of the most important pieces of writing ever for homeschooling parents (and maybe for Christian parents in general.) Thus his inclusion on this list. Planning a more complete post on this topic soon.

19. Scotty Smith. I have a couple of Scotty Smith's older books, written with Steven Curtis Chapman, in hard copy, and his Everyday Prayers compilation on Kindle. Scotty Smith makes the list, however, due to his daily posts on his blog, Heavenward. I can't tell you how often God has used his beautiful and Biblical prayers to encourage, challenge, and convict me.

20.  Joni Eareckson Tada.  Like Corrie ten Boom, Joni's faith and the overwhelming faithfulness of God seen in her life impacted me hugely as an older child and young adult.  Her book A Step Further was especially influential in those years. 



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Missed part 1?  Find it here. 

Who are some of the most influential authors in your life?  Share a few in the comments, please!  

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Thank you for stopping by! If you're new here, welcome! I'd love to hear from you in the comments or via the email option in the sidebar. If you'd like to keep up with future posts,  it's easy to follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest.  You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email. I'm also on Instagram at jenbh68. Thanks! 

20 Authors Who Have Radically Impacted My Life {Part 1}

Favorite books for me are kind of like favorite hymns....there are way too many choices, and other than a short...or maybe not-so-short...list of all-time favorites, the ones closest to my heart generally change depending on what is going on in my life at the time.

However, a list of favorite authors is a little easier. There are just some whose writing consistently speaks to me, and who have been used in great ways in my life over the years.

With the disclaimer that I may have to come back and add a few that slip my mind as I write this in the early morning darkness without access to my bookshelves to jog my memory, here's the part 1 of the list. Come back tomorrow for part 2! :)  (It's in no particular order, and I'm not including those who write fiction exclusively. That may be another post. :))

1. Anne Ortlund. I said the list was in no particular order, but this one may be the exception. If I were pressed to name an all-time favorite, it would probably have to be Anne Ortlund. When I was about 10, my mom asked for her book, Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, for Christmas, birthday, or some such special occasion. I bought it for her. I still remember proudly paying for it at the old Christian Supply Store in Conway...one of my all-time favorite places! After my mom read it, I read it. I read it so many times over the years that when I bought a copy for myself as a young adult, I immediately noticed editorial changes between the original edition I'd bought my mom and the later edition I purchased for myself.

While I can't say I have lived all the wisdom I read in this book over the years, it did make a profound impact on my life. I had already begun taking sermon notes following my parents' examples, but Mrs. Ortlund's systematic approach to keeping up with Bible Study and sermon notes appealed to me, and I used a similar system for years. (I need desperately to get back to such a system!)

Mrs. Ortlund's book was also the first exposure Mother or I had to using a notebook as a planner. Long before DayRunners and Daytimers became available (at least in our neck of the woods), Anne Ortlund's system of making one's own planner from a 5x8 looseleaf binder revolutionized my entire life. I started my first such notebook while I was still in grade school, and for the next 20+ years was almost never seen without my notebook planner. Although my life and system have changed a great deal since then, I still utilize many of her suggestions.

More important than the organizational help from Mrs. Ortlund's writing was the encouragement in the areas of Christian growth, discipleship, and church family relationships, however. Not only Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, but the subsequent Disciplines of the Heart  and Disciplines of the Home, as well as Love Me With Tough Love, and one of my very favorites, Fix Your Eyes on Jesus, all had huge impacts on my life.

I'm planning a future blog post on some of the best advice I ever read from her books: to find a church that preaches the truth of the Word, get involved, and then hang around. The fact that my parents did that...that we were often some of the last to leave the church after services and activities...was a huge factor in my developing a love and appreciation for church family that continues on today. Billy and I have carried on in that tradition...and I am so thankful that my children are developing a love for the church and a habit of "hanging around." I'll stop there and save the rest for that future blog post. :)

One of the great joys of my life was hearing Anne Ortlund speak and meeting her in person as a young adult. What a beautiful lady who totally exuded the grace of God.

2. Edith Schaeffer. Like Anne Ortlund, Edith Schaeffer is one of the greatest heroines of the Faith to me. I read her books,Tapestry and With Love, Edith, as a young adult, and I have read bits and pieces over and over again since then. I was able to find used copies of both in excellent condition a few years ago, and I was so delighted to add them to our home library. I'm planning to read both again this school year. With Love, Edith, made a particular impact on me as it is a collection of letters that Mrs. Schaeffer wrote to her extended family as she and her husband Francis were in the early years of their ministry at L'Abri. I love biographies and autobiographies, but I think there is something so special about reading journals and letters, as through them we can see what was actually going on in the mind of the writer at the time, rather than what they remember later.

Forever Music: A Tribute to the Gift of Creativity is another favorite. I wrote a paper on this book in high school. A must for any piano lover or anyone interested in the subject of creativity.

I can't leave Edith Schaeffer without mentioning her book,The Hidden Art of Homemaking ~ another book that had a profound effect on shaping my whole life paradigm.

I've been greatly blessed to meet a number of my favorite writers/heroes of the faith in person over the years. I was blessed to meet Edith Schaeffer and her husband, Francis, as a 1st grader during a trip to Dallas with my family. I had no idea at the time what an impact they would have on my life, but what a treasure to remember that brief meeting, even if my greatest memory of it was Dr. Schaeffer's fascinating style of dress... knickers and long socks which looked to this Heidi lover to have come straight out of the Swiss Alps (which I suppose they had! :))

3. Having already mentioned Francis Schaeffer, I'll go ahead and add him to the list here. Although I have not read many of his books straight through, I've been exposed to much of his writing in various contexts, and he is not only one of my personal favorites, but simply one of the all-time greats, in my opinion. I'll be reading through a great deal of work with my high schoolers over the next few years. I can't wait!

4. C. S. Lewis. This one just almost goes without saying. I know that there are issues with some of his theology, and as I'll be reading through much of his work with my high schoolers soon as well, we'll be exploring some of that. However, Lewis was a phenomenal crafter of thoughts and words, and many, may lives including my own have been enriched by his writings.TheScrewtapeLetters was influential in my life as a high schooler; I still have the paper I wrote on it, in fact. :)

From childhood on, I read the Chronicles of Narnia until I practically had them memorized, and then later, God used a co-op class I taught on Narnia to hit me squarely between the eyes and help in my healing from one of the most difficult periods of our life with the truth that "Aslan is not a tame lion. He is good, but He is not a tame lion." Wow. (Read more on that here.)

5. Steven Lawson. Although I have enjoyed reading Steven Lawson in recent years, and his book When All Hell Breaks Loose (You May Be Doing Something Right) was a major influence on my life during a difficult time, Dr. Lawson's greatest impact in my life came before I ever read any of his writing. Seven years ago, during one of the most difficult times our family had ever gone through, Dr. Lawson came to our church to do a Bible Conference. I don't remember what his official topic was that week, but his teaching on the sovereignty of God radically changed my life. That sounds rather dramatic, but it's nonetheless true.

6. David Platt. It's stirred up a bit of controversy in the years since it's release, but David Platt's Radical made a radical impact on my life. I was an early reviewer for the book (you can read my review here), and it was one of those paradigm-shifting reads for me. I don't think we all need to give away everything we own and live in the jungles of Africa for the rest of our lives (and I never understood that as Platt's message), but I do think that we in developed countries...especially the United States...need to stop and re-examine our worldview (particularly the "American Dream" that most of us in the U.S. hold so dearly.) My oldest is reading this book right now, and it will definitely be required reading for all my children.

7. Mary DeMuth. Promo alert. *Big Grin* I am currently on the Launch Team for Mary's latest book, The Wall Around Your Heart, which released on October 15. You need to read this book. (Read a bit about how it has impacted my life here.) Then you need to read her book Everything. Life changing reading. (Read my review here.)  

Although she writes on many other subjects as well, Mary is one of the few Biblically-based voices speaking out on the issue of sexual abuse today. God has used her in a mighty, mighty way in my life in the last 7 years as we've begun to heal as a family from trauma we never expected to experience. (Read more of what I have to say about Mary's writing and ministry here.)

8. Justin Holcomb. Justin Holcomb and his wife Lindsay are two others who are leading the way in ministering to those who have been touched by sexual abuse from a solid Biblical foundation. Their book Rid of My Disgrace didn't come out until several years into our journey, but it is the book I prayed for from the day our world exploded. (Read more of my thoughts on the book here. )

9. Sally Clarkson. Educating the WholeHearted Child, co-written with her husband Clay, is one of my all-time favorite books on homeschooling (and one I recommend to all parents, homeschooling or not. It has much valuable information for all Christian parents, not just homeschoolers.)

10. Josh Harris. Josh Harris is perhaps an odd addition to this list. I don't know that I have ever actually read a complete book he's written, although I have a couple on my "to read" list, including Why Church Matters: Discovering Your Place in the Family of God. However, I've read many short articles he's written, and I think he is a young man to watch. I saw Josh Harris and his family many years ago and heard them speak at a homeschool convention...way back in the mid-80s, when they weren't nearly as well-known and Josh was just a young boy. They made an impact on my life then, and they have continued to through the years.

So...there are the first ten.  Come back tomorrow for the rest of the list. :)  Who are some of the most influential authors in your life?  Please share a few in the comments!  

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Edited to Add: Part 2 can be found here. 

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Thank you for stopping by! If you're new here, welcome! I'd love to hear from you in the comments or via the email option in the sidebar. If you'd like to keep up with future posts,  it's easy to follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest.  You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email. I'm also on Instagram at jenbh68. Thanks! 

 

Wonders Too Many to Declare {World Prematurity Day 2013}

Today is World Prematurity Day.  I can't let the opportunity go by to share again our gratefulness for God's healing in the life of our preemie almost 10 years ago, and His faithfulness to our family always.

The night that my water broke at 30 weeks, my friend Kathy shared these verses with me:

I waited patiently for the LORD;
   He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
 He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in Him.
  Blessed is the one
   who trusts in the LORD,
who does not look to the proud,
   to those who turn aside to false gods.
 Many, LORD my God,
   are the wonders You have done,
   the things You planned for us.
None can compare with You;
   were I to speak and tell of Your deeds,
   they would be too many to declare.
~Psalm 40:1-5

I clung to those verses for dear life during the time I was in the hospital before Ammah Grace was born and during the time that she was in NICU.  God was so gracious to us in giving us wonders too many to declare with Ammah Grace!

As often as I feel I've shared Ammah Grace's story, there are always people who haven't heard it. You can read more here, here, and here. We were cautioned by her neonatologists that she might never walk or talk, and that she could be blind and/or deaf.  I still marvel, almost 10 years later, at our running, laughing, always-talking, bright and healthy reminder of God's faithfulness and glory.

Prematurity is such a scary thing.  The NICU is a world unto itself that no one wants to enter.  What a blessing, though, to have the technology and medical advances that we have today, and to have the highly-skilled, compassionate doctors and nurses who work with these tiny little ones and their families.

God taught us so much through those days that I don't know if we could have learned any other way, and I am so thankful for that.  I am also so thankful for the many people who helped our families in so many ways during that time, and for the many, many who prayed for her.  The "Ammah" in Ammah Grace was my great-grandmother's name.  We discovered after she came home from the hospital that "Ammah" is a Biblical place name that means, "God's people".  What a perfect name for our little preemie, in whose life God's people played such a huge part.

Ammah Grace with Bayley at Taekwondo. 

Ammah Grace recently learned to shoot, and she is hooked!  Being coached by Bro. Gary at Mrs. Rhonda and Mr. Calvin's house a few weeks ago. :) 

She loved it!

Ammah Grace at church.

A little Sunday afternoon pitch and catch with Dad.