2018 Reading List

Since it's already new year, I really want to force myself to read more. I have a couple of books I got which I never got the chance to read. This year, I want to really carve out time for my own personal reading (outside of our school books), for my own intellectual growth and joy.

Aside from my yearly goal of reading the entire Bible, I have listed five books I am lining up to read this year. This is a very conservative number because I want to be kind to myself. Haha. But I am hoping it will increase year after year.

For the Children's Sake

As a Charlotte Mason Homeschooler, this is one of the recommended books to help you grasp Miss Mason's method of education. I decided to start with this and then go with CM's 6 Volume Books.

For the Children's Sake is a book about what education can be--for your child, in your home, and in your school. It is based first on a Christian understanding of what it means to be human--to be a child, a parent, a teacher--and on the Christian meaning of life. At the same time, it is deeply practical. Many of the central ideas have been tried and proven true over a century in almost every kind of educational situation. The ideas are in fact so true that they can be applied equally at home, in different schools, in Africa, in the inner city, and in your own community. But they are also ideas which Susan and her husband Ranald Macaulay have tried and proven in their own family and school experience.

For the Children's Sake is a book which can help every parent and teacher awaken the young minds of their children and give them a new richness, stability, and joy for living. (GoodreadsDotcom)

Motivate: 8 Secrets of Successful Parenting

I've heard several parenting experiences of Pastor Peter and his family and I can say that they are a true model of Biblical Parenting. One of my Sisters-in-Christ gave this to me as a gift.

A book on Biblical Parenting arranged using the acronym “MOTIVATE!”, the Tan-Chis set out their approach to parenting drawing from and relying on EIGHT biblical principles. 

The Tan-Chi’s teaching is enriched with anecdotes drawn from many sources including their experience as parents, and the book contains personal stories contributed by their children. 

Chapters include:

MODELLING the Christian lifestyle,
OPEN Communication,
the importance of TIME,
consciously building INTIMACY with your children
VISION (that gives Direction and Purpose),
AFFIRMATION,
TEACHING and TRAINING biblical principles to your children (Obedience and Intentionality), and
ENTRUSTING them to God (GoodreadsDotcom).

This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence

I got this book as a prize in our first Unconditional Retreat, that was like 2015 and I started reading few pages last December only. Huhu.

Even in the days when people commonly stayed married "'til death do us part," there has never been a generation whose view of marriage was high enough, says Pastor John Piper. That is all the more true in our casual times.

Though personal selfishness and cultural bondage obstruct the wonder of God's purpose, it is found in God's Word, where his design can awaken a glorious vision capable of freeing every person from small, Christ-ignoring, romance-intoxicated views. As Piper explains in reflecting on forty years of matrimony: "Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives. And staying married is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant and putting the glory of Christ's covenant-keeping love on display."

This Momentary Marriage unpacks the biblical vision, its unexpected contours, and its weighty implications for married, single, divorced, and remarried alike. (GoodreadsDotcom)

Regret No More

I got this book from a book launch and ever since I've been wanting to read this.

In Regret No More, Nelson T. Dy walks with you as you entrust the wounds of your “What Ifs” to the One who holds your days. Find forgiveness and healing from God, who truly knows you. It’s more than a process of forgiving yourself and moving on. It’s about finding a wonderful Person who sees our worst and loves us anyway.

Living a life without regret is possible. You can hope and be happy again (GoodreadsDotcom).

Created to be His Help Meet

This book was lent to me by my Small Group Leader when we had marital issues. I already read 3/4 of this but never really finished. So, I want to start this reread this from cover to cover.

Somewhere over the passing years and changing culture, women have lost their way.  This book is written to lead them back home.  Regardless of how you began your marriage or how dark and lonely the path that has brought you to where you are now, I want you to know that it is possible today to have a marriage so good and so fulfilling that it can only be explained as a miracle.

Follow Debi Pearl as she takes the wisdom and experience of her own marriage and confirms it with the wisdom of scripture and learn how to be the “help meet” that God created you to be.   You will learn to appreciate God’s gift of a husband with a thankful heart that produces joy and wisdom in you and your home.  Gain a better understanding of who your husband is and how your response to him can make or break your marriage.  See the Bible’s perspective of obedience and authority and understand how you are joint heirs to the promises of God.

The miracle of a wonderful marriage is like the miracle of birth, God allows you to be an essential contributor to the miracle.  Read, enjoy and be blessed as over 330,000 other women already have (GoodreadsDotcom).

This year, I am also starting my commonplace notebook and as I read through these books, I would want to record ideas and favorite quotes. I don't want to hurry reading this time except to enjoy and of course, to give room to ponder.

"If mothers would learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when they're over-stimulated, households would all be happier. Let the mother go out to play! She should have the courage to let everything go when life becomes too stressful, and just take a day, or even a half day, alone, to go out into the fields, or enjoy a favorite book, or go to the art gallery and gaze long and intensely at just two or three pictures, or relax in bed, without the children. Life would go on more smoothly for both parents and children." [from Charlotte Mason's Vol. 3 pg 34]

How about you? What are you reading this year?